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Getting great press doesn't always come in the traditional form of pitch and placement. Sometimes, it comes in the form of a contest!
Thanks to a hot tip from another Tin Shingle member, which was mentioned in our PR Leads, Twitter feed and newsletter, member Emily Kolins took a shot and entered the Zappos Emerging Designer contest. After a lot of back and forth over the next year, Emily finally got the call that she had won!
In addition to learning a tremendous amount about patience through the lengthy process, Emily learned that you can't win if you don't try.
Thanks to our community of members who are always looking out for each other, and Emily's business savvy taking advantage of the resources available to her through her Tin Shingle membership, she hit a home run winning the Zappos contest!
Read on to learn more about Emily and her experience.
How often have you been working on your own PR?
About two years.
What press opportunity did you snag and how did Tin Shingle contribute to your success?
Zappos.com "Emerging Designer" winner.
Info about the contest was mentioned on the Tin Shingle Twitter page, website and newsletter- I wouldn't have known about it otherwise! I believe it was mentioned through a lead from Melissa Hall.
How long did the entire process take?
Over one year! I entered in February and didn't appear on the website until the following June.
Can you walk us through the process, from pitch to placement?
I sent in my original application and did not receive a response until AFTER the original deadline to receive a response. After I heard that I made it past the first round I submitted more written material and waited and again did not hear back until weeks after I was supposed to. Now it was about 6 months since I first entered the contest. Once I learned I made it past the 2nd round I had to submit samples, linesheets, a long questionnaire and video for the final round. The samples were returned and I did not hear from them again until weeks after I was supposed to. Finally about a month after the final, final end date of the contest I received an email requesting a time to set up a conference call. It was then that I realized that I must've won or at least be receiving some sort of good news because they wouldn't want to chat with me if I had "lost". a few days later we spoke on the phone and they told me I won! This was in the Fall of 2012. I was told that they would be placing an order in January for a March debut. This meant waiting some more. January came and went and I did not receive my order until April and finally debuted in June!
Did you learn anything through this process that you can share with other small business owners?
- Be patient.
- Be kind to yourself and know that everyone can't "win".
- Always try- you never know what will happen.
- Give yourself kudos if you reach your goal and don't beat yourself up if you don't.
- Treat yourself to a cookie or two regardless of the outcome.
Can you share your actual pitch with us?
I have no idea where my initial "pitch" is but the video on the website was part of the last round and was integral to why I won. They "loved" the video.
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Congratulations Emily! We definitely think you're a winner and now everyone knows it!
Want more SNAGGED! stories like Emily's? Click here and don't forget, you can get access to juicy PR Leads and unlock other exclusive Tin Shingle benefits by becoming a member. You never know, you could be featured in our next SNAGGED!
