The Tin Shingle Blog

Hold onto your hats folks, because this is an emotional roller coaster of a ride that documents the journey one small business went through to get their first national print press. Every journey is different, but everyone from seasoned PR professionals at big or small agencies to businesses who do PR in-house on their own will tell you that getting press is hard, takes time, but can happen and is worth the wait.

EAGER TO BUST OUT OF THE GATES, BUT WAITED FOR THE RIGHT TIME
Wiggletot, the first product to combine a diaper changing pad cover with a detachable vest and toys to help keep a wiggly baby in place, first debuted in the spring of 2014. The company's founder and designer, Zaida Khaze, had been growing the company for long before that, from designing the product to securing the patent to finding manufacturing. When the time came to sell the product and get the word out, Zaida was fast typing to figure out how two get her brand big press, which is when she found Tin Shingle and joined. Using the tools that came with her membership, Zaida began pitching the press. But...

WAIT - IS MY EMAIL WORKING?
Zaida pitched diligently. She showed up for all of the live TuneUps and downloaded past TuneUps to teach herself the ways of pitching. She's one of those students that shows up for class, does all of the homework, asks questions and wants see results. She tried pitching different times of the day and different days of the week. For months, she didn’t receive any responses. Says Zaida, "I started getting paranoid to the point where I would send test emails from one email to another seeing if my AOL account was working."

Therein Lies Hurdle #1:
The email issue. Sending from aol or gmail accounts signals amateur. Especially an aol account. Editors don't have time to deal with rookies, so a personal email is an easy one to ignore. Legit business have work emails, and everyone who works there gets one. Yet, using a personal email for business matters is one of the most common mistakes that even established businesses make.

MEH - IS THIS EVEN PRESS?
After changing her email account from AOL to Gmail, Zaida started getting a few responses. Coincidence? Perhaps. But the responses were from sources that may have been more scam related and included $10 fees for posting her content.

STILL NO PRESS - DOUBT CREEPS IN
When you're a new business, or any business, and you're not getting responses from people, it can be devastating to your confidence. Says Zaida: "I needed a new book for motivating positive thinking. I started self-doubting and questioning everything regarding my new business endeavor." In mid August 2014, Zaida tuned in to her regular Tin Shingle TuneUp for a mix of motivation, buzz-building advice. "I needed anything that could ignite the wheels to turn in my head again. One of the wheels, definitely had a flat. And then that TuneUp changed everything."

THE KEY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Everyone does pitching differently. We know that the key to getting a chance at press is in a few key elements in the beginning of the process:

• The pitch
• The email subject line
• The followup

We at Tin Shingle don't know the particulars about everyone's situation, which is why we love getting questions from you. It helps us see exactly what you're doing so that we can craft a solution for it. The TuneUp that changed everything for Zaida was one where Sabina Hitchen, co-founder of Tin Shingle and previous PR agency owner, was literally showing a successful pitch format on the screen. We host the TuneUps on camera in a live webinar. As Zaida watched, she could see exactly what was wrong with her own pitch.

Therein lies Hurdle #2:
Zaida had been copying Word documents into emails, making the print very small, and had linked copy within the letter in a general way, requiring an editor to squint and dig through to see what the product was about.

FINALLY - THE BUSINESS EMAIL COMES INTO PLAY
The lightbulb was ignited, and Zaida's determination was refueled. She pushed through to get to the next level. She tossed aside both Gmail and AOL accounts, and went through the process of setting up a proper business email, with the help of her hosting company, Blue Host. She changed the format of her email pitch, and then: "Once I had everything set up, I immediately starting getting replies."

FIRST PRESS WITHIN WEEKS
Zaida's first press was with the online version of U.S. World & News Report. Her next press started shortly thereafter, but didn't go to press for several nail biting months after. In August, Zaida pitched the National Examinar's request for stocking stuffers.

READER TAKE NOTE: Stocking stuffers were being selected in August! On August 29th, Zaida was told by an editor at the National Examiner that the Wiggletot wasn't a stocking stuffer fit, but that was a consideration for a January product roundup. Great! Now she needed some high rez photos, fast.

NEW HURDLE - THOSE HIGH RES IMAGES
High resolution images (300 dpi or more) weren't in Zaida's marketing materials. She couldn't find them on her computer. When she reached out to the freelance photographer she'd hired through Thumbtack.com, he told her she'd need to pay extra plus royalties to get the high res photos. Bogus!! Continuing with her sleuthing, Zaida found her contract for the photo shoot - which included the images - and reached out to Thumbtack directly to step in, which they did, and the high res images were promptly provided by the photographer. Moving on!

Though for the juicy details behind this drama, Zaida documented it in a Small Business Diary entry here on Tin Shingle.

THE STALL BEFORE THE PRESS HIT
Happy days, the editor had all she needed from Zaida, but Zaida didn't have confirmation from the editor. In September, Zaida couldn't sit on her hands any longer and sent a short and sweet follow-up email to the editor, to which she did get a very short, but positive reply back that they would contact her if they needed anything. December rolled around, and still no confirmation, but a request for samples was made, to which Zaida eagerly replied: "Yes! Where do I send them!" She never did get an address, as the press needs things for different reasons, but this one piece of her communication was her only hope that they might run the feature.

January 12, 2015 the confirmation email came in. The editor told her that the magazine would be on sale in stores February 16, 2015. In her excitement, Zaida did her own calculations of when the magazine would arrive in stores. Acting on her own distribution schedule, she rushed to the supermarket on February 6th after dropping off her two girls at school, and picked up a copy. She turned every page and didn't see the feature. Crestfallen, Zaida returned home to pour over her email to see where she missed a beat. And sure enough, the original email said that the issue would be on newsstands on February 16th.

Roller coaster!
On February 12th, Zaida was sent PDFs of the magazine cover and the baby bonanza spread featuring Wiggletot. "It was such an exhilarating feeling to open the attachments. I am extremely grateful that I was given my first magazine press opportunity!"

And Zaida has just gotten started.
Her buzz is growing as we speak! Watch her Facebook and Instagram for the latest news, follow her blog where she wrote about this entire account and which also includes more behind the scenes glimpses of life as a business owner, and treat your friend or yourself to a baby changing cover that makes changing a messy, wiggly baby a lot easier.
 

Sabina and I are open about our love for the Cinderella story. Yards and yards of silky delicious fabric aside, Cinderella is a story of hope and hard work. Sure, luck came to Cinderalla, but like any good business story, luck happens to those who lay the path. Perseverance is a theme in this story, from the tiny mice comitted to breaking Cinderella out of the tower, to Cinderella herself making it through the day in a possitive way. In the 2015 version, when Lily James, playing Cinderella, loses all hope after her mother's dress is torn to pieces, she forgets her sorrow to help an old woman, who turns out to be her fair godmother, and her fate changes in that moment.

Well folks, it's officially SPRING! Now if you're already using our Blog Planning Calendar you already knew that, but if not, we're sending you wishes for warm-ish spring weather wherever you are.

March is nearly over but that doesn't get you out of the pitch production zone.  In fact, just in case your mind melted a bit while working on your business taxes or is still thawing out from the winter cold, we've got a few ideas to help you close out your March outreach - or include in your March blogging.  We've also got a topic that is going to be useful for those working on long lead pitching AKA monthly magazines. 

Read on, get inspired, get pitching!

Spring: A No Brainer with a New Twist:

March 20th marks the first official day of spring, and even if you're still bundled up in a parka it is time to think about what you or your brand can share for spring.  Obviously the media love to cover their usual hot topics (must-haves, spring fashion, spring work-outs, spring break tips, spring party planning ideas, spring recipes) but try to take even your average story idea to the next level - it's worth the effort because people will be covering these topics for the next couple of months.  For instance, instead of just doing "spring fashion" you could do what Tin Shingler Dawn Del Russo did and pitch "How to dress mothers and daughters for Easter without being 'matchy matchy'".  Does a new twist like that work? You know it, you can watch the clip of Dawn doing that segment on Extra right here!  BAM!

The key for spring pitches that work is to keep your idea and pitch in line with what the outlet normally covers, not too wacky or out there, but still keep it interesting enought that it stands out from other pitches.

Easter is Right Around the Corner

Easter Sunday is nearly here folks!  That's why we're going to put this pitch idea in the March calendar.  Though this is a religious holiday traditionally speaking, in the media world it can encompass so many other ideas that don't even mention the word "church".  Here are some ideas to get you started:

• How healthy are your Easter candies and what are some alternatives?
• DIY beauty using leftover Easter Eggs (yes I've seen this done before)
• How to handle family stress and conflict during the holiday
• How to start fresh and anew with your life after Easter
• Easter Sunday outfits for the entire family
• How to throw your own Easter Egg Hunt party

Remember, this holiday is nearly here so if you want to get press, act fast!  If you don't feel like speedy pitching, you can use these ideas on your own website or on your social media feeds!

National Nutrition Month and other Holidays

There is still time to celebrate the vast amount of holidays, ranging from serious to silly, that we remember every March.  If you do your research you'll find that no matter what your business type, you can find a holiday that works for you.  Some of our favorites (for their ease in terms of fitting into pitch ideas, and the ways you can tie them to small business) include:

• National Nutrition Month
• Women's History Month
• National Craft Month
• National Waffle Day (You know you want to find a way to celebrate this with me)

Stay tuned - our "What to Pitch" for April will be going live next week to deliver even more creative ideas into your pitch planning.  Until then, get inspiration from past pitch idea posts...I'm sure there are a few ideas in there that you can modify or adapt for this season!
 

The ruling on net neutrality on February 26, 2015 was a big win for small businesses, even though you won't get a letter in the mail about it, or any new directions to follow. As a user of the Internet, and as a business owner of a website, nothing will change for you. But this ruling is a historic decision that was based on the feedback of millions of Americans and a battle that has been raging for years. Your knowledge of it will help protect your ability to enjoy the Internet as you always have, as well as create a business that can operate on it.

February 26th's decision, based on a proposal put forth by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, means that small businesses can continue developing and growing their businesses while using the Internet as a major tool of communication for promoting that business, selling directly to consumers for that business, and just plain reaching the audience of that small business for any reason at all without being charged more for doing so for any reason. In the words of Tom Wheeler, who is also a former tech startup entrepreneur: "My proposal assures the rights of Internet users to go where they want, when they want, and the rights of innovators to introduce new products without asking anyone’s permission."

HISTORIC TIMES - DEFINING THE INTERNET
We are living through the regulation of a major medium that was invented to help people communicate, and has become part of the fabric of daily life. When an invention happens that changes lives, lots of people can profit, and lots of people can make decisions about how to use that invention that will impact everyone's life. Right now, the federal government and the FCC, with loud moaning from private Internet service providers over the years, are defining how people can get online, and what they can come to expect from that experience.

WHAT DOES NET NEUTRALITY MEAN FOR YOUR GROWING BUSINESS?
Cable companies wanted to start charging businesses a fee so that their business website would work normally for people who were surfing on those websites. To get online, you have to go through a carrier, like Time Warner, Comcast, Optimum Online, AT&T, Verizon, and all of those big boys. Those carriers are having to service more and more people, and at faster and faster usage speeds, which is usually compared to traffic on a highway. If you're on a big, wide highway, you drive faster with less congestion (unless everyone is on the same highway as you). Right now, cable companies are charging customers more to access faster speeds, and "throttling", or slowing down their usage if they exceed a certain amount of data. Cable companies and Internet service providers (ISPs) wanted to start charging businesses operating those websites that customers were surfing the same type of "throttling" fee.
 

"THROTTLING" FEE & DISCRIMINATION BLOCKED
This fee can be compared to neighborhood thugs patrolling a NYC city block in the 1970s, who would charge a local grocer a "protection" fee to not beat them up or rob them. This example is a little extreme, but it illustrates the power that an Internet service provider like AT&T or Time Warner has when it comes to letting people see the website of a business.

For the record, a website hosting company already controls access to a website. Someone like Bluehost or Media Temple (owned by Go Daddy) charges a business a fee to keep the lights on at the website, and charges a business an "overage fee" if the website delivered more content to more people than what was originally in the service agreement. I should know - we just got an "overage bill" from Media Temple for $202 this month.

TOM WHEELER'S PERSONAL SMALL BUSINESS STORY
Tom Wheeler published his thoughts on the Open Internet and net neutrality on Wired. When working in the private sector, he headed a tech startup that competed with AOL. He experienced first hand how a blocked network could hamper growth and kill a business:

IT BOILS DOWN TO THIS: "COMMON CARRIERS" VS "INFORMATION SERVICE" & TITLE II
Net neutrality is now tied to and protected by Title II of the Communications Act. In any article you read on net neutrality, "Title II" is a frequently used term, and is most likely new for you. But it's not new for this country. Title II of the Communications Act of 1934 is a federal law signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt, which had oversight by the Federal Radio Commission. The Act replaced the Federal Radio Commission with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Communications in the early 1900's consisted mainly of radio waves, but the invention of the television had been a work in progress, built on the developments of several inventors working on the transmission of images, starting with the fax machine from 1843-1846. Over the course of many years, the first demonstration of television was in 1925. Advancements in transmission of information haven't slowed down. Hence our current issue of net neutrality and who can control it, slow it down or speed it up. According to SaveTheInternet.com, regulating the Internet under Title II gave the FCC "the strongest possible foundation for rules prohibiting discriminatory practices."

Further making the Internet a public service, net neutrality has included rules that reclassify "broadband" as a utility. Wireless providers were classified as "information service" instead of "common carriers" in 2010, but not anymore. I bet you didn't know that there is a BIG difference between the two classifications and the regulations that "common carriers" are tied to in terms of providing a service to the people without discriminating against anything in order to provide that service.
 

WHAT DOES NET NEUTRALITY MEAN FOR FREE SPEECH?
Taken a step further, if a cable company can tamper with whether or not a website can smoothly deliver its content to you, then it can squeeze companies it doesn't like. And that often includes messages of race, gender, or any social or political issue out there.

Without regulation, if a company owned an ISP (internet service provider like Comcast or Time Warner), and if someone at that company had a political agenda (like Rupert Murdoch with Fox News), they could make it difficult for a company who delivers content, like videos or podcasts or the written word, to make it into your computer. The speed may be slow, wonky, or mysteriously not work.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO KEEP THE INTERNET OPEN
Right now, we must stay aware of federal actions to ensure that businesses can continue doing business as usual. In this case, federal rules are protecting businesses. In other cases, rules add limitations that make growing our businesses difficult and more expensive. For now, continue the freedom we have. FreePress.net has great ideas you can act on now.