[PR] TuneUp: Pitching The Media All The Ways: Social Media and Alternative Ways

We're talking about all the ways to pitch the media these days - the alternative ways. When you can't find an email, you go rogue on LinkedIn, DMs, Contact Us pages, even Text (gasp!).

This TuneUp covers all the ways to do this.

HOW TO WATCH

Anyone can watch a Tin Shingle TuneUp from their computer, mobile phone or tablet. The process is different for premium members and the public.

MEMBERS OF TIN SHINGLE (FREE)

Stream any TuneUp Webinar anytime with your Tin Shingle membership. No need to purchase it, this TuneUp is ready to play from this page! When you are logged in, you will see a big screen.

NON-MEMBERS ($65)

Once you buy a TuneUp, you own it forever. The video or audio recording will appear on the TuneUp page that you just purchased from, and all you need to do is press play.

How To Find A New Person In The Media For Getting The Word Out

If you are looking for media contacts, aka "people who work in the media that you really want to write about your business," you’ve come to the right place! Tin Shinglers with a Media Kit Membership have access to our database full of hundreds of contacts from LA contacts to contacts for food!

Here's the thing - you might not know hat media outlet to hit up. You might not know about a local newspaper or obscure podcast. So Tin Shingle built a search tool for that!

Let's say you are looking for media contacts for people who write about local businesses in and around Los Angeles.

You would log into your member account at Tin Shingle, and go to the Media Contact Idea Center.

From there, you'd see this easy box that says "Areas of Interest," and you'd start typing LA or Los Angeles.

A list of suggestions would begin coming up.

We made a little video for you to show you what we mean…

Pitch This: The Mother's Day Gift Guide Ideas You Should Pitch In November

During our last PR challenge meeting, we refined a pitching angle for one of the Tin Shingle Media Members who has big goals and a long list of magazines they want to pitch. The easiest way to write a good pitch is to pick 1 magazine at a time, pick it apart for openings, and pitch it.

Through this process, we realized that the Tin Shingler had not one, but TWO pitching opportunities right now - in November - to hit. Working with our Time Zones approach, which is when we realize that even though it’s winter right now, magazines are working on spring, we were thinking two approaches:

• Timely: What time of year is it that the editorial team is working on? This PR Challenge meeting was in mid-November, so we were thinking April. We looked at Tin Shingle’s Editorial Calendar Collection for magazine they were targeting - Shape. We reviewed Shape’s broad theme for May, and started chewing on a good story angle. We reviewed Shape’s broad theme for May, and started chewing on a good story angle. Keep in mind, this is not the same Time Zone that TV, Blogs, Weekly and Regional Magazines are working on. Pitching Mother's Day would be too early.

• Gift Guide! "Great Scott!" Katie cried, during the PR Challenge call. "It's Mother's Day Gift Guide Pitching Season! You have 2 opportunities right now!"

What Are The Next Steps For This Business?

Now the Communications Director and the Business Owner of this business had two homework assignments:

1. Pitch Shape for the story angle we discussed, or that they have brainstormed.

2. Pitch other magazines for Mothers Day Gift Guide ideas!

Which brings us to this article for you: You've got homework too. Pitching those Mothers Day Gift Guides! If there are any still open.

You're not going to blanket pitch (aka sending 1 pitch to the same 20 outlets). No no no. You are going to specialize each of these Gift Guide Ideas for the right magazine.

Example: You wouldn’t pitch the same Gift Guide idea to Bust that you would to Shape (if either of those usually even has a Mothers Day Gift Guide).

How You're Going To Pitch Mother's Day:

• Listen to the Tin Shingle TuneUp on it. Media Members get to stream it for free any time.

• Listen to another Tin Shingle TuneUp about writing an amazing pitch.

• Think of a really catchy Gift Guide theme. Yeah, that's right! Pitch the really cool idea of a theme you have!

• Make that pitch really short. Quick intro, followed by bullet points about your product.

• Pick 1 product. Not your entire line, or your entire company at large.

• Don't leave it for the editor to dig through your website to find the perfect gift idea. Be on point. Deliver it to them.

Here are 15 Mothers Day Gift Guide Ideas for you to take and use!

• Gift Ideas for the Over-Scheduled Mom

• Gift Ideas for the New Mom

• Gift Ideas for Soccer Moms

• Gift Ideas for Dance Moms

• Gift Ideas for Busy Moms Who Don't Make Dinner

• Gift Ideas for Moms Who Still Make Dinner

• Gift Ideas for Moms Obsessed With Slow Cookers

• Gift Ideas for Gluten Free Families

• Gift Ideas for Crafty Moms

• Gift Ideas for Moms Who Returned To Work

• Gift Ideas for Moms Who Returned To School

• Gift Ideas for Moms Who Run Their Own Business

• Gift Ideas for Moms in Mourning

• Gift Ideas for Fitness Obsessed Moms

• Gift Ideas for Moms Who Are BFFs Through Their Kids

Where To Get More Help and Ideas

Talk about what kind of media coverage you are trying to get with other Tin Shingle Members in our Community Forum. This is a private forum on our website, and is a supportive and safe space. Tin Shingle’s Media Membership was created for business owners, artists and makers who are getting the word out about their business.

How Concious Living Expert Christine Agro Landed 2 Morning Show Segments At Once

Christine Agro is a member of Tin Shingle and therefore a friend. When I saw in her social feeds that she was on a plane preparing to fly to Connecticut to film a morning show segment, I reached out right away to learn more about the big PR score, in order to find out more about how she did it, and share it here with you Tin Shinglers.

Christine was kind enough to give us the pitching play by play! For anyone pitching the media, if you need help with your actual pitch email, Tin Shingle’s Pitch Whisperer Program is a direct level of help that you can use. Available the public, we can write your pitch from scratch. Available to Members of Tin Shingle, you can copy/paste your draft email into our special Pitch Whisperer Forum and get feedback on it from myself and other members. Outside viewpoints are so valuable!

Here’s how the pitching-to-air-time went down:

Pitching August - February

I started pitching TV segments at the end of August. Each week, I sent out a new pitch.

A Response In February! Of…”No Thank You”

At the end of February, I got a ‘no thank you’ from my contact at Fox32 in Chicago. This was the first response I received from her. I took it as a good sign!

Pivots On Her Pitching In March

In Mid-March, I had pitches set to go, but decided to look what else was happening in March. It turned out the following week was Introvert week.

I was in Miami to do a talk, but I still sent my pitches out.

In my MotivateHer group program, I’ve been working with my clients to step up and into being more visible. Dealing with fears, anxieties, uncertainties. I work with them on the energetic difference between Beyonce on the red carpet of the MTV awards as a correspondent - vs - the Beyonce that stepped fully into her Bey-ness two years later.

I’ve been doing the same work on myself. While in Miami, I was sitting in mediation and looked at where I wanted the visibility – mostly, but there was still a part of me that was holding back. I peeled that away and the next day…

I heard back from two producers. The one in Chicago and one in Connecticut. Both wanted me to come in that week, but I was in Miami. I responded that I was not available and asked what other dates they had. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Very key! Christine was persistent. She presented the other dates.]

Both came back with options and I scheduled them both. Chicago asked me to fill out a form with suggested intro and outro (that surprised me). Connecticut asked for a few speaking points.

THE DREAD CREEPS IN

While waiting for my plane to Chicago, I felt that familiar feeling of ‘why did I say I would do this’ – the Introverts Dilemma, I call it.

I realized that despite having the energy tools to deal with this, in the past, I let it overcome me and did what I teach my students not to do - pushed it down, or away and tried to manage it.

With 3 hours to wait, I decided to get to work on this energy. I started picking apart the energy, identifying what it was made up of, decided whether it had merit (none of it did) cleared it all out and by the time I got on the set in Chicago, I was great.

DAYS OF THE MORNING SHOW SEGMENTS

I had hair and make-up done for both morning shows.

Chicago: the show had a Blue Room. A producer took me into the studio where I waited for the anchor to come and do the interview.

Connecticut: A producer brought me into the studio and had a row of chairs for guests to sit and wait while the entire show was happening right in front of me. I had a tiny bit of energy come up but I cleared it here too.

LIFE AFTER THE MORNING SHOW SEGMENTS

I followed up right away with thank you notes that I sent via email.

One week later, I resumed pitching them with new ideas!

Pitch This: Sift, the Magazine from King Arthur Flour

Since 2015, the flour company, King Arthur Flour which is based in Vermont, has been producing a magazine called Sift and selling it from the shelves of grocery stores, book stores and shopping clubs including Sams, Walmart, Giant Eagle, Meyers, Stop-n-Shop, and many others. The magazine is published in a velvet finish with thick pages - quite a luxury read - and features 75 recipes produced mainly by its food editor (who is also a chef), Susan Reid, and feature stories usually produced by its Managing Editor, Posie Brien.

Sift is only sold in stores and is not available for subscription. Specialty magazines like this are on the rise, and it’s triggering our impulse to collect.

Print Magazines Continue To Publish In Niche Genres

When traditional magazines from publishers like Conde Naste and Meredith are announcing the ceasing of print publications, what are new niche magazines like Sift thinking? Here’s what they know: the power of paper, branding, reach, and the reading experience.

Has the magazine been successful for King Arthur Flour? We interviewed Sift Magazine’s Food Editor, Susan Reid to find out: “King Arthur Flour has been around since George Washington was president, but has only recently (last 25 years) become a national brand. Sift is one of the ways we’re trying to build awareness in areas that may not know about us. Yes, we’d call it a success.”

Setting King Arthur apart is also their status as a Certified B Corporation. According to bcrporation.net: “Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.”

“People do pitch the magazine, but 80% of the pitches are off-base and not a fit. In order to pitch Sift, the idea needs to be about flour, King Arthur Flour, and fit within the high quality standards of a B Corporation.”

Opportunities For Other Brands Being Featured In Sift Magazine

While the chance for being featured in Sift is small, the feature would carry that much more weight, since one respected brand is recommending another in their publication.

Susan gave us some insight into what they look to feature in the magazine. Before you pitch, remember why Sift was started: to educate bakers of all levels about flour - specifically King Arthur Flour.

There are other people and products outside of King Arthur Flour’s brand who make it into the pages of Sift, but qualifying is tight. People do pitch the magazine, but according to Susan, 80% of the pitches are off-base and not a fit. In order to pitch Sift, the idea needs to be about flour, King Arthur Flour, and fit within the high quality standards of a B Corporation.

And Now, Our Interview With Susan Reid, Food Editor of Sift:

Q: I must admit - I never gave second thought to what flour I bought, and didn’t know how to tell the difference between any of them. Until I got Sift Magazine.

A: Flour is the backbone of any baking recipe, and it can vary much more than people are aware of. That’s one of the reasons we’ve redesigned our flour bags to feature each flour’s protein content, and launched the flour IQ campaign, because you are not alone!

Flour is very frequently taken for granted, and using a flour that isn’t consistent not only causes problems but creates confusion. Bakers who get sub-optimal results often don’t know that the flour could be an issue.

Q: Does Sift feature products from other companies in the magazine?

A: It depends. Our focus is on companies we that meet our standards (we’re a registered B corporation) and baker’s needs. We work with American Pans, NordicWare, and lots of cool Vermont producers.

Q: How long do you work on each issue? What is your lead time for an Editorial Calendar?

A: The issues overlap; we just sent Spring 2019 to the printer [as of March 2019]; we are in the middle of booking/executing photography for Fall, and are finalizing content for Holiday and starting to test recipes for that. I’d say each issue, start to finish, is about 6 months. We are about 9 months ahead of our drop dates.

There are 3 issues per year: Spring, Fall, Holiday. The magazine always drops on the last Tuesday of the month they come out. March for Spring, August for Fall, October for Holiday.

Q: How do you get your leads on people to feature, like artisan bakers or bakeries? Can people pitch you?

A: Many of the bakeries we feature are ones that use/buy a lot of our flour; our Bakery Foodservice division sells as much or more flour as we do in grocery stores.

We do look at pitches, but find that 80% of them haven’t taken the time to understand what our regular features are, what we’ve already published, or considered that our primary function is to encourage and inspire baking that uses our flour.

We keep an eye out for new book titles in the pipeline, and have worked with some authors to pick up some of their content and photography if they’ll also give us 2 exclusive recipes for the magazine.

Recommendations For Bakers + Cafes Pitching Sift

Pitch Sift if you use King Arthur Flour and have a story to tell. You might not need to know what season the magazine is working on at the moment, but you could check for Sift in Tin Shingle’s Editorial Calendar Collection to know if you want to put a Holiday or Spring angle on your pitch. Otherwise, this type of a pitch on a person or cafe will be seasonless, but you’ll want to be sure it includes the use of King Arthur Flour.

Featured in Sift’s 2018 Holiday issue are Jonathan Bethony and Jessica Azeez. Jonathan attended The Bread Lab at Washington State University, of which King Arthur Flour is a supporter with their substantial endowment to the Bread Lab to help it continue for years.

Gift Guides For Bakers

Most of the products recommended in Sift are from King Arthur Flour, but not all. Some books and products are from outside brands. To qualify for editorial consideration, King Arthur Flour is a Certified B Corporation, which means they need to meet high quality standards for being a good corporate citizen before recommending it. Include why your brand would fit this requirement in your pitch. The products will need to have to do with baking.

Authors and Experts

If you’re an author of an expert, you do have a chance that the editors may want to work with you. If you design recipes, Sift is going to want to use 2 of them, exclusively. Stay on point, and remember, your pitch will have to do with baking.

How To Pitch Sift - Who To Pitch?

Both Susan and Posie are in Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Library for your to find their social handles, portfolios and other relevant information for pitching them. Posie also writes for her blog at PosieHarwood.com, and has the most incredible food photos and recipes. She has also written for other major food magazines including Tasting Table, Food52, and Bon Appetit.

You would discover both of these editors in Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Library if you were looking for writers or editors who we have identified with Areas of Interests like Food, Recipes, Baking, Gift Guide, and others.

Join Tin Shingle today for access to our Media Contact Library to find gems like this publication and its editors. Tin Shingle has also added Sift’s publication cycle to our Editorial Calendar Collection, so that you can always know where the editors’ are in their headspace, should you want to pitch the magazine with a seasonal angle. For instance, it’s great to know that in March, the editors are already working on their Holiday recipes and recommendations. Tin Shingle’s Editorial Calendar collection will keep you in tune with timely insight like this.