Submitted by Katie Hellmuth on | 0 Comments
Tin Shingle's first PR Group Challenge has been a success so far. With 9 dedicated attendees calling in every other week, and actually turning on their video cameras when possible, we are meeting face to face to coach each other on in the quest for press. We have completed two rounds of weeks: Type A where we discuss Short Lead story ideas, and Type B where we talk about long lead story ideas. I'll recap it here to give you a glimpse into what it is like:
The Group PR Challenge attendees are varied, and include:
- a beauty business
- a stylist
- a jewelry designer
- a dog food maker
- a positivity change maker
- a transformation coach for entrepreneurs
- a magazine publisher to is taking on PR clients
Right away, contacts were exchanged once everyone in the group announced their goals. The stylist shared a contact with the beauty business who revealed what big website she wanted media coverage on. I was able to share another print media move that hadn't been announced yet, nor would it most likely be clearly communicated so I helped a local business cut to the chase of how best to pitch the new contacts.
Last week while covering long lead ideas, we inadvertently had an intervention with one member of the group. You see, we all have homework after our sessions. We need to report back at each session with what we did in our homework. Big or small, we need to report back on what we did. One member of the group needed to post more in her social media. Well, during the group session meeting, she had not done so - on purpose! She opened up a bit more about why not, and about what her plans were for her next post. Her plans actually did not promote her business directly at all, and took a bit of work to complete.
As we spoke, we learned that she had a fear of over-saturating her followers with postings. Quite the contrary! Each member of the group chimed in with what they wanted to see more of from their fellow business friend. We will see this week what she produced for her homework! Accountability is the motivating factor here, with everyone bringing something new to the table to discuss.
Pictured here is my own homework that I will be bringing to the table. PR is a daunting task, and I have realized about myself, that I am much better at pitching individuals who I know. I need to know what they cover and how they cover it. Then I can write an effective pitch email that is short and to the point. Therefore, I am picking one target media outlet at a time, going through it to get to know the sections of it, and who tends to write what. I am recording all of these names links to related articles (meaning, articles that seem like my business would have been a great feature) into a tab in my Media Tracking Sheet (available here in Tin Shingle's Template Suite), and will share my findings with the group tomorrow. Because one of my goals is print media, I am reading the magazines in paper and ripipng out articles to make sure I enter them into my Media Tracking Sheet as pitching ideas.
PR Group Challenges run for 8 sessions over the course of 3 months. The next one will begin in August. If you are a member of Tin Shingle and want to follow along with how they are going, and learn from the Community Boards, then click here to take a peek into our online conversations in between sessions. If you're not a member of Tin Shingle yet, flip that switch and dive in with us!
