Getting published on Forbes, Business Insider, or CNBC with the power of your three main messages

Welcome to The Unnoticed Entrepreneur. This show will tell you how to get the recognition you and your business deserve. Our guests share their practical insights and tools which you can use straight away. Your host is international entrepreneur, podcast host, and author Jim James. Hello and welcome to this episode of The Unnoticed Entrepreneur with me here in the UK, Jim James, and we're going to Dublin in Ireland to meet Claire Mason. Claire, welcome to the show.

Thank you, Jim. Thank you for having me.

Well, we're going to celebrate. I would sing happy birthday because Claire's got her 7th anniversary of running her own company, which is managing public relations for companies and entrepreneurs. So Claire, you and I are going to talk about how you've managed to get your clients into some of not just Dublin But the world's biggest titles, you've managed to get your clients across titles. Well, you could tell us Forbes, Business Insider, Inc., CNBC, all of that from your offices there in Dublin. Claire, tell us, for the unnoticed entrepreneur, how can they get that kind of coverage? How does it work?

It's actually one of the myths around media, that you need connections or some kind of secret ingredient to open the doors to the media for you. But I'm here to say, no, you don't. What you need and the way you unlock those kinds of publications that you saw on my website and the ones you called out is the power of a good story. And I can promise every unnoticed entrepreneur who's listening to this podcast that they have a good story. So whether they chat with someone like you and me, or me, or they research in other ways, your story will open the door to the media.

Claire, that's really reassuring. I mean, because most entrepreneurs, or most people, think that the media is kind of impossible to get hold of, the journalists are too busy, and most of us have got some imposter syndrome in the mix as well. Take us through the steps when you work with an entrepreneur. What do you have to do to get them into that publication like Inc., for example, or CNBC?

Okay, so there are a few approaches on that one, Jim. So firstly, when I work with an entrepreneur, what I do is I spend a lot of time getting to know who they are. So there is obviously a Zoom call, or more than one Zoom call, where I'm interviewing them, and I'm really looking at what they would believe their 3 main messages are. I mean, that's the key for publicity as well as for social media— find your 3 main messages. And then find 100 ways or 1,000 ways of saying those 3 main messages. You know, you are not going out with something brand spanking new every time. So, it is to find out what those 3 main messages are. It is to start seeing how those main messages would fit with a hook. And I am always explaining to my clients that a hook is really just a little name for the media themes that are going on already. So, something like COVID-19, for example, that was a big hook. I mean, we might be sick to the back teeth of hearing about it, but the media certainly isn't. There are many different ways you can angle that. I worked with a sleep coach. We used remote working as a hook, and then their individual story was the angle. So that's where the messaging piece comes in. Remote work, there's so many hooks around health and wellness and new diets, things like that. Hooks around financial or economic forecasts. It's finding the hook, finding the messaging, getting the client to have professional headshots taken because images really do help you open the door. You obviously still need a good quality story to put forward, but I cannot tell you how many times, and even with editors that I do have some rapport with, when I have said to them, I can provide 2 or 3 images to go with the story, suddenly the story gets published the very next day, let us say. So, images open the door for you. And then the other, let us say, not secret, but a strategy that I have seen work time and time again is to build what I call a publicity skyrocket. So, maybe you don't hit Inc. first go-off, but that doesn't mean you can't. But I'm just saying, maybe that's not necessarily where you start. Maybe you start in an industry publication or a trade publication. But then from there, what you can do is take that link and then pitch yourself higher and higher and higher to the real global media that everybody understands: Inc., Entrepreneur.com, Forbes, all the rest. Well, those would be the approaches I'd suggest.

Claire, I love that. You mentioned at the very beginning about 3 key messages. Many people might be thinking, that's great, but how do I define those? Because I've got so many things going on. I've got a company, I've got products, maybe I've got a service, maybe I've got a milestone, I've got an anniversary. Can you give us some, if you like, structure to that? What would the 3 messages— do they fall into a category or do they change over time? Can you give us some guidance to help people to understand what those 3 might be so there's some permanence and some consistency to them?

Yeah, that's a good question, Jim. I don't know that I have a lot of structure to contribute here, but what I will say to you is think of your legacy, basically, when you're talking about your 3 main messages. So what is it that you want to be known for? And you want to be known for these 3 main things if you look into the future, 5 years from now, 10 years from now, even longer. So for example, you were mentioning there, maybe the company has an anniversary coming up, or maybe they've merged with someone else, or maybe another company, or maybe they've just released a new piece of software or something like that. All of those are stories too, but they would be a sort of a piece of news, let's say. Maybe it's a press release that kind of covers those. When I'm talking about your 3 main messages, I mean, it links very much to what your values might be. So if I am allowed to use myself as an example—

Please do.

Thank you. Obviously, I'm not the only publicist in the world. But the 3 main messages that I go out with is firstly how visibility matters. Actually making yourself more visible is a very strong way to build your business and build a sustainable business. Secondly, I go out a lot with messaging around how establishing yourself as a thought leader is actually an act of service to your audience. It is not a big me, I am so vain kind of attitude, which some people think it is. And then my 3rd main message would be around the whole area of how, as we have brought these CRM platforms on board. And I am a big fan of Salesforce and HubSpot and all the CRM platforms. I am not saying we should not have marketing technology, but we have lost our focus on the top-of-the-funnel relationship building that actually gets people to become leads. And I have just found many different ways of sharing that on LinkedIn and through my own publicity. But in 10 years' time, I am sure I will have new ways of saying it, but those will still be my 3 main messages. I will not be talking about Well, I won't be talking about my 10th birthday, for example, or my 17th birthday. So I don't know if that helps a bit. But your 3 main messages is what you want to be known for now and into the future. And it's very connected with your values and your legacy.

No, Claire, that really does. Because I think often we have a theory. And if you're not working in that theory, and you're on the other side, you're saying, well, yeah, where do I start? Is it with my product? Or is it with my people? Is it my service? So working on what that means for you as a legacy is a really nice way of thinking about it. You did mention there as well about leads. Now, one of the criticisms of public relations is that it doesn't really impact the bottom line. How do you answer that kind of criticism, Claire?

Oh, well, firstly, I don't think things are always able to be measured purely in a linear fashion. And I have seen that even for myself. I am based here in Dublin. So, obviously, when I do publicity work and when I am doing my LinkedIn work, that is, you know, that is able to travel. But when I am going to an in-person networking event, I am in Dublin and I am meeting other people who are in Dublin. And I cannot tell you how many times I have not had a referral from somebody in that networking meeting. And then the person that they have referred me to has checked me out in terms of what my publicity footprint looks like. And suddenly it becomes a very different conversation. Because they are coming to me already with a clear understanding of how I can help them. They have read something that I have written that has resonated with them. They either know I am the publicist for them or they know they are not. So, it shortens sales cycles for sure. Maybe people do not think publicity always puts money on the bottom line, but it saves a lot of time and it saves money. And then the other thing that I was going to say is that maybe somebody has found you through your social media spend or through advertising or whatever else you are doing. Maybe you have been at a trade show. But the fact that you can say your business has been featured in The Telegraph or The Financial Times or whatever publication we might want to use as an example definitely starts adding things like trust, reassurance, credibility, authority. So, I do not buy at all that public relations does not put any dollars or pounds or whatever, euro on the bottom line. But I don't think we can say, well, you were in the newspaper today and then tomorrow suddenly you had clients. But I'm not sure you can do that with any marketing channel.

Right, Claire. And I think that you've raised the issue of really the need to be consistent over time. But you've also raised this issue of sort of branding and individual branding and company branding. What's your advice to entrepreneurs that are running businesses on the need to have their own personal brand and a company brand. Do you think that's a good idea, or do you think they should get them all in one? How do you give guidance, Claire Mason, on personal branding?

So firstly, I don't discriminate when I tell people to build personal brands. So whether you're a full-time employee or you are the founder of a company or you're an executive in another company, you should be building your personal brand because it really is the thing that will future-proof you no matter what economic cycle we are going through. I have a chuckle when I see the doom and gloom posts that we have got going on about ChatGPT or AI. I think we should all be paying attention. I think we should all be learning how to work with ChatGPT and whatever other AI technology comes through the chute. But I have still got a personal brand, bot does not. So, I am feeling somewhat reassured on that. But yeah, a company brand and a personal brand, the two are not in opposition to each other at all. People who are in leadership teams in companies and building their own personal brand, that will reflect very well on a company brand. And especially in the current climate we have where, as the world of work has been so disrupted with COVID and lockdowns, and everything I am reading in Ireland, both from Irish media as well as international media, is around— I know we have had big tech layoffs, and then on the other hand, technology companies and other companies are really fighting to get the best talent and the best staff. And one of the ways you'll help yourself do that as a company is by having executive teams and very visible team members who have healthy personal brands.

Yeah, and I think it's interesting that probably the best defense against AI is to have a personal brand, isn't it? Because differentiation will be really a key point, Claire. In terms of technology, can you share what you're using for helping create content or amplify content for your clients? Obviously, you've still got a pivotal role in the creative content and strategy, but are there any tools, Claire, that you're using that you're finding have really transformed the work that you can do?

I can share that quite happily, and this has obviously been very recent in terms of ChatGPT being launched. So I find that tool very useful from an ideation point of view. And I will say this full disclosure and full honesty, I do not use it at all to write articles because it is better than the AI, which was really machine learning that existed before, but it is still, you can tell that it has not been written by a human. So, the value that I bring and the value that all of us bring as people is that we communicate as people to people. And then you can weave in some personality. I always think if you write, you should always be thinking about user experience. And obviously, it should be enjoyable and pleasant to read, even if I am writing about a software update rather than a party on the beach. And I never write about parties on the beach. I'm always writing about software or something professional. but it should still be a very enjoyable experience for the person who is reading it to read it. I have not found ChatGPT can replace me on that. I do not know what is coming down the chute as this tool continues to iterate. Where I have found it enormously useful is from an ideation point of view. And on that, I am very happy to say it has saved me time. It has saved my clients time because my onboarding process now is I have an initial meeting with clients where I am finding out more and more about them. And then I go back to them a week later with the strategy and the ideas and all the rest that I'd be putting forward. And in that space, it's been a game changer.

Yeah. Okay. And I think as you've rightly identified, ChatGPT and all these Quillbots and NeuroFlash, they're great as augmenting, but really not replacing our own personal style and humor and warmth as well, Claire. Claire, you've helped a lot of clients get into mainstream media. I love your idea of the skyrocket. You start small, and grow. Can you give us any examples of what hasn't worked, any mistakes that you see clients may be making before, of course, they come to you and get your guidance, Claire Mason?

Well, and I'm happy to say I made these mistakes myself, and I'm also constantly learning. The first thing is quality matters hugely, but don't discount quantity. So what I'm saying there is clients need to, if people are wanting to embark on publicity themselves and they're not working with a publicist, definitely you need to be thinking about volume. You need to be pitching a lot is what I'm saying. And even when I'm working with clients, of course, at this stage, I've done this a long time and I've built relationships with editors and journalists and podcast producers, but that just doesn't mean, because I actually work with really great, you know, highly ethical people. So it's not a case of me phoning them up and they just say, oh, we'll publish the story. You know, I still have editors I've worked with for the last 7 years will say, no, that one is not for us. But you need to think quality and quantity. You need to be pitching a lot more than you think you need to be pitching to land those hits. And then the second thing I will say is there is a very simple— think hook. There is a simple little formula. Think hook, which is the major theme that is already going on in the media. Think your angle, which is your specific story to it, and then get very specific. So, for example, I mentioned earlier I worked with a sleep coach, and this was a story we got published about 18 months ago. So I suppose COVID was even more prevalent then, than maybe we have moved on a little bit now. But we spoke about COVID was the main hook. The angle was how after dealing with the disruption of COVID how were you going to really create a sleep routine that was going to set you up for the next day? And then we got really specific about that. So we shared with the editor, and I think this did get published in entrepreneur.com, like 8 ways entrepreneurs can create a sleep routine that sets them up for the next day after experiencing lockdowns and a pandemic and all the rest. So it's always about think about the hook, think about your angle, and get specific. The more specific you are, the easier you make it for the editor to say yes.

Okay. And then I think what you've also said in there about a common error is people not going out enough. And I think you mentioned something earlier on about if you're sharing your information, that really you're serving your audience rather than being self-serving. There's quite a fine line, Claire, and especially for Brits who are not necessarily that good at saying, hey, look at me. How do you help clients to get over perhaps the anxiety that what they're going to say isn't good enough, isn't smart enough, isn't going to land? How do you help them with that? To some degree, lack of self-confidence.

I hate saying it because I think this is a topic that we've all experienced, but I think there is an element of imposter syndrome in that. And basically, we have to remind ourselves that the imposter in our head is not speaking the truth. And then the second thing, of course, is to take the focus off of ourselves and to put it on other people. Action is always the antidote to fear. It also is the antidote to imposter syndrome. So, when, you know, you position yourself, Jim, as a thought leader, or I do it, or somebody else does it, it is not actually about look at me and how wonderful I am and I want to shine a spotlight on myself. What you are doing is you are helping other people begin to understand about public relations or architecture or accountancy, whatever your field of expertise might be. And nobody is forcing these people to engage with your content. If they do not want to engage with your content, they will just scroll on by. But what you will start seeing is the more visible you are and the more frequently you post and publish and appear in the media, media, more people will follow you. And that is how you know you are doing something right because these people are gaining value from your content. It often reframes things for my clients is when I say being a thought leader or establishing a personal brand, actually, it is a win-win. We are both benefiting, myself and my audience, but it is not coming from a place of vanity. It is actually coming from a place of service.

I love that. It is coming from a place of service, not from vanity. And that is Very liberating, Claire, isn't it? Claire Mason. Claire, if there was one piece of advice that you'd give to my fellow unnoticed entrepreneurs about getting noticed, what would it be with all your experience now on your 7th anniversary of running the agency?

I know, I forgot that it is my 7th birthday. My one piece of advice would be because I work exclusively in the B2B space, I would say it's about getting visible on LinkedIn to begin with. I've opened many media doors for clients and I've opened them for myself too through a frequent and an active presence on LinkedIn. And I don't know how many people know this, but LinkedIn themselves release their yearly stats around about every November. And last year they released how there are 875 million people on LinkedIn. And only 1% of that entire 875 million people actually publish on LinkedIn. So you can see the size of the opportunity available to you, me, and all other unnoticed entrepreneurs on that platform.

Claire, you're on LinkedIn. If you want to find you, Claire Mason, in Dublin, how can they do that? Do you want to send you a birthday wish, for example? How can they find you?

That's sweet. So my website is clairemason.co. That's clairemason.co. And then on LinkedIn, there are many Claire Masons, but I'm the only one with the name Claire Mason Thought Leadership. So if people go onto LinkedIn and just enter Claire Mason Thought Leadership in the search bar, my profile is the one that comes up.

Claire Mason joining me from Dublin on her anniversary of starting her agency. Congratulations. Thanks so much for joining me on the Unnoticed Entrepreneur Show today.

Thank you, Jim. It was a lovely chat.

It was indeed. So you've been listening to Claire Mason. As always, I'll put her details in the show notes. She's over there in Dublin. I'm here, Jim James, in the UK. And if you've enjoyed this show, do please share it with a fellow unnoticed entrepreneur. And it would really help me out if you could review the show on the player that you listen to it. And also let me know what you think of the show and how We can get better, because we're trying to improve ourselves too. And until we meet again, I just do encourage you to keep on communicating. Thanks for listening.