Media Monitoring And Planning Ahead: Men's Journal

Catching up with Men’s Journal. Every article was pandemic or protest related, with a series on men in Minneapolis rebuilding their businesses, building community, training Black youth to gain certifications in outdoor activities like mountain biking paddling, etc. (paid for by Ramsey County) so that Black people might be more comfortable learning from someone who looks like them, and providing food for those in need. Cooking and gathering for social distance, and the usual gear recommendations that Men’s Journal is known for. The Holiday Gift Guides were in this issue, with the usual themes.

For ideas on how to pitch the media, join Tin Shingle to get access to our Media Contact Idea Center, and start a conversation with fellow members in Tin Shingle’s Google Group.

*Remember: print magazines work 3-6 months in advance. In pandemic times, changes to editorial may be squeezed in to reflect a big, huge change. But generally, think a few months out.

Media Contacts Updated! The Conversation, Mindbodygreen, MedPage Today, Podcasts, And Many More

MEDIA CONTACT UPDATES

The Conversation, Mindbodygreen, MedPage Today, Podcasts, and many more have been updated in our Media Contact database and what is a better time than now to pitch pitch pitch!

A few examples include:

Beth Daley who is the Editor and General Manager for The Conversation and specializes in all things, Kids, Environment, Genetics, Climate Change, Food Labeling, Fishing & Journalism.

Bruce G Wilson Jr, who is the Chief Innovation and Development Officer of The Conversation specializing in, Business Development, Strategic Branding and Communications, Publishing and Content Monetization, Building Sales and Marketing

And to name a few more (because we like you...)

Jason Wachob, who is the Founder of Mindbodygreen and Co-Founder/CoCEO of the MBG podcast has been added. His areas of interest include, Psychology, Wellness, Health, & Digital Media.

And another one! Stephanie Eckelkamp, who is a contributing writer for mindbodygreen specializing in, Health, Wellness, Nutrition, Natural Remedies, & Natural Beauty.

There are many more Media Contacts who have been added to our database! Plus, it is super easy to use! We made a short video to show you how to search for media contacts in our database. View it HERE.


Tin Shinglers with the Media Kit Membership get access to any and all Media Contacts. Apply for Tin Shingle membership today to get access!

Get Ideas

Need ideas of why to pitch these shows? Start a conversation in Tin Shingle's Pitch Whisperer. Or tune in every other Wednesday to our members-only group consulting session, Pitch Whisperer TuneUp.

You can also get private, one-on-one help through Private Training.

NEW! Community Network Tool

We heard you! You want to network with other members, right now, this instant. And we want to also! Therefore, we have created a new community in Google Groups where you can email the Tin Shingle Google Group and instantly reach other Tin Shingle members with your question, desire for feedback, or just sharing something new that you are launching.

Tin Shingle does have a forum on our website, which we will be retiring, because it is old. And unimpressive. However, should we wish to custom design it in the future, we will always have that ability that we've always had. For now, we think that you want to use modern tools at places you know, like Google.

You might be wondering why we are not using a Facebook Group. Tin Shingle is not a huge fan of Facebook in general, and we have an issue with how they use your data and how their groups work. This way, with an inbox based group, we feel that you will be able to connect with each other and build relationships in a way that is not overwhelming, is safe, and gives you notifications when you need them.

HOW THIS WORKS

This is in beta for now as we get used to it, but here is how this is going to work:

• Tin Shingle Member: you need to be a Tin Shingle Member to use this. It is a private group. Once you become a member, your email will be added by our team and you will receive an email notification. If you are already a member of Tin Shingle, your email has been added, and you should be getting a notification shortly. If you are a Tin Shingle Member, and do not want to be in this group, that is fine! Please email us and we will remove you. *Please note, just because you are receiving this email, it does not mean you are a Tin Shingle Member. You are a member if you are paying a member subscription. If you do want to be a part of this group, and you are not a member yet, click HERE to activate your membership now!

• Email The Group: When you're ready to reach out and network, you will send an email to the Google Group via a special email address. Only Tin Shingle Members will have this email address, and if you are a member, you will get it in a separate email.

• Rules: We are developing the rules of behavior and appropriateness, but you may use this group to help other members by answering their questions, network when you are launching or promoting something, etc. We want you to use this group to give and get support.

Office Hours Open Today: Post-COVID Symptoms (Hopefully!)

Office Hours
Open Today

When: Wednesday, December 23rd
Time: 1pm EST
Where: At your computer or on your phone.
How: Follow the directions on this page to get the registration link.
Or, if you're a Tin Shingle Member and are already logged in, click here to get the secret registration link.
Required: Media Kit Membership with Tin Shingle. Join today.

Hello!

Over the years, Wednesdays have turned into Big Days for Tin Shingle. It used to be that it rained every Wednesday, making for a gloomy day. Then it began snowing every Wednesday, causing School Closures which make live production of Tin Shingle's TuneUps hard. Once Remote Learning started, Wednesday became the day that was the Longest Day for Katie's kids, where they had several online class meetings in one day, which required constant snack-prep and technical support.

And for the latest Wednesday hurdle...Katie learned that her husband had COVID on a Wednesday, which threw everything out of orbit. Katie also learned that she and her middle son had COVID, and she wrote about it at A Little Beacon Blog, and in her newspaper column for the Highlands Current, at their request.

Thankfully, her household is on the other side of it (we think...for now...the hunt for antibodies begins), and for this Wednesday, the Office Hours are Open for Tin Shingle Members.

This is a time to 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 Design: 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.

HOW IT WORKS:
Tin Shingle's owner Katie will moderate the call.

She will rotate through people on the call, and encourage each other to contribute to each person's challenge as a conversation.

CALL-IN DETAILS
When you are logged into your Media Kit Member account at Tin Shingle, you will be able to click this link in our Community section of the website to get the private link to call in details.

Once on the call, Katie will adjust your settings so that we can hear and/or see you. We love talking face-to-face, so turn your video on if you want. Otherwise, audio-only is fine.

Your 2021 Editorial Content Planner (Calendar) Is Ready!

It’s here! Tin Shingle’s refresh of our years-loved Editorial Content Planner for 2021.

Used by bloggers, business owners, and communication directors, this 2021 Editorial Content Planner Template is an Excel file that can be uploaded into Google Drive as a shared document between your team, and for you to use on the go from your mobile device.

FREE: This Editorial Content Planner is free for Media Kit Members of Tin Shingle. Activate your membership today to download this and all of our exclusively produced Templates.

FREE: If you are not a member, but purchased this template in the past, you are able to download this year's - and every year's - for free. The investment that keeps giving.

Get Dressed! Miss Wearing Heels To Work? Got Nowhere To Go? Put Your Heels On.

Over the summer, I attended my first socially distanced launch party for the graphic design firm, The Hyacinth Group, based in Beacon, NY and owned by a woman who is Caribbean American from Jamaica, Lauren Johnson. She designed the party with social distance in mind by having food in one corner, drinks in the opposite corner, and seat guidelines by household for when it came time to eat the meal that her partner, Nicholas Leiss of Farm2ChefsTable, had prepared. One guest was in a fancy dress and heels - that were sinking into the grass - but she didn’t care. It was her first time out, and she needed to get dressed.

Fast forward to this morning, a Monday mid-way through the holidays between Thanksgiving and Christmas and the days of Hanukkah. The sun is out, the closets are being cleaned to accommodate hiding gifts, and long buried dresses and accessories exposed. During quarantine, there have bee bouts of fancy dress-ups every now and then. A regular Monday is no exception.

If you want to have a Power Monday, you’re going to need to put on your best dress. Not just a fancy top and statement earrings, like is on the cover of this week’s New Yorker Magazine, but the full get-up, including the shoes. Wear heels if you want! I always have at least a wedge for a lift to my step.

Monday is a weekend day for a retail store owner, after a busy weekend. Mondays is when a shop owner might relax. Like April Perri, owner of La Mere Clothing Boutique in Beacon, NY, who moved her shop down a block last weekend, and was fresh off her first fully open weekend. On this Monday, she was in fashionable camo leggings, and was headed to some self-care of getting her nails done to catch her thoughts.

Other Ways To Keep A Clear Mind For A Good Monday:

• Get Dressed (including shoes): The full outfit helps keep your mind focused and sharp. And the end of the day, slipping into sweats is very rewarding and comfortable. Set yourself up for that transition.

• Stretch: Put your phone down and do a set of stretching. This could be yoga moves, or just moves that you make up that feel good. Dancing is OK too! If you need to memorize some new moves, try these video classes from fitness studios in Beacon that I love.

• Listen To Music. Pause The Podcast: Music lets your mind go. Some people are rigid about listening to talk news only. But this can keep your mind in a stimulated jabber-mode for quite a while, and cause mental exhaustion. Mix it up a bit. Dedicate certain stretching or jogging sessions - or simple walks down the street - to a set of music to help you think something through.

• Dance Party. Often best expressed at the end of a day, while you’re folding laundry or making dinner. Dr. Alia Ezziddin, owner of Enamel and Root in Wilmette, IL, encourages dance parties for any day, any reason, and often has enjoys them with her 3rd grader.

• Sunshine. Get some. Get outside. The end.

Media Contacts You Could Pitch

Many fashion ideas can be spun right now. From pandemic-friendly tricks, to new fashions coming out of these house-bound days, to emerging trends, like kids getting really good at their own makeup because they have nothing else to do but play makeup tutorials (oh, is that just my house?)

Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Idea Center has…ideas for you, from social handles to emails. Join today and let the sparks fly! Need help? Participate in our Community and even send us your draft email to a person in the media.

All I Want For Christmas Is A Bunch Of $0s: Zero Debt Balance

Shopping and holiday gift giving this year took a turn for extra merry, as we have more permission and justification than ever to buy from our favorite businesses (local, small business, independently owned big business, even big box stores if you want to be able to walk around in them), in order to keep these businesses alive as scientists figure out the virus, and health care workers work on patients with severe symptoms. Your own marketing to your customers and future customers via your newsletter and social media is dialed way up right now, and you yourself are receiving the temptations and good ideas from everywhere.

But - the real life scenario for many people may be that their gift budget is super low right now. Business owners themselves may be down, like restaurant owners who have to drastically change how they serve customers, or dog walkers who have less clients now that owners are home. Some people are thriving in an unexpectedly strong industry. Some industries are tanking like hospitality, airports, move theaters, theme parks, etc, where flocks of people have been laid off.

The media industry is used to this - when flocks of people are laid off, like at Walt Disney Television Group as they restructure - the count is up to 32,000 employees by March 2021 of mainly resort and theme park employees - and the ending of Radio Disney after 25 years of production, which will end 36 people’s jobs.

No matter what your budget, it’s time to focus on debt, and rein it in to $0. Banks won’t like this - they love making money off of us from interest and late fee charges (fight those charges! you can request to refund them, especially mentioning COVID). If you actually have no budget, I want you to take a cheerful approach to paying down your credit cards to $0. This is your Big Goal. If you’re not out there buying a ton of gifts, and giving in to all of us marketers who are hoping that you will spend (and we really, really do want you to spend…it does save businesses!), you and I and all of us need to shift life from the Land of Debt to the Land of Cash Saved and Invested.

To be honest, I have no advice for you as to how to live with cash saved. Once you get $0 balances on all of your debts, you will need a mindset shift. You may be so used to operating paycheck to paycheck, you might continue spending all of it. Advice for this is in another article. If this is your area of expertise, pitch Tin Shingle with an article idea.

Pitching The Media With Money Ideas

Is this your area of expertise, as a money and finance expert? Did you accomplish this goal as a business owner and want to get publicity for it? These are all good ideas to do, and you’ll find a few ideas on who to pitch, and which outlets to get familiar with before you pitch, in Tin Shingle’s Media Contact Idea Center. Available to Members of Tin Shingle.

Some names you’ll find in Tin Shingle right now. Deep dive into them, and get a spark of an idea for how to pitch them! A pitch to a person like this will be different for each person. They have different beats and different passions. You’ll want to pitch a media publicity idea according to what sparks their interest for their readers, viewers or listeners. Need ideas on how to do this? Join Tin Shingle today, and start communicating in our Community Forum for direct conversations.

Tin Shingle was designed for business owners and creators who are getting the word out about their business, and need a sounding board, media contacts, courage and strength to keep putting themselves out there.

Kathryn Finney
Named by Inc Magazine as one of the most influential women in tech, Kathryn Finney has made her mark as an entrepreneur, social media visionary, “women in” advocate, investor, writer, and television correspondent.
Areas of Interest: Finance, Money, Black Women, Black Women and Money, Black Media, Investors, Budgeting

Carolynn L. Johnson
CEO of Diversity, Inc.
Areas of Interest: Black, african american, black american, African American Interest, Education, diversity, minority, school, Business, wealth building, jobs, Money, entrepreneur

Farnoosh Torabi
Financial Expert, Bestselling Author and Host of the Webby-Nominated Podcast SO MONEY.
Farnoosh Torabi is one of America’s leading personal finance authorities — hooked on helping you live your richest, happiest life. From reporting for Money Magazine to hosting a primetime series for CNBC and contributing to O, The Oprah Magazine, Farnoosh has become a favorite, go-to money expert and friend.

Hannah Rimm
Associate Editor, Money Diaries at Refinery29, Inc.

Kathryn Tuggle
Writer, HerMoney
Listen to her latest podcast with the author and investor, Bill Perkins, “Die With Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money And Your Life”

[PR] TuneUp: How To Pitch For 2021 Valentine’s Day Gift Guides - Starting In October/November 2020

It's that time of year! A monthly series where we start a new month and plan ahead for what we are pitching! October is a special month because...it's your time to begin pitching Valentine's Day. Oh yes. If you missed your chance last year, and found Tin Shingle when you were Googling "how to pitch valentine's day gift guides," and discovered that the time is not January, but is October, then this is your time to shine!

In this TuneUp, we went over ideas for national print magazines (6 months ahead), local (2-3 months ahead) and trending news stories right now.

Plus, we had a special Motivation Minute, that we're slowing down to a slow jam.

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 Design Your Instagram Story Highlights (Circles) To Make Them POP!

Using Instagram to get the word out about your business is key! It helps to build a personal connection with people through sharing images of your brands uniqueness, plus, there are millions of users! Instagram Story Highlights (Circles), specifically, are extremely valuable because it allows you (and your business) to showcase important content that you want your customers to see! Think of them as a really good movie trailer… where you just can’t wait to see more!

Canva - The DIY Graphic Design App - Made Designs Templates For You!

Using the Canva app for graphic design can help to create beautiful designs for your business. Canva is an app for the phone or laptop that is like a graphic design program/platform that enables anybody to be an amazing designer - even if you aren’t a designer. Canva has all of the tools necessary - templates, elements, styles, text, etc. Find what works for you and your biz. It’s easy once you get the hang of it!

See below for screenshots of the step-by-step process.

Best Practice For Designing Highlights (Circles At The Top Of Your Instagram Page)

To really make the Circle Highlights stand out for a smooth flow on your Instsagram page, you’ll want to make sure circle images ‘flow,’ meaning, are cohesive with one another. This helps people see your page as a unit, instead of bouncing around a bunch of unrelated visual markers.

Ok. Now you’re ready to design your own Highlight circles!

Step 1: Search Instagram Story Highlight

Use Canva’s search box to search for exactly what you looking for (shown below). Use the keyword term “instagram highlight.”

Canva’s ready-to-use Highlight templates will show up in the search results. You may be presented with several selections. Look below to see.

Step 2: Customize To Your Liking!

Pick one of those templates, and then plug and play. Add different colors or fonts, move shapes around, whatever you want! Canva has an abundance of free tools to use. Use the tool bar located to the left to upload some of your own images/photos, browse different elements, add funky text!

Canva allows you to choose colors and fonts that fit in with your business theme! You can create from scratch, or you can choose a template and then change things around to fit with what you want.

Step 3: Download Your Design

Once you create a design, download it, and then head on over to Instagram to edit your Highlight cover with your new beautiful design images!

Step 4: Where To Find The Place To Upload Your New Highlight Circle Design In Instagram

Inside of Instagram, you will find…

You’re all done!

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Now It’s Time To Add Your Custom Designed Circle Highlight To Your Instagram

Here at Tin Shingle, we elected to use a soft color of pink. That goes with our branding, and the flowers we tend to use elsewhere on our website. It’s easy on the eyes, and does indicate that Tin Shingle has a feminine approach, even though our platform is gender neutral.

STEP 1: Access The Edit Point

Hold down the Highlight you want to edit and click or tap ‘Edit Highlight.’

STEP 2: Select The Cover Art

Next, you’re going to click or tap ‘Edit Cover.’

STEP 3: Grab The Image From Your Phone

Swipe all the way to the left until you see a white outlined graphic with an image placeholder. Choose the photo image that you downloaded from canva.

STEP 4: VOILA! All Done!

Your Story Highlights are poppin’!

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“Help! Just Do It For Me!”

Sure! The team at Tin Shingle would be happy to take care of this for you, and design the branding of your Highlight circles! We can either walk you through it or be your sounding board when you book a Private Session. Or, we can do it for you in our Highlight Circle Design Package. For that, we’ll take a deep dive into your existing branding, and design a selection pack. We will upload it for you as well.

If you are designing them on your own, and want feedback from the Tin Shingle Community, simply activate your Tin Shingle Membership and create a conversation in our Community Forum!

Presidential Election 2020 eNewsletter Covers When The Media Declared The Presidential Winner

Headline skimming has been at an all time high, it seems, and with the 2020 presidential election, refreshing your email or headline source was a must, as was refreshing the absentee ballot count in various states. TikTok-ers were making funny videos about sloths and waiting, and everyone else was just getting entertained during The Big Wait.

On that Saturday afternoon at 11:30am when the unofficial word came from the media that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were declared the winners, people did dance in the streets, clanged pans, hoked horns, and the media started blitzing their enewsletter headlines.

Below is a collection of what we caught: