The Tin Shingle Blog

First question: how is it already AUGUST?  Someone recently called August "the Sunday of summer" and I couldn't agree more.  Though this month marks the slow end of "vacation season" it also marks the fast pick up of several different hot topics in the media that you can use to land your business some press in short lead media outlets (websites, blogs, television, newspaper and weekly magazines).  Use the topics below as catalysts for some strategic August pitch creation brainstorming!  Remember, be creative, be authentic and be sure that your ideas match the demographic of the media outlet that you're pitching!

Back to School -

Parents around the country are breathing a little sigh of relief this month as kids across the country head back to school.  This season is ripe with opportunities for products, services, and experts to take this theme and run with it to create timely pitches as well as blog posts and social media promotions.  These include: tips for kids returning to school, product must-haves for before, during and after school, health and safety tips for students, stress management for kids heading back to school, back-to-school fashion and even advice or products for those beginning college.  If you really want to be creative you can try to turn back-to-school season into an angle or even a sale that honors moms and dads who are "getting their freedom back".  This could be a deal on massages, tips for relaxing after a long summer or "mommy must-haves" that will help mom treat herself after suviving summer vacation.

Labor Day Prep

Labor Day falls on September 1st this year and though it's still a few weeks away, because it's such a major holiday you'll want to begin creating and pitching stories about it now.  Remember that just like most holidays, nearly every type of business can find an angle, story idea or set of tips to tie into it that is authentic and interesting.  Experts can share travel tips, health and safety tips, recipes, activity ideas and more.  Product businesses can share food, apparel, road trip must-haves and even great Labor Day Sale information.  As always, be sure the offering you're sharing (whether tips or a product) is tailored to the short lead outlet you are sharing it with!

August 21 is National Senior Citizen's Day

This August our country recognizes National Senior Citizen's Day and if there's one thing they news loves to create stories about it's holidays and observances, so if you can find a way to attach your business to this theme get ready for some great press opportunities to come your way.  Holidays like this can be turned into blog posts and pitches easily because you can run with the idea in so many different directions.  Not a good fit for this holiday?  Let your fingers do the walking over to Google search and check out the other holidays on deck for August and September and find one that fits your brand or expertise!  Every month we celebrate observances that cover everything from food to health, there's a match for everyone!

Fall Trends: Fashion, Accessories, Beauty, Health & Beyond

Fall is famous for several things, and in the media world it's a big season for trends. Fashion (fall brings New York Fashion Week and other similar fashion celebrations around the world), beauty, accessories, health, fitness - it's time to reveal what the big trends of the current and coming seasons are.  Are you able to speak or share tips about a speciifc industry trend?  Does your business offer products that can fit into a specific trend?  Now if your time to shine!  Share your trend story with the press, and if you're a product person be sure to share your business and how it fits into trends with experts who regularly share products on different television shows, so that they know you're an option for any television segments or blog posts they may have coming up!  As always, don't forget that no story idea is ever wasted if beyond writing a pitch for it you turn it into a blog entry or social media post for your own business as well.  That strategy is a powerful way to make your ideas work double - even triple - time!
 

Move over Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg, there's another panel of women ready to join the ranks of The View and The Talk, and they're aptly named, The Real.

Catering to a different demographic than its predecessors, The Real and its hosts Tamar Braxton, Tamara Mowrey-Housley, Jeannie Mai, Loni Love and Adrienne Bailon hope to bring a fresh, diverse and "we're-holding-nothing-back" twist to daytime TV when they debut on Fox this fall.

These women and their show intend to be fearless, courageous and "say what you're thinking" when their show airs starting this September 15th, and they're looking for stories for their viewers that do the same!  Does your product sound like something that their audience must know about?  Are you an expert who is a great fit for this show?  Could you be a great fit for a show that they already have in the works (check that out here)?

Just like we always say, before you pitch any media outlet you need to get to know it so head on over to the website and do your research before you decide to take your time (and the producers' time) to pitch the show.  If you're sure you are a fit - go for it!

While checking out the hosts of the show did you think to yourself: "My fashion/accessories/makeup/shoes would be PERFECT for [insert one or more hosts names here]?  If so, you are in luck!  Tin Shingle is working with the show's stylists to get the hosts awesome #smallbizstyle goodies to wear when they begin filming.  If you're interested in this opportunity you have to act fast!  Get all the details via this PR Lead,

Sometimes press stories aren't direct features about your business, but they can be just as useful to you as they showcase your expertise in a specific niche, and simply by sharing that expertise your business by default will get highlighted and mentioned in a story.  The more you learn to master and take advantage of these opportunities, the more chances you have of being mentioned in press stories and the more your buzz will build!

This is exactly what happened to Tin Shingle's member, Making Care Easier, who recently celebrated their first #Snagged press moment thanks to our exclusive PR Leads.  Some quick background: Making Care Easier is a free website and mobile app which improves the way families care for their aging parents.  They know that care giving is hard and that is why they have become dedicated to making it easier!  What they didn't know is that landing press could also be so easy.  Now onto their "Snagged Moment"...

Despite the fact that the PR lead they saw for a feature article didn't directly relate to their company's services, Making Care Easier (MCE) was determined to reach out anyway as they believed that their expertise from their field would be useful in the story.  Good thing they went with their gut!  The result: they landed placement, explained their services, and gained great exposure in a well read article on CNET.  Julie Fry, co-founder of MCE shared this with us regarding MCE's PR campaign. "So far, we've had great feedback from the PR contacts from your site.  We were in CNET today and have offers of guest blogs from a couple of different websites-all thanks to Tin Shingle."

So how did Julie land a story The story in CNET that was abut new technologies, specifically logging emotions and sharing them over social networks, and not directly about caring for aging seniors? How did a care giving company craft a PR lead for an article about new technological products?  She shares the three strategic steps here:

Be Proactive & Prompt
After seeing the the lead on Tin Shingle, Julie crafted an email pitch and within one day she received a response from the reporter.  Immediately she followed up, providing more information, and then received confirmation that MCE would be included in the article.  Staying proactive brought prompt results.

Illustrate How You Can Contribute Useful Information to the Story
Clearly care giving isn't directly related to the topic of the article.  However, Julie was determined to think outside the box and keep her tips general and applicable.  Instead of only focusing on her company she explained shared her expertise surrounding the technology of tracking emotions. Thus the reporter was able to feature MCE in the story and share their quotes.

Stay Organized
Julie started a folder entitled "Press-Ideas Submitted for PR Leads" where each pitch was saved as a word document. This preparation allows her to refer back to her past pitches as needed during her PR campaign.  She also created an excel sheet with to track press that she communicates with.  This is an important and an easy shortcut for future pitches.

Landing press may not always be as simple as it was for Making Care Easier.  However, by modeling your outreach and sharing your expertise like Julie and her team did, you will increase your chances of success and perhaps we'll be featuring YOU in our #Snagged series before too long!

Deanna Cochran's eponymous jewelry line is uses beautiful and professional product shots in their retail, marketing and PR material (as well as her amazing Instagram feed), and here's  her surprising secret: she does nearly all of it on her cell phone!  That's right, her phone.  These photos turn out so well that they grace her marketing material, sales catalogues, social media and even press placements.  How does she do it?  We chatted with her and she gave us her strategies!

Do you really take all of your product photography?
Yes, I take 95% of all photos personally. The exception would be some of the model shots used for marketing and the catalog. That said, this last season I was in need of shots for a supplement catalog for a mid-season release. The photographer was not available so I did the model session personally on site. I learned a lot but overall the session was a success. 

Do you use a camera setup or a camera phone?
I use only a camera phone. It is a Samsung S4. I had a professional set up years ago for gallery shots (white or black background that results in a floating image). I no longer use that set up unless requested by a gallery or editor. With the high resolution phones today they can achieve similar resolution of the professional camera. I feel today my pieces are best represented in a natural setting.

Do you ever hire a professional photographer, and if so why?
Yes, I’ve use a professional photographer in some cases. Typically this is for a model session. I choose a professional in this case because I approach these sessions with a “styling” team. It can take several eyes and hands to ensure jewelry designs are highlighted and captured successfully during a photo session. With traditional photography the subject matter is the model. With jewelry is may take several sets of those eyes to ensure our subject matter is the jewelry. The model is simply the backdrop to highlight the jewelry scale. They can help set the stage for the overall look of your brand. 

What do you look for when selecting or setting up a backdrop?
Lighting, natural surface, and angle. All three are equally important. Jewelry has a metal component that reflects light harshly and can wash out the design or texture. I use all natural indirect lighting. I typically choose wood surfaces since they act as a softer contrast to the metal. Most of the surfaces are in the metals studio where the items are created. Angle comes into play to eliminate shadows and glares. The least amount of glare is achieved by moving the camera around the design to ensure harsh lighting or surrounding colors are not seen in the reflection of the piece.

What do you look for in lighting?
Natural indirect lighting.

Did you setup your own light box to control lighting, and if so, what light box method do you use?
I did this in the past but no longer use a light box or “tent” type set up.

Do you ever have the need to take photos on white background? For ecommerce sales page or editors request?
I do receive requests for white background for either editorial shots or retailers websites from time to time.  These are rare and normally we can either Photoshop out the background or re-shoot.

Because of your strong artistic style with the photos, do magazines use your styled product shots that have a background and dramatic angle?
Many times they use our shots as we capture them.  I am finding that there is a movement to the natural background shots as long as the resolution is high enough for print. More often than not our editorial participation is supplying jewelry for fashion editorials more than stories. Stories came when the business was new 5-10 years ago. Today most editors want the jewelry in their fashion editorials on their models where stylist mix in with clothing and other accessories.

The camera angles of your product photos are amazing. They really create movement with the photo somehow. How do you know when to make a dramatic angle on a shot?
When I move the camera around the piece my choice comes down to the best reflection of light to highlight of the design. My Samsung S4 camera adjusts the light settings automatically. I like interesting angles but that is a balance. It comes down to the jewelry as subject matter. A harsh angle may be interesting but not highlight the design. This can result in poorly representing the piece. With everything there is balance angle and subject matter.

Do you apply filters to most of your photography? Of the filters, do you stick with photos available on your camera? Or do you use Instagram's or other tools?
Sometimes there is a need for color adjustment to achieve what the eye sees in person. The camera phone can auto adjust color resulting in a strange balance of color. 99% of the time I use Instagram to adjust photographs for both social media and my print catalog. I use the background as my guide for final color choice. Using the background as my focus ensures the design color is captured as well since metal reflection and color can be harder to achieve. When you change the color of the background you will change the expectation of the piece in person. So many use filters today that alter reality. They result in an image that is not true to what is seen by the eye. In my opinion filters should be used to improve the image to achieve what you see in person. Some of my favorite Instagram tools are “Vignette”, “Highlights” & “Shadows”. If the color balance was altered by the camera settings I am also known to use the “Warmth” tool. In regards to filters I typically “Normal”. If trying to achieve a natural color match I have found “Hudson” a second favorite. I have also gotten away from using any type of frames. I remove them 9 times out of 10. They tend to cut out too much of the image for my personal taste. 

*I will add that most are surprised to find out my print catalog and website are generated mostly through Instagram photos. 

Do you use apps on your camera to do fancy tricks, and if so, which apps for which tricks?
Sometimes I will use apps to add wording or collage photos. I am not as up to date on the latest apps as others may be. I have been known to use Rhonna for wording and Photogrid for collages. I use these in combination depending on what I am trying to achieve. Due to time constraints most days I simply use Instagram to share images in social media and capture shots for the catalog.