Last week, I told you my big goal is to grow this newsletter. To do that, I’d love to add YOUR testimonial to the sign-up page.
So, I have one big ask today…
Can you hit reply, let me know your thoughts, and how this newsletter has impacted you?
You can mention a particular story or strategy that resonated with you, a positive change it brought about, or simply how my newsletter brightens your day.
When you reply, make sure to send me your name and title.
Another nudge? This is a potential backlink opportunity!
👉🏻 CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE BECOME A MEDIA MAVEN NEWSLETTER.
🐣 How this whole thing got started
If you didn’t know, here is a quick bit of my founder story…
I was burnt out on TV news.
Standing in a hurricane for 12 hours straight isn’t as fun as it once was.
Plus, I had two kids and needed something more flexible that didn’t force me to wake up at 2 am to anchor the 6 am news.
So, I did what lots of journalists do and got into public relations.
I lasted at an agency with your stereotypical terrible boss for 6 months before I said screw it and went off on my own.
The first two years were tough, no – miserable, because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing running a business.
I was working 12 hours a day, every single day, with inconsistent income month to month.
I knew how to get clients media coverage, but I didn’t know how to get clients, charge them, get them to sign a contract, and all the other things that go along with running a business.
I managed to find some of my first clients on LinkedIn and UpWork, charging next to nothing but delivering huge success stories – like free attention in The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Men’s Fitness, and the Today Show.
Fast forward a couple of years and a $15,000 investment into my first business coach and I started to build a team, create digital products to help solopreneurs who didn’t have an agency budget, launch a podcast, start this newsletter… and ultimately, call all the shots on my terms.
I love hearing how other people start successful businesses. I think so much can be learned from their proven strategies.
Last week, I told you I just joined the Starter Story community, but here’s another option that won’t cost you anything.
It’s called First Class Founders.
To learn from other founders each week, join 6,000+ others and subscribe to First Class Founders.
💻 It’s all about the SEO now
A big part of earning media exposure is SEO.
This has changed in the last few years, so it’s something I want you to keep in mind when you are coming up with stories to pitch.
At many media outlets, journalists are given a headline title or keyword phrase and told to work based on that.
Why?
Because the media company wants visitors and clicks. It’s how they make money!
In addition to SEO, journalists are also jumping on what’s trending because doing stories on trending topics gets you ahead of the SEO game.
Google Trends is a great resource for this.
For example, look at all the Barbie stuff making the news.
Because it’s trending, so many people have been cashing in by jumping on it.
Creators on Etsy making “I am Kenough” hoodies, Burger King’s pink burger, Airbnb’s Barbie Dream House… I could go on.
I’ve already told you that I love RankIQ for keyword research, but let me share a new resource today.
It’s called The Keyword.
I like to think of it as my cheat sheet for what’s new at Google, Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc… and why it matters.
I’m using it to see what news is trending so I can jump on it to think of clever pitches that are relevant and newsworthy NOW!
(When you subscribe, you get a Google Slides Deck with all the key updates from last month if you want to get up-to-speed.)
🤖 You, me, and AI
Now, let’s make crafting these SEO pitches or contributed articles easy to create.
Use AI to your advantage and be more productive and efficient… but use it right!
Here are some things you can do:
- Use it as a personal brainstorming assistant. Don’t forget to tell it WHY you need help brainstorming. Context is key.
- Create a schedule by letting it know what your priorities are to hit your goals.
- Summarize a looooong or complicated news article to save you time.
- Write the nuts and bolts of a blog post. Remember, AI doesn’t have a personality, so you will need to go through and make edits to give your blog post some pizzazz, but you’d have to do this anyway with an inexpensive writer you hire overseas anyway, right?
A few months ago, I purchased a dirt cheap course called AI Mastery to help me save time and properly format prompts to get massive returns on my use of the (currently) free platform.
👉🏻 CLICK HERE TO RECEIVE THE BECOME A MEDIA MAVEN NEWSLETTER.
Whew! That was a lot for one day.
Don’t forget to let me know what you think of this newsletter. I’d really appreciate it.
…and if you missed it, here are five reasons NOT to work with a publicist who has a pay-per-placement model.
When you’re ready, here are three ways I can help you.
- Spend less than an hour learning the 5 simple steps to getting featured in the media without spending money on ads. This masterclass is FREE!
- In three hours, I’ll teach you how to pitch the media to earn publicity and turn it into profit. Click here to join my bootcamp now.
- Are you ready to bring PR in-house? In my Media Mentoring Program, you or a VA can learn how to become a publicist with the skills of a big PR agency.
