Speaker 1 (00:02): Hey friends. I’m Gloria Chow, small business PR expert, award winning pitch writer and your unofficial hype woman. Nothing makes me happier than seeing people get the recognition they deserve. And that starts with feeling more confident to go bigger with your message. So on this podcast I will share with you the untraditional yet proven strategies for PR marketing and creating more opportunity in your business. If you are ready to take control of your narrative and be your most unapologetic and confident self, you. You’re in the right place. This is the Small Business PR Podcast. Now, as you know, in our PR program we often have journalists from top tier outlets come in and actually meet all of our members.

Speaker 1 (00:41): They sit down and actually ask questions about their pitch, coach them through every aspect of their pr because let’s be honest, what better way to understand how to get featured than from the journalist, someone who’s actually writing these articles. So today is all about gift guides. We have had many sessions where I’ve had gift guide writers who write about the best products of the season that you should gift to him. Her parents, pets, you name it. And you will hear a series of questions from two journalists. One who writes for Forbes, Refinery Brides, Birdie, Brit company and the other one who writes for New York Post Shopping. So let’s get into the episode. Is there a capacity to conduct pre sales with gift guides?

Speaker 2 (01:30): I have a product that won’t arrive.

Speaker 1 (01:32): Us until early next year.

Speaker 3 (01:34): I know in the past when we have just like put placed products and gift guides or just our content in general, sometimes it was a pre order and in that case we actually do report on pre orders because while we may not see the revenue that month, it’ll come later. So we’re not opposed to pre orders. Amazon features them all the time. A lot of fashion websites feature pre orders for bags and for dresses all the time. I’d love to pitch a gift certificate for a service. We love these types of things we’ve covered like Sam’s Club memberships. Groupon is really big for us. This is something that you should pitch for a last minute gift guide. I’m saying it right now.

Speaker 3 (02:20): We love gift certificates, gift cards, all of those experiential gifts, especially Pilates. Like you can even pitch it for Q1 and last minute and get like two angles knocked off your pitch or off the bat. Because Pilates is super big, especially in January. And I think even even looking to the market of like Pilates reformers, like if you type in best Pilates reformers or best Pilates workout gear or Best fitness equipment. You can even reach out to those editors and, you know, maybe ask to weave in the gift certificate into that Evergreen article. There are just so. I love this question because I’m already thinking of ideas.

Speaker 1 (03:05): How important are detailed data, statistics of some point in the pitch?

Speaker 3 (03:08): I receive a lot of emails that are mostly just statistics and no product or service. So for those pitches, I, to be honest, I just delete those because there’s no product and I report on products and services. Something like that would be better suited for a features team or someone that covers more of the news. For statistics, though, there is a really brilliant way to weave them in if it does add value to your product or service. So, you know, the first thing that comes to mind because I’ve just worked on this as a project in college.

Speaker 3 (03:41): But if there’s some kind of paid dating app, let’s say, and there’s a statistic on dating during COVID or dating virtually or, you know, just like different things like that, that’s so interesting to at least me to read about and to incorporate. So if I do cover that app in a story, then I would, of course love to, you know, include that statistic. Because for. For my coverage, I always ask for interviews, whether it’s a founder interview or a brand interview or like a dermatologist, a medical expert, just someone to kind of give the overall product and service more authority. So definitely a green light for statistics. I just don’t know if I would lead with that in, like, a subject line, but I would say, like, keep the statistic pretty concise.

Speaker 3 (04:31): And then if there is, like, an additional one pager that has more information, that’s probably best way to go about it because then I can just read about it if there’s, you know, further interest.

Speaker 1 (04:43): How do you eloquently offer more information on your product without offering a sample?

Speaker 3 (04:47): For the most part, samples are not required. And I know it’s kind of weird to hear me say this as the writer, because, like, who would turn down free products? Like, that’s so cool. But at the end of the day, unless it’s a product review and unless we’re guaranteeing coverage, at least for me, I don’t request samples unless it’s a new brand that in order for me to see that it’s different, I would kind of have to, like, experience it or taste it or do something.

Speaker 1 (05:20): How do you pitch a product for a gift guy that’s not usually a gift, like Andrea. The boudoir photography.

Speaker 2 (05:26): Yeah, I think that Was a. I think Andrea is a really good case study. I think the most important thing is like get out of your own founder, entrepreneur head and imagine that you’re the reporter on the other side who has no idea what you’re doing and who might be like, why would you give a chair as a gift? But if it’s this like amazingly special chair that for whatever reason is so spectacular for whichever holiday, then there’s a way that it makes sense. But I think, I think Andrea case study is really descript, is really like a good descriptor of that.

Speaker 1 (06:00): Yeah. And that’s why I think what Andrea pitched is like for Valentine’s Day for self love. Like that makes a lot more sense than maybe like another holiday because there is a, you know, self love movement and kind of, you know, sex positive movement that’s going on. So.

Speaker 2 (06:17): Our books good for gift guides. Absolutely. And plenty of people write gift guides just about books. Pitch the journalist. Same journalist for both inclusion in a gift guide and to share my expertise in an article. I think this is a. I understand the question. Ultimately, yes, you can pitch both of these, but the pitches need to be completely different. If you’re pitching a gift guide, pitch to that gift guide. And if you want to pitch thought, leadership or expertise, I think you have to pitch something very specific and call out a trending topic. You know, Valentine’s Day. What about single people? I’m a therapist who works, so people who have just gone through a breakup, I’m happy to comment on. What is it? Singles day.

Speaker 2 (07:05): Let me know if I can help. Here are three bullet points of what I like to talk about. Can we mention other publications in our pitch? Like Forbes said, it was the product of the year. I don’t think it helps media outlets are competitive with one another. Often if one media outlet has covered something, someone else will not want to cover it. People often want an exclusive. If it’s big enough news, like major news, multiple places will cover it. But often it’s. People do it all the time. To be honest to me, oh, we were included in Forbes. What about for Forbes? Then it just becomes it’s no longer news if another media outlet covered it. It’s not that you can’t continue pitching it if someone else covered it.

Speaker 2 (07:57): Just should be a slightly different angle and you don’t need to mention if it’s an award that’s different. But coverage? No, not worth it.

Speaker 1 (08:04): But what if it’s not a launch? What if it’s just a general angle and Just for their credibility, they can say. We were also mentioned. My yoga mat was also in Popsugar with great reviews, things like that.

Speaker 2 (08:16): I think if it’s a really. I think it’s nuanced. I think generally speaking, no. But if you’re a founder pitching and you’re very comfortable with your pitches and you’re being conversational and you’re also calling out the reporter’s other work, I really like this. I really like that. I thought this might be interesting. Funnily enough, Popsugar had actually covered this. I think it’s doable, but I think you have to be really good about it because I’ve seen it where it’s just a blanket hello, like, hello, Mr. Gloria. You know, obviously not a man. Also, we were covered in these three other places. Like, it’s just. It doesn’t help. It just is more clutter on the email. So is it okay to send my explainer video in an email?

Speaker 2 (09:03): I think it’s always okay to send an explainer video as a link in an email under your signature if you want to link it. But I would expect maybe 5% of people, max, to actually click it. I think it can be helpful if someone has some extra time. But I think assuming someone has the three minutes to watch a thing about your product is a little unrealistic. It really, like, I just want to scan an email and know what it is and move on. I don’t want to open another window. Watch, you know, a product video. It can be a lot, but if you stick it under your signature and you don’t have to think about including it, it just happens, maybe it’ll be helpful for a couple people and then it’ll be worth it.

Speaker 1 (09:50): Is it okay to combine Christmas and Valentine’s gifts? Well, I think gifts are gifts. So, you know, obviously, if it’s not Christmas anymore, I wouldn’t put, you know, Christmas for when you’re pitching, you know, after Christmas. So, you know, I think what you can do is pitch during Christmas and then follow up again for Valentine’s Day. But maybe pick different products because, you know, when I think of Christmas, I think of maybe different standout items and Valentine’s and Galentine’s and things like that. So that’s what I mean by, you know, you can definitely pitch gifts generally, but do it intentionally and think about what is, what is it that people want? Because what people want for Christmas might be different for Valentine’s Day and that might be different for Mother’s Day.

Speaker 2 (10:27): Right.

Speaker 1 (10:28): And only, you know, that because you know what your customers are clicking on. You have that data. Hey small business hero, did you know that you can get featured for free on outlets like Forbes, the New York Times, Marie Claire, Popsugar, and so many more, even if you’re not yet launched or if you don’t have any connections? That’s right. That’s why I invite you to watch my PR Secrets masterclass where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to have their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought after industry expert. Now, if you want to land your first press feature, get on a podcast, secure a VIP speaking gig, or just reach out to that very intimidating editor. This class will show you exactly how to do it.

Speaker 1 (11:12): Register now@gloriachoupr.com masterclass that’s gloriachoupr c-h o u p r.com masterclass so you can get featured in 30 days without spending a penny on ads or agencies. Best of all, this is completely free. So get in there and let’s get you featured.