FREE . LIVE: Today's TuneUp: What To Pitch The Media Right Now (May)

UPDATE! Katie had to report on a local business story that was timely. This TuneUp webinar has been moved to 4pm EST today. You have a little more time to sign up! It's free for the live version. It will be recorded and placed into the members-only TuneUp Library.

When: Wednesday, May 7, 2025
Time: 4-5pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Register Here >
Activate your membership here >

Today’s TuneUp is free and open for all to attend, starting at 1pm EST. The recording will be made available to members of Tin Shingle, with the rest of our library of TuneUps over the years.

Today’s Agenda:

  • Motivation Minute: Windows close. Windows open.

  • PR Spotlight: Sarah Wells Breast Pump Bags CNN Feature for Tariff Trouble

  • PR Spotlight: How regional magazine Chronogram covered Tariff Trouble for local businesses after PR Lead

  • Editorial Calendar Overview: We will fly through Tin Shingle’s Editorial Calendar Template, to give you ideas for getting into national magazines, local magazines, TV and blogs.

Click here for the free link to the TuneUp in Zoom.

See you soon!

Recap of April 16th's Editorial Meeting :: SEO Long Tail and Guerrilla Local Marketing

Yesterday’s Editorial Meeting was productive! Two Tin Shingle members came onto the call. Each with different needs in different fields. We handled both. And they left with homework assignments. Talking SEO yesterday felt so good! The foundation of organic SEO has not changed in 20 years. Ranking got a lot more competitive now with AI results being at the top, but we can navigate this. Join today for access to the next one.

SEO Strategy: Goal of one member was on how to approach their SEO Strategy in a competitive fashion market. We talked about the "long-tail terms," but also, how to build out a page structure that is like a Table of Contents page, that spider links to the interior pages that they will create. Very effective strategy that most usually benefits shopping websites with products, but can easily be transitioned to content-based websites offering affiliate links.

Guerrilla Local Marketing: Goal of this member was in how to approach potential local clients guerrilla style. We talked about what their current ads look like in local magazines/newspapers, and where they can physically show up. We discussed how to pitch the the location to increase their chance of being considered.

Editorial Meetings for members are Wednesdays at 1pm EST, when we aren't having a live public TuneUp.

Editorial Meeting :: Today 1PM EST 4/16/2025

When: Wednesday, April 16, 2025
Time: 1-2pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

T O D A Y Wednesday:
Tin Shingle’s Group Editorial Meeting!
Your moderator is Katie Hellmuth, regional reporter for Beacon, NY, a train town north of NYC which was recently featured in the New York Times. Katie's local publication is a 2-time award winner for Best Blog in the Hudson Valley, voted on by readers.

Together, focus will be on your planning for which media outlets you are going to pitch your story ideas to, and what your story angle will be. You must have different story angles for different publications.

This is a small group experience. Activate your membership for $150/month or $550/month for community plus private access to Tin Shingle’s creator, Katie Hellmuth, who is a long form independent journalist, blog publisher, writer, poet, and website producer.
Note: Other media experts are welcome to apply to become personal trainers. DM if interested.

The private Zoom link is in our Community Forum on our website right here.

See you soon!

Activate your membership if you haven't already to join the call.

You can book a private session, or you can use your free weekly hour with Katie that comes with your Tin Shingle Membership to tap into your goals to see how you are hitting them.

Editorial Meeting :: Today 1PM EST 4/9/2025

When: Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Time: 1-2pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

T O D A Y Wednesday:
Tin Shingle’s Group Editorial Meeting!
We will focus on your planning for which media outlets you are going to pitch your story ideas to. We can focus on local, regional and national. You will share the space with other members of Tin Shingle. This is a small group experience. Activate your membership for $150/month or $550/month for community plus private access to Tin Shingle’s creator, Katie Hellmuth, who is a long form independent journalist, blog publisher, writer, poet, and website producer.
Note: Other media experts are welcome to apply to become personal trainers. DM if interested.

The private Zoom link is in our Community Forum on our website right here.

See you soon!

Activate your membership if you haven't already to join the call.

You can book a private session, or you can use your free weekly hour with Katie that comes with your Tin Shingle Membership to tap into your goals to see how you are hitting them.

FREE . LIVE: Today's TuneUp Link: Motivation Minute: "Fear is a necessary precondition to courage." - Cory Booker

Today’s TuneUp is free and open for all to attend, starting at 1pm EST. The recording will be made available to members of Tin Shingle, with the rest of our library of TuneUps over the years.

Today’s Agenda:

  • Motivation Minute: Inspiration from the 14th hour of Cory Booker’s speech yesterday: “Fear is a necessary precondition to courage.”

  • Pitching Tip: Ways to tip-toe into including politics into your brand. More than one of you were busting out of your brands yesterday for the first time. We can discuss subtle ways to do this.

  • Editorial Calendar Overview: We will fly through Tin Shingle’s Editorial Calendar Template, to give you ideas for getting into national magazines, local magazines, TV and blogs.

  • Trending: We will cover at least one theme that is trending right now that several of you will fit into.

Click here for the free link to the TuneUp in Zoom.

See you soon!

FREE . LIVE: Today's TuneUp On How And What To Pitch The Media Right Now (April)

Today’s TuneUp is free and open for all to attend, starting at 1pm EST. The recording will be made available to members of Tin Shingle, with the rest of our library of TuneUps over the years.

Today’s Agenda:

  • Motivation Minute: Kicking it off by kicking you in the pants.

  • Editorial Calendar Overview: We will fly through Tin Shingle’s Editorial Calendar Template, to give you ideas for getting into national magazines, local magazines, TV and blogs.

  • Trending: We will cover at least one theme that is trending right now that several of you will fit into.

  • Pitching Concepts: How To Hook A Reporter. We will discuss.

  • FAQ: “Should I pitch local or national?” We will discuss.

  • Should We…XYZ?: Should your brand do XYZZ? We will discuss if your brand should pursue a certain topic or not in your overall brand strategy.

  • Tin Shingle’s Own Rebrand: Tin Shingle may change the name of our private, members'-only TuneUps to be called “Editorial Meetings.” We can discuss, and welcome feedback.

Click here for the free link to the TuneUp in Zoom.

See you soon!

You Gotta Tell Them :: Get Behind The Chair

I’m a content creator. A storyteller. I constantly circulate in story ideas as I digest research for an article to see what it all means and how it will fit together. However, it can be hard to stop that story cycle in order to make space for telling my audience what they can buy from my business.

While I market other companies for a living, and train people like you in how to do it, it’s easy to forget to market my own.

What Marketing Wrench Do I Use?

The marketing wrench is needed to throw into the wheels of the day to day - no matter how creatively enjoyable - to stop them in order to think of how to market your own business. What marketing wrench do I use? For inspiration and a nudge, I look to salon owner, Audrina Clyde who opened Ladi Jai Luxury Hair and Beauty Salon in Grayson, Georgia.

Both her business Instagram and her personal Instagram.

For my situation, what I sell is content. Words. Pictures. Stories. Ideas. For Audrina, she sells tangible things. Hair styling. Color. Braiding. Cuts. If I’m constantly researching, writing and publishing articles, I need to stop sometimes to show and tell people how to buy advertising or my content production services. To throw the wrench to stop the wheels, I check in on how Audrina is doing it. I put myself behind the chair (a salon term), and let the market wheels turn.

Audrina is constantly showcasing her work - the hair of her clients. She includes the mood. The vibe of how her clients feel after they leave her chair.

Audrina let’s you know when there is an opening. She reminds you to book before a holiday. Audrina is tapped in to her client base. She is leading them to where she needs them to buy.

If you’re a creative, your comfort zone may be circulating in your ideas and then finishing those ideas. Luckily for a salon owner, they have to be out there, in the world with other people, to show up and put out. They need people to walk through the door.

Getting the money is very clear for a salon owner: you have a salon, which pays rent, and you need clients to book their times in your chair. You get the money, you pay the rent. You hire employees, or other stylists who are renting chairs, and you get the money, pay the rent, pay yourself to pay your house rent or mortgage, all your bills, all your bills for your kids, and then some profit for your savings, for your future self in retirement, and for your present self for your own hair upkeep, etc.

Once thought of in this formula , marketing becomes much easier.

When Audrina first opened Ladi Jai, she threw herself a red carpet ribbon cutting. She called the local Chamber, and everyone got dressed.

Audrina used to be my neighbor in Beacon, NY, where I live. Then, after years of waiting in the wings until I broke up with my stylist (a good breakup, just needed a new thing), Audrina became my stylist. I’ve watched her blossom and now command her marketing moves.

Audrina is a gifted colorist. A solid hustler.

Here’s the short list of how she spins it on her personal and professional Instagrams:

  • Book your spot now.

  • Showing off her work: client’s hair.

  • Announcing when she’s hiring.

  • Motivational quotes. Audrina is FIRE with pushing people ahead and to keep going.

She’s always taking people through the salon. Showing them what they can expect. How they will feel in Lady Jai.

She’s constantly thinking of new ideas, and executing them. Key to any business owner is to turn that idea into action. Audrina does that. And then she tells you about it.

Need a bump into the direction of action? Join Tin Shingle’s Community and start tossing around you ideas. Our weekly TuneUps or Editorial Meetings will be your space to hold you accountable. Need specialized help? Book a Private Training Session, or upgrade your membership for regular access as needed.

Editorial Meeting :: Members-Only TuneUp Office Hour

When: Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Time: 1-2pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

Today we will discuss a press release that worked. It successfully used federal issues and brought it down to local impact. The article writes itself after that.

We can discuss how to do this for your business during today's Editorial Meeting TuneUp.

Activate your membership if you haven't already to join the call.

You can book a private session, or you can use your free weekly hour with Katie that comes with your Tin Shingle Membership to tap into your goals to see how you are hitting them.

About TuneUp Office Hours

If you are a member of Tin Shingle, come on today's Members-Only TuneUp! These are open for members only, and and not open to the public. This is a safe space for Tin Shingle Members to come in with brainstorms to give and get feedback.

You can turn on your video camera to speak eye-to-eye, or just talk on the phone or through your computer speakers.

In this series, members of Tin Shingle with the Media Kit Membership can call in to workshop any need in their marketing campaign, including:

  • Media Pitching: What a pitch to a certain media outlet should look like, and how it should read.

  • Instagram: How to get sales and create PR opportunities from you posts.

  • Facebook: How do you increase traffic from this platform?

  • Website: The media will circle back to evaluate their website. What are they seeing, and is it clear?

  • SEO: What's your game plan? Let's get one. You don't want to miss out on all that search traffic.

Strategy Hour :: Members-Only TuneUp Office Hour

When: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Time: 1-2pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

You can book a private session, or you can use your free weekly hour with Katie that comes with your Tin Shingle Membership to tap into your goals to see how you are hitting them.

We are breaking the goal down into tiny steps so that you can experience progress every day.

Because when hit your goal, there will be a moment of triumph, and then it's off to living through that achievement to do the things you need to do once you acquired it.

Activate your membership if you haven't already to join the call.

About TuneUp Office Hours

If you are a member of Tin Shingle, come on today's Members-Only TuneUp! These are open for members only, and and not open to the public. This is a safe space for Tin Shingle Members to come in with brainstorms to give and get feedback.

You can turn on your video camera to speak eye-to-eye, or just talk on the phone or through your computer speakers.

In this series, members of Tin Shingle with the Media Kit Membership can call in to workshop any need in their marketing campaign, including:

  • Media Pitching: What a pitch to a certain media outlet should look like, and how it should read.

  • Instagram: How to get sales and create PR opportunities from you posts.

  • Facebook: How do you increase traffic from this platform?

  • Website: The media will circle back to evaluate their website. What are they seeing, and is it clear?

  • SEO: What's your game plan? Let's get one. You don't want to miss out on all that search traffic.

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"Are You Delusional?" :: Yes. Yes You Are. You Are A Creator.

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We are living in delusional times right now. Monday’s news of Saturday’s abduction of the green card carrying Columbia graduate student (pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Administration, according to USA Today) and pro-Palestinian organizer, Mahmoud Khalil by federal immigration agents frightened everybody who is paying attention. Then the protests erupted Monday in Mahmoud’s name demanding his release. And then Democracy Now reported that Trump said: “This is the first arrest of many to come.“ This has been extremely distracting and deeply concerning, as Mahmoud’s abduction impacts us all. Yet, is consistent with American history of disappearing people it finds too loud or inconvenient.

Meanwhile, Monday at Tin Shingle was designated Motivation Monday, so we had this article titled “Are You Delusional?” planned. Just as we were getting ready to publish, more news came out. The Ontario Premier Doug Ford declared that Ontario will apply a 25% surcharge on electricity exports for homes and businesses in Minnesota, Michigan and New York if Trump keeps up his tariffs on Canada. The Premier also threatened to shut the electricity off completely for these American states, as aired on CNN. He has been promising this since the threat of tariffs on Canada were spoken by this administration.

But Let’s Focus On The Motivational Message

Yes, let’s. We are carrying on with this planned post about how to feel when someone asks you the wretched question: “Are you delusional?” It can happen from time to time to business owners, creators, artists and organizers who are…creating things, often times, from things that don’t exist.

Let’s explore this questions and see how to use it to strengthen you into a solid core that will grow roots from your fingers and toes to flourish.

How To Answer And Digest The Cutting Question “Are Your Delusional?”

As you’re thinking your big thoughts out loud, some may respond to you with: “Are you delusional?!”

The result of which can be a cracking of your heart. A breakage of faith that you thought someone had in you. The chink in your armor may set you back. Deflate you.

But it needn’t. You see, you are delusional. You are a person who turns ideas into action. You are a dream maker. Sounds cheesy, but it’s the truth.

They say: “Dream big.” You say: “Ok!”

Embrace this question. If it haunts you as a doubter-voice in the corner of your brain, just punch it back, and own it. Don’t ignore it. Absorb it.

Focus on your list of things to do that you know will make this happen.

It might take longer than you think. It might go down a road or several roads you never imagined. But it will happen if you believe in it.

Keep going.

Need A Push?

Tin Shingle is an empowerment zone for business owners, creators and organizers getting the word out about their business. Direct access to Tin Shingle's owner Katie Hellmuth is possible through our Private Training services. Katie is a reporter at her hyper local blog, A Little Beacon Blog, and a podcast co-host for the show "Wait, What Is That?"
Hire her today for you or your team to hone down on what needs to happen to get your business to the next step.
The group membership is also available, which gets you access to Tin Shingle's video library of our educational series called TuneUps.

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