Today’s TuneUp: Strategy Session For All Access Members Only - 12pm EST

Today at 12pm EST!

All Access Members (business owners, artists and makers) of Tin Shingle get to call into this private TuneUp to share their goals, get strategy, and accountability for getting the word out about their business.

This is the new every-other-Wednesday TuneUp model we created to open the floor and connect to others in real life! Well, in real live via a video conference call.  The other Wednesday’s are the programming specials we give to you with the traditional TuneUp presentation.

Details on how to sign up are at www.tinshingle.com/tuneup

Joon in! 

Today’s Live Broadcast TuneUp: What To Pitch The Media During April

Today! Join Katie as she leads you through relevant and timely ideas to pitch the media right now in April. Yes that includes Mother’s Day Gift Guides - but those are Last Minute Leads at this point! Now you’re going to pitch the “long lead” for print magazines - stuff going on in August, September, October! Yes! Stay ahead of the curve and on top of opportunities happening now! This live broadcast is free at 3pm EST. Registration link is: www.tinshingle.com/tuneup

Bring your questions/ideas! Questions will be answered during the live broadcast of the TuneUp.

Next TuneUp: What To Pitch The Media During April

What To Pitch The Media During April

When: Wednesday, April 3,2019
Time: 3pm EST
Where: At your computer or on your phone.
Price: Free for all during this live broadcast.

You're flipping through the pages of magazines, or clicking on the remote while watching TV, seeing brands get featured in some amazing news story, and you're thinking: "That could have been me! My business would have been a great fit there!"

That placement was no accident. The business owner - or a PR professional they hired - pitched the media with a great pitch, and was awarded a feature - because the story idea was that good. Right material at the right time.

Timing is everything, and that is what this monthly Training TuneUp focuses on.

Print Pitch Alert:

September/October: If you want big print magazines, they are working 6-7 months out, which means September/October. Get ideas on how to think in this cycle right now. If your time is Back To School, Football Season, Fall Fashion, Fall Detox, this is your time.

Editorial Calendar Peeking

Every month, we dive into Tin Shingle's Editorial Calendar Collection to see what big themes the magazine are working on now. Examples:
AARP: The Tech Issue. The Money Section: Learn how other couples spend their money. Pitch No Later Than: May 1, 2019
Better Homes & Gardens: The Stylemaker Issue. Pitch No Later Than: May 10, 2019
Climbing: The Training Issue. Pitch No Later Than: May 15, 2019

This Training TuneUp Will Have Special Focuses

Gift Guides: Do you want to get into Gift Guides? We will cover best ways to do this - at any time of the year.
Time Zones of Pitching: Pitching the media can be overwhelming. It can trigger anyone's ADD. We will discuss ways to harness this for productive pitching.

Join Katie live at 3pm EST to get these ideas. This Live version of the Training TuneUp is free for all to listen/watch. It is recorded and added to the list of TuneUps that Tin Shingle Members can stream at anytime.

Member Update: Editorial Calendar Enhancements

Magazine's Editorial Calendars

Tin Shingle has been hunting and gathering the Editorial Calendars from magazines for years now. You all have always wanted them, and we are happy to provide.

But we noticed something that's causing you to miss out on some opportunities: Magazines release these Editorial Calendars in January. That's fine for advertisers, who want to buy ad space, which can happen very close to the print date.

But for you - the business owner, artist, maker or communication director - you need to start sooner. So if you wait for an Editorial Calendar to come out in January for the year, you are behind the 8-ball for 6 months or more. In January, the very big print magazines are working on their July issues.

Finding the Editorial Pattern

We can't leave you in the dark like this. So we have begun looking for patterns. We are studying the Editorial Calendars for 2018 and 2019, and predicting 2020.
For example: At Allure Magazine, The "Anti-Anti Aging" Issue happened in November for 2018, and 2019. Therefore, we are predicting that it will happen again for 2020.

Timing Is The Most Important Tool

The most important tool you have for pitching magazines - or TV or blogs - is timing. What is relevant for what the editors, writers and producers are working on right now. And you don’t need to read their minds or know what is on their desks or what their editors or producers assigned to them. You need to think of what is relevant in the world for the time period they are working on now.

Tin Shingle's Editorial Calendar Collection will be showing you the future dates - so the 2020 dates - of when a magazine will go on stands. But the most important part for you is the "Pitch No Later Than" date that you see in our database. That is your present. That is happening much earlier. Like now.
For example: If you want to get into Holiday issues in December, those writers are starting to source ideas. July is often a hot month for pitching magazines if you want to get into December issues. Starting earlier doesn't hurt, especially for big magazines like O, The Oprah Magazine.

But Don't Wait For An Editorial Theme

If you want to get featured in magazines, don't wait for their grand editorial theme. There are SO many ways to tell a story from any angle.

Gift Guides Tip

Gift Guides can be made at any time, for any reason. If you don't see an official "Gift Guide" listing in an Editorial Calendar item, proceed anyway with pitching a theme of a Gift Guide for what season the magazine is in.
For Example: It's April right now. If your target print magazine is bon appétit, then pitch it 6 months in advance. So if it's April now, think October. What is happening in October food-wise that would apply to your brand?

If your target magazine is Clean Eating, they have a shorter lead time, about 5 months, so think September. Back To School! Back To Business! Back To Healthy Dinner! Things like that.

Tin Shingle's Editorial Calendar Collection will do its best to reflect these Lead Times to help you out. We call it the "Pitch No Later Than" date. Gradually we are making our way through our collection to make these enhancements.

Use Tin Shingle’s Community To Bat Around Ideas

You are running your own PR show. And you need people - a sounding board - as well as a confidence boost - as you are pitching your brand out. Use Tin Shingle’s Community Forum or Facebook Group to put something out there - get ideas and feedback in return. If you aren’t in Facebook, no problem! We have our own forum here at Tin Shingle. You can participate in either space.

Member Feature: Cool and Dope - Started By 6 Year Old Cavanaugh Who Is Unstoppable

Cool & Dope is an amazing non-profit from Maryland and is using Tin Shingle’s resources to help them get the word out about their incredible mission - POSITIVITY! Giving kids of all ages to change the world, one positive vibe at a time. Action starts with us – yes, all of us!

Sounds great, right! But here’s the thing, it was started by 6-year old, Cavanaugh Bell (Chief Positive Creator) while in kindergarten after he was bullied so badly, he wanted to die. He was so inspired by participating in the 2017 Women’s March in Washington, DC, that he wanted to make a difference in his community at home.

But everywhere he went trying to volunteer with other organizations, he kept confronting the same obstacle. He was too young. TO VOLUNTEER! But that didn’t slow him down, he started an organization that allows kids as young as 2 years to participate in positive activities.

Cool & Dope Is An Acronym!

Considering
Others
Obstacles in
Life
Dish
Out
Positive
Energy

Cavanaugh begged his mom to start a nonprofit to spread more positivity and love in the world, which is and was his way of stopping bullies. To change them, and bring more happiness and contentment into their lives.

By supporting a different cause each month, Cool & Dope is able to give parents a wide variety of kid-friendly philanthropic ideas to help make their local communities and the world a better (and much happier) place.

Cavanaugh and Cool & Dope have already been seen on their local Washington DC area NBC, ABC and CBS Television stations. He also has been interviewed on Facebook by Dr. April Lisbon-Peoples and children’s author Tracy Blom about how to identify and prevent bullying.

They are hoping to leverage their membership with Tin Shingle to get print coverage about the awesome work they are doing. The Ellen Show is their ultimate dream! Their pitch is already in Tin Shingle’s Pitch Whisperer forum, and we’re feedbacking on it now!

Monthly Volunteerism Projects

Each month Cool & Dope focuses on different projects. Current and upcoming projects are “For the Love of Seniors” and in April – “Loving Our Planet.” Past projects have included “Holiday Love for the Homeless” and providing clean water for an entire senior living community in Flint, MI.

Check them out at www.coolanddope.com and follow them on Instagram @cooldopeliving.

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.

Money Monday: That's So Money

Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin

That's So Money...

It's real easy to get caught up in the cycle of the day to day. But you need to break free and do something special that is going to push the needle on your revenue and grow your business like you want it. Your to-do list today needs to have one or two top money items on it.

On this Money Monday, here's what you need to do to push that needle. Do at least 1 of these things today. You don't need to do all. Pick one:

Cross-Promotional Partnership

If you have a cross-promotional partnership percolating that gets your company in front of another company, you need to seal that deal and start the promotion. Get your logo and offerings in front of their audience. What can you do to make that happen today?

PR - Dream Feature

Who can you pitch today that would really "get" your business, making a feature easier? If you don't know the answer to this, you need to start reading your target magazines, or watching your target shows. Identify the person in the media that is writing or producing something that is a natural fit with what you can talk about, as it relates to your business, or what you are getting the word out about. This could even be an indirect feature about a concept that your business does, and not a focused feature on your business at all.

Video - Instagram to YouTube

Make one video today - 30seconds or 5 minutes. Something to get your logo up in your Insta Stories and stay in front of your people. Did you just draw something? Did you just have an idea that your audience would benefit from? Tell them about it today. In person. In a video. Then upload it to your YouTube channel so that it stays "forever" and benefits from YouTube's SEO.

Newsletter To Your People

Did you put a new class on the books? Can people sign up for a new workshop? Hopefully you put it on your Instagram at the very least. Now you need to send a dedicated newsletter about it.

Discomfort Zone - Do Something Unusual

What really irks you about your competition? What would your competition do that you would never do?

Do that. Put yourself in your discomfort zone, and promote your business in a way that you would never do. Showcase it in a way that you think is too in someone's face. If it's a photo spread of your rental package, if it's buying an ad in a hip magazine, do it.

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Talk To Us

Need help identifying what this is?
Got a plan to go big with a new announcement, and want make sure you're covering your bases?
Join Tin Shingle's owner Katie this Wednesday at the members-only TuneUp, where you can connect in person via video conference to discuss your plans.
Join us.

How To Find Media Contacts - The Quickie Guide

While we research a lot of media contacts on a regular basis, we want you to know how to do it too. There may be 1 or 2 media contacts you want to pitch, and rather than dive into Tin Shingle’s Member-Only Media Contact Library, you may want to take matters into your own hands and do your own research.

We’ve got the article on “How To Find The Right Media Contacts” right here, so take a read and get going on your buzz building!

Truth Bomb About Editorial Calendars: You All Want Them...But Do You Need Them?

Going For It: Work Friends: My Kids Would Love Your Fundraising For Their School!

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Hello Tin Shinglers!

Many entrepreneurs and small business owners work in seeming isolation. We (usually) don’t have work offices to go to that involve a bunch of co-workers. I do work our own office at Tin Shingle, but I’m usually the only one there! LOL Sometimes Kat comes in, and Yvonne and I have tricky schedules with our kids. Shayne is all the way in PA, and I’m still waiting for Ashley to get back from traveling the world building homes for people in need.

So I bring this to you, my Tin Shingle friends. The main fundraiser for my kid’s school has started, and there are only a few days left for us to fundraise. Details are below in this letter that you would have gotten had you been my work buddy or family member:

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Hello!

First Day of Spring means a few things around here, including that it's the start of Ruby and Cole's annual school fundraiser! It's actually a giant color "marathon" called the Color-A-Thon around the block of their school, where they get to squirt color powder on themselves. It's a total mess, and really fun.

It's the main fundraising event, even though fundraising opportunities happen all year round in little ways, as spearheaded by the South Avenue PTA. And little ways have made a big difference. With your support, the following has made its way into South Avenue Elementary School, making the learning days so much better for everyone:

• Purchased new playground equipment - a Climbing Wall and Ten Spin. You'll see pictures of these as Cole, Ruby and I do "Beastmaster Training" this summer when we jog outside and go to South Avenue for some sprints!

• Funded field trip for 1st graders.

• Purchased class supplies for several teachers.

• Sustainable school link with an Ethiopian partner school spearheaded by Mr. Burke (WOW!)

• Funded 4+ assemblies in 2018-2019 school year.

• On the books for the rest of the year includes murals for inside and outside (beginning summer of 2019) and a Sensory Walk for indoor corridor.
  

We love South Avenue so much, and appreciate the learning they give to Ruby and Cole, and the coaching they give for their early life skills. Kindness continues at South Avenue.Thank you for your consideration!

Ruby and Cole are both fundraising, and have set big goals. The entire PTA goal is $8,000, so we have each set $300 (total $600) for our family. We are going for it.

And there are only  FIVE DAYS LEFT! Eeps! Sorry for the last minute notice :) Friday, March 25th is our cutoff.

Donations Can Be Made Online:

Ruby's Donation Page: http://shop.schoolathon.org/index.asp?PID=498913
Cole's Donation Page: http://shop.schoolathon.org/index.asp?PID=498915
(Thank you if you have already donated! Just including you in this email to keep you included.)

THANK YOU!!Katie and David and Charlie (until he's in South also)