#273: How To Get Media Coverage For Your Business with Christina Nicholson, Founder of Media Maven

Welcome to episode number 273 with my friend, the media maven, Christina Nicholson. Let's talk about your business strategy and the juicy details of what actually works from mainstream fashion to fashion on Main street and the entire ecosystem behind it. How do we scale your company and do it with the balance and the happiness that we all seek? Let's hear from those insiders, experts and strategists that actually make it happen. I'm your host, Ashley Alderson from the Boutique Hub, and I can't wait to chat. Have you ever wondered how in the world that boutique or that brand landed their product on the Today Show? Well, today I am so excited because my friend Christina, the media maven, is going to come and share all of her juicy secrets as it comes to press relations. Whether that's getting products on the Today show like she has or regional media or local media, we're going to break down how you can create great relationships with the influencers and media movers and shakers in your area so that you can start to get earned media for your boutique or your brand. Now, if you've been a part of Retail Bootcamp, we've definitely talked about media inside of Bootcamp with a module dedicated to it. Or if you've been a part of the Boutique Awards, we've tried to coach and help you along the way in the Boutique Awards. Leverage your awards announcement with your local media to to share what's happening in your business and the level that it's grown to inside of your local community and even your state or on a global scale. So, guys, there is so much room at the table for you to come forward and share the stories of how you're impacting the world around you and how you can continue to give back education and ideas and help those that are watching the channels, the Today show, the national publications, wherever they're tuning in to get their education, how they can learn from you and to enhance and enrich their own lives. Guys, get ready to meet my friend Christina, who is going to share again all of the juicy details of how to earn earned media and use public relations to your advantage. All right, guys, welcome back to the podcast. This week, something I am so excited to talk about and I don't think we've covered yet on the Boutique Chat podcast is media earned media, public relations, if you're familiar, and how to get more exposure for your business. So this is There is one awesome guest waiting to talk to all of you guys today. Meet Christina Nicholson. Christina, thanks for being on the show.

Thank you so much for having me. Ashley.

I cannot wait to talk about this. I know you have so much experience. I know you've got clients that have been on every major media outlet there is. And so I think this is going to lift the veil and give a lot of insight to all of our listeners and all of our boutique hub community today. So I would love to start. Always backstory. Talk to us about how you got into media in the first place and how you came came to the place you are right now, helping others do the same.

Yeah, well, my background is actually not in PR, it's in TV. I was a TV reporter and anchor for 10 years, and in that position you get a lot of emails every day. And a lot of those emails were from publicists, public relations agencies, sometimes business owners themselves handling PR on their own, which is totally fine, by the way. Everybody thinks you need an agency to land big time exposure. You do not. You can handle it on your own. And the problem that I saw was that a lot of these people pitching the media clearly had no idea what we did all day. They didn't understand how a newsroom was run, how we put together stories, what qualified as a newsworthy story, and everything in between. So while I was working in tv, I had a couple of kids and I needed a more flexible schedule because TV news is like the least flexible you could get when it comes to a schedule. So naturally I got a job at a PR agency because, you know, being on the receiving end, doing the news, putting people in the media, it just seemed like the natural next step. And it's what a lot of people do in journalism when they make a career switch. So I worked at an agency for six months, but I was having the same problems I was in regards to lifestyle and flexibility. I had one of those bosses that was a clock watcher and was more interested in babysitting his employees than actually ensuring that we were delivering positive results for clients. You know, it was just focusing on the wrong things and was really an ego tripper. So I decided to start looking for other work and start working as a, quote, unquote, professional freelancer. One thing led to another. Fast forward five years later, and I have an agency with a team of nearly 10 people now, and we help small businesses, specifically products. People who have retail products earn exposure in the media without spending money on ads.

I love it. And something every single business owner absolutely can use, especially when marketing has become so expensive and they feel like, gosh, how else am I going to reach a new client? Base. And I think this is something that's so understated today. So talk to me about you started taking on your first clients and getting them placed in the news. What are the first things people need to know when they want to take this step and find themselves in the media?

Well, I think the first thing people need to realize is that they should be doing it now. I think everybody's go to is to create their own content, maybe to advertise because those are things you have control over, which yes, you should do those things as well. That's important. But at the end of the day, there's only one form of media that's going to get you that credibility. That's going to get you seen as an authority in your space and that's earning media. Because you can create content and say you're amazing all you want. You can pay for ads that say you're amazing all you want, but nobody's really going to believe it unless somebody else is choosing to say it of their free will. And that's where earning media exposure comes into place. Perfect.

So when you're going to start working on earning media exposure, would you say kind of the next step is understanding what is newsworthy and what isn't and then how to start building those relationships a hundred percent.

I think the biggest mistake people make is when they go to pitch the media. They're not pitching a news story, they're not pitching anything newsworthy. Instead they're writing all about their business or their brand and they're sending it off like it's a newsworthy pitch. When really it's like a commercial. It's something that you would put on your website as copy. So I'll give you an example. Today as we record this, I had one of my clients Little Words Project. They create fun little bracelets. They're in a thousand different retailers. They also sell on their website. They were just on the Today show. When we pitched them to the Today show, we specifically pitched Jill Martin and her team. So we're not just pitching everybody who works at Today. That's a lot of people and a lot of people cover different things. Jill Martin covers fashion and beauty. She does the makeovers on Today. So she is the person to talk to. She also does the fun little segments like steals and deals. And the one that she is doing currently at the time of this recording is called she Made It. And she's focusing on small business owners that you can support that are female owned. So it was a perfect opportunity to pitch my client because she's a small business, female owned. And when we originally pitched it, we were looking to get one of the steals and deal segments where you share your product, you give the viewers a discount, and then you get insane business. Because millions of people watch the Today show and they've tweaked things a bit because of the coronavirus, because of the way it's affecting small business owners and want to highlight small businesses owned by females. So that is how you have to pay attention to what's going on in the news, what people are covering and the right person to contact. And because we did that, I think we pitched in May, and it took about a month, a month and a half for that to come to fruition. Because segments like this, they take time. It's not a breaking news thing that has to happen right away. And that's what happened. So that's an example. It's a long answer to your question, but it's a real life example of how you need to pay attention to what people are covering. Who are those people covering it and what angles are they using? I ended up reaching out to Jill because I searched on the Today show website for her contact information. I found her page, which was off of the Today show because she's a contributor. She's not actually an employee of Today. Reached out to her and her team off of the Today website. And I also connected with her assistant and Today show producers on LinkedIn. I followed them on Twitter. So there's a variety of ways to do this, and I think at the end of the day, don't do what everybody else is doing. And what everybody else is doing, sad to say, is they're building a big list of journalists, 500. 500 names. And they're pitching them the exact same thing at the exact same time. And you may think that increases your chances because you're reaching out to so many people at once, but it is so obvious that you're doing that and it's what everybody else is doing. You won't get deleted quicker in an inbox if you do that. So instead, just take a little bit of time to be more strategic to find these people to build relationships. And I'm not saying, like, be somebody's best friend, but connect on LinkedIn, retweet something, comment on Twitter. Little things like that go a very long way because most people aren't doing them.

Oh, my goodness. I feel like you should drop the mic right now because I feel like even with this podcast, I get emails, like 10 emails a day. Like, oh, so and so should be on your podcast. Like, it's a constant pitch. But I think if everyone stood back and I'm a big believer in servant leadership, right? You serve before you sell, you give before you receive. And to me, like, PR and media is the same way. The more you can give. I mean, just like you did, you understood that Jill's a busy woman. She's a busy woman with an editorial calendar. She's looking for these businesses. How can you make her life easier? And by showing up the way that you did, you served her. And at the same time, obviously, you're serving your client, but you weren't coming in and asking for something. You were coming in and helping her make her life easier. Right?

And that's the biggest thing that makes a difference. I remember as a TV reporter, if somebody made my job just a little bit harder than it already was, I would done and on to the next. Because journalists today are so overworked and underpaid. They have so much on their plate. I mean, when I was working in Miami, which is a big market, I was doing my own photography. Many days, I was doing my own editing. I was doing everything myself. So if you're going to make things a little harder for me, then I'm going to go on to the next story. I'm going to interview the next person. Because trust me, for every person like you, there's 10 more in line behind you who want to make it easy for me. So I. I always tell people, when you pitch the media, you give them everything they want on a silver platter. Something I did right after this segment is I emailed Jill's assistant and I cc'd the producer who produced the segment. And I said, hey, want to let you know this was amazing. I'm going to share it all over my social media, and our client is going to share it all over their social media because that's what they want to see. They don't want to take the time to give you publicity and. And you ignore it. You have to do PR on your pr, and that's a lot of times where it turns into profit, because there's a lot of people today who didn't see that segment on the Today show, but they may follow you on social media. So when they see on social that you are on the Today show, that skyrockets your credibility and your authority that sets you so far apart from your competition. So you don't only want to make things easier for them to do the story, but you want to make it easier for them after the fact because you're sharing it with everybody and that makes a huge difference.

I think. You know, such a great point to think about that you're making is at the end of the day, the news is a business, media is a business. Right. The more viewers they get, the more eyeballs they get, the more ads they can sell. So the more you can help in that process and bring more viewers to the table by doing exactly what you're saying, the better it is for them. So if we think about what is the end goal and how can we further that end goal by sharing or, you know, adding eyeballs to the table, the better off we're going to be in the long run, right?

Exactly. And people don't think that far ahead because they're too busy thinking about themselves and what's in it for them and their promotion. And you're not going to get the coverage if you go in like that. And it's very obvious when you go in like that. So you have to think of helping the other person. And as a side effect, like, by default, you will get that promotion. And I know what you're talking about. I mean, I have my own podcast, become a media maven. And I get the exact same thing. But you know what stands out, and I'm sure it stands out to you too, Ashley, is when people comment specifically about the boutique hub and when people tell you, after this episode goes live, let me know because I want to share it on social media. Let me know how to tag you. Like that is going to incentivize you a lot, lot more to bring that person on your podcast.

Exactly, exactly. It's got to be a win, win all the way around. So question, let's go, let's go down to like the local level. Let's think about the local newspaper all the way up to the Today show. How can a retailer or any business owner start to, let's say first understand who are the players in media that they need to start building relationships? And number two, how do they start to understand the editorial calendar and how they can pitch the right things at the right time to those people they're building relationships with?

That's a great idea. And I advise people to start small, start local, start niche, because honestly, if you go straight for the big dogs, the first thing they're going to do is Google you. And if they don't find anything, when they Google you, they're going to wonder why you're worthy of national coverage if you haven't Gotten anything small or local before then, so it's a great place to start. And if you've never been on TV before, you don't want to cut your teeth on something like the Today Show. You want to start small, make your mistakes when only 20,000 people are watching instead of 20 million.

So that sounds like wanting to puke in the corner, right? If you've never been on TV and then you're on the Today show, that sounds like that Mouth vomit, definitely.

You totally want to get that. Practice. And podcasts are a great, great way to practice speaking to people and doing interviews. But TV is much shorter. Like on tv, you get three minutes and that's it. On podcasts, I can talk for as long as you will let me, Ashley. And then if you don't like it, you'll edit it out and it's a whole different story. But there's a few different ways to connect with the right people. One, you should be consuming the content. Don't pitch yourself to a newspaper you haven't read. Don't pitch yourself to TV you don't watch because you don't want to look like an idiot by saying something that just doesn't make any sense. And then two, like y' all, Google it is your friend. There is so much there on the Internet that you can find. I know, in newspapers, I think on like the inside corner. I haven't opened a physical newspaper in a long time. I'm going to keep it real. Like most people, everything ends up online. Go to the website of the TV station, of the newspaper, of the magazine, and look at the contact. How do you contact these people? Look at the team. They have a team page. Search their names on Twitter and search their names on LinkedIn. Twitter is huge for the media. I do not know a journalist who is not on Twitter. Like, that is where we get all of our information. That is where we share all of our information. And if Twitter isn't your jam, you should make it your jam just for this reason. But also, you know, try the other platforms. Maybe some media are more active on Instagram or on Facebook, for example. But it is not hard to find people, especially when they're journalists, because they are pushing information out there so you can find them. And before you even pitch them, follow them, retweet them, comment on things, because when you do go to pitch them, you are one of many. But you will stand out because you took that time to build a relationship or even just say hi to somebody on an outside platform. It doesn't make, make it look like you are just pitching to the masses like most people do. You actually look like somebody who follows their content, who is interested in what they cover and you want to help them with their next story. And if you can be involved in that, then it's a win win. So I suggest doing that. And then when it comes to editorial calendars, you asked about that, magazines always publish these. Now they publish these on their websites for advertisers. So just be mindful. Magazines are really big on this and a lot of newspapers are kind of going this way, sometimes even TV stations because people aren't advertising like they used to. So they're selling ads and making it look like earned coverage. So be mindful of this. I am not about it. I'm still all about the earned coverage just because you can still get a lot of it. But those are called pay to play situations. So get the editorial calendar. Ask for it when they reach out to you to buy an advertisement. Say you know, no right now, but you can see in advance what they're planning and that'll give you some ideas of stories to pitch that make it relevant to you and your brand. And then also look at the calendar, like not just the editor editorial calendar, but like the actual calendar. I got a lot of my, my product clients in roundups for best Mother's Day presents, best gifts for graduates. That's low hanging fruit around the calendar. There's also the holidays like Memorial Day where everybody has the sales, right? So I have one retail client, discount glasses@discount glasses.com and we get coupon codes all over the Internet and places like Reader's Digest, MSN all over the place. Because there's always somebody who writes about commerce and e commerce and shopping and fashion and trends. They are rounding up the sales. So look at what's happening on the calendar. And not just those recognizable holidays, but those little quirky holidays that we have every day. Like I think we just passed like a national hydration day. So if you sell water bottles like that is your day. I used to have a client that sold Mac and cheese and there's national Mac and cheese day on July 14th and we got them on TV, multiple TV stations every single year for that. So look at those silly little holidays to capitalize on your product because somebody somewhere is doing a story on it.

Oh, I absolutely love that. And I think about it's so good for product based businesses, brands, makers, right? But then I think about the boutique too. They have the exact same opportunity as they're curating products. But then I think, like, take that a step further and the how tos, like, how do you serve your customers on a regular basis? Things like fit, function, body type, you know, how can I take my product and not pitch a product necessarily, but a how to value piece that then leads locals back to my boutique. Can you talk more about that? Like, from the boutique standpoint, someone that may have multiple products and they're serving.

A customer in that way, I mean, you almost have more opportunities because you have multiple products. You can capitalize on every individual product with a different angle. But I also really like people, no matter what size, capitalizing on themselves and their personal brand because that's what's going to get you the podcast interviews. I don't care how cool or unique your product is. You have to be cool and unique and you have to be willing to tell your story. And again, as a side effect, by default, you get that coverage. So, for example, with the Today show, we didn't go in pitching these cool, unique bracelets. The segment is actually called she Made It. We went in pitching Adriana, the founder, she started this line because she was being bullied, and she created these bracelets as a way to share kindness. And she calls it the Nice Girl Gang. And it was her story. It was her entrepreneurial story. And as a side effect, yeah, we're going to talk about the product too, because that's what came of it. So you have to look at both things. Don't focus so much on just promoting your product 24 7. Focus on yourself and your story and your brand, the person behind it. I mean, you look at, look at all of these products that are famous not because of the product themselves, but because of the person behind it. I mean, we see this with a lot of fitness stuff, right? Like, Jillian Michaels will create a product and everybody will buy it just because Jillian Michaels created it. So that's the importance of building a personal brand. And as again, the amazing side effect of it, your product gets that promotion.

Oh, man, that's so helpful. And especially through living through a pandemic, I think about the retailers that have survived and thrived through this entire 2020 experience that we're living. I mean, that's kind of another level to take it. Talk about your personal story and your business journey, how you survived what you did, how you helped others, how you've given back in the process. I think there's a lot to say about a good, like not just like a rags to riches story, but like the struggle of what we've lived through. And media is going to continue to cover that all year long, right?

Absolutely. I mean, even before the pandemic, this, this was becoming trendy. I mean, I would say in the last few years, personal branding has been a more popular thing. And I think we are past the time where the founder or the CEO or the president can just sit behind a computer and have other people push the product. You have to get out there and you have to be the spokesperson. Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, they did this, you know, with Apple, with Apple products. They didn't have a spokesperson. They were the person. They built their personal brand. We saw this with Bob Iger in Disney. Like he was always out front and center. He didn't have a PR person come out and do this because people don't want to hear from your PR person. They want to hear from you. I mean, you don't want somebody's PR person to come on your podcast and talk about how they built their retail business. You want the actual person who built the retail business. So I think this is, I know for a lot of people this is them stepping out of their comfort zone, but this is something that has to be done because when you build your personal brand, you will build your business.

So good. So talk to me about the next step of. We've, we've found the editorial calendar. We understand what to pitch, how to make it newsworthy, how to fill a need, who to speak to.

Right.

Building, Building the relationships. Now I'm gonna hit send on the email after I've been know tweeting and responding and trying to build relationships with people. What's the anatomy of a good pitch?

Okay, great question. So I will say the hardest thing about this entire thing is finding the newsworthy pitch. Because once you find it because it's newsworthy, it's only going to last a couple of weeks. Because if something is evergreen, it's not really that newsworthy. You have to have a reason for the media to jump on that story and do it now. So that's going to be your biggest struggle in this when you have your pitch. First of all, don't write press releases. It is not 1970, it is 2020. So we're not doing press releases anymore. The last thing any journalist wants in their inbox is a press release. So literally you can write four sentences, Hey, I think you may be interested in this or not you be interested in this, but you and your audience, because remember, this is for the audience and this is why I think the audience would be interested in this is how I can help. Let me know, you know, if, if, if you're interested, and I'll give you everything you need, whatever it is. And I use a Chrome extension for Gmail called Boomerang, and it reminds me to follow up. So if I ever send an email and I know I want somebody to respond, I will set it to come back to me in one week if I haven't had a response. And I will literally follow up once a week for a month. And if I don't hear from you, then I'm going to tweak the pitch. Another thing that I'm going to do right after I send the first email is I'm going to send you a tweet and I'm just going to, you know, use a cute gif and with there's one that I always use with Jim Carrey from, I think it's Bruce Almighty where he's going crazy answering the prayers on his laptop. I send that gif and I let the person know, hey, I'm in your inbox. I just sent you an email because people are more likely to pay attention to a notification on Twitter than they are another email in their inbox. So I give them a heads up that the pitch is there, and then I make sure I follow up once a week and. Or yeah, once a week for about a month. And if I don't hear anything by then, obviously something's not working and I need to retweak the pitch and send it back out. But you also want to make sure you're not pitching the same thing to the same people over and over again. So this is where it's important to have those different angles, you know, so, like, you have a product client will go with the bracelets again. Sometimes we're pitching that to fashion, Sometimes we're pitching Adriana's story to. She's been in Forbes because she was covered as a Latina business owner. They don't write about bracelets. They write about female business owners. So she was in there for that. We've had, you know, e commerce writers write about the online coupon codes. We've had fashion writers write about, you know, how pretty the bracelets are and the different roundups for different things. So you want to come up with a different angle at a different time for a different person. Because if you are pitching the same angle to the same person once a week for months and months, you're going to look a little crazy, like it comes off as a little spammy. So you have to have those different angles. And again, this is where the calendar helps you. This is where a magazine's editorial calendar helps you. This is where what's happening in the news cycle. Just pay attention to what's happening in your industry and in the news. This is where that helps you. Like, it's constantly giving you ideas. And then another place to get ideas is to look at your competition. Where are they earning coverage and what is that topic about? Because you definitely want to be out earning your competition. Because again, this is where the credibility and authority comes into place. So I think that's a long way of answering the question of make sure these people know you're pitching them on Twitter and then make sure you follow up. Most of what you're going to get is going to be on the follow up 100%. And then if it doesn't follow work after a month or so, then go back to the drawing board. You wash, rinse, and repeat.

Oh, so good. So good.

All right.

You alluded to this earlier about once you get the coverage, how to maximize it. I want to talk about this from like an SEO backlink kind of standpoint and how good this is for juice for traffic. What other tips would you give to someone that's earned media how to continue to maximize that exposure long after, you know, the, the story has run?

I share it over and over and over again. Like, there is stuff that I am sharing on social media that I landed for myself or I landed for clients four years ago. And you know what? I have not had one person. I've been doing this for years and I have not had one person tell me, oh, I already saw this. You posted this before. I have not had one person tell me, oh, this is four years old. Because if I'm sharing it repeatedly, one, it's going to be something that's relevant. I actually, I shared. We did a restaurant opening and it was packed and I shared a picture of it recently. And somebody commented about how it's not safe to pack all those people in during a pandemic. And I was like, no, no, no, this picture's from last year. So you just have to be mindful of things like that. But nine out of ten times, if it's, if it's something that you know is like a graduation gift, you could share that every April, May and June for years to come. Podcast interviews, they're pretty evergreen unless you're talking about something that is very time specific. There's podcast interviews that I was on that I am still sharing from Four years ago. And I do this for two reasons. One, social media is a constantly moving feed, so if you don't check in during an exact time that day, you're gonna miss it. Number two, you're gonna miss it because of the algorithm. Maybe the algorithm doesn't think you care about seeing that today, so it's not gonna put it in your feed. And. And then the, the other reason is because. Just because you did not follow me 4 years ago doesn't mean you shouldn't know that I did that. Like, there's people who are still learning about me today, and if they go to follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn or Instagram, I'm still gonna show you the cool things that I did yesterday and last week and last year, because that's what builds my credibility. Not only that, but when you tag the journalist, when you tag the podcast host, when you tag the media outlet, they see that you're sharing it and they appreciate it because it's shocking how rare that is. And they like that. And they will come back to you for more because they see that you are promoting their. I don't know about you, Ashley, but something that is a pet peeve of mine, when I have people on my podcast and I send them the link and I, you know, put some images together for them to share and they don't respond and they don't share it at all. Like, to me, I'm like, listen, I took the time to interview you. You got to share your expertise with my audience for 30 minutes. The least you could do is share it on your platform. And they don't do that. And honest to God, like, I don't know if it's because I'm in the industry that it bothers me, but it bothers me. Like, I just feel like it's inconsiderate.

I, yeah, I completely agree. I think I can. I feel those coming ahead of time. Now, I would say our guests have been really good, the ones that are members of our community, but I feel like I can sense the ones coming a mile away that are from outside of the community, that just see it as free exposure. Like, I'm just going to be on this podcast and pitch, you know, and then I'm not going to do anything about it. So, yeah, I completely agree. It has to be a two way street. It has to be a win win. And I mean, our model's community over competition all day. So the more you can do to help one another, I just believe that everything you give is going to Come back tenfold every single time. So 100% with you on that.

Yeah, I mean, it's just, it's, it's almost like common courtesy now. And I have had, you know, like, I don't do social for my clients, but we always tell our clients, hey, we just earned this media exposure for you. Please share it on social media. And then we've gone back. I've had this happen twice. We've gone back to pitch the same client for something else down the road. And we have been told by two totally different journalists, hey, listen, last time we included your client in something, they didn't share it. Their competition shares it on their social media. So we're going to go to them when we need a source.

Ooh, good to know that's happening.

It's happening because they're tracking these clicks. And so it's very important to, I call it do PR on your pr.

Do you recommend? This is something we've started to talk about in the e commerce world. How important it is to have like a press line on your website or even a page where you're back linking.

All of these stories.

So it's. And it's authority building. Right. Like on our website, if you go to the boot camp boutiquehub.com you'll see Forbes and Inc. And like all these logos of places that you've been. I feel like whether you're a boutique owner or brand designer, whatever, continue to put that on your website and share it on social media. Just like you're talking about.

Well, first of all, if your listeners have not been to your website, they need to go because it is beautiful. I love the design. It is very, like fun and trendy. I love the script. I'm obsessed with like, the script. But yes, it's good because it is social proof. Again, some people, they fake this type of thing by buying ads or by doing press release distribution. So that's why I do like a press page so people can actually look and see, oh, you were on this podcast. Let me click on this link and listen to it. Or let me click here on this entrepreneur link and read the article that you wrote or that you were featured in. I love a press page for that. And it actually a lot of people, I mean, if we're going to get into like vanity and things that don't really matter, but people think it's cool when it comes to getting. I'm just keeping it real. Ashley. When it comes to things like getting verified on social media, earning coverage in traditional media is A big thing they look at. So if you can just copy and paste things on a press page and send it to them to get that verification, you're going to get it a whole lot faster.

Good to know. Good to know. We didn't talk about podcasts specifically from the angle of getting on podcasts, did we? I mean, basically same strategy as far as other media outlets, or do you look at podcasts differently?

I look at podcasts differently for two reasons. One, you're never really going to pitch a product to be on a podcast. That's, again, where we talk about personal branding. You are going to want to build your personal brand. Yeah, you can talk about your product, but you're going to talk about how you built it. You're going to talk from a business owner's perspective, not from a product user's perspective most of the time. And podcast listeners, I love them better than any other media consumer because people who listen to podcasts, hey, listen, we're just smarter than the other ones. And let me tell you why. I'm not just saying that because we're all here together right now, but let me tell you. Do I. It's because people who listen to podcasts are much more invested in themselves, personally and professionally, because you are listening to a podcast to learn. Yeah, you're. You're being entertained. At the same time, hopefully, we're entertaining you and you're staying along for the ride. But you're here because you want to learn and you want to grow. Especially people who listen to your podcast, they want to grow professionally, they want to be better and sell more products in their retail industry. So you know that one, they're here for a reason, a good reason. And two, they know like and trust you. It's not like them flipping through the channels or scrolling online like they are with you. They know like and trust you. So by default, they're going to know like and trust me pretty quickly because they know like and trust you. And you're bringing me on. You're choosing to bring me on. I'm not paying to be here. So I think being a guest on a podcast is the number one way to build your brand.

Oh, man. Couldn't agree more. Such good advice, man. Christina, I want to switch gears a little bit because I know you're so smart, you're so talented, you're helping your clients every day, but you're also a mama. You're a busy, busy lady. I always say this on the podcast. I hate the word balance. You know, like, oh, how do I do it all while wearing heels and all these things because that's just not real life. But I would love to know from your perspective how you've built this great company, you know, from home with kids. Talk to me about how you approach your day and get all these things done.

Yeah, well, right now I'm coming to you from my closet where I'm sitting on the floor because I have kids at home in the other room. So I mean, I think a lot of people, they get, they get sucked up into like the pretty Instagram pictures of, oh, this person has a pretty office and you know, her kids are away or she has a nanny. Like, it doesn't have to be like that. Like, I built a million dollar business working from home with a remote team with. I started my business with a toddler and an infant and I just had my third child less than a year ago and I launched a business a couple of months after he was born in the middle of a pandemic. So I, I don't think it matters if you have kids, if your kids are at home, if you work at home or if you have an office. What has made the difference? For me, a couple of things. One is business coaches. I don't know what I don't know. Like my background is in tv, like I am a TV host. I don't know the first thing about starting and running a business. So the first couple of years I was soaking up all the free content that I could online, I was getting on the online courses, I was listening to podcasts, doing all of those things right. But there comes a point where it stops because you need some one on one help. You need somebody to know exactly where you are, exactly who you serve, exactly what you do and exactly what your goals are so you can get that one on one help. When I started investing in business coaching and trust, it was scared. I used to be one of those people that was like, I can't afford it, I don't have money, I don't have time. Well, I didn't have money because I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I needed, I mean, it's like, like nobody thinks twice about spending tens of thousands to go to college to maybe get a good paying job afterwards. But when it comes to investing in a business coach for your business, something you have control over, everyone's scared and they want these guarantees that don't exist. So I made a commitment that when I invest in my first business coach, I'm going to do exactly what they Tell me to do so. I will make this money back. So I chose my business coach very wisely, and that kind of snowballed because I was learning so many things. I was seeing so many possibilities I didn't even know existed. So that was one. Number two is building a team. Another very scary thing, because you're used to having control. You're used to doing everything on your own. There's a lot of people out there who look good on paper and give a great interview but have a bad work ethic. That's something you're going to have to deal with your whole life as an entrepreneur who builds a team. But I built a team, and that's what gave me time. And it's also what gave me more money, because when I have a team, I have more time to do things like feed my children, and I have more money because they're working for me. And I am spending my time doing what I'm good at and what I like to do instead of all the other stuff that I don't like to do. And then, I mean, other than that, it's about working, working smart, and not working hard. And I know that sounds cliche, but, like, it's. It's kind of like, I think it's Pavlov's law, something like that, where if you give somebody eight hours to do something, they'll spend eight hours doing it. If you give them the same thing and tell them to do it in two, they'll do it in two. That's working smart. It's doing things to actually move the needle, and not just doing things to do things. So I learned that. I read a lot of books. I learned a lot in that. So it's really just a matter of not just learning, but implementing what you learn. Like how many people listen to podcasts, buy those online courses, and they've got a whole bunch of knowledge, but they don't do anything with it, so it's pointless.

Oh, man. You are speaking a page out of my husband's book. He came to me about a year ago, and he was like, you cannot listen to any more podcasts until you actually implement all the things that you've learned in the podcast. And I was like, ooh, fair enough, Fair enough.

And I think we're all so guilty of that.

Like, we consume, consume, consume, but we never implement. So great advice.

You know why? It's because consuming is fun and easy and implementing is hard and not so fun sometimes, but you gotta do it.

So true. So true.

Yeah. Oh, man.

All right, Christina, really quick lightning round. What scares you the most? Snakes, payroll or Internet trolls?

Oh, please. I could take an Internet troll any day. I don't care about them. I used to work in tv. Come on. I'm a regular for them Snakes. Snakes, for sure. I live in South Florida. Those are scary. Oh, man.

Yeah, that's why I live in the Midwest. It kills those things. Like they can't survive the winter. I can't imagine being in tv. I mean, I feel like boutique owners on a regular basis get Internet trolls, you know, customers, live sales, whatever. I mean, I guess I wouldn't say on a regular basis. It comes and goes, but being in TV is a whole other level. Tell me about how you handle them.

Oh, please. I don't. They're idiots, because let me tell you, like, the kind of stuff that I would get. Like, first of all, everybody want. If you're a female on tv, get ready, because they want to tell you about how they feel about your hair and your outfit when you're pregnant, they want to tell you you shouldn't be on TV pregnant. I once did a story. Let me tell you, when all the death threats came at me hardcore. And you know who they came from? The Beliebers. Justin Bieber was arrested for drag racing in Miami. I'm just doing my job. I'm telling everybody he got arrested. He was drag racing. You would not even believe the DMS I was getting with the death threats from the believers. Like, you just have to consider the source. If somebody is taking the time to come for you when they don't even know you, like, they're just off their rocker. And it's. It's. I think it's really bad when you're in the media because everybody thinks. And I use the media in air quotes, everybody thinks they know how it works, and they want to take everything out on anybody who works in the media, regardless of what their job is or what they really do. But when you're in this industry, you grow a thick skin. I think right now it's a little different. Like, you will. Like, people will get. When they see you out and about, they will get physical with you. Like, I've been standing in front of a camera, getting ready to go live, and a man has walked by and punched me in the arm. Like, punched me hard in the arm, and I literally could not even react because I was seconds away from going on live tv. So you just have to ignore a lot of the nonsense. And it sucks. But I think it's one of those things just going into the industry, you know, it's going to happen, and I just. It's. It's getting worse and worse. But people in this job, you know, it's just. You have to have a thick skin, man.

I can't imagine. And especially the climate today, I cannot imagine. So good, good. Time for a career change. Yeah. Oh, man. All right. Favorite book?

Book? Oh, come on. I have a million. I list everything I'm reading on on my website. If you search bookshelf, you can see it all. And I'm obsessed with Goodreads. Okay, I'll keep it business related. I like Secrets of the Millionaire Mind and I like Atomic Habits. If I had to pick two.

Yeah, I. I have not read Atomic Habits yet, but I will have to do that.

Oh, it's good.

Oh, perfect. Okay, Favorite mentors you like to follow online?

Oh, okay. I can go with my current two business coaches who I like, which is Dan Martell. He's helping me with podcast clout, which is a software. I know nothing about technology or software. I just had the idea because I know people want to be guests on podcasts, and it's not easy to pick those podcasts. So I create a podcast cloud, so he's helping me with that. And then I work with Jason Swank, who helped helps agency owners talk about being niched, which you're niched, which is amazing. He helps agency owners. And then I also worked with Pat Flynn, who is just like everything online business extraordinaire. So those, those three, those are my peeps.

Oh, so, so good. All right, last question. And I love to ask everyone this question because I truly believe in life and business. No matter what product or service you're selling, there's a bigger reason behind what you're, what you're doing and what you're selling. Right. We aren't on this earth just to sell a product at the end of the day, but much bigger meaning behind that. So I'd love to know, you know, 30 years down the road, you've got kids, they've got kids. You're sitting there with your grandkids on the front porch and you're talking about your life in media and tv, the clients that you serve, the life that you lived, and what is the thing that you really want them to remember most? What do you want them to know about who you were and what you created during this time here on Earth?

The whole reason for everything was just to have flexibility, to literally do what I want, when I want. And I think the American culture is so ingrained in working 247 to make money that you don't even have an extra minute to enjoy the money you're making, but you're spending so much time working for it, and then you can't even do anything with it. So I. I just want to be able to reflect back. Like, I. I did what I wanted when I wanted to do it, and we were able to enjoy the money. And I'm not saying make a bunch of money. Like, I mean, go to the movies in the middle of the day. You know, I mean, just like, little simple things. I'm not saying buy a yacht. That doesn't. That doesn't make me happy. It's just being able to chill and not have to answer to somebody else. And I want. I want to be something I'm working on is. I just want to be more mindful of enjoying the process. I think as business owners, we have this problem of setting a goal, and we work so hard and we stress to hit that goal, and then after we hit the goal, we just hit a new one. We set a new one to hit a new one. So we're not enjoying the process. And I think that's something that I need to remind myself often and lots of business owners need to remind themselves is you spend 99% of your time in the process of hitting that goal. So just, like, chill and enjoy it, because if you don't, then you're going to live a stressful life. So I just want to look back and be like, listen, I accomplished things. That's cool. But I enjoyed the process of getting there.

Oh, man, that's so true. Because it's so easy to get onto that hamster wheel, isn't it, and just run and run and run to the next thing. And that is not what it's about. Beautifully said.

And I know this. This was supposed to be a lightning round, and I took, like, 10 minutes to answer every question. So I apologize for blowing up your lightning round. Well, that's, you know, it's all good. It's all good.

Christina, you have been such a light. Thank you so much for sharing all of your wisdom with us today. I know our listeners had a page and pages of notes. So very, very helpful. And I want to thank you for the work that you're doing in the world around and helping small businesses receive the credit and the media that they deserve. So I appreciate you coming on the podcast today, and I can't wait to work with you more in the future.

Thank you so much for having me. It was awesome speaking with you and your listeners and if they need any help at all earning media exposure, getting on more podcasts, I'm more than happy to help. You can find out more on my website at Media Maven and More.com hit me up on Twitter, on Instagram, I'm at Christina all day and Ashley, it's been awesome chatting with you. Thank you.

Awesome to meet you and we will link everything up in the show notes so you guys can get a hold of Christina. All right. I hope that podcast was so helpful for you guys and you took away a ton of notes. I just want to invite you this week if you aren't already a member of the Boutique Hub and maximizing all that our community has to offer, or if you haven't investigated any of our higher level courses and programs designed specifically for boutique owners, whether brick and mortar or e commerce, to come on over to the Boutique Hub and give us a look. I'm going to link up the Join page and our courses page in the Show Notes this week so you can check out more information on our Content Sanity Masterclass which helps you map out all of the six most essential pieces of content for your boutique every week on social media. Our holiday marketing Masterclass specifically for the retail holiday season, plus information about our next launch of Retail Bootcamp. Like I mentioned, inside of this week's episode we talk about PR and all kinds of media strategies that are far outside of just social media alone, which 90% of boutique owners are relying on social media media alone. We want to take you a step further past that and also help you become a retail scientist, knowing your numbers at the exact same time. So check out the wait list for Retail Bootcamp and all the other information on how to get more hands on help and strategy and join our community over at the Boutique Hub.

Thanks for listening guys.

Hey guys, thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope that you loved it. Don't forget to hit subscribe and leave a rating and review down below for a chance to be one of our featured listeners each and every week. For more information on our spirit of community over competition and how to access complete show notes and bonus downloads from our guests, head on over to the boutiquehub.com and join the community. We'll see you next week.

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