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 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 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 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 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, 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 be 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 100%.

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. That'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. And 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, quote, 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. 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 onto 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. 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 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 were 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 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 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.

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 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 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, and then also look at the calendar, like not just the editorial calendar, but like the actual calendar. I got a lot of 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@discountglasses.com and we get coupon codes all over the Internet in 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.