Episode 162: Don't Make These Three Mistakes If You Want PR for Your Business
From helping thousands of small businesses get featured in the hottest gift guides and magazines and podcasts, here are the 3 things you need to know to get PR success for your business!
Here’s What We Cover and More:
Sharing your story with the press positions you as an innovator and an industry leader.
Media exposure can deter competitors by showcasing your expertise.
Journalists value fresh perspectives and bold opinions over unanimous agreement.
Confidence in your viewpoint is essential to being seen as a credible expert.
You don’t need flawless logistics or operations to pitch your story.
Public relations is an accessible way to grow your business without relying on ads or agencies.
Sharing your story can unlock credibility, opportunities, and a stronger market presence.
Getting your story out there doesn't have to be perfect—it's about taking that bold step forward and pressing send. Remember, the magic happens when you stop waiting for the perfect moment and start claiming your space as a trailblazer. Whether your logistics are still evolving or you’re just beginning to shape your audience, embracing your voice and owning your expertise is what sets you apart.
Product Businesses! Download my free HOW TO GET INTO A GIFT GUIDE/PRODUCT ROUND UP roadmap for free HERE to get more sales and traffic to your site this season.
If you want to land your first feature for free without any connections, I want to invite you to watch my PR Secrets Masterclass, where I reveal the exact methods thousands of bootstrapping small businesses use to hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought-after industry expert. Register now at www.gloriachoupr.com/masterclass.
Resources Mentioned:
Join the PR Secrets Masterclass
Join the Small Biz PR Pros Facebook Group
DM the word “PITCH” to us on Instagram to get a pitching freebie https://www.instagram.com/gloriachoupr
Connect with Gloria Chou on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriaychou
Join Gloria Chou's PR Community https://www.facebook.com/groups/428633254951941
Additional Resources:
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Transcript
00:00:00 Gloria: If you know that this year is the year you are ready to go big with your message and get media features, but you're worried that someone might steal your idea, or maybe you don't have the delivery and fulfillment process ready for your customers. Well, this episode, my friends, is for you because I am sharing the top three things I hear all the time from founders that's preventing them from securing media features.
00:00:23 Gloria: Hey, everyone. How's it going? Now we are embarking on a new year. This episode is being recorded in January of the New Year. And I think it's so important to address the limiting beliefs and mindset work because as you all know, who are in my PR Starter Pack community, the only thing that's preventing you from getting the press, from getting the visibility is what is keeping you from pressing that send button, right?
00:00:48 Gloria: So we do a lot of work on how can we get ourselves to a place where we want to press the send button and do it before we're ready because everything you want is on the other side of that send button. So three things. Real quick, that I want you to keep in mind that you have to give up if you want to land media features is this.
00:01:04 Gloria: The first one is if you want to land media features, you need to give up the worry that someone else will steal your idea. Now I know for some of you, this might be a big limiting belief you're carrying around and trust me, you're not alone. So many founders grapple with this, but I cannot tell you how getting press and getting media features and sharing your story, that's actually the number one way to protect yourself from other people stealing your idea because the press can validate your idea.
00:01:34 Gloria: I have so many founders who actually use media before they are even launched, before they have everything flushed out, maybe when they're just beta testing or barely launched so that they can claim their space and really establish themselves as the first to do something, as the first to disrupt a space, as the first to innovate in a certain way.
00:01:53 Gloria: Unless you have a patent or like a trademark, actually pitching to press and getting your story out there is the number one way to prevent that from happening. So I encourage you the next time you are limiting yourself and saying, I can't pitch the story yet because I'm afraid that people will steal my idea. I welcome you to try to see if you can reframe that. Because like I said so many times before, there are so many founders in the starter pack who share their point of view with the press, who establish themselves as an industry leader, who position themselves as truly the first to think about this in a certain way.
00:02:32 Gloria: And so that has created so much momentum and opportunity in their business. And like I said, unless you have a patent or something that's being filed with the trademark office and it's an actual legal patent, they're really the legal barrier to saying whether or not you're the first to do something is really a Google search. I've written so many press releases for clients who wanted to get their message out there because they were in a very saturated industry. They had a lot of competitors.
00:03:02 Gloria: So a good thing about having competitors is that you know you're on the right track, you're doing something that is very necessary and that people care about. But the bad thing is you have a lot of competitors. So I encourage you to not let that worry prevent you and pitch and pitch and pitch before you're ready so that you can actually claim your space before your competitors do. So that's number one. I want you to give up that worry that people will steal your idea.
00:03:28 Gloria: Number two, if you want to land media features, I also want you to stop doing this. I want you to stop thinking that you need to be liked or approved by everyone once the story gets out. Because I think for a lot of founders who have never really spoken to a journalist or who have never, you know, been featured before, there is this worry that everything you say has to be approved. What if somebody pokes holes at my story?
00:03:54 Gloria: What if this isn't right and that isn't right? And again, I want you to just take a beat, take a breather, and just let it go because journalists are generalists and they're not here to be the inspectors, the auditors and poke holes in your logistics and trade secrets and have you expose all that.
00:04:11 Gloria: They want to know what is the story, what is the insight, where is the markets headed, what do your consumers have to say? So remember, the pressure to take that off of you and just to know that it's gonna be okay, right? They wanna talk about what you've learned, what insights you've gained, how you've gathered information from your audience.
00:04:32 Gloria: And remember, you are truly a conduit of information because you have access to your audience and community in ways that the journalist doesn't. So use that to your advantage. And remember, experts have points of view. Now, you remember all of the TV, like pundits that you see, people making outlandish statements, a lot of times they're on there because they were not afraid to take a stand.
00:04:53 Gloria: Now, I'm not saying that you should be a pundit or be someone that is taking a crazy controversial stand, but remember that experts have opinions. And if you wanna be interviewed like an expert, you need to start to wear that hat or have the confidence to say something, to say something, whether it's bold, to say something that challenges the status quo.
00:05:14 Gloria: Maybe it's something you've noticed from your audience. Maybe it's where you think your industry is going. Maybe how the last two years have impacted your industry. All of these things, and I say this as well in my PR masterclass, which is, what are the predictions? What are the insights? What are the things that are not so intuitive that goes against what normally people would say, right?
00:05:33 Gloria: So if you are a health coach, it might be something that everyone's saying, oh, you should do this, but you've actually found that that's actually not so healthy. So that would be a great story. So think about how you can kind of go against green in that way.
00:05:47 Gloria: Now, number three, the third thing I want you to give up if you are truly going to want to land media features is I want you to give up the need to have all of your business logistics, fulfillment, all of that business stuff figured out. Now if you remember, I think it was episode two, I interviewed Tanisha Simone. She founded Black Movement in App. And when we worked together on the PR Starter Pack, she started reaching out to people and she didn't even have a physical space yet.
00:06:16 Gloria: She was just crowdfunding for an idea. Since then, she has pivoted her business. She has no longer doing what she was originally doing in the interviews. Now she has an app before she was having a physical space that she was crowdfunding for. So again, you don't have to be worried about your business is going to change or be bogged down by the fact that you have to stick with it.
00:06:37 Gloria: Because journalists are not going to worry about every single in and out and systems in your business. They're not going to be questioning whether or not the hot sauce that you have made is going to be delivered with UPS or USPS, or if it's on backorder. They really want to know what's interesting, what's unique, and why it matters right now. So think about that.
00:07:01 Gloria: Every time you have a limiting belief, think about how it's really two sides of a coin. Maybe there's an opportunity in that. And so I challenge you the next time you think you're not ready, or you don't have your website, or if you don't have everything, all of your logistics and you're on back order, maybe that's a good problem to have. Maybe it shows that customers really want your product. Maybe it shows that consumer trends and behaviors are changing.
00:07:26 Gloria: So again, it's all about viewing it from a different point of view that opens up opportunities for your business. So I wanted to record an episode real quick as this dawned on me that so many founders asked me whether it's inside of my Facebook community or inside of the PR starter pack. These are the common questions I get.
00:07:44 Gloria: So just to recap, three things I want you to give up immediately if you are to land media features and exponentially grow the visibility of your business so you can get customers is number one, I want you to give up the worry that people will steal your idea. In fact, getting press is going to help you protect that idea.
00:08:03 Gloria: Number two is I want you to give us the need to be liked or have a story or narrative that's approved by everyone because experts, experts have opinions. And oftentimes they are different, right?
00:08:14 Gloria: Number three is please, please, please give up the need to have all of your business stuff in order before you pitch. And if you listen to the previous episodes, I have so many examples of founders who were either crowdfunding or not even launched yet and they pitched themselves as an industry expert and was able to unlock the next level of their business so that when they did launch, they did have an audience.
00:08:37 Gloria: Now I'm so happy that you've tuned in and I cannot wait to see what you accomplished this year. And if it's one thing that you take away from this episode is that you do not need permission from anyone before you press the send button.
00:08:55 Gloria: 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 hack their own PR and go from unknown to being a credible and sought after industry expert.
00:09:23 Gloria: 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. Register now at GloriaChouPR.com/Masterclass. That's GloriaChou, 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.