Hey hey there Human Connection listeners! We are deep into November which means the holidays are almost here which means a new year is coming up SOON!

You may have already started thinking about your 2020 goals for your business and I want to walk you through creating your 2020 publicity plan.

Now first, let me dismiss some common myths and explain to why you need a publicity plan for 2020.

Let me ask you this: is one of your 2020 goals any of the following?

• Make more sales of a particular service or product you have?
• Increase your revenue?
• Grow your email list?
• Get in front of brand new audiences, further exposing your reach and impact in your industry and in the world?

Then you NEED a publicity plan!

In today’s episode, you’ll find out how to create your 2020 publicity plan that will help you in increasing your reach, revenue and impact.

Your 2020 Publicity Plan

Resources mentioned during the episode

• Sign up here to get on the waitlist for the online course I’ll be pre-selling starting on December 2!

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• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google Play
• Leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. The ratings and reviews help for two reasons: 1) Most importantly, I get to know you, the listener, and what content you enjoy the most. 2) The more reviews the podcast has, the better chance it has at getting in front of new listeners.
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Be the first to know when there is a new episode out and get the inside scoop on all of the guests.

Thanks so much for tuning in. See ya next week!

For any of you fellow entrepreneurs out there, I know the struggle of knowing the right things to invest in for your business.

Should I invest in that paid mastermind?

Can I hire a Virtual Assistant to help me?

Is it time for me to go that conference?

And while I obviously have a bias to investing in PR (I am a PR strategist ya know 😉) I realize that not every entrepreneur out there is at a point in their business where it makes sense to invest in done-for-you PR services.

In today’s blog post I’d like to share all the ways you can do PR on a budget.

Everything mentioned in this post is either 1) completely free to do or 2) very minimal cost compared to investing in a done-for-you PR strategist.

I think everyone can benefit from using PR as a strategy to grow their business so you have no excuse to not implement these tips!

PR On A Budget

PUT TOGETHER YOUR OWN STRATEGY

Despite it being totally worth it to invest in a publicist for your business, you can in fact, put together your PR strategy with a little help from yours truly 🙂

Here’s how to start putting together your own strategy:

1. Define your purpose for pitching: What are your business’s goals for the next year? Increase sales, email subscribers, land speaking gigs, etc? Whatever your answer is here will help you narrow in on the best PR activities that will give you a return on investment.
2. Clearly outline your ideal target audience: What are relevant websites, podcasts, magazines, tv, and local media that your target audience follows? You need to know your target audience to a T. If you don’t, you aren’t quite ready for press opportunities yet. If you do already know, you probably have an idea of the places where they spend time the most.
3. List out the topics you can speak on: No matter what type of PR opportunities you go after, you’re going to need to narrow in on specific topics you want to become known for. Make sure these are related to your purpose for pitching listed in number 1.

I help you grow through all of this in my free beginner’s guide workbook. Click the box below to download a copy for yourself!

Related post: Beginner’s Guide to PR For Small Businesses: Why It’s Important and How To Start

SIGN UP FOR HARO

HARO, stands for Help a Reporter Out, is a great free resource everyone should be signed up for, especially if you’re focusing on landing press opportunities.

HARO is an online service that connects journalists and bloggers with sources for the articles and stories they are writing about. Anyone can sign up and pitch themselves (or pitch clients like I do). It’s awesome because these are stories that are already being written.

HARO sends three emails per weekday (morning, afternoon, evening – yes, it’s a lot!) filled with journalists looking for sources for upcoming stories they are writing.

The categories that HARO covers are:

• Biotech & healthcare
• Business & finance
• Education
• Energy & green tech
• Entertainment & media
• General (a catch all)
• Lifestyle & fitness
• Public policy & government
• Travel

You can check out this blog post I did about how to start using it!

Looking to do PR on a budget? Check out this blog post from @brittneyllynn! #publicrelations #PRtips Click To Tweet

FOCUS ON HIGH RETURN OPPORTUNITIES

Almost no matter what industries you’re in there is one PR platform that I recommend to nearly everyone I’ve ever worked with.

It takes the least amount of effort, it has the quickest turnaround and turns brand new people into raving fans…what is it?

Podcast interviews.

There is a podcast out there for just about every niche topic known to mankind.

There are more than 700,000 active podcasts out there and they need excellent guests like you.

You can check out this blog post for more on how to pitch yourself to podcasts.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEOPLE LOCALLY OR ONLINE

PR is all about building authentic relationships (more on that here!) and is something that every business owner should really focus on as their building their empire.

For one, building relationships with others is free, and we are talking about PR on a budget, aren’t we?!

You can find people on Instagram or Twitter to connect with (I’m partial to Instagram!) if you want to find people online.

Or you can connect locally by going to free local Meetups in your area.

And for two, relationships will always serve you. It’s rare that I’ve met someone in my life that I’ve said “dang, I wish I never would have met them.”

You should go into building relationships with other people not trying to “get something out of it.” People know when you’re being sleazy and self-serving. It’s not a good look and you shouldn’t do it.

My freelance writer friend Alli and I did a workshop all about how to cultivate authentic relationships with journalists, check it out if you’re interested!

INSTALL BOOMERANG

Boomerang is a free Google Chrome extension that you can install that allows you to schedule emails in advance. This helps remove some of the “fear” of pitching as you can schedule the email to go out in the future.

You can always unschedule them before they go out, but I find most of the time when I schedule an email I forget about it and promptly move on. It’s almost like having an assistant do the emailing for you, except it’s free!

It also allows you to “boomerang” emails back to you so you can know if a pitch hasn’t been replied to. Pretty neat, right? And perfect for PR on a budget!

Affiliate disclaimer: Heads up! There are affiliate links in this blog post. What that means is if you click on a link and then make a purchase, I make a small percentage of money because I referred you. This comes at no additional cost to you. I only share products and resources that I trust and that I know will help you in your business. Grateful for your support!

Today’s show is a special one because it’s the one year anniversary of the launch week of the Day in the Life podcast!

I can’t believe I started this podcast just one year ago. Sometimes it feels like I just started yesterday, other times it feels like I’ve been doing this for years.

I thought for the year anniversary it would be fun to share what a day in MY life looks like.

My husband did the honors of interviewing me and it’s a really fun episode!

I share how I started my PR business and my why behind creating the Day in the Life podcast, how I organize my business and podcast priorities, what I struggle with the most being an entrepreneur, and so much more.

I’m also celebrating by hosting a week-long giveaway, so tune in to the episode to find out how to enter some of the goods!

Brittney Lynn | Publicist for Entrepreneurs & Host of the Day in the Life Podcast

Show notes

In today’s episode, you’ll find out:

• How I started my PR business and advice I’d give to anyone who wants to start a business
• The struggles I’ve had as an entrepreneur
• How I organize my business and podcast priorities and how I organize my day
• The best thing you can do to grow your business
• Advice for anyone who wants to work in the PR industry

Links to resources

• Asana
• Dubsado
• Calm magnesium drink
• Aeropress
• Espresso machine
• Mushroom coffee
• Day in the Life of Alli Hoff Kosik, Freelance Writer
• Arm Chair Expert podcast
• Death, Sex & Money podcast
• How I Built This podcast
• The Jordan Harbinger Show podcast
• On Purpose podcast
• Start Up podcast 
• theNewsWorthy podcast
• Day in the Life of Erica Mandy, host of theNewsWorthy podcast
• Totally Laime podcast
• Totally Beverages & Sometimes Hot Sauce podcast

Follow Brittney:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Day in the Life podcast Instagram
• Day in the Life podcast Facebook
• Day in the Life podcast Facebook group

How to subscribe, review, and help the show

Like the show? There are several ways you can help!

• Subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, or Google Play
• Leave an honest review on iTunes. The ratings and reviews help for two reasons: 1) Most importantly, I get to know you, the listener, and what content you enjoy the most. 2) The more reviews the podcast has, the better chance it has at getting in front of new listeners.
• Follow on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram

#DITLpodcast

If you’re diggin’ the podcast, I’d love for you to use the #DITLpodcast hashtag to connect with other listeners and let us know what a day in your life is really like!

Want more? Sign up for the email newsletter!

Be the first to know when there is a new episode out and get the inside scoop on all of the guests.

Also, join the Facebook group to interact with guests and other listeners!

Thanks so much for tuning in. See ya next week!

Note: This is a guest post from influencer marketing extraordinaire Zoe Linda! This gal is all about helping you create meaningful connections with brands and customers. She loves a good pun (a girl after my own heart) and I’m so excited she’s on the blog sharing her tips on influencer marketing!

You’re ready to get started on a PR strategy for your business! You’ve got your ideal audience avatar, you know what magazines they’re reading, what TV shows they’re watching, what radio stations they listen to – but do you know what blogs they read and which influencers they turn to for recommendations?

PR isn’t just about reaching out to journalists and getting yourself on a podcast. It’s also about connecting with bloggers + tastemakers within your niche to build more brand awareness and reach a targeted audience ready to buy your products and invest in your services! Keep reading to learn four key reasons influencer marketing should play a part in your PR strategy.

4 Reasons Influencer Marketing Should Be A Part of Your PR Strategy

What is influencer marketing?

Before I get started, let’s make sure we’re both on the same page! Here’s the scoop:

Influencers are authorities within your niche that have a measurable* influence over your ideal audience. These could be bloggers, YouTubers, Instagrammers, people with a large Twitter following, etc.

Influencer marketing is all about forming relationships with said influencers and collaborating with them to get your brand in front of their audience.

*Don’t just take their word for it! You should be able to measure their influence by looking at their engagement rates, asking for past campaign experience, and monitoring their comments to see if your ideal audience are influenced by them.

My influencer marketing mantra is all about engagement – ‘Count the impressed, not the impressions.’

What’s the difference between PR and influencer marketing?

Well, the two are very closely linked. I would say that PR often encompasses influencer marketing but not the other way around.

Let’s say you’re starting a new organic skincare range. Your PR strategy would likely focus on building brand awareness – so you might be appearing on beauty + wellness podcasts, emailing out press releases around your launch, and sending products to journalists for review – often focusing on the story behind your brand and products. You usually have little to no creative control over how the journalist or platform features your brand.

Your influencer marketing strategy would be about forming meaningful relationships with influencers within the beauty + wellness niche to get your brand in front of a targeted audience and sell more products. You would likely collaborate with bloggers + Instagrammers to feature your brand in return for a fee or gifted products. You will have agreed beforehand if you are giving the influencer free reign to write about your brand or if you have any elements the influencer would need to include in their content (i.e. link to your website, unique discount code, etc)

There can be quite a bit of crossover here, though. For example, some influencers within your niche may have a blog or podcast they’d like you to appear on, which crosses into the realm of PR.

Today's guest post from @zoelinda_ shows us 4 reasons to incorporate influencer marketing into your #PR strategy! Click To Tweet

Let’s dive into the four key reasons you should incorporate influencer marketing into your PR strategy:

1) Individual recommendation vs. branded feature

As part of your PR strategy, you’ll likely be pitching to online + printed magazines, local TV stations, and podcasts, which is great! However, consumers are much more likely to trust an individual who recommends your product over a magazine feature.

Let’s look at the stats:

• 92% of consumers turn to people they know for referrals above any other source
• 84% of consumers say they trust peer recommendations more than all other sources of advertising

By working influencers into your strategy, you’re dramatically increasing the chance that a potential customer will actually trust the source’s recommendation of your brand.

2) Increasing contact with your audience

You’ve heard that, on average, a consumer has to see a brand or product 7 times before they decide to invest. By incorporating influencer marketing into your PR strategy, you’re increasing the probability that they will see your brand more and more times.

For example, an ideal customer could first see your new skincare products in your Cosmopolitan feature but they don’t take much notice. Then they hear their favourite beauty YouTuber mention the same brand – they recognise the product from Cosmo but now someone they know, like, and trust is recommending them? Time to learn more!

Sometimes a consumer could have seen your brand around a fair few times but they just need that one recommendation from someone they trust to take the leap!
3) Reaching a dedicated community

Sure, you’ve got your own social media following and mailing list subscribers but what about expanding your reach beyond your current tribe?

Forming relationships with influencers in your niche means that you will be exposing your brand to their dedicated and loyal communities. If you collaborate with the RIGHT influencers, your ideal audience and their actual audience should align, which makes for a perfect fit.

I don’t mean that you’ll necessarily be reaching 100k Instagram followers – quality over quantity, folks! Sometimes micro-influencers with around 10k followers provide much better results (and are less likely to have fake followings)!

If your business is especially niche, influencer marketing will work even better for you. Working with bloggers within a small niche means you’re directly targeting your ideal customers + clients through someone they already know, like, and trust!

4) Become a trusted brand

Because they’re learning about you through someone they already trust, your ideal audience will see your brand as trusted and recommended instead of ‘just another product placement’.

It’s important to note that influencer marketing is, what I like to call, ‘welcomed advertising’. Audiences are actively seeking new content from their favourite audiences and, organic or sponsored, they are usually happy to read/watch/view any new content from them. This makes influencer marketing already more engaging than a regular ol’ news article that many consumers may be likely to scroll past.

Next time to sit down and have a strategy session for your business, take a moment to think about how influencer marketing can work for you!

If you’re interested in learning more about influencer marketing, I have a free 30-minute training you can watch over here!

Zoe Linda helps mindfulpreneurs make meaningful connections online. Zoe wants to change the way influencers and brands work together and is ALL about creating authentic + long-term relationships. As well as being an influencer marketing wizard, Zoe is a coffee drinking, lasagne-loving, Netflix binging, film buff who loves quoting Harry Potter in everyday conversation. To keep up with Zoe, follow her blog and social media profiles below!

Website | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook

Welcome back to my beginner’s guide to PR series! If you’re just joining us around here, I’m doing a 3-part blog post series all on how small businesses can begin to use PR for their business. Today, I’m going to share how you can get featured on popular websites and podcasts.

Here’s what I’ve covered so far in the series:

• Why PR is Important & How To Start Using It
• How To Authentically Connect With Media & Influencers
• How To Get Featured On Popular Websites & Podcasts (this post!)

Getting featured on popular websites and podcasts can absolutely catapult your business.

Why should you want to get featured on popular websites and podcasts? Here are just a few reasons:

1. Traffic growth: Having popular websites and podcasts feature you will get your brand and business out there on the web. Having these links back to your site will provide you with more traffic and better SEO.
2. Audience growth: Naturally as your traffic increases, so should your audience. Having more people visit your site will increase your email subscribers and social media followers.
3. Be seen as a trusted expert: Getting the “stamp of approval” from these popular websites and podcasts will elevate you as a trusted source for your industry. People prefer buying from a trusted expert as opposed to someone completely random.
4. Faster growth: Getting hits from popular websites and podcasts can grow your business a lot faster than if you have no press at all. It’s a lot harder to stand out online these days, so getting help from sites that already have a large following can help you grow faster.
5. People get to know you better: This one is especially for podcast features. When you hear someone’s voice, you automatically feel more connected with them than if you read an article about them. Shortening the time it takes to let your audience get to know you can shorten the buying process too.

After reading this post, you’ll have a clear idea how you can start approaching popular websites and podcasts. Don’t forget to download the free podcast pitch template!

Beginner’s Guide To Using PR For Your Small Business: How To Get Featured On Popular Websites and Podcasts

Identify 6-8 topics you can speak on

Before we get to pitching, we need to do a little exercise. And this exercise is the most important, so don’t skip it!

In the first post of the series, we briefly talked about coming up with topics you could pitch. If you didn’t already do that exercise, we’re going to do it now.

Whatever industry you’re in, whether you run an online shop selling knitting supplies or you’re an author that writes about golf, there are certain topics that you can easily write about or discuss on a podcast.

Need help figuring out exactly what topics you can talk about? Here are some questions to answer to help you gain clarity:

• What is it that you want to be known for?
• What is your business already known for?
• What industry do you have experience in?
• What do your friends and family ask you questions about constantly?
• What do you enjoy talking about for hours on end?

Now once you have your topics, write a brief paragraph on each. 4-6 sentences are plenty.

Related post: Beginner’s Guide To PR For Small Businesses: Why It’s Important & How To Start

Identify relevant platforms

Now let’s get to the good stuff, finding those sites & podcasts that you can get featured on!

While many have the dream of being featured on ginormous sites like Huffington Post and Entrepreneur, we should also identify niche specific sites.

As they say, the riches are in the niches. This is especially important if you’re just starting out, as you will have a harder time getting onto major websites in the beginning.

Here are some tips on finding relevant sites for whatever business you’re in:

• What sites does your ideal audience read? One of my clients is an online life coach for women in their 20s. While it’d be awesome to get her featured on Fast Company, it’s not our primary goal because her audience isn’t there. They follow brands such as Cosmo, The Every Girl, or Advice From A Twenty Something, so those are places we’re focusing on targeting.
• What media does your ideal audience follow online? You can start to get an idea by looking at who people follow on Instagram or Facebook. When I start with a new PR client, I pick out a site their ideal audience would follow (let’s say The Every Girl for example), and then I look at the related profiles on Instagram.
• What books does your ideal audience read? Amazon is an amazing resource to conduct research. Keeping with the life coach client example, her audience would love reading Jen Sincero’s books. I’d go to Amazon, look at her book, and then look at the related books that pop up. Now we have an entire list of authors we could potentially work with, guest blog for, or collaborate with. You can also use this as a way to search for places the author has been interviewed to get ideas of places we could pitch my client.

Here are additional tips on finding relevant podcasts:

• What podcasts does your ideal audience listen to? If you already have an audience (even a small one!) ask them! If not, you can search in relevant Facebook groups to see what podcasts people recommend or simply Google “‘your industry’ podcasts.”
• What podcasts would introduce you to a new, yet related audience? This is where my Amazon tip above could come into play. You could get a lot of ideas from people that are in your same industry and where they’ve already been interviewed.
• What podcasts are related to ones your audience already follows? The iTunes search is another amazing resource to find relevant podcasts. I’ve found that their related suggestions are mostly on point.

Know the right person to contact

Knowing the right person to contact can make or break getting a feature on a popular site or a podcast. Below are my tips for finding exactly the right person.

• Tips on finding the right person to pitch for a podcast interview: Some podcast websites will list exactly what it is you need to do to pitch a potential guest. Here’s an example from the 5 AM Miracle podcast:

As you can see, he has an application for potential guests to fill out.

For this particular podcast, I would not try and email him because he clearly states this is how he would like potential guests to be submitted.

Other sites don’t list any application process, so for those, I find their email address (or at worst their contact page) and submit that way.

Preferably you find an email address, but some people don’t list their email addresses on their site.

Tips on finding the right person to pitch for a popular website:

This can vary greatly, as each website has its own process for selecting people to interview, people to write a feature article or people to mention within an article. Here are my general tips:

• First, if they are a huge website (Huffington Post for example), I’d search “pitching to Huffington Post.” With a big site like that, you’re bound to find articles that have been written how people got featured on their site. This can go for pitching to large magazines too.
• For smaller sites (Modern Mom for example), I’d search “write for us Modern Mom” or “contributors Modern Mom” to find potential opportunities to write for them.

Pitch at the right time

If you’re just starting your business (aka you have almost no content on your site and haven’t sold a thing), you probably aren’t going to get accepted onto high-profile podcasts & websites. The key to get featured on popular websites and podcasts is to start small and work your way up.

How can you tell if a podcast has a smaller following? Well, for one, you should have at least listened to a few episodes of the potential podcasts you’re pitching. Once listening you can have an idea of how large they are.

Another way of telling is how many reviews they have on iTunes. Podcasts with hundreds of reviews are probably pretty popular.

Times to not pitch:

• You’re in the middle of doing a re-brand
• You’re changing your services/products
• You just started your business (0-6 months in)
• You don’t have the time

Times to pitch:

• When you have your 6-8 topics outlined
• When you have something to promote (But do NOT go into only thinking of promoting your product or service. You need to give the audience value first.)
• When you have done your research into relevant websites and podcasts to pitch
• When your website is prepared for the potential increase in traffic.

Want a free pitch template to get featured on popular podcasts? Check out this post from @brittneyllynn! Click To Tweet

Write a unique pitch to each place you contact

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. Nobody wants to read a boring, irrelevant pitch email. And if you’re pitching major websites and podcasts, they especially don’t want to see a boring pitch email because they receive a ton of emails every day.

Writing a unique pitch will help you stand out from the rest of the boring emails in their inbox.

But! With that said, there are a few things you will want to include in every email, so you should using a pitch template to save time.

What are the elements of a great pitch?

• Quick description explaining why you’d be a great guest on their site/podcast (remember, you’re selling yourself, so work it!)
• Bio including any other places you’ve been featured
• Something specific about the place your pitching (a recent article or podcast episode you loved, something you have in common with the person you’re reaching out to, anything that shows that this isn’t a copy and paste email)
• 4-5 potential topic ideas with descriptions
• Quick closing without a hard sell

Know when to follow up

I don’t follow up with every pitch I send for my clients.

Shocker!

But it’s the truth.

Not every pitch warrants a follow-up, but sometimes me following up is what gets my clients onto a podcast or a website, so it is important.

When to follow up:

• You contacted them via email, you haven’t heard back and it’s been about 10-14 days since you pitched.
• They responded yes, but you haven’t heard back anything in 10-14 days since.

When to not follow up:

• You filled out a contact form.
• You get an out of office response that they’re on vacation. Give them time to get back into work once they’re back.
• Their site specifically states to not follow up.

Related post: Beginner’s Guide To PR For Small Businesses: How To Authentically Connect With Media & Influencers

If you get a yes…here’s what to do!

Share the heck out of it
Would you believe that sometimes people get featured on popular websites and podcasts….and they don’t share it with their audience?

It’s true, I swear! My friend Jess has a podcast and she realized half of her guests did not share when they were on her podcast. Uh, what? That’s whack!

Getting featured and then not sharing it is like getting a box of chocolates to share and then you eat all of them yourself. No fun!

As they say, sharing is caring. Your audience wants to know of places you’re mentioned because, hello they love you!

The podcast or website you’ve been featured on also will appreciate you sharing it because it’s a two-way street.

And if you get a no…here’s what to do.

Know that it sometimes takes time
When you first start pitching yourself, it can be super intimidating. You might have imposter syndrome feelings, such as:

“Who am I to pitch this huge website or podcast?”

“They’ll never pick me. Why would anyone want to feature me?”

“I don’t have any value to add.”

You need to stop these thoughts and get out of your own head. You must put yourself out there to get featured on a popular website or podcast.

Will you be turned down? Yes

Will you be turned down by everyone? Most likely no, unless you’re being unrealistic with who you first pitch.

It’s unlikely that you’ll get all of the features you pitch, but that’s part of the process.

You definitely won’t get a feature without trying, so what’s the harm?

Here are a few more tips to keep in mind:

• Sometimes no means no, but sometimes it means something else. Like, no, not right now or no, not this but maybe something else. I’ve pitched clients for podcasts that they didn’t get on but were asked to speak at a conference instead. Is that still a win in my book? Heck yes!
• Don’t take it personally. I understand the initial pang of disappointment that can happen when you get turned down, but as time goes on it will get easier. Don’t take offense to them saying no, it just wasn’t meant to be at this point in time. It doesn’t mean you and what you have to offer isn’t valuable, it just means it wasn’t right for them.
• Be kind. The worst thing you can do after getting a no is to start ranting about why you should be featured and having a chip on your shoulder. Every podcast and media platform has their own values, mission, and purpose and perhaps at this moment what you pitched doesn’t fit into that. Be gracious and move on.
• Keep trying. I lied in my statement above. The worst thing you can actually do is to stop trying.

Final thoughts on how to get featured on popular websites and podcasts

I think this is my longest post yet! There’s nothing I could leave out though. It’s all important!

You should now feel confident in pitching popular websites and podcasts and that you’re prepared to start putting yourself out there.

Don’t forget to check out my other two posts in the series and grab your free pitch template!

Why PR is Important & How To Start Using It

How To Authentically Connect With Media & Influencers

Welcome back to my beginner’s guide to PR series! If you’re just joining, I’m doing a 3-part blog post series all on how small businesses can begin to use PR for their business.Here’s what I’ll be covering throughout the series:

• Why PR is Important & How To Start Using It
• How To Authentically Connect With Media & Influencers (this post!)
• How To Be Featured On Popular Websites + Podcasts

Today, you’ll learn how to make authentic connections with media and influencers and how to build these relationships over time.

You know how important and business-changing getting media hits can be, but how do you get started?

How can you grow and cultivate an actual relationship with the media and get your stories featured?

How can you get media features when you’re just starting your business?

We’ll be covering all of this and more in today’s post!

Be sure to download the free workbook to help you along the way by clicking the button below.

Define your goals

Yup, we’re talking about goals again. Making authentic connections with the media and influencers is important, but you first have to have a game plan and a purpose.

Getting featured on Pat Flynn’s podcast is cool and awesome, but if you don’t have a goal you’re trying to achieve by being on his podcast you won’t see much return.

This is a big misconception about PR because often people think if they are featured on a major site like Entrepreneur.com or popular podcast like The School of Greatness that their business will finally “take off.”

The fact of the matter is, it takes a lot of work to get on these major sites and more times than not you don’t see a long-term increase in revenue just because you were featured once.

Unless…you have a plan.

People consume so much content these days, and if you don’t have a specific plan for what to do after you get these media mentions, you will be forgotten in about 3 seconds. That’s an exact scientific answer, by the way. 😂

Laying out your goals ahead of time will help you achieve greater success than if you go about it with zero plan.

Here are questions to consider when deciding on your goals:

• What are you looking to promote? If your answer is “uh…I don’t know” don’t bother reaching out yet. When you’re initially pitching the media and influencers, you won’t off the bat say “THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO PROMOTE” because that’s sales-y and gross. We don’t want sales-y and gross. We’re going for authenticity, remember? However, you do want a strategic purpose in the back of your mind for connecting with a particular media or influencer.
• Where will you be targeting? To properly answer this, you’ll need to do some research into where your target audience spends time. If you’re reading this post you’re likely a small business which means you only have a limited amount of time. While it’d be great to target #allthemediaoutlets you don’t have time for that. Identify the outlets that make the most sense for your brand and stick with those.
• What is your strategy? Your strategy can be broken down into a million more questions, but let’s talk generalities to start: How often will you reach out? When will you start reaching out? Who is in charge of reaching out?
• What is the overall goal for getting featured in the media/connecting with influencers? Your goal can be a number of things, but let’s pick out one main goal:
  • Is it to increase traffic to your site?
  • Sell more books?
  • Get more clients? Be specific as possible with your answer.
• What does success look like to you? Let me break some bad news to you: You will not get featured on everything you reach out to. You definitely won’t get a response from everyone you reach out to. You will be disappointed by the number of people that don’t even read your email, let alone reply back. The key is you need to define success for your PR strategies in your own way on your own terms. Some people define success as just having the guts to reach out period. Others identify a specific number of yeses they want and keep reaching out until they get it. Whatever you define as success, write it down and lock it in your memory. This will help keep you motivated through all the times you don’t hear back.

Identify people you already know

There are people already in your life that have connections to places you want to be featured. Yes, you. Stop shaking your head like you don’t, because you do. You just don’t know it yet.

Here’s the thing, to create authentic connections with the media and influencers, you need to build a relationship with them. Relationships take time so a great place to start is with people you already have a relationship with.

You know the theory of 6 degrees of separation (or maybe better known as 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon 😜)? Yeah, that’s like, a real thing.

Here’s how to start identifying people you already know:

• Write out a list of 10-20 of your closest friends and family:
• Scroll through your friends on Facebook:
• Look at who you follow on other social platforms: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook groups
• Think of past co-workers, high school/college connections,
• Write down a list of blogs you read / podcasts you listen to:

Schedule calls with these people, hop on Skype, let them know of your goals.

I grew my business entirely through making authentic connections with people I followed online or met in person. My family and IRL friends still have no clue what I do and I imagine they think I do this every day:

Don’t give me the excuse that you no one in your circle knows what you do and they don’t understand and it’s pointless to reach out.

Questions to ask yourself while identifying people you may know:

• Who is your target audience? Think demographics like location, age, gender, likes/dislikes.
• Where does your target audience spend time online? We slightly covered this earlier, but let’s dive deeper. Not only should you define what social networks they use, you should also be figuring out how they use them and where else they spend time. Do they use Facebook groups? What entertainment sites do they read? What influencers do they follow? This might not be the same as who you follow, so keep that in mind.
• Who are your competitors and where are they featured? This step will quickly start giving you ideas of where to start pitching first. Googling phrases such as “competitor’s name podcast interviews,” “competitor’s name interview” will give you a good start. Also, going to your competitor’s site and looking at their press page will give you a great idea.
• What makes your brand different from your competitors? This is where you really need to do some pondering. Obviously you have similarities to your competitors, but there has to be something that makes your brand stand out from all the rest. What is your unique pitch? How is your story different from all the rest?

My biggest suggestion is to remember you’re connecting with other human beings. Treat people like people, not robots or people on pedestals.

Learn how to authentically connect w/media & influencers to start getting press for your #smallbiz! Click To Tweet

Research, research, research

Do you want to how much time I spend researching for my PR clients? Do you really want to know? Okay fine, I’ll break it down for you:

30% of the time I am sending emails. Lots and lots of carefully written & targeted emails.

The offer 70% of the time? Research.

PR is ALL about research.

Okay, so it’s not all about research. It’s also about the pitch. But making authentic connections all starts with research.

Here’s just a handful of things I’m constantly researching for my PR clients:

• Magazine editorial calendars (more on that below)
• Relevant podcasts to pitch
• Journalist contact information
• Magazine editor contact information
• Influencers relevant to the stories/brands/products I’m pitching

Here are a few tips on making research a little easier for you:

• Journalists primarily use Twitter (see, Twitter isn’t dead yet!), so I typically look their first for more information. Hunter.IO is also a great tool to use if you’re trying to find an exact email address.
• Instagram is also a place where people list out their email address
• Not sure who writes for what publications? Search on a publication’s website and you’ll see the bylines of who wrote what article.
• Not sure who is the correct editors for a magazine? Google “magazine name masthead” and you’ll at least find the name of the editors.

Want to learn everything there is to know about connecting with media & influencers? Check this out! Click To Tweet

Find out what’s on editorial calendars

Did you know that you can find out what magazines will be writing about well in advance? Yup, it’s true. Most print magazines publish their editorial calendars online for anyone to view.

Some will require you to sign up for it, others are just open online.

Print magazines are looking for content about 2-4 months prior to the release date, so you need to plan ahead.

Here’s what happens when I Google “Cosmopolitan Editorial Calendar”:

Often a magazine’s editorial calendar is included on their media kit page, so let’s click on media kit.

It then leads you to a page that has this header. We want to click on calendar.

Bam! The entire year of Cosmo’s print editorial calendar right there.

Now not every magazine publishes their editorial calendars, but most do. Sometimes you have to do a little digging, but you can most likely find it.

You can also sign up for a paid service like Media Bistro to get extra tips on how to pitch certain magazines. Right now it’s only a one-time fee!

Perfecting the pitch

Now it’s time for one of the most important steps: perfecting the pitch. Having the correct contact information for editors is great, but if your pitch stinks it won’t matter.

People get intimidated when they hear the word “pitch” because it gives the impression you only have one chance. While that’s partially true (you obviously don’t want to say something rude that insults an editor), crafting your pitch takes time. This is why we want to start with smaller publications and websites before working up to the big guys.

Here are some tips on perfecting your pitch:

• Make sure it’s relevant to their audience: For example, you wouldn’t pitch an exercise related product to a recipe-only blog, right? Right. This is why research is so important so you know you can accurately pitch the right people and publications. Mention something specific about their site/publication so they know the pitch is specific to them.
• Make sure it’s timely: If you’re pitching to print magazines, it’s all about timing. This is why you are going to look at their editorial calendars so you can know well in advance when to pitch a certain story.
• Share why you’re unique: Websites, magazines, and popular bloggers get pitches all.the.time so you want to make sure you share from the get go why you and your story are unique.
• Be concise, yet descriptive: Only give them the most important information they need to know. Don’t drone on for paragraphs of how awesome you and your product is. We want to be descriptive, but brief.
• Use an email template: Every pitch you send should be unique to the person you’re pitching, but that doesn’t mean  you can’t use a template to get started. Check back for a how-to on writing a winning pitch email template!
• Don’t forget to include important links: Website, product pages, social, media kit, etc.

Related post: Beginner’s Guide To PR For Small Businesses: Why It’s Important & How To Start

The fortune is in the follow-up

You have to follow up. No seriously, you have to follow up.

People don’t like following up because they feel rejected from not getting an initial response. I know this because I used to feel this way.

Now that I have over 7 PR clients that’s not the case.

The fact of the matter is, people are busy and their inboxes are full to the brim. Sometimes emails fall through the cracks. Emails get accidentally deleted or lost. People thought they responded but didn’t. And sometimes people are intentionally ignoring you.

All of those reasons I just listed? Only 1 is because they didn’t like your pitch.

Here are general ground rules you should follow when following up:

• Depending on how you send the message (either via email or a contact form) should determine if you follow up. If you filled out a contact form, you shouldn’t follow-up If you sent an email, you should probably only follow up once. I suggest waiting 10-14 days to follow up in order to give some time for them to respond.
• Keep track of who you’ve sent pitches to: You don’t want to pitch the same person multiple times in a row. I have a spreadsheet for each client I have that lists the media that I’ve reached out to, who was contacted, on what date, and if there was a response.

Here is an example of an appropriate follow-up message:

“Hi NAME, 

Hope you’re having a great week! I wanted to follow up on an email I sent a couple of weeks ago. I know you’re a busy gal/guy and that sometimes emails can fall through the cracks! Anyways, just wanted to touch base and see if you were open to my proposed partnership/feature story/whatever you’re pitching.

Thanks so much for your time!

Signature”

Here is an example of an inappropriate follow-up message:

“NAME,

I sent you an email last week and I still haven’t heard back. What gives?”

I seriously hope no one would ever send  an email like this, but I no joke got something very similar. Uh, chill out dude.

Final Thoughts on Making Authentic Connections

Once again we covered a lot in this post but I couldn’t leave anything out! Building solid relationships with media and influencers can take some time, but it is well worth the initial investment.

Don’t forget to grab the workbook that accompanies this post. I’d love to hear of any additional questions you may have, leave them below!

Congrats! If you are reading this new post on the blog, then you have likely started a successful small business and you are looking to grow.

But first, let me guess. You’ve created a strong email list, you dedicate hours to creating blog posts, and you are constantly scheduling out social media posts… but you realize there is probably more out there you can do to cultivate your business.If this sounds familiar and you are ready to improve, then grab a pen and start taking notes on these proven tactics I’ve used to get my clients featured on Brit & Co, Glamour, USA Weekly, The Washington Post and more.

You may be thinking ‘sure, PR is great, but I am a small business. How can PR help me?’

As my PR services have exploded over the last 6 months, I realized that not a lot of business owners like yourself, truly understand the power of PR for small businesses and I immediately wanted to share my knowledge on the subject.

Many business owners out there assume that PR can only be used by companies with big followers or celebrities when they’re going through a crisis (we all remember Britney’s breakdown of 2007, right?)

The fact of the matter is, PR is far more credible than any other type of advertising out there.

I know what you’re thinking, and yes social media is important, email marketing can transform your business, and paid advertising can increase your bottom line but it’s always more powerful for someone else to recommend you, and that’s exactly what PR is.

This series will consist of three blog posts:

• Why PR is Important & How To Start Using It (this post!)
• How To Authentically Connect With Media & Influencers
• How To Get Featured On Popular Websites + Podcasts

You can download the free workbook that helps you along below.

Definition of PR + what it means for small businesses

We’re going to start at the very beginning, in case you aren’t familiar with PR whatsoever.

PR stands for public relations and is defined as, “Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Public relations can also be defined as the practice of managing communication between an organization and its publics.” from Wikipedia.

So in laymen’s terms, this means …

PR can, in fact, be the way that you drastically improve your business. One media mention can catapult your business and can absolutely change the trajectory of where your business is headed.

I’m a believer that a small business like yours benefit more from using PR than bigger businesses.

And the best part is? It’s usually free.

Why PR for small businesses?

Here are three reasons why you will want to consider using PR to improve your business.

• A credible way of getting your business noticed: PR is someone else with influence giving the “approval” of your business by mentioning them in an article, podcast, magazine, etc. The readers/listeners/viewers of those media outlets already trust the media outlets, otherwise, they probably wouldn’t be reading/listening. Since they trust those media outlets, they, in turn, trust the people and brands that they feature (aka you!).
• You can develop deeper relationships with your audience in a short amount of time: Anyone that’s mentioned on Oprah’s favorite things list immediately has a rapport with her readers because her readers 100% trust whatever she suggests. This is a lot quicker way to develop a relationship with a new audience that may not have known about you before.
• It can be a free way to promote your business vs. paid advertising: Most PR for small businesses (or any business for that matter) is 100% free. Yup, it’s free y’all. Yes, there is product placements that people pay for, but for most editorial features, podcast interviews, mentions in articles, etc it’s all free, bay-bee. Paid advertising has its time and place, but you’re a small business and you don’t have extra money to be throwing around.

So now you’re probably thinking … okay, great, but what are the different types of PR and how can they be used for me?

• Media mentions (national tv & newspapers, product placements in magazines)
• Editorial features (local and national magazines)
• Podcasts
• Working with influencers (social media influencers, YouTube, relevant industry influencers)
• Community relations (local tv, connecting with local brands, going to local events)

These are the primary types of PR for small business that are most influential right now. Just like with online marketing, PR is always changing so naturally these will update from time to time, but in general, these are types that are here to stay.

Now, before you get started, remember that there is not a one size fits all PR plan for each business. Every business should have a unique PR plan.

Have you ever wondered how to use #PR for your own small business? Here's my beginner's guide! Click To Tweet

Getting Started

Define your purpose for pitching

Before you can craft your pitch, you need to define your purpose for pitching. It’s amazing to be featured on huge websites like Entrepreneur or Oprah’s Favorites, but if you aren’t strategic with your pitches you won’t see the return you desire.

To define your purpose for pitching, you’ll need to answer the following questions:

What are your overall business goals for the next 6 months – 1 year?

The whole reason for even getting PR for your small business is to help you achieve your business goals, right? So you need to make sure to define those before you start pitching like crazy.

What are your goals for pitching that are in line with your business goals? More brand exposure? Increase email subscribers? Land speaking gigs? Drive more traffic to your site to increase sales?

For example, if your primary business goal is to increase sales by 25% this year, then your goals for pitching should be to drive more traffic to your site and get more exposure.

If your primary business goal is to grow your speaking platform, then that’s what we’ll focus on pitching you for, ya see how it all aligns?

What are relevant websites, podcasts, magazines, tv, and local media you can pitch yourself to that makes the most sense for your PR goals?

Yes, it’d be awesome to be featured on the Today show, but if your ideal audience doesn’t watch the Today show it won’t move the needle much for your bottom line.

Brainstorm relevant places that make sense for your brand and your goals, not just super cool features that aren’t aligned with your purpose.

Craft your pitch

Now let’s start crafting your pitch! You’ll first want to do some brainstorming. This is a step that is often skipped because many see it as a “waste of time” but you couldn’t be more wrong.

You need to start writing down potential pitches for your business before you can go out there and expect to be featured on the Today show. Media often move fast and you don’t want to be caught like a deer in headlights not knowing what the heck to say when they ask you follow up questions.

Journalists and media can sniff through the fluff, they want to see the real story of your business, so don’t hold back.

Here are questions to ask yourself while you are crafting your businesses pitch:

What are topics that you are an expert on or can speak about? What do you want to be known for?

Let’s say for example you’re the CEO of a web design agency (ahem…actually one of my clients, hi Andrew!). The questionnaire I had him fill out asked this exact question, and after a conversation, we decided to focus on the following:

• Web design (obvi)
• Branding
• Social media
• Starting a small business
• Struggles being an entrepreneur
• Starting from nothing
• Failing as an entrepreneur

Answering these questions will help you when you’re looking at places to pitch. You don’t want to get sidetracked and read about all of the places you could pitch in the world, because not all of those will be relevant to you and your business. For example, I won’t be pitching Andrew for any story that is pet related because pets aren’t a part of his story.

What makes your story unique and newsworthy?

You may say, “Nobody will care about my story,” “My story doesn’t matter.” Not true. You just haven’t found the right angle for your story yet.

Everyone has unique story angle because we’re all unique individuals with different strengths. You just may have a hard time crafting your story because you haven’t been taught how. You’re in luck because I’m here to help you!

When you’re thinking about your story, think of your entire life. Think of all the trials and tribulations you’ve had to go through to get where you are now. Think of how your experiences led you to your business. Physically write down (or type out, whatever you prefer!) all of these stories that come to mind.

Or maybe you’re going through a trying time right at this very moment. Write out the feelings that you’re feeling. The self-doubt, the fear, the unknown. All of this can be a part of your story.

Once you have rough drafts of these stories, it’s time to start crafting them into the categories of topics you listed above.

Write a paragraph for each category related to the stories you just wrote down. Weave those stories into the description of each of these categories.

You’ll most likely write more than a paragraph because you won’t have room to fit it all in 4-6 sentences. That’s okay.

I say start with a paragraph because some people feel like they aren’t the best at writing and saying to write a full page would scare the bejeesus out of them. Start small and you can always edit, change, remove, and update your pitches later. We’re just working to get something on paper to start with.

Why should people care about what you’re pitching?

While everyone’s story is unique and interesting in its own way, we must remember that we have to put it into the context of what journalists are writing about now. You will have much better success if you submit to journalists or media if you’re pitching something that they are already looking for. That’s why we have you create your pitch stories first before submitting, so you can know what to be on the lookout for.

Sign up for HARO

Okay, now that we have our stories, let’s find some places to pitch!

Help A Reporter Out (HARO) is a great free resource to check out. Everybody likes free, right? Right!

HARO is an online service that connects journalists and bloggers with sources for the articles and stories they are writing about. Anyone can sign up and pitch themselves (or pitch clients like I do). It’s awesome because these are stories that are already being written. You don’t want to blindly pitch yourself, you want to be targeted and timely when you pitch.

Here’s how to sign up for HARO:

Go to their website & click on “I’m a Source”

Click on “Subscribe now” & select the free option

Fill out the information & receive confirmation email

Confirm your subscription and start pitching!

Here are a few tips on using HARO:

• Remember, you’re only looking for topics that are relevant to your unique pitches.
• You will get three emails every weekday, which yes, can be annoying but it’s also very necessary. These journalists move at a fast pace and they need a quick response. Don’t bother going through a backlog of HARO emails because they will already be expired.
• Journalists don’t often reply back to you, even if they’ve used your quote. Sad, but true. They’re busy people and have deadlines, so I get it. This means you are responsible for keeping track of ones you’ve submitted. I found that several of my clients were mentioned on Redbook, Bustle, Glamour, and Brit + Co without getting a notification.
• Only send them the information that they ask for, period. If you add your entire life story and how much you love their magazine, and blah, blah, blah, they will not pay attention to it. Be concise, yet descriptive.

Send out your pitch

Now you’re ready to send your pitch! Here are a few nuggets of advice I have:

• Don’t start with the big guys if you just started your site 10 days ago. If you aren’t as established yet, there’s still an opportunity for you to be featured on other sites. But what you don’t want is to submit to a huge media outlet like New York Times or Cosmo, get featured, and your site comes crashing down because it can’t handle the web traffic. Start with smaller publications and get used to pitching before you pitch the big boys.
• Keep it as short and sweet as you can: Make sure to link to appropriate pages on your website or social media profiles.
• Follow up: I say this with caution because there are some pitches I would not recommend following up with (example: HARO, do not follow up because they will not answer). But if you are pitching directly to a magazine editor (more on that later in the series), you will want to follow up a few weeks after sending your initial pitch.
• Don’t get discouraged: Your pitch will not be accepted by everyone. Yep, it’s true. “But isn’t that a waste of my time, Brittney?!” Nope! Not at all. You’re learning from your mistakes and previous pitches. No one lands every pitch they send, but sometimes one is all you need to give you a boost.
• Keep trying: It can be discouraging to hear crickets after you’ve sent pitches out, but you have to keep trying. Maybe you need to try a different angle, maybe the timing isn’t right for the pitch (more on that later in the series), maybe you contacted the wrong person. No matter the reason, keep going!

Final Thoughts

Whew, this is probably the longest blog post I’ve ever written but I felt like I needed all 2,000+ words to really educate you on what I know when it comes to PR for small businesses.

In the next post, I’ll be sharing how to authentically connect with media and influencers. Don’t forget to download the free workbook!

If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them below!