The Tin Shingle Blog - #SNAGGED!

Member Kimberly Schwede, Creative Director of Bebe Bilingual, a collection of educational gifts and tools for children around the world recently found out that jumping on PR leads pays off. She responded to a lead and not long after her Spanish Food and Number placemat was featured in 002 Houston Magazine Foodie September 2012 issue in their children's section for "Whimsical Dinnerware and Utensils".

Kimberly shares her story below about how she snagged this press in just one week.

HOW BEBE BILINGUAL GOT FEATURED IN 002 HOUSTON MAGAZINE

How often have you been working on your own PR? Either by yourself or someone on your team?
I just started about 2 months ago. I haven't been submitting that much (probably 12 submissions) but I hope to do so more. Its a fun challenge. Tomorrow I should have two additional press links on Spanglishbaby.com and Cardandgiftblog.blogspot.com.

What press opportunity did you snag by replying to a PR Lead?
My Spanish Food and Number placemat was featured in 002 Houston Magazine Foodie September 2012 issue in their children's section for "Whimsical Dinnerware and Utensils".

How long did the entire process take?
Fast! I submitted a link to my Etsy shop and Houston responded within a week. They just asked for a high res image to publish and link to the shop.

Did you learn anything through this process that you can share with other small business owners?
Try and proof the ad before print!! I was so excited then a bit disappointed when I realized they misspelled my last name. Definitely more excitement than disappoint though. Don't be shy to submit products. I feel the worst rejection is simply no response so you have nothing to lose. Houston initially was going to feature my Ocean Amigo placemat so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw my Spanish Food + Number placemat. Show the press a few products to chose from.

Want more? Click here to read even more inspirational SNAGGED! stories and start pitching! You could be our next success story!

I know for a fact that Emily Kolins of Emily Elizabeth Jewelry is involved and engaged in her PR campaign (in fact, she's one of our most loyal PR Tune Up class attendees).  Perhaps because "how you do anything is how you do everything", Emily's dedication and attention to detail is also reflected in her amazing jewelry which has been featured quite often in the press, most recently thanks to a PR lead Emily answered. 

Read below to hear how Emily snagged her lastest press hit and find out from her what she learned in the process of scoring a Lucky Magazine Deal of the Day that she would like other small business owners to know.  Want more Emily Elizabeth Jewelry when you're done with this story? Be sure to check Emily's jewelry out in newstands this month in People StyleWatch's September issue (!!).  You see entrepreneurs: beautiful work on your craft plus hard work on your outreach equals amazing press! It can be done!

HOW EMILY ELIZABETH JEWELRY SCORED LUCKYMAG.COM

How often do you work on your DIY (do-it-yourself) PR?  
I try to do something everyday Monday-Friday.

How long did the entire process take (days, weeks?)
This is the second time I scored this Lucky Magazine through Tin Shingle so this time around it was much faster. The initial process from the first email to the deal was about a month. I sent my initial pitch for a hair comb through Tin Shingle and was connected to Lucky through Sabina within a few days.

Can you walk us through the process, from pitch to placement?
We agreed upon the pitch theme, discount, deal date and other details and was eventually sent a contract. The process was very quick and efficient (They didn't even request a sample!) I waited about a month after the first Daily Deal to check in and see if they were open to doing a second deal.

They were but I held off and began the process again in July for the deal that ran Sept 4th featuring my Astrological Pendant Necklace.

Did you learn anything through this process that you can share with other small business owners?
Remember that when doing a deal, always pick an item you will still make a good profit on even when heavily discounted and to always keep in touch with the person who handled your deal so you're fresh in their mind when you approach them the second time around!  
 

If there is a new baby or toddler anywhere in your life chances are you have heard of (or used) nomie baby a removable car seat cover that lets baby make all the mess he or she wants while in their car seat because mom and dad can simply pull off the cover, toss it in the wash and it's all better!  As a non-parent (unless you count plants, and I don't) I didn't realize how amazing this innovation from entrepreneur Katie Danziger was until I tried to envision pulling a car seat out of a car and cleaning cracker crumbs or other less appealing things out of it.  Point made, I was sold.  And for a few years now the press have been too.  That said, I can assure you that Katie and the nomie team have to fight for coverage and pitch press just like any other small business.

Last week after our PR leads went out Katie let me know she had replied to a couple of them and that one writer had already followed up for more information (a good sign).  By the end of the weekend one of her pitches had already materialized into a story - SCORE!

As always, we love to have DIY PR success stories share how they landed press from pitch to placement via our Snagged blog series, as we feel that the best way to learn is by example.  Read on below to hear how to Katie pitched her small business story to the Examiner, and of course be sure to check out the final result, her story, HERE!

HOW KATIE OF NOMIE BABY LANDED HER LATEST PRESS HIT
 
How often have you been working on your DIY (do-it-yourself) PR?
Everyday I work on PR in some form or another to get the word out about nomie baby and the products.  I pitch writers, post on social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, blog about the company, products or related stories, and try to create new connections daily.
 
What press opportunity did you snag by replying to a PR Lead?
There have been MANY press opportunities that I have "snagged" via the PR leads, and the latest was for Examiner.com. Whenever there is mention in the PR leads for entrepreneurs, baby products, or other areas related to starting nomie baby and the products I respond.
 
Can you walk us through the process, from pitch to placement?
I check out the the PR leads, and if there is a fit I respond IMMEDIATELY!  I tailor the pitch to what is being asked, and try to keep in on point, short and simple, and always make myself available to follow up.  Usually the turn around from placement, to pitch, to story is relatively quick, which is another reason why it is important to jump on the leads.  Most writers are working on deadlines, which means quick answers, and quick responses to any follow up or clarifying questions is very important.
 
How long did the entire process take (days, weeks?)
For this latest "snag" the entire process from pitch to print was about 1 week.
 
Did you learn anything through this process that you can share with other small business owners?
It is important to be quick to respond, be a good match for what they are looking for, and be available after for follow up!

Pitch on Tin Shingles!  The next PR Lead could turn into YOUR success story!
 

We love sharing small business press success via our new Snagged blog series, and as of late we've had so much member success that the series is backlogged (we're talking loads of new success stories to post), which is quite a good problem to have! 

This latest post, however, will be the first of its kind in the series as we're not only celebrating a major press moment in the life of a small business (USA Today feature: see HERE), but we're also sharing the winning pitch that the brand sent in to snag the story, and a few lessons we can learn from their submission.

Here's the background you need to know:  Tin Shingle is happy to have cultivated a great relationship with members of the press who know they can turn to us not only as experts in the world of small business but also a a source they can use to pull entrepreneurs, small businesses & their anecdotes for upcoming stories.  This is exactly what happened this month, when USA Today reached out and let us know they were doing a story on social media and its impact on company growth.  We immediately put out the call for companies to submit their own stories, and received a slew of responses, all of which we forwarded on to the reporter covering the story. 

Within minutes she asked to hear more details about a few of the submissions and also to be connected to one member in particular, and that was Palmetto Cheese, a pimento cheese company out of South Carolina, founded by husband and wife entrepreneurial team Sassy & Brian Henry.  They spoke a day later and the rest, as they say, is history.  Not only did the couple land a major mention in a USA Today feature, but their photo was also included in the story, a big moment for any small business!  We over at Tin Shingle were also happy to be featured in the story as well, but this post is now about us, it's about what you can learn from the Palmetto submission. 

We'll admit, when we saw their initial email come through to us, we had a strong feeling their submission regarding social media would make the final cut.  "Why?", you may ask?  Well don't just take our word for it, read it below, as we received the team's permission and have reprinted it here for you.  After you read it, we'll discuss why we think it helped them land the story, and what you can learn from it....

*************************************************************************************
The winning USA Today Pitch (exactly as we received it):

From: Palmetto Cheese <palmettocheese@sc.rr.com>
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:45:12 -0500
To: Sabina Ptacin <sabina@tinshingle.com>
Subject: Palmetto Cheese - USA Today story

In the beginning we used social media to give out recipes and serving tips for our product, Palmetto Cheese.  This was done to get people thinking about different uses for pimento cheese other than a sandwich.   We also posted images with our brand and the founders to introduce ourselves. While this was a great place to start, it didn't bring in a lot of followers because it wasn't creating a dialogue. There was nothing for customers to connect to.  Once we started truly interacting with our customers and created a community, we began to see an increase in interest and customers.  What did we do?

• We educated and empowered consumers on how to bring Palmetto Cheese to their grocery store.
• Social media was used as a platform for instant customer service.
• Giveaways for coupons and promotional materials got customers/fans interacting on a daily basis.
• Providing links and videos about new locations to purchase our product brought in new customers and fans.

Our growth:
• In 2009, when our social media started we sold 547,000 containers of Palmetto Cheese.
• In 2011 we increased to 2.1 million containers sold.
• As of 2012, we have over 21,000 Facebook fans.

Our social media education is ongoing and is purely trial and error. It's all about finding that niche that the customer is interested in. Social media changes continually, so we try to stay on top of the newest trends and give our customers the human connection they expect.

Website: www.pimentocheese.com
Email: palmettocheese@sc.rr.com
Contact name: Brian Henry
Contact number: 843-XXX-XXXX

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Well there you have it, the winning pitch revealed!  Now let's dissect it a bit and I'll tell you why I think it worked so well:

• For starters this pitch was direct, to the point, didn't trail on for paragraphs and gave succinct answers to what the reporter was asking.  Press people are busy, they don't have time to dig through a long winded email to get the information they want.  Sassy, Brian & Nathan (a Palmetto team member) delivered an easy to read paragraph explaining exactly what their social media strategy was.
   
• They used bullets.  Eyeballs like bullets.  They like spaces between paragraphs.  I can promise you when I see pitches that are one giant page of writing, my eyes begin to blur before I even begin reading it and I'm less inclined to think the person writing it will be delivering the information I want.  Bullets helped Palmetto Cheese first point out exactly what strategies they used on Facebook and THEN bullets helped the reporter see the result of these strategies.
   
• They showed the reporter exactly what she wanted: the social media strategies and the result they delivered WITH facts and numbers to back it up.
   
• They included their contact information and links to every other relevant piece of info the reporter needed to decide whether or not she wanted to use them for the story: company contacts, link to website, names.
   
• They were honest. They didn't exaggerate, they admitted what they did was often trial and error.  The reporter wants real stories in order to write a story that other small businesses can read and relate to, and if you misrepresent yourself or your business, or inflate numbers or try to talk yourself into the story instead of telling your story, it rarely works in your favor. 
   
• They were a good fit for the story.  Sure, we all want to be featured in USA Today (and several other top media outlets), it's a huge deal.  It has nearly 2 million readers !!).  That said, the best press comes from the best fits.  Sassy & Brian were a great fit for their story because they could show (with anecdotes & numbers) that social media did, in fact, work for them.  It clearly is a major part of their brand as they have over 21,000 Facebook fans.  Those fans love Palmetto Cheese so much the article itself had 22 comments posted, of which nearly all were Palmetto fans.  Their Facebook fan page is covered in conversations and has signs of active engagement all over it.  They weren't simply trying to spin themselves into a story they didn't belong in, they were exactly what the reporter wanted.  Too often I see companies who want press so, so much that they pitch themselves (sometimes repeatedly) for stories they do not belong in.  This not only is a waste of your time, but it could have a negative effect on you and your relationships with the press.  On top of that, the more time ou waste pitching yourself to stories you don't belong in, the less time you have to spend pitching outlets/stories you do belong in...Time is money, entrepreneurs, use it wisely!

Well there you have it, the curtain was drawn back and you were able to see just what it took to get Palmetto Cheese into USA Today.  What surprises some people is that it wasn't a three page submission, it was much shorter than many other emails we received, less truly was more, and yet what they wrote was enough.  Use this as a guide to and lesson for your own responses to reporter queries, and stay tuned to some more Snagged posts in which we include the actual winning pitches that entrepreneurs like you used to tell their story.

Happy pitching!