The Tin Shingle Blog

If you are part of the Twitter world, chances are you've seen a tweet by The Daily Love, or its founder Mastin Kipp.  If you have not seen one directly from "TDL" you probably saw it re-tweeted.  Why?  The Daily Love (which is currently comprised of a free, daily newsletter filled with inspirational quotes, intentions to meditate on, thoughts from Mastin and more) is now the 7th most re-tweeted handle on Twitter.  In fact, the Twitter team themselves called them one of the most organically grown followings on the social media network!

The self-professed daily e-vitamin for your soul (I myself refer to him as my online Xanax) they have over 275,000 followers and this number is growing exponentially.  Their Facebook following is growing daily as well.  But enough about how fabulous they are on Twitter, and how many people read their daily newsletter and have made it part of their regular routine...

I just love it because it makes me feel good, and because The Daily Love has the ability to touch everyone from everyday people living on "Main Street USA" as much as it does celebrities ranging from Kim Kardashian to Niche Media founder Jason Binn.  This newsletter gets around, in the best sense of the word.

I was beyond lucky to meet Mastin on a business trip in L.A. earlier this year and since then have become even more interested in his brand, his model and his story.  When I discovered he was coming to NYC to visit I had to connect, and over a breakfast of kale chips, Kombucha and other healthy treats we chatted about the success of The Daily Love.  Now for the FULL story you'll have to wait for our exclusive with Mastin in an upcoming Collective Insider interview, but until then here are a few of my favorite nuggets from our talk:

On Twitter Success:

Having a following as powerful as The Daily Love has doesn't happen by accident....so what are a few Twitter rules Mastin follows?

* Be authentic.  When you are doing what you love and what you are supposed to do you succeed.  When you are speaking from your heart and your soul people will listen.  When I asked Mastin why he thinks people connect with TDL, he mentioned that no matter who you are, Kim K or Sabina P, humans tend to share about 10 universal human stories and he speaks authentically to those stories.  Now your brand may not be "selling inspiration" but figure out what your authentic voice is and speak from there.  The right people will connect with you.

* Technically speaking learn how to tweet so that people can re-tweet you.  Mastin learned that if he can master 115 character tweets, it allows others to re-tweet him with his message in tact.  So it's not just the 140 character message you are trying to cram in there, you need to think about how that will be further sent out into the "twitter-verse".

* Remember that these days it's not simply about CPM and just getting people to your site, it's all about the CPA - getting ACTION from those people.  You may have tons of unique visitors but what are they actually DOING when they are on your site.  Quality not always quantity....Something  to think about that is sure to be discussed more and more in the world of social media and outreach.

I could go on and on about The Daily Love and believe me, I wanted to stay at breakfast with him all day, but duty calls.  That said, be sure you sign up for the newsletter, follow him on Twitter (if even to see how good tweeting is done), and stay tuned for our full interview, coming soon!

Now you know I couldn't let Mastin leave without giving me a nugget of entreprenuerial inspiration as well, and I asked him, what do you think it takes to be an entrepreneur?  What would you say it's all about....And no it wasn't about the hours, about the willingness to sacrifice your social life and sleep, the college degree or MBA....What is it that an entrepreneur needs and a successful entrepreneur has?  Courage.  The courage to be authentic, to create something out of the ether, to not give up on your mission when things are hard.  It all goes back to courage.  Now go forth and be courageous (and tweet about it)!

Part of every PR campaign will inevitably mean reaching out to local press.  This could mean telling your success story to your hometown press, or it could also mean that you're planning to visit cities other than your own and you need to figure out what outlets there need to be pitched.  Publicists do the same thing, if we have a client doing a media tour in a city we aren't familiar with we need to quickly figure out the press outlets that are located there, determine which ones are relevant to our campaign/client/pitches and begin outreach. 

Here's another time you should begin to think about media outlets in diferent cities:  anytime you are visiting one.  If you are an expert or entrepreneur with a story or tips to share, and you find yourself in another city for a few days, why aren't you trying to reach out to the news media there and tell them your story?  There is no reason you shouldn't be spending a little bit of time allocated for PR outreach to see if you can do a segment while you're in town.  Okay scractch that, there is a reason:  if you have nothing relevant to share with them, don't reach out to them.  If you're in Dallas and you run a company that does NYC bus tours, this may not be your scene.  That said, if you are a home organizer and you can take your tips on the road, it's worth a try!

Often the first step here is the hardest - which outlets do I reach out to?  Well long story short, that's the point of this blog entry.  Even though publicists have access to great databases filled with names of outlets that span from newspapers to radio shows for nearly every geographic location in the country (which we pay for), we still need to start somewhere.  I personally often struggle with hunting down the tv stations for different cities - in New York City local NBC is WNBC - what is it in other parts of the country, like Columbus, Ohio?  Detroit, Michigan?  Atlanta?  Sure I can seach within databases but I want a quick lay out of all the tv stations in a city at once and I want it fast.  Sometimes I want to see every newspaper in Miami, or another time recently I wanted to find every Home Decorating & Design media outlet that was a national outlet. 

Where do I go for these things?  I go to the Mondo Times website.  It houses over 27,670 outlets in over 212 countries!  Now it's not going to specify which reporter you should call or their contact info but it will tell you things like what it covers, a description, how often it comes out etc.  It's the best place to start, especially if you don't have access to a fancy media database.  Several entries even take you to the outlet's website where you can find more contact information.

Keep this website in your back pocket, it's worth it whenver you need to find outlets locally, nationally and even internationally!  Sure you can pay for fancy contact lists but wait for the time when you can really spend your overhead on that.  For now, use tools like this to get the job done!

See who the media is highlighting, and why. You will get inspired by these articles and the entreprenuers they feature:

Chu Shu is Fixing America as featured in US News & World Report.

 UrbanMommies.com featured the new strittens from Nomie Baby in their "featured finds" section; a must for chilly strolls.

 Cheeky Living featured in D&D Magazine - Argentina.

 Bella Life founder Nitika Chopra is featured in YFS Magazine as an up and coming business woman!

 City Baby New York, the "ultimate guide for parents from pregnancy to pre-school" says, the Nomie Baby car seat cover is "... one of the best inventions...you have no idea how revolutionary this product is."

Tin Shingle members are able to submit their press into the Tin Shingle system at any time, at which point it is Tweeted and Facebooked, and entered into this newsletter to inspired others.
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This is the fourth blog post in our series on Oprah submissions from members. Tin Shingle is doing a collective pitch to the producers for consideration in her Favorite Things. Join today to be included in other opportunities like this.

Jordan Silver, founder and lead designer of Ag Apparel, has revolutionized life for the wheelchair bound: she gives them fashion to set them free. Jordan was inspired to start Ag Apparel while watching her aunt, Janet Silver, battle ALS. Because of its debilitating effects, Jordan watched her aunt struggle to keep her independence and dignity through dress. Aunt Janet opened Jordan's eyes to the possibility of filling the void in the adaptive apparel market with not only high fashion, but accessible fashion for the wheelchair bound and others who have trouble employing actions others take for granted, like buttoning a shirt.

Jordan launched Ag Apparel with a seamless wrap shirt, which Jordan named the "Janet" in memory of her aunt, who passed away shortly thereafter. For this reason, 5% of all profits from the "Janet" top are donated to the Spastic Paraplegia Foundation, an organization raising awareness and finding a cure for ALS. Aunt Janet is the passion and inspiration behind the seams of all Ag Apparel pieces.

Jordan already has a large fan base, after being involved with the Ms. Wheelchair America Association, showing her collection at various Fashion Shows all over the country, and attending expos to inform major retailers and consumers about the importance of providing universal adaptive apparel to everyone in various sizes and price points.

In January 2009, Ag Apparel got its first big break when Adam Glassman of O, The Oprah Magazine exclaimed: "Every woman should have the choice to be chic whatever her circumstance, so I am excited about Ag Apparel, a line of clever separates designed for people with physical challenges."