Excerpt from a TJ Walker interview with Heather Holmes focused on practical PR tactics: Heather says most media outreach is via text and email, with phone calls used primarily for event-related media coordination. The host then asks Heather to define her ideal client and deliver a two-minute pitch describing her firm and services.
Is that even a thing anymore? Is everything all text or email?
Yeah, mostly everything is text and email. And most producers don't want to be called. I will call. Like when we have an event and we're working with local media or we like are trying to get media to come to an event. Right. To get photos. That's typically when I call the newsroom when it's event based. But everything else typically is like text.
And email and is the right text at the right time with a strong hook in the first 10 words. What's most effective or what, what really generates bookings most effectively?
It's really just getting them to respond to our initial interest and then from there going deeper into the story in a moment.
Now I'm going to ask you to pitch away. A lot of talk shows, a lot of blogs, a lot of communities on Facebook say, oh, you know, no pitching, no pitching. We're the opposite here. We're, we're here. This is the TJ Walker Success show. We're all about helping people become more successful by improving their communication skills and by improving their confidence in their communication skills, specifically spoken communication. So many people are nervous, even PR consultants, about talking about why people should hire them, why they're great, what's unique about them. And here we embrace that. So what I want to do is have you pitch away. I want you to, before the pitch starts, define who is your target prospect. Who is your target client? You are not after a college student who self published a book who has no money. That's not your client. Define for us your client, your ideal client prospect, and then imagine they're sitting right here. It's a one on one conversation and you can just talk to them for two minutes because you've already introduced each other and they say, so tell me about your firm and what you do and how you could help me. That's the scenario. So I'm going to get off camera, give you a couple of minutes to pitch away. Anything you want. You can talk about your website, your new software as a service, anything. It's up to you. Ladies and gentlemen, here is Heather Holmes.
So I'm Heather Holmes and I'm the founder of Publicity for Good. We are a purpose driven communications firm where we make you become an industry leader. We have been in the space for over nine years and I been a publicist for almost 13 years and we are obsessed with partnering with mission driven brands. So that is consumer brands that you would find at the grocery store or individuals and influencers who have a story and are trying to make a difference in the media. We really specialize in media relations, so when we partner with you, we do get media interest. In the first 30 days we make you become an industry leader. We also work with micro influencers and manage your awards. We partnered with more than 300 brands. We work in every English speaking country. So if you dream of becoming an internationally known brand or voice, we can help you. And because we're so passionate about making PR accessible to purpose driven brands and people and businesses, it typically is 5k or above to invest in PR services.
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