In today’s episode, we analyze a story that experienced a complete pivot from the original pitch and follow-up. Get a glimpse into how this happened, and why having that rapport built already led to an active brainstorming and changing of the story altogether— talk about PR-journalist collaboration heaven! From it, walk away encouraged to do the same, should your original story idea need a fresh angle for that journalist to say yes to you.

In this episode, you'll learn to leverage authenticity and flexibility in all aspects of your outreach…

• Communicating with a journalist

• Preparing your expert for an interview

• Crafting stories that dive deeper than the basics

Our guest is:

• Cloey Callahan, a reporter for Digiday Media's newest vertical, WorkLife, where she covers all things future of work, including but not limited to tech, spaces, culture, d/e/i, talent and leadership. Before WorkLife, she spent three years covering local news in New York's Hudson Valley, where she was born and raised and still resides today. 

Our guest today is active on Twitter and Substack, freely sharing the best tips for journalists in the travel space. In fact, we first heard about our guest through a Tweet she authored that went viral, which sparked conversation amongst journalists on what the best professional traits of go-to publicists are. We talk all about the best responses and what it’s like to pitch and write for the travel industry.

In this episode, you'll learn…

• Professional traits all publicists should possess

• Do’s and don’ts of pitching press trips

• What to pitch a freelance food and travel writer

Our guest is:

• Katie Lockhart, a travel and food writer traveling the world full-time while writing for publications like Travel + Leisure, CNN, Conde Nast Traveler, The Points Guy, National Geographic and many more. You can follow her adventures on Instagram @findyourhappyplate.

Things we talked about…

• Katie’s Viral Tweet #1

• Katie’s Viral Tweet #2

• Katie’s Substack

• A Press Trip Invite Golden Rule

Today’s episode is all about pitching startup and VC news to a reporter at Insider. Interestingly, the story we explore does not come from one single pitch, but many pitches, spanning the course of many months. Aside from exploring the extensive email organization skills that our guest possesses, we learn the ins and outs of having your pitch stand out and increasing your chances of coverage for your startup, VC funding round, and/or founder (think: transparency and timeliness). In this episode, you'll learn… The important roles of intro calls, press pages, and pitch decks What’s actually considered timely in the startup new cycle Other considerations for ensuring efficient collaboration Things we talked about… 14 Healthtech-Fintech Startups That Have Raised Millions From VCs

Today’s episode explores an exclusive series pitched by a publicist and written by our guest. This obviously piqued our interest, and we're certain it'll pique yours as well. In this episode, we further explore entertainment journalism and PR, and walk away with an expanded view of just how vast, expansive, and interesting the PR industry is as a whole.

In this episode, you’ll learn...

-When and how pitching an exclusive series works

-What the ins and outs are of entertainment PR

-Why every little detail in your communication matters

Our guest is:

• Liz Shannon Miller, a Los Angeles-based writer, and editor. She’s currently a senior entertainment editor at Consequence, and her work has also been published by Vulture, Variety, The Los Angeles Times, Collider, The AV Club, IGN, Paste, The Verge, Thought Catalog, and more. She is also a produced playwright, an occasional podcaster, and a repository of "X-Files" trivia.

Things we talked about…

• Liz’s Exclusive Series of Westworld’s composer, Ramin Djawadi

Today’s episode is all about the creative process! Our guest today has worked in an array of industries for some of the UK’s top agencies and has developed a set of skills and processes to ideate and produce digital PR campaigns that have consistently caught the attention of top-tier media outlets across the web. In this episode, you'll learn how to… Write effective, creative briefs Ideate fun, shareable campaign ideas Validate winning campaigns Our guest is: Iona Townsley, a digital PR professional, specializing in creative campaign ideation. She works with brands on end-to-end PR strategies. She’s worked in a variety of industries for some of the UK’s top agencies. Things we talked about… A Crash Course in Creative Ideation and Shareable Campaigns - BrightonSEO 2022 Online PR Show The Grapevine- Iona’s newsletter 

Today's episode is all about the art of subject line writing! Our guest has seen great, good, and downright awful subject lines. In fact, she's deleted emails based off the subject-- every PR's worst nightmare! But do not fret, she's not only written about her experience but shared her tips on the BuzzStream blog. Does personalization matter? Is it worth highlighting a statistic from a study? All these questions are answered and more. 

In this episode, you'll learn all about improving your subject lines: 

• Principles to help them stand out
• Steps to structuring them successfully
• Tips for sprucing up stats and story lines

Our guest is...

Surena Chande, freelance copywriter and former SEO editor at the Mirror & Daily Star. She was the recipient of Hannah Smith's shoutout in episode 39. Give that a listen if you haven't yet! 

Things we talked about:

• to-write-subject-lines.html">The Art of Writing Subject Lines That Journalists Will Love
• PR Percentage Calculator

Do you ever email the same contact monthly or even weekly and wonder if it’s ever just, too much? Have you ever wondered if it’s ok to ask for interview questions in advance? Has a “Dear PR people” tweet from a journalist ever made you wince? If you’ve answered yes to any of those questions, then this is the episode for you! We’re going “old school cool” with our roots and analyzing a winning pitch to start. With some new tips we hadn’t heard, you’ll want to tune in and add to your own, personalized ‘best practices’ library.

In this episode, you’ll learn best practices for…

• Pitching the same contact consistently
• Preparing experts for media interviews
• Providing value beyond a story pitch

Our guest is:

• Elizabeth O’Brien, a senior finance reporter for Barron’s, with a special focus on retirement. Before Barron's, she was the deputy editor of Money.com, formerly Money magazine. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons. In her spare time, she enjoys roller skating and reading fiction.

Whether you’re a freelancer, agency owner, or employee, there will come a time in your career when you may need to make the case for another party to pay you more money. Especially in today’s economic climate, the question begs: “How do I know if it’s appropriate to re-negotiate my pay and how do I go about it in a strategic way?” Frankly, this is not your typical, “know your worth” discussion. Rather, our guest today, whose passion is helping professionals earn more by building sustainably run businesses, will share the nuances and considerations that go into negotiating your rate.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to…

• Determine if it’s time to re-negotiate your rates
• Effectively re-negotiate in a way that benefits both parties
• Calculate how much you could be making and (& how to strategically “get there”)

Our guest is:

• Jen Berson, President & Founder of Jeneration PR, The Pitch Lab, and Profitable PR Pros Community. Recognized by Inc.’s prestigious Best in Business award, she teaches entrepreneurs how to launch, grow & scale a profitable PR & marketing agency.

We all know that relationship-building outside of the inbox is important. In theory, we should be interacting with our contacts via social on a regular basis. For some, this is the best part of the job. For others, the worst part.  Our guest today is a follow publicist whose passion is building rapport outside of the inbox.  She shares real psychological theories that demonstrate why being intentional with your online presence and putting in the work to be seen by journalists, might be the tie-breaker that earns you the only ‘yes’ a journalist sends out that day.

In this episode, you’ll learn…

• The psychology behind why being active on social platforms gives you an edge over the competition
• Guidelines for sprucing up your personal brand on social and email
• Ways to connect with a reporter on social media that feel both natural and effective

Our guest is:

• Domenica D’Ottavio, associate director of Digital PR at Journey Further, a performance marketing agency. Over the past 8 years, Domenica has done PR across every niche - like finance, sports, and tech. Her research and advice have been featured on Moz, Marketing Land, Search Engine Journal, PR Daily, and more.

Whether you have charts or commentary to complement the story you're pitching, our guest today has insights on how to bring your story asset game to the next level. We start with a data report with embeddable charts that Britt pitched our guest. These charts are what caught their eye and incentivized them to write the story. (Go Britt, for a successful pitch!) A special note regarding this episode: we recorded this during Hurricane Ian (11/28/2022) in Florida, where both Jackie and our guest reside. So, keep in mind there are some minor technical difficulties. We persisted, Jackie and our guest survived the storm, and we were able to wrap up at a later date. Nonetheless, please enjoy this episode. :) 

In this episode, you'll learn...

• What specifications are required for charts, visuals, and commentary 
• Why well-cited sources and clear methodologies are so important
• How a niche publication files story ideas for future use 

Our guest today is...

• Dr. Carolyn Fortuna, a digital media literacy scholar, climate change activist, and college professor. They write for the online environmental site, CleanTechnica, where they have written and published over 1,000 articles.