The Tin Shingle Blog

Super Amazing Pinterest Board Collections for Brands

Submitted by Katie Hellmuth on Fri, 2013-07-26 16:36 | 2 Comments

Newbies to Pinterest plan and plan and plan, and pin so selectively. Spazzes like me pin and pin and pin, and create albums on a whim. If you're a hair stylist and you say to me: "I'm going to create a Pinterest board for hair styles I've done." I say to you: "And, you could create a board for all of the shades of red hair color that you love."

There's a happy medium between too many and too few boards. I'll be covering them in my live #SocialTuneUp: "Pinterest Best Practices to Get Re-Pinned and Followed", and I wrote an article on it for AllBusiness.com called "5 Pinterest Strategies to Create Branded Boards" . And if that's not enough, read this Mashable article that covers a study conducted by Unmetric that looks at the numbers behind the highest liked and commented branded Pinterest boards (which I of course also pinned to our branded board, [Infographics] Our Collection.

Here is a collection of Pinterest boards from my favorite brands who are staying on-brand, and remain visually addicting.

In all of the Pinterest accounts that were strongly branded, I noticed the following:

Pin boards were full. Each had about 20 or more photos in each board.
Cool names. Like "Wardrobe of Wallpaper" or "French Chicks"
Collections. Some boards had repeating themes, like "Color Story: XYZ" and "Color Story: ABC"
Visually inspired right from the start. Pinterest is SO visual, that I want to be amazed at first click. Most collections did this without me even clicking into any boards. The images representing each board were striking.

ROSANNA INC
I love all of Rosanna Inc's tableware designs. My favorite part of their pin boards are their Color Story boards, where they organize by color inspiration. I can tell that color inspires that brand.

MELISSA JACOB
I was searching for the Pinterest account for Posie Gets Cozy, but couldn't find it, but did fine the collection from this fan, who has a board dedicated to "Posie Gets Cozy Faves". I love the way she's organized all of her boards, and how full each board is. We've got a lot of pretty to look at here.

DWELL STUDIO

So visual. Just looking at the cover photos of Dwell Studio's boards gets me inspired.

ANNIE SLOAN
Annie Sloan is a painter, an artist, an author, and a designer of furniture paint. Her boards are well organized to showcase her paints, her inspirations, her books, the stores selling her paint, and the people selling her paint. A truly amazing business model going on here, and the boards translate well.

Do you have an amazing Pinterest collection? Can we see it? Share it in the comments below.

I am leading a live #SocialTuneUp on Pinterest Best Practices to Get Re-Pinned and Followed, so click here for details and to register.

Category:

Social Media

Branding

Katie Hellmuth's blog

Snagged: The Emerging Designer Featured on Philly.com

Submitted by Jackie Nees on Wed, 2013-07-24 12:00 | 0 Comments

Member Melissa Hall, founder of The Emerging Designer discovered that consistency and strategy pay off when it comes to PR.

After pitching leads for about six months, Melissa came across an opportunity in one of our members only PR Lead emails she thought would be perfect for her brand. By doing her homework and using the tools that are available to our members, like our PRTuneUps, Melissa wrote an email that the editor couldn't resist. She was contacted the very next day and the rest is history!

Melissa encourages small business owners to not give up. She says, "keep pitching and putting yourself out there because good things can happen."

We couldn't agree more. Read on to learn more about Melissa's inspiring story.

How often have you been working on your own PR?
I've been working on pitching myself periodically for about six months. I'm fortunate that the team at Tin Shingle has sent opportunities to me and now I am keen on checking the PR Leads as soon as they are emailed out.

What press opportunity did you snag and how did Tin Shingle contribute to your success?
I saw the opportunity in the PR Lead email. I also used the strategies from The Emerging Designer Featured on Philly.com the PR Tune Up on pitching to write a succinct email to the editor that answered her questions with facts to support what I was saying.

How long did the entire process take?
I responded to the lead the day it came out and then I was contacted the next day. The story came out a week later!

Can you walk us through the process, from pitch to placement?
I sent the editor my pitch with answers to her questions in bullet form. I gave her 3 reasons that supported her story and links for support.

She emailed me about an interview and we got on the phone! We actually confirmed that we knew each other from New York Fashion Week. We sat next to each other at a media lounge last year and chatted about a few things--this is something I put in my email too. (I feel it's always good to add in some sort of frame of reference with your pitch).

We had a great conversation about local and the luxury fashion industry.

She confirmed my name and outlet and that's when I told her more about The Emerging Designer. She said to keep in touch and let her know about any local designers that would be a fit with her story ideas.

Did you learn anything through this process that you can share with other small business owners?
Yes. I learned so much!

First, do your homework on people after you've met them at an event and be sure to connect.

Keep pitching and putting yourself out there because good things can happen.

I currently live in the world of emerging designers, but she helped me realize that I do know a lot about retail trends and the luxury fashion business. Sometimes you have to take a moment to assess all that you do and believe that all your efforts are going to take you to the next level!

You can read more SNAGGED! stories like Melissa's by clicking here and don't forget, you can get access to PR Leads and unlock other exclusive Tin Shingle benefits by becoming a member.

Category:

SNAGGED!

Jackie Nees's blog

#SmallBizSpotlight Featured Member: Anthony Vargas

Submitted by Ashley Cox on Tue, 2013-07-23 17:17 | 0 Comments

Redbook says Tilth Beauty's Argan-Tangerine Deep Cleansing Lotion is an essential product to try this summer. Daytime television show, The Doctors includes Tilth Beauty, with its use of quality anti-aging marine ingredients, in an at-home beauty routine to "sea yourself new". What's more...Anthony Vargas, founder and CEO of Tilth, uses windpower to generate 100% of the energy used to produce his product packaging. Tilth Beauty thrives on a luxurious and effective skin care line of healing botanicals and non toxic ingredients. Otherwise known as a well respected skin care expert and guru, Vargas has proven to be the powerhouse of the success of Tilth Beauty and shares his inspiration and experience as we sit down to chat for another #SmallBizSpotlight.

Tilth Beauty high performance toxin free Skin Care

What inspired you to get started?
Having worked in the cosmetic corporate world for over 30 years, I saw the need to develop a line of skin care products that the consumer wanted. Most marketing groups just wanted the latest and greatest technology and did not pay attention to the real consumer needs. I saw an opportunity to develop my own skin care line with what the consumer saw as important to them. I saw the need for a line that was high performance yet lacked the controversial ingredients that were being displayed in the news. A line that the consumer can feel safe and confident that it works.

What was your background? Was it in what you are doing now?
My educational background is in chemistry. I have a B.S. degree in that with a minor in biology. I have used that education to help develop and formulate skin care products for over 30 years. First at Avon and then at Elizabeth Arden where I spent the last 23 years helping to develop their biggest skin care brands. My most recent position there as Vice President for Research and Development. This has given me the resources to develop my own brand of skin care products with ingredients that I know are effective and safe for the consumer.

What challenge have you had to face that led to a big growth for your company?
The biggest challenge is getting the word out about the company. When you are new, no one knows you and are leery of purchasing your products. Even if your products are effective, you need to get the product name out there so consumers know your products. As they see the brand name out there they become more comfortable in purchasing your products. As this happens the word gets out and more people begin to purchase your products. This leads to the growth of your company as it has with ours.

What do you have going on in your business right now that you're excited about?
Right now we are developing major leads into different retail outlets that will help expand the business. This is an area that with help grow the business and bring our products to more consumers. It’s a learning process, as every retailer has different terms and conditions. It’s exciting as it will really expand our sales.

Where would you love to see your business in 5 years?

In five years I would like to see the business selling well in major retail outlets. I want Tilth Beauty to be known as the most effective and safe skin care brand out there. I want to expand the line to fill all consumer needs and then focusing on a possible new line of products for unmet needs of a younger consumer. It’s an area that we are following closely as more consumer are starting to focus on their skin at a younger age.

Category:

SmallBizSpotlight

Ashley Cox's blog

How to Get on a National Talk Show: Things Any Small Business Owner can be Doing Now!

Submitted by Sabina Hitchen on Tue, 2013-07-23 13:55 | 0 Comments

One perk of owning a PR ageny for years and now being a co-founder at Tin Shingle is that I'm connected to some wonderful producers, editors and media magic-makers who have worked regularly with me for years, and do now via the Tin Shingle world.

Just last week I was honored to spend nearly two hours with the team from one of the fall's most anticipated talk shows (my lips are sealed...). While chatting and talking show strategy with them, followed by a few meetings with some producers from another show, I realized that a lot of the segment-getting strategies they respond well to, and that I often take for granted, may be things that small business owners don't think about on a daily basis.

Instead of leaving you in the dark I've decided to outline a few of them for you in our Tip Sheets, in the hopes that it will help you on your way to landing your fifteen minutes (or more) on the small screen!

Make sure you read all Seven Tips On How Any Small Business Owner can Get on a National Talk Show.

Category:

Strategy

Publicity

Sabina Hitchen's blog

Gmail's Tabs Kill Newsletters, Outreach, Social Life - Here's How to Fix the Problem!

Submitted by Katie Hellmuth on Tue, 2013-07-23 07:55 | 0 Comments

If you open your Gmail account you may see a happy list of emails from your friends and family. The list looks clean, as if you've read and cleared up a bunch of emails and can move on to another task.

But here's what's missing: your Martha Stewart crafting newsletter inspiring you to make something, your Daily Worth newsletter inspiring you to fight your credit card debt, your Pinterest emails when someone repinned your discovery, and your friend's Evite for their toddler's birthday party. Oops, who needed to go to that? The Gemma Redux online sample sale that announces itself via email? You missed it.

Gmail took over your inbox, and have decided that it was overwhelmed with newsletters. They've ninja-ed their way in to save you from yourself, and moved all of your newsletters into a tab called Promotions (because aren't all newsletters promoting something), and your social emails including e-invitations into another tab for Social. Yup, one more thing to click and visit when you're checking your Gmail. And if you don't have an account, but use Gmail for business, this may be happening to you as well. Which is another reason why we at Tin Shingle opted not to use Google for Business and instead went with MediaTemple (and just pay $20/month for email hosting and easy management of up to 100 addresses) but that's a different topic.

Back to Gmail, and why it's killing your newsletters. Technically, your newsletter is not being delivered to your subscriber's inbox. Not their primary one at least, unless it's on your mobile phone (for now).

Enough said. Let's discuss how to turn off the tabs so that you can get your newsletters that you signed up for, or even pay for, and how to reach your readers now that your open rate may have just gotten chopped.

Kristi Hines caught onto this three days before I did, and wrote a slam dunk article on how to turn off the Promotions and Social tabs to get your Gmail inbox back to normal. She also provided ideas on how to alert your readers, clients and customers about this change.

HOW TO TURN OFF PROMOTION AND SOCIAL TABS

Find and click on the gear in the top right of your screen. They look like this:

Gmail settings tab for turning off promotions and social

Click on "Configure inbox". A new box will pop up with these boxes checked. Uncheck the ones for Social, Promotions, and any other tab that you don't want to organize your inbox for you in this way.

Gmail configure inbox

HOW TO ALERT YOUR READERS, CUSTOMERS & CLIENTS

Hopefully they turned their tabs off but if they didn't, this is a reminder that marketers have a challenging time reaching their customers when the relied upon vehicles used to do that change overnight. Case in point: Facebook charging you to have your business page updates have a better shot at showing up in your fan's newstreams. Here are a few thoughts to inform your readers, now that you can't depend on emailing them:

Kristi suggests putting a message in your confirmation page of the newsletter. When you use MailChimp or a third party newsletter program, they usually require your subscriber to opt in via their inbox. Put a note about the confirmation email possibly getting sent to their Promotions tab.
Put a message in the confirmation page of your success page after checkout.
Facebook 'em via your business page. But oh darn, you might have to pay Facebook to promote that status update.
Personally Facebook 'em. If your customers and readers are friends with you on Facebook, write a status update about it. Don't do this 30 times, just a couple times every now and then, and then leave it alone.
LinkedIn 'em. Update your LinkedIn with a reminder to check the Promotions tab for any newsletters if you just sent one out.
But really, at the end of the day, I don't think people will care much as you send these status updates about a silly Promotions tab. But if you do it, post the update near to when your newsletter was sent.
Keep on blogging and helping your readers find your message in search.

Have you noticed a drop in your open rates? What have you done to reach your readers?

Category:

Branding

Katie Hellmuth's blog

The Spin: Angles for Pitching About the Royal Baby

Submitted by Sabina Hitchen on Mon, 2013-07-22 10:03 | 0 Comments

Unless you've been living without television, newspaper, Internet or water cooler gossip you're in-the-know about all things "Royal Baby". You also probably know that as we speak Kate Middleton is in labor, and soon the chosen one will arrive. In the world of media and public relations this means that nearly every news network, blog and television show will be devoting coverage to this hot news topic and they'll need plenty of angles to keep the story fresh and keep their stories about the royal baby constantly churning.

This also means that YOU should be finding ways to tie your product, service or expertise into this royal baby obsession, and that means finding an angle that works for you. We ALSO suggest you turn some of these ideas into a blog post on your website - it's great for SEO and content creation that is both timely and interesting! Never fear if you're stuck for ideas, here are seven suggestions to get your creative juices flowing:

THE SPIN: ROYAL BABY PITCH ANGLES

What's in a name: There are several possible names floating around for the royal baby (Alexandra, George) - what's the significance? Once the baby name is announced, what does that baby's name mean (literally and figuratively)?

Horoscope Facts: The baby will either be a Cancer or a Leo depending on its exact arrival time. What does this mean? What could it mean about his or her personality?

Push Presents: Kate (like all mothers) is going through a major physical feat this week. What should William buy her for a push present?

Royal Heir/Heiress Facts: What are the rules surrounding the royal baby, the throne, royal tradition, etc.? This is a great time for those who know royal facts and history to come forward and share their knowledge!

Throw a Royal Baby Watch Party: Come on all you event planning experts and party people. How can all of us "regular people" host a party celebrating the royal baby? What English treats will we eat & drink? How will we decorate? Make suggestions here!

Royal Baby Presents: What do you get the baby who will surely have everything? Share your ideas here!

Insider Security Information: What types of strategies and tactics may be employed to keep the Royal Baby and Kate safe and out of the prying eyes of the public? Security pros weigh in!

Now you've got a headstart on your brainstorming! Go forward and blog it up as well as pitch it out!

Sabina Hitchen's blog

#SmallBizSpotlight Featured Member: Shelila Culver

Submitted by Ashley Cox on Thu, 2013-07-18 10:40 | 0 Comments

Shelila Culver, owner of Culver Cutie Boutique, quickly turned from rock-star mom to personal designer of, probably the cutest dance totes you can find. She knew every talented little diva needs a fashionable yet functional bag to be prepared for each performance. Since launching her line of tutu bags, Shelila is now selling in retail stores around the country, and have even been spotted on the arms of Hollwood's little ones, including Suri Cruise. Shelila shares how she built her business and in this week's #SmallBizSpotlight.

Shelila Culver on using her Fashion Design and Merchandising degree What inspired you to get started?
I discovered the idea while fulfilling a request from my two beautiful daughters to make a dance bag for their ballet class. They loved the bags, as well as, the other kids in their ballet class and the other mothers. From this experience, I began making dance bags out of my home and selling them on the internet.

How did the bags catch on so quickly? What did you do to grow?
I called buyers for other specialty/dance stores, told them about our product, and sent them a sample of our product along with a volume pricing sheet. Once the buyers received our product, they were very interested in purchasing our product.

What was your background? Was it in what you are doing now?
I received a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design and Merchandising. I never pursued anything with my undergraduate degree until now.

What challenge have you had to face that led to a big growth for your company?
My dance bags have become very popular. I was selling them to other companies, as well as individual customers and it became very difficult for me to meet the demands. Due to these high demands, my dance bags are mass produced.

What do you have going on in your business right now that you're excited about?
Recently, our pageant bags were filmed on Toddler & Tiaras. The show will air in June or July. These bags have not been added to our website yet, but can be found on our facebook page.

How did you get the bag on Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise? How exciting! Was it one of your retail stores that made the sale to them?
Not only do we sell our products in retail stores, but we also sell on Zulily. We started selling on Zulily early last year. However, it wasn't until one of our summer events on Zulily that we had an increase in sales on the black and hot pink tutu bag. The event started on Thursday and by Friday morning we were sold out of the the black and hot pink bag! Later that evening, I did a search on Google for our bags (just to see who or if anyone was talking about them ) and found bloggers discussing that Suri Cruise was spotted carrying a black and hot pink tutu bag, and the bag she was carrying was a Culver Cutie tutu bag which can be found on our website, as well as, on Zulily!

Where would you love to see your business in 5 years?
I would like to have world-wide product/brand recognition.

Category:

SmallBizSpotlight

Ashley Cox's blog

Snagged: Simple Sarongs Get's Featured in Woman's Day Mother's Day Gift Guide

Submitted by Jackie Nees on Wed, 2013-07-17 19:00 | 0 Comments

When member Kami Darnell joined Tin Shingle she knew that in order for her membership to be effective, she would have to take advantage of our exclusive members only benefits. She did exactly that, listening to podcasts, taking notes and responding to PR Leads in a timely manner.

It didn't take long for Kami's hard work to pay off. Soon after joining, she sent a pitch to Woman's Day and the very next week learned that her product, Simple Sarongs would be featured in their Mother's Day Gift Guide.

Kami encourages small business owners to not be afraid of the process stating, "it is possible to get press even if it is only the third pitch you've ever written!" In fact, she told us recently that she's landed two other features as a result of receiving PR Leads from Tin Shingle.

Read more of Kami's story below and learn how a "simple sarong" can be so right!

How often have you been working on your own PR?
I joined Tin Shingle in February, and started responding to PR Leads that pertained to my business as soon as I joined. So far I've only sent three pitches from PR leads, but feel much more equipped to write pitches that are not specifically for leads!

What press opportunity did you snag and how did Tin Shingle contribute to your success?
A feature in the Woman's Day Mother's Day Gift Guide.

Since I had just joined, I was so excited to see that archived PRTuneUps were available to download and listen to. I had listened to a podcast regarding long-lead pitching, and garnered some tips from that that I took to heart. I then dove right in and started responding to PR Leads!

How long did the entire process take?
I wrote the pitch right after I received the lead, and it took one day to get a response, and then one week to get confirmed that Simple Sarongs had made their Mother's Day gift guide. The article was then to be posted two weeks after that.

Can you walk us through the process, from pitch to placement?
I received the PR Lead on a Thursday evening - they were looking for new and innovative gift ideas for Mother's Day under $50. I responded that evening with a quick description of my product, then gave a "real-life-mom" example of how a Simple Sarong is a life-saver at the pool with young children who make constant trips to the bathrooms! I also offered to do a coupon just for their readers. I received an email back from the editor the next morning requesting high-res photos, and information about the coupon. I followed-up the following Wednesday to see if it was confirmed, and she responded that it would be confirmed by the end of the week. She then emailed me back on Friday confirming that I was in, and it would be posted to their online magazine in two weeks.

Would you like to share your “Winning Pitch” with readers?
I'm including this for inspiration that it is possible to get press even if it is only the third pitch you've ever written! Here it is:

I received this lead from the fab girls at Tin Shingle.

I have developed and sell a new product that many mothers of all ages can relate to: what to wear to the pool when your body might not be in perfect shape, when you are obligated to accompany kiddos.

Simple Sarongs are the perfect marriage of beach towel and fashionable swimsuit cover-up. If you have little ones, you know that simply lounging by the pool and never getting wet might not be an option. Yet with frequent trips to the bathrooms in store, many moms look around the find "what can I quickly wrap around my swimsuit" that's actually wet-swimsuit friendly! Enter, the Simple Sarong.

A beach towel so fashionable, you actually want to wear it. With cleverly-placed buttons and buttonholes, you easily can!

Launched in 2013, and sold exclusively online at http://www.simplesarongs.com

Regular retail is $48, yet for your fabulous Mom readers, special pricing would be available at $39 each.

Thank you for your consideration!

Can you share what you used for your subject line? This can be so key for enticing an editor to open your pitch.
I was still so new with Tin Shingle that my pitch still hadn't even been through the pitch-review stage! Now my pitches follow the Tin Shingle form - an introduction, bullet points, embedded photos, etc. Since I was responding to a specific lead for this one, my subject line was this, which is what the editor asked for in her lead:
"New & Innovative Mother's Day gifts"

Now my subject line is this:
"Stylish sarong and towel all-in-one: Meet Simple Sarongs, an affordable beach must have"

###

Kami is truly an inspiration. You can read more SNAGGED! stories like hers by clicking here and don't forget, you can get access to PR Leads and unlock other exclusive Tin Shingle benefits by becoming a member.

Category:

SNAGGED!

Jackie Nees's blog

Straight Talk from Sabina: What you MUST Know About Pitching Holiday Stories (Gift Guides, Articles, More)

Submitted by Sabina Hitchen on Wed, 2013-07-10 14:17 | 0 Comments

Well hello there!

It's Sabina, your friendly co-founder of Tin Shingle! Seeing as it's nearly 95 degrees here in NYC, I thought I'd cool it down a little by talking winter holidays. Specifically, I'd like to give you some facts and tips you'll want to read carefully and digest if you want your products, service or tips based on your expertise to land in any of the long lead magazine's holiday issues. If you do not want those things to happen allow me to virtually grab your shoulders and shake you. There we go.

Now that we've all come to our senses and acknowledge that these issues can be business changers, bring new customers and eyes to your company and website and create biggers numbers in terms of sales and followers than ever before, it's time to get down to the straight talk. Below you'll find a quick summary about what's going on in the world of holiday issues right now, and some bulleted info on what you can do to be sure you're included in it!

If you're reading this in real time it's summer, which if you're well versed in public relations means sure, some things are slow (television shows go on hiatus from filming, the news cycle slows) but other things are kicking into high gear, and one of the most important ones in the "high gear" category" is the long lead magazine. A long lead magazine, aka "a monthly", is a magazine that comes out once a month. Think: InStyle, Redbook, Maxim, Shape, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, O Magazine, etc. Because they are a long lead they work on a three to six month lead time. For holiday issues (big time content, big time stories) they really rely on that lead time. That's because there is a LOT for them to do (pick out gift guide categories, pull products, pick out themes for tips, etc.) What does all of this mean for you? If you aren't already, you should be pitching magazines right now!

Need more help? Read my Eight Tips To Succsessfully Pitch Holiday Magazine Issues.

AND...

Be sure to listen to our holiday issue focused #PRTuneUps!


	#PRTuneUp: Preparing for Holiday Pitching: What You Need to do in the Summer to Prepare!

Category:

Publicity

Sabina Hitchen's blog

How to Create an Editor Preview Event to Show Off Your Products with Maximum Results: Your Questions Please!

Submitted by Sabina Hitchen on Wed, 2013-07-10 12:09 | 0 Comments

Ah the editor preview/editor meet and greet events. Often these can propel your brand's success to the next level and publicists use this technique often when introducing clients' products to the press. Pitching your products via email or phone is one thing, but sharing them in a more intimate setting with editors, producers, stylists and more - whether this be at your office or another location - can definitely take your chances of landing great press and growing amazing relationships to the next level.

When you introduce these people to your products in person you're able not only share how they work and introduce them to multiple items without distraction, but you're also able to share your own business story and answer any questions they may have about any of what they see and hear!

These can also be great moments you can use to create relationships, find out what they're working on story wise and really connect. But how do you pull one off? What if you're not a publicist (and don't have one)? Never fear! We were lucky enough to score some time with the rock star publicists over at Haute House PR (who also happen to be members of Tin Shingle) and they're agreed to do share their secrets to success. After all, their preview events are packed with press, stylists, celebrities and more! How do they do it? They're going to tell you!

But wait, it gets better! Before we interview them we're going to let YOU submit your questions! In the comment field feel free to post any questions you want us to ask the PR Power Girls at Haute House and we'll include them in our interview next week (which we'll be recording for you to watch over and over again as you prepare your own preview).

No question is too big or too small! Go for it and comment away!

Category:

Publicity