Tin Shingle’s Blog Of All The Latest in Media, Money, Your PR and Marketing Strategy and Life as a Small Biz Owner
Happy Money Monday, y’all.
Today’s a big day - July 1st. Lots of bills due and the official slip-and-slide into summer.
Suit up in your warrior outfit of choice. Whatever you feel the best in. I’m not a pantsuit kind of a girl. If it’s a power sundress you’re going to rock, then rock it. This dress is mine, and it is proudly purchased at a local boutique, La Mere Clothing and Goods in Beacon, NY, run by April Peri, a 🔥 firecracker herself of innovation and creativity.
You got this. 👊🏼
Photo Credit: Fortune Magazine
While browsing through the Editorial Calendar Collection during today's Power Hour Tin Shingle TuneUp with a couple of our regular members who show up to get their PR into shape, we saw this approaching deadline that your business may be a fit for.
Below is a sampling of what is inside of our Editorial Calendar Collection. You can search by publication title, or by Area of Interest. We really like that type of search, because you get ideas at publications you had not considered before.
Magazine Issue: September 2019
Theme: Change The World
Fortune's annual list of 50 companies that are doing well by doing good.
Pitch No Later Than: Saturday, June 29, 2019
Newsstand Date: Monday, August 19, 2019
PS: This magazine cover of Fortune Magazine is not current - it’s from 1930 and is really cool.
PR Challenge
Members-Only TuneUp
When: Wednesday, June 26th
Time: 12pm EST
Where: At your computer or on your phone.
How: Follow the directions on this page to get the registration link.
All Access Pass Membership
All-Access Members of Tin Shingle are challenged to come to this 1hr Power Hour with 1 PR Goal. We are going to pull focus on it. This is week 4 of 4. Drop-ins welcome!
1. Media Outlet: Pick 1 area where you want the press: Magazine, TV, Blog, Podcast. We are going to look ahead to plan out what would be timely for your pitching.
2. Business Angle: Pick 1 aspect of your business you want to generate PR for.
3. Story Angles: We are going to think up story angles, and you are going to start writing the pitch.
Meanwhile, you are going to submit your email pitch drafts to Tin Shingle's Pitch Whisperer in our Community section.
Join in! Membership required. Activate membership first, then hit this link to get the registration.
For those who want to spice up their social media (or put anything into it at all), the next set or Power Hour TuneUps will be for you. If you insist on bringing some PR goals, we won't fight you :)
Shifts happen during these private TuneUps. It's like group private training! If you put it out there, you'll surprise yourself at what can happen next.
Paula Kustra, founder of BagRomance.com secured a feature story with a hyper local website in Houston just before she was set to go to tape a morning show segment also featuring her company's bag styles. During the PR Challenge, as a group, we worked out how she could approach the writer, who had been delaying the story, to turn that delay into a publish. Our strategy worked!
Laura Borland, creator of Vyllage, the app that connects neighbors to receive your packages for you, was featured on a local TV station in her hometown of Florida. How'd she do it? "Repetition and Intensity. I followed Katie's advice after the members-only TuneUp and made a commitment to send my pitch to at least 25 journalists everyday. I used your PR Planning & Tracker to know who I had contacted.
Sierra Bailey, jewelry designer and creator of Manic Trout, landed herself a host position at a major cable network for a crafting show. All because she was brainstorming new ways to get the word out, and what she personally wanted to tap into.
To activate your Tin Shingle All Access Membership, click here.
Photo Credit: Katie Hellmuth Martin
When I walked into my sunroom where the TV was on the day after the U.S. Women’s soccer team defeated Thailand 13-0 during the World Cup, I heard a group of talk show hosts on FOX discussing the appropriateness of the 13-0 score. FOX is broadcasting the Women’s World Cup this year.
What wasn’t mentioned in the seconds of the segment that I heard, was the previous year’s win of 9-0 the U.S. Women’s team had over Thailand. Or that it was the biggest blowout in history for men or women. Or that it broke the previous record of 11-0 win of Germany over Argentina in 2007. Or that “star striker Alex Morgan scored an astounding 5 goals to tie a long-standing record set by Michelle Akers against Taiwan in 1991,” as pointed out in this New York Daily News article. Or that in soccer, goals matter for a match tie breaker among teams and games played.
An article in The Washington Post by Steven Goff included many of these facts in his overview of the situation, and presented this concept: “The score also raised questions about whether the three-time champions needed to continue hunting for goals.”
Hunting for goals is the name of the game. This isn’t a scrimmage. This isn’t a passing exercise. This is the World Cup. The whole point of the game is to score goals, not to apologize or hold back out of politeness.
In the article, defender Kelley O’Hara was quoted: “You don’t want to take your foot off the pedal because you want to respect the game and play them as you would play anyone else. It is a tournament. Goal differential matters. You can’t feel bad for scoring as many goals as possible.”
This reminded me of women in business, who are conditioned and encouraged to follow their passion. “Turn your passion into a paycheck,” is often how it goes. But winning, being a breadwinner, paying the bills, saving for retirement, aren’t usually part of the cliches in pretty Instagram quote posters. Instead, supporters on the home-front may show support, while at the same time, say things that condition a woman to hold back. Like any of these statements:
“If you have a storefront, will it suck you away from the family?”
“I don’t want to financially support a product you think you have, but don’t.”
“Why do you need an LLC (aka any business entity)?”
“The kids miss you.”
“Lower your fundraising projection because the other kids may not fund raise as much, and then you’ll stick out and it might make them feel bad.” (I actually said this one - fortunately my 9-yo daughter called me on it.)
Falling passively behind in our competence can happen easily, thus slowing down the business creation and growth.
The criticism that was being marketed on TV the morning after the game played right into the hands of casually conditioning women on how they should be in this world: Passive. Polite. To step aside. To step around. To not make someone feel uncomfortable. To not be bossy. Respectful to the point of deadness.
Couch Critics had typed into Comment boxes: “They should have let the clocks run out. I hope they slink home. I hope they don’t get paid what they are fighting for right now.”
When you’re on the field, as when you are engaged in the business you have created, you are running your heart out. All of your endorphins and adrenaline and smarts are pumping at their highest levels. When you have physically trained for this moment for years of your life, you are not going to step aside and say:
“You know what, I won’t score on you.”
”You know what? I don’t want to make you feel bad.”
”You know what? I’m sorry that your defense could be better. I’m sorry that you’re not as good as you could be in the goal. I’m sorry that your country hasn’t invested enough systematically into women to give you better coaching, encouragement, belief and motivation.”
”I’ll just bring this ball right to your goal, freak you out, and then kick it aside to my teammate. My teammates and I will just play pass-the-ball to each other on your end of the field until the clock runs out, which could be many minutes from now, which in sports, should normally stretch out into an hour, but because the those wanting women to be polite will be offended for you, we will make this game as unexciting as possible, doing nothing, except passing and dancing around you. And then we might get critizised for teasing you or showing off with our fancy footwork. And we might even get in trouble for not ‘showing up’ and competitively respecting the other team with honest goals.”
You know what? This mentality is real, and is what keeps women down. It is spoken to women by other women and men, and by the most important person: one’s own self. It is what keeps women not growing their business into the successfully streamlined businesses they can be. Small or large businesses. Doesn’t matter. Women are conditioned to step aside and be polite.
When a woman shows aggression, when she shows success over and over again, the haters get jealous. Admit it. You’ve seen business creators in your Instagram, and you may have thought: “When will they stop? When will they give up? When will they stop showing this win with their latest new idea or feature in the media?”
Women easily self-sabatoge, opting to pass the ball around the goal, and not score. Even if the scoring is easy. Even if with teammates and conditioned teamwork, the scoring, the executing of good ideas, the satisfaction of completing what is practiced after so many years of long weekends or long nights and Monday holiday work sessions, is successfully completed time and again.
Letting the clock run out and not scoring in a World Cup championship is not what athletes and professional teams do during championships. Letting the clock run out is not how you grow your business. Not scoring is not why you created this business.
Surround yourself with teammates who will condition what you need to get sh*t done. That could be increasing your profits. That could be planning your retirement. This could be growing enough that you actually step away and actually go on vacation. Because honestly, who wants to keep working from the beach? You want to lay out in the sun and play volleyball on the beach, and swim with the dolphins.
Let your business do this for you. Be a winner. Keep scoring. That is why you’re playing.
Pitch what you need to pitch. You think the audience of a certain magazine would love to know about your project? Tell them about it - in a way that puts their readers on the edge of their seats. This month in Architectural Digest, the back page feature, “last word,” features a group of girls ages 7-14 who meet every Friday to work with wood in Murfa, TX. They make things like 3-legged stools and sell them. The proceeds go to their college funds. They are under the direction of the artist Larry Bamburg.
What probably worked in this pitch was to include the following:
- Guidance from an artist.
- The beautiful craftwomanship of the stools.
- The do-good part of this story: saving for their college fund.
- The awesome part of the story - 7-14 year old girls working with machinery.
The heading is called Squad Goals. That could have made for a great subject line as well to hook the editor or writer.
At Tin Shingle, we teach you to be true to yourself, and realize if your business Feature is a fit with the media outlet you desire. If you really really really desire an outlet, but the fit isn’t obvious, find the components in your story that are a fit: in this case artist and beautiful craftwomanship. Then, the incredibleness of what you really want featured - the girls meeting regularly to make this and save - gets to shine through the story.
If you need help with your pitch to the media, Tin Shingle’s community is here to help. Use our exclusive and super helpful and supportive Pitch Whisperer Forum on our website. Also use our Media Contact Library to find needles in the haystacks of good writers at publications you never would have considered. Gold mines!
Check out this week’s updates to Tin Shingle’s exclusive Editorial Calendar Collection! Included are the topics put forth by the magazines themselves as well as Tin Shingle’s predictions of future editorial themes up to 2020.
Don’t pigeon-hole yourself into a theme, but use it as a guide if it helps. For late 2019 and 2020, we researched the past 2 years to find editorial consistency and made predictions where possible. However, the most important tool you have access to is the publication and submission date through 2020. You can quickly see where a magazine is in their production cycle, to know what kind of timely story angle to pitch them.
…and the buzz is on Bitch, Better Nutrition and Bloomberg Businessweek! The following have been in our database for some time but with the latest research have been updated to 2020!
The revitalizing voice in contemporary feminism, Bitch plays a critical role in helping their audience question the definitions of gender, sexuality, power and agency. Examining the mainstream media, taking into account the historical and cultural representation of gender in modern pop culture, Bitch aims to encourage people to consider feminism as a necessary part of the social justice movement.
Upcoming Editorial Theme: Sanctuary
Better Nutrition magazine’s mission is to responsibly inform their audience about the nutritional approach to health. They provide well researched information on vitamins, herbs, nutrients, whole foods, natural personal care and beauty items and environmentally friendly products.
Upcoming Editorial Themes: You’ll have the publication dates, which is key because this magazine works on articles months in advance. Knowing these dates is how you will pitch really timely story ideas that can work for most any broad theme.
This one was a doozy! Over 47 issues per year, predicted up to September 2020! Bloomberg Businessweek’s current incarnation has been published since 2009, and has provided information and interpretation about events in the business world. Bloomberg Businessweek issues are packed with information,. Many different story angle ideas will work.
Upcoming Editorial Themes: Retail; Manufacturing; Cloud Solutions
Published by Adventure Media and Events LLC, The Toy Book is the leading trade magazine serving the toy industry, The Toy Book is the foremost authority on toy trends and products!
Upcoming Editorial Themes: TOTY Nominee Showcase 2020, Arts and Crafts; The State Of The Toy Industry
Founded by a mom and run by girls, New Moon Girls serves to strengthen girls’ resistance to popular culture propaganda by strengthening their authentic voices. They are the first and only child-edited publication to win the prestigious Association of Educational Publishers’ Golden Lamp award as the best children’s magazine in the United States.
Upcoming Editorial Themes: “Dreams Of Your Future” and “Believe It Or Not”
For over 100 years, Earnshaw’s has proudly served as the voice of the children’s fashion industry. With a readership of over 15,000 retailers and brand executives, Earnshaw’s helps to streamline retail strategies, merchandising techniques and stay on top of the latest trends and industry news.
Upcoming Editorial Themes: Slumber Party Essentials, From PSs to Plush
Many more editorial calendar ideas are in Tin Shingle’s Editorial Calendar Collection. These are a small sampling, highlighted for you to see what you need to dive into.
Members of Tin Shingle at the All Access Level of Membership have instant access to ALL of our editorial calendars. We currently have the editorial calendars from over 100 publications for 2019! All searchable by Title and Area of Interest! Browse through and let your inspiration take hold!
All editorial themes are from editors themselves and are subject to change.
Send in media contact or editorial calendar requests to member@tinshingle.com
See you soon!
This live broadcast of the TuneUp is free. Now’s your chance to get inside the head of morning show producer Laura Holka for how producers respond to pitches from businesses like yours! It’s an exclusive “Producer’s Perspective” as she calls it! Hit the TuneUp link in the top navigation to sign up.
How To Pitch TV Morning Shows
From A Producer's POV (Point Of View)
When: Wednesday, June 19,2019
Time: 12pm EST
Where: At your computer or on your phone.
Price: Free for all during this live broadcast.
Pitching a morning show to get your business on TV is totally possible by you. There are a few key steps you'll want to be aware of, including having a stellar pitch. The secret ingredient? Keeping that pitch short, sweet, swift, and to the point. And don't think that pitching that TV show once is your one-and-done chance of getting on TV! You will be pitching many times! Because you have many angles of how you could get your business, book or project featured on TV.
In Wednesday's TuneUp, you will meet Laura Holka, a producer turned PR professional who started at PBS and worked for ABC for several years, including her local stations in Phoenix, AZ. Get to know her here before the TuneUp!
This TuneUp Will Include:
Producer Life: Going inside the life of a producer so that you know what they are doing when you email/pitch them.
Production Day: The breakdown of how the morning show is produced, so that you can know the best times of day to email, and when your email might get lost.
Who To Pitch: Is it the host? The anchor? The booker?
What's In The Pitch: Laura will share a sample pitch to show you a winning formula.
What To Do If You Get A Response: Laura will tell us how to miss an opportunity if you do get a response. Hint: Act fast!
Ideas - What Appeals To Producers: The key to a winning pitch is in your story angle. We're going to discuss what this means, and how you are going to zoom in and go micro-niche on your brand.
Join Katie live at 12pm ESTto 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 thatTin Shingle Memberscan stream at anytime.
Anyone who is saying local journalism is in trouble is not working hard or smart enough! Local journalism is alive and well because locals want so much to read about what is going on in their towns. That is what the Highlands Current is committed to doing, and what I am committed to doing at A Little Beacon Blog, and is why I said yes authoring a column for my competitor! Kidding. We need as much local news as possible, and I’m honored to be in print.
June’s “Kid Friendly” column is about time - the speeding of time - and the forgotten moments of time when you had a dream or vision, and you didn’t realize that you stepped into that dream and accomplished it. It may look different or be different in some way that you realized - but you got there. What you do from there is a different story. What helps you make more of that story is journaling.
All is this is explored in June’s column, which you can zoom in real far and read here until they post the official version in the online version of the paper. :)
Face-palm emoji! Brides magazine bites the dust - on paper at least. The editorial staff is remaining yet will change offices, according to a report in the New York Times. Brides will live on and hopefully thrive in digital. Brides magazine has been up for sale for some time, and was recently purchased by Dotdash, a website company that started out as About.com and then rebranded to Dotdash. InterActiveCorp (IAC) owns Dotdash, whose chairman is Barry Dillar, the billionaire media mogul. IAC also owns Tinder, Match, and OKCupid.
As reported in the New York Times article, Condé Nast had been scaling down on the magazine, said the head of Dotdash, Neil Vogel: “It’s clear to us that there wasn’t a ton of investment behind this in the last few years.” He also made clear in that article that Dotdash was purchasing the publication for the editorial team and for the digital reach.
Brides Executive Director, Lisa Harmon Gooder, will remain in her position. Brides went online in 2006 under the editorial leadership of Keija Minor, who was the publication’s first African American Editor In Chief. Keija held that role from 2012 until 2017. Under Keija’s helm, the digital readership rapidly grew.
Competitors include TheKnot.com and WeddingWire. Dotdash head Neil is feeling a bit competitive and feisty about the acquisition, telling the New York Times how he will treat Brides as “what the future of Condé Nast should be.”
Condé Nast also owns Vogue, The New Yorker, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, and others. Recently, Condé Nast opted to stop printing Glamour and teenVogue, and keep them alive in digital. Recently it sold Golf Digest to Discovery, Inc. for a reported $35 million. W magazine remains for sale, and reportedly started at an asking price of $8 million, and might have been negotiated down to $1 million? But still no sale. Come on - who will buy it? That's less than a townhouse in Manhattan!
Brides.com is already a beautiful website. We’ll see how it shapes up! For now, at least you can consider your editorial leads warm as they make the transition. The Tin Shingle Media Contact Library Team will be keeping an eye on things and update the database as developments happen. Send us a tip of if you have one!
As for Tin Shingle's Editorial Calendar Collection, Brides has been removed, as we only track calendars for print publications. Digital moves too fast! But you shouldn't rely or wait around for an editorial calendar anyway, You should cold-pitch! Tin Shingle teaches you how.
