Wear Your Brand's Feelings On Packaging To Build Bonds With Your Customers

Picture of the card included in Comfrt packaging.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth

The Comfrt hoodie arrived in the mail, and these two cards spilled out.

“REMINDER:” the card said. “The voice in your head isn’t always right. You’re okay, even if it doesn’t feel like it yet.”

What a relief. The package that arrived on time in the mail was from a sister to a brother for his birthday. Instead of being just another thing to enter his wardrobe, this reassuring message lay on the table, patiently waiting to improve anyone’s day.

Putting meaningful messaging on your branding in a non-invasive way can strengthen the bond between your business and your customers without you ever sending an email or automating an SMS followup.

A second card was behind the first. As if we needed even more help getting through the day. Sure enough, Comfort gave us a plan for what to do for the type of day we were having. Actions to take if you are experiencing any of the following symptoms:

Picture of the card included in Comfrt packaging.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth

Overthinking ————> Write
Anxious ————> Move
Tired ————> Read
Confused ————> Walk
Sad ————> Exercise

Such simple emotions, matched with simple actions. For a comfortable sweatshirt company that can easily be marketed as “weighted therapy clothing,” like the “weighted blankets,” these recommendations are golden.

If you are in need of golden good marketing ideas, head over to Tin Shingle’s Membership Options for ways to access Tin Shingle to put your ideas into action.

If you are in need of creative and refreshing packaging, Tin Shingle’s sister company Katie James Inc. can help. Reach out.

Editorial Meeting Today: 1pm EST 2/25/2026

When: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Time: 1-1:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

Today Wednesday is Tin Shingle's Editorial Planning TuneUp, where members of Tin Shingle can call into a Zoom call to discuss areas of their business they need to fine tune for marketing. This happens every Wednesday at 1pm. Sometimes it's a public broadcast, but lately it's been private for members only. Today's conversations can include:

• Awards/Recognition Season: How to pitch and best position yourself for awards and recognition opportunities, like the recent one for Hudson Valley residents happening at HUDSY TV.

• Newsletter: Are you sending one to your customers. If so, what does it say and look like? What is the goal of each one? If not, why not? Dependence on social media is a crutch, despite its effectiveness.

• SEO (Search Engine Optimization): How is your website positioned in search engines for each page. Are the people coming, and if so, what are they doing once they land on your pages.

Join today at 1pm EST if you have an active Tin Shingle Membership.
www.tinshingle.com/membership

Private sessions are available for purchase, or in the Level 2 Membership for ongoing training and strategizing.
If these weekly times don't work for you, and you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business, or upgrade your membership to include the open-channel dialogue so that you can get help and guidance on your time.

See you soon.

You can book a private session, or you can this free weekly group session 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 2/04/2026

When: Wednesday, February 04, 2026
Time: 1-1:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

These are fast-moving times. First Tin Shingle's owner Katie was surviving maintaining a business while openly publishing about Palestine and the genocide inflicted there by Israel and funded by the United States.

Next, actually several nexts later, ICE brutality and lawlessness is leading the headlines. After enduring bullying for her Palestine coverage, the online bullying increased when she began publishing about ICE.

Now, it's the Epstein files. More and more and more of everything is being revealed, and it's all connected. Katie now has to interrupt her day to focus on her hyper local blog, A Little Beacon Blog, to publish about a Beacon resident who was appointed to a City of Beacon Board of Assessment after he has been found in the Epstein files, and was just written about at the Hudson Valley Post.

These are fast moving times. If you're wondering how to navigate them in your business, we can discuss that on today's Member's Only Editorial Meeting.

If you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business.

See you soon.

You can book a private session, or you can this free weekly group session 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 1/7/2026

When: Wednesday, January 7, 2026
Time: 1-1:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

Happy New Year!

Tin Shingle's Member-Only Editorial Meetings are a small-space for members to come in to discuss marketing strategies. Members can bring their own strategies and actions and receive feedback from Tin Shingle's owner, Katie Hellmuth, as well as any other member who is there. Usually only one or two people attend at a time. This is group-level guidance. Private planning is available in the next level of membership.

Today we can focus on:

• Ads: What ads are you placing in publications or festivals, and do they visually lead back to your brand?

• Media Pitches: What exactly you are pitching to the media? What story ideas are you using? What timely angles are you taking advantage of?

• Social Media Content: Is your content focused to driving sales? How are you guiding people directly to what you sell, while creating content that is the foundational brand storytelling that builds relationships with your readers?

If you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business.

See you soon.

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

Editorial Meeting Today: 12:15pm EST 10/15/2025

When: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Time: 12:15-12:45pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

Apologies for the delay in getting you today's members-only link to the Editorial Meeting! Today will go from 12:15pm-12:45pm. Click here to join. You'll need your Tin Shingle login.

Next week, we will open this up to the public so that you can experience it if you are not a member yet.

Do you have a publicity our outreach challenge you are facing for your brand? Let's strategize it today during Tin Shingle's Member's Only TuneUp.

Today we can focus on:

• Media Pitches: What exactly you are pitching to the media. What story ideas are you using. What timely angles are you taking advantage of.

• Social Media Content: Is your content focused to driving sales. How are you guiding people directly to what you sell, while creating content that is the foundational brand storytelling that builds relationships with your readers.

If you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business.

See you soon.

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

Good News! Inside Our Editorial Meeting Today For You: 12pm EST 10/08/2025

When: Wednesday, October 8, 2025
Time: 12-12:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

Good news! The Vimeo account of our sister local media publication A Little Beacon Blog was restored by the video-sharing platform,  after their AI auto-terminated the entire account in less than 2 minutes from a video of a pastor speaking critically about CK tripped some wires.

Do you have a publicity our outreach challenge you are facing for your brand? Let's strategize it today during Tin Shingle's Member's Only TuneUp.

Today we can focus on:

• Media Pitches: What exactly you are pitching to the media. What story ideas are you using. What timely angles are you taking advantage of.

• Social Media Content: Is your content focused to driving sales. How are you guiding people directly to what you sell, while creating content that is the foundational brand storytelling that builds relationships with your readers.

If you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business.

See you soon.

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

Editorial Meeting Today For You: 12pm EST 10/01/2025

When: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
Time: 12-12:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

October has started and for some, the fall weather has arrived. Let's plan your content now.

Today we can focus on:

• Media Pitches: What exactly you are pitching to the media. What story ideas are you using. What timely angles are you taking advantage of.

• Social Media Content: Is your content focused to driving sales. How are you guiding people directly to what you sell, while creating content that is the foundational brand storytelling that builds relationships with your readers.

If you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business.

See you soon.

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

Editorial Meeting Today For You: 2pm EST 9/24/2025

When: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Time: 12-12:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

Today's group Editorial Meeting will be at 12pm noon EST and will be for 30 minutes. Katie needs to go to court right after to take notes for a local murder she is covering.

Today we can focus on:

• Media Pitches: What exactly you are pitching to the media. What story ideas are you using. What timely angles are you taking advantage of.

• Social Media Content: Is your content focused to driving sales. How are you guiding people directly to what you sell, while creating content that is the foundational brand storytelling that builds relationships with your readers.

If you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business.

See you soon.

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

Editorial Meeting Today For You: 2pm EST 9/17/2025

When: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Time: 2-2:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Member's Only Link >
Activate your membership here >

Today we are focusing on how to research for specific Media Contacts for your story angle. Using Tin Shingle's owner Katie as the example:

Yesterday, the Vimeo account (a video publishing platform) for Katie's local media publication, A Little Beacon Blog, was terminated after she uploaded a video of the Pastor Howard-John Wesley delivering his sermon on Sunday in which he criticized the federal order to lower the flags to half-staff, and used the R word when describing the man for which the flags were ordered to be lowered. On a day when school children were also murdered, and at least 2 lynchings of Black young adults have since happened. Yet no flags have been ordered half-staff.

Vimeo's termination happened 2 minutes after the video was uploaded. Which means that no human reviewed that video clip, and that AI skimmed it and terminated the entire account. Years worth of videos and work.

Katie has published an article about the situation at her local blog, and is pitching the media who specializes in AI, Business News, and Community Guidelines. She is aiming for coverage from Wired Magazine, and the New Yorker. She will be seeking ideas about other publications and news outlets like CNN during today's Editorial Meeting.

This is how members of Tin Shingle can use their membership. Today, Katie is acting like a member. Like any of you.

Today we can focus on:

• Media Pitches: What exactly you are pitching to the media. What story ideas are you using. What timely angles are you taking advantage of.

• Social Media Content: Is your content focused to driving sales. How are you guiding people directly to what you sell, while creating content that is the foundational brand storytelling that builds relationships with your readers.

If you need private sessions, book Tin Shingle's Private Training for direct access to Editorial Strategy for your business.

See you soon.

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: What To Pitch The Media (September)

When: Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Time: 12-12:30pm EST
Where: Remote (Zoom)
Join The Meeting Here >
There is no registration. Just tap the link and enter the Waiting Room.
Activate your membership here >

Today’s TuneUp is free and open for all to attend, starting at 12pm EST.

September is the time to begin again. If you didn't do it last year, you have another chance this year. Bottle all of those back-to-school vibes into your to-do list to get done the big picture to create the success you've been plotting.

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:

• Print Media Pitching September: What to pitch the media now for print media placement later.

• Ask Your Questions: Any time, ask your questions via Chat.

• Motivation Minute: No one can do it quite like you do.

• 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.

See you soon!