Well wow, Tin Shingler! This was quite a news day.
To get you back into the groove of your business, we are keeping this TuneUp open for all to stream for the next few hours. Today's performance and insurrection was a culmination of the distraction that we have all been dealing with for the past 9 months. Ironically, during this TuneUp, Katie pointed out that the media is getting into its groove with the pandemic and social revolution, being that it was not operating in crisis mode during the last few weeks. Crisis mode is where the media cycle is interrupted by crisis and planned news stories are dropped in favor of what is happening right now.
On the other hand, how the media handled today was not very reassuring, as they asked the current president to show leadership and tell his people to "go home." This president has been consistently encouraging today's actions to happen. So for the media like CNN not to recognize that, was disappointing, yet not surprising to the Black community, who have watched and endured this type of coverage for a long time. Or since forever.
Shaking our heads, and enraged that there has been little news coverage of any arrests of those who rioted, trespassed, and stole or lifted government property. Was anyone arrested? Sadly, it is being reported that one woman who stormed inside the Capitol was shot by police and has died.
Social media giants did take action. Twitter and Facebook locked him out of his accounts, and YouTube removed his video telling his people to stay peaceful, in which, he could not have looked happier. Read all about it here at Deadline.com.
At any rate. Get many ideas for how to pitch the media this month. And energy! This was a great TuneUp, and will jazz your brand. It's free for all to stream for limited time, and then will be available to Tin Shingle Members to stream 24/7.
TODAY: The Live TuneUp Returns
What To Pitch The Media This Month: January
When: Wednesday, January 6, 2021
Time: 1pm EST
Where: At your computer or on your phone
Price: Free for all during this live broadcast
The live TuneUp is back this week for a look at what you can be pitching the media this month for coverage in national magazines as well as blogs and TV. There is a lot to cover, including ideas for, Home Decor, Finances, Taxes, Healthcare, Health Insurance, Amazon VS Shopify, Voter Rights, Mutual Aid Networks, and More! Get your 2021 Editorial Calendars out and let's go!
Get ideas! Join us live on today's broadcast!
If you can't make it to this free broadcast, Tin Shinglers with the Media Membership get 24/7 access to watch any TuneUp whenever they want. Apply for Tin Shingle membership today to get access!
Where Can You Watch TuneUps You Missed?
If you miss any live, free class, you can watch all of Tin Shingle's Training TuneUps from our website! Tin Shingle's Media Membership gives you unlimited streaming of all online classes we recorded. Organized by topic, including Instagram, Photography, Facebook, and more. Browse our library of TuneUp Replays here.
Tin Shingle is your partner in getting the word out about your business. Generating buzz is our jam, and it can be yours too.
Loving what you're hearing in the Training TuneUps, but need help applying it to your business? Schedule a Private Training Session with Katie to get you on track. Share ideas, doubts, and goals. Come away with actionable items you can start on now to carry out your marketing campaigns. Tin Shingle Members get a Discount on this service. Contact Us for coupon code.
Media Monitoring: Markeplace Tech - Doubling Down On People, Climate, COVID
As media outlets find their grooves in how to cover a pandemic of COVID-19 as well as a social revolution, Marketplace Tech, the daily tech podcast hosted by Molly Wood, seems to be doubling down in its years long mission to cover unusual tech topics by highlighting the people - or people angle - behind them. The pandemic and protests of 2020 have leveled people so much, that every-day stories are looking more and more like gems.
From the Marketplace's family of podcast About page: “We’re a nonprofit news organization on a mission to raise the economic intelligence of the country. For more than 30 years, we’ve helped people become smarter about the economic forces that touch their daily lives through the unorthodox story, the casual conversation and the unexpected angle on the news. And while we are very serious about covering business and the economy, we don’t take ourselves too seriously."
Lately, host Molly Wood seems extra fascinated with stories that break down traditional assumptions about tech (that tech knows everything by itself, without human involvement, like in this story “Algorithms for vaccine distribution have a weakness: the people behind them” ), as well as how the virus has connected communities and will force (hopefully) regions to think beyond their borders so as not to ruin their neighbors, as has happened for centuries, or the dawn of time, like with this story “Making sure climate solutions don’t make more problems”.
Remote Learning is not going away anytime soon, so anyone starting a new program, or having new insights, should consider a story angle. This story, “For-profit online schools are getting a second look from parents” highlights a study that quite honestly made for-profit online schools look bad, with large student to teacher ratios, and made the public schools out to look like they had small student to teacher ratios. Anyone currently in the public school system knows this not to be the case. If this is you - if you created an online program, think of a story angle and pitch it!
Website designers are also big contenders here, as more and more businesses turn to the internet to stay connected to their customers. This story, “A possible life raft for small businesses selling online” featured Intuit’s (Quickbooks) new tool that connects people’s sales channels in their bookkeeping software to help sellers see where the money is coming from. Molly from Marketplace Tech made sure to mention that Shopify was on notice to be squashed by Amazon, which so far (hopefully) never happened (and may it never happen).
Make Sure Your Website and Social Media Is Ready
For any of these stories, make sure your website is ready to handle any sales inquires. If you sell a service, like a remote learning program or are a website designer, make sure there is a clear path for how people can reach out to you, or sign up with you.
Same goes for your social media. Need help with either of these? Get specialized guidance through Tin Shingle’s Private Training. Our sister company, Katie James, Inc. produces and designs websites, and works specifically with small businesses. Even if you have a design team already, we can help tell you what to have them do. Outside ideas are always helpful. Best of all, become a Tin Shingle Member and get in our Google Group to start giving and getting feedback.
Not Sure How To Pitch Marketplace Tech?
There are many story angles you could come up with. If you need courage to send one out, or feedback telling you are on the right track - or not - join Tin Shingle today to get connected into our Google Group and start a conversation to get our feedback. Tin Shingle does keep a database of Media Contact Ideas, some with job titles and email addresses. This particular lead encourages you to pitch into the generic email. But reaching a producer can’t hurt (usually)!
Marketplace Tech Story Angle Notice In Tin Shingle’s PR Leads
This story angle notice has been added to Tin Shingle’s PR Leads section. Marketplace Tech is looking for ideas, and they give their generic email for you to submit to. While anyone can hear this on their podcasts, Tin Shingle added it to our members-only PR Lead Center, as a way to help our members have one place to get different ideas.
Hedge Fund Seeks Ownership Of Local News Outlets In Chicago, New York and Baltimore
Media watchers like AdWeek and Nieman have been reporting on when a hedge fund acquires a news outlet. Today, AdWeek included this reporting on the publishing company Tribune Publishing being possibly acquired by the hedge fund, Alden Global Capital.
AdWeek’s 1/4/2021 reporting is below:
In the latest sign of the finance industry’s tightening grip on the local news business, Alden Global Capital has moved a significant step closer toward acquiring a major prize: Tribune Publishing, the parent of 9 major metropolitan papers including The Chicago Tribune, The New York Daily News and The Baltimore Sun. (NYT)
The hedge fund has submitted a bid to acquire Tribune Publishing according to a filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The deal is valued at $520 million. (Poynter)
Alden owns 31.6% of shares of Tribune, once briefly known as “Tronc.” (New York Post)
How To Add Your 2021 Editorial Calendar To Google Drive For Sharing With Your Group
Sharing and using the 2021 Editorial Calendar you got from Tin Shingle with your people is super easy. Designed as an Excel spreadsheet, you can easily download it from the Tin Shingle website, and upload it into your Google Drive. This is good for sharing access to it with other people on your team. With Google’s Sheets app, you can also access it from your phone.
Here’s a video that shows you how. Watch it below!
Get the template here. Tin Shingle Members get this and all of Tin Shingle’s Templates for free. It is also available for single purchase, to which you have lifetime access for updates.
You Had Ideas Today - Put Them Here!
Hello, 2021!
You had big ideas today. You need to log those into your group Editorial Content Planner that you share with your team, or share with yourself on the go when you upload it to your Google Drive.
Today was the big Re-Entry Day as everyone completed the Holiday Season, and were Back To Work. Slack crashed, and new emails of intentions flew into inboxes.
HOW THE EDITORIAL CALENDAR WORKS
When you have Big Idea for content - like when you are going to launch a new program, need to get a press release out and want to make sure you have content published on your website to back up this initiative - you plot this out in your 2021 Editorial Calendar that Tin Shingle designed for you.
Created as an Excel document with 12 tabs - a tab for each month - every single day of the year visible to you very easily. Daily ideas are also included for each month, so you know when to plan for Martin Luther King Day or National Mentoring Month.
FREE: This Editorial Content Planner is free for Media Kit Members of Tin Shingle. Activate your membership today to download this and all of our exclusively produced Templates.
FREE: If you are not a member, but purchased this template in the past, you are able to download this year's - and every year's - for free. The investment that keeps giving.
INCLUDED WITH THIS 2021 EDITORIAL CONTENT PLANNER TEMPLATE
Organization: Article Assignment Slots for 12 Months, 365 Days Broken Down Into Weeks
Every single day of the year is organized into 12 monthly tabs for your viewing and organizational pleasure.Content Ideas: Over 250 Hot Topics & National Days for Instant Ideas for Fresh Content
Social Media + Newsletter Options: Dedicated columns to call out when you are sending a special newsletter to your customer base or subscriber list, and when you need to publish a social media post, and not necessarily publish an article to your news or blog section.
Who Does What: Tracking Who is Writing, Who is Making the Art, and Who is Posting the Article, and Socializing
Forever Access: Always have free access to next year's Editorial Planner Template
Free for All Access Tin Shingle Members: If you are an All-Access Pass Member of Tin Shingle, you automatically have free access to this Template. Just hit that Download button when you are logged in!
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
Media Monitoring And Planning Ahead: Men's Journal
Catching up with Men’s Journal. Every article was pandemic or protest related, with a series on men in Minneapolis rebuilding their businesses, building community, training Black youth to gain certifications in outdoor activities like mountain biking paddling, etc. (paid for by Ramsey County) so that Black people might be more comfortable learning from someone who looks like them, and providing food for those in need. Cooking and gathering for social distance, and the usual gear recommendations that Men’s Journal is known for. The Holiday Gift Guides were in this issue, with the usual themes.
For ideas on how to pitch the media, join Tin Shingle to get access to our Media Contact Idea Center, and start a conversation with fellow members in Tin Shingle’s Google Group.
*Remember: print magazines work 3-6 months in advance. In pandemic times, changes to editorial may be squeezed in to reflect a big, huge change. But generally, think a few months out.
Media Contacts Updated! The Conversation, Mindbodygreen, MedPage Today, Podcasts, And Many More
MEDIA CONTACT UPDATES
The Conversation, Mindbodygreen, MedPage Today, Podcasts, and many more have been updated in our Media Contact database and what is a better time than now to pitch pitch pitch!
A few examples include:
Beth Daley who is the Editor and General Manager for The Conversation and specializes in all things, Kids, Environment, Genetics, Climate Change, Food Labeling, Fishing & Journalism.
Bruce G Wilson Jr, who is the Chief Innovation and Development Officer of The Conversation specializing in, Business Development, Strategic Branding and Communications, Publishing and Content Monetization, Building Sales and Marketing
And to name a few more (because we like you...)
Jason Wachob, who is the Founder of Mindbodygreen and Co-Founder/CoCEO of the MBG podcast has been added. His areas of interest include, Psychology, Wellness, Health, & Digital Media.
And another one! Stephanie Eckelkamp, who is a contributing writer for mindbodygreen specializing in, Health, Wellness, Nutrition, Natural Remedies, & Natural Beauty.
There are many more Media Contacts who have been added to our database! Plus, it is super easy to use! We made a short video to show you how to search for media contacts in our database. View it HERE.
Tin Shinglers with the Media Kit Membership get access to any and all Media Contacts. Apply for Tin Shingle membership today to get access!
Get Ideas
Need ideas of why to pitch these shows? Start a conversation in Tin Shingle's Pitch Whisperer. Or tune in every other Wednesday to our members-only group consulting session, Pitch Whisperer TuneUp.
You can also get private, one-on-one help through Private Training.
NEW! Community Network Tool
We heard you! You want to network with other members, right now, this instant. And we want to also! Therefore, we have created a new community in Google Groups where you can email the Tin Shingle Google Group and instantly reach other Tin Shingle members with your question, desire for feedback, or just sharing something new that you are launching.
Tin Shingle does have a forum on our website, which we will be retiring, because it is old. And unimpressive. However, should we wish to custom design it in the future, we will always have that ability that we've always had. For now, we think that you want to use modern tools at places you know, like Google.
You might be wondering why we are not using a Facebook Group. Tin Shingle is not a huge fan of Facebook in general, and we have an issue with how they use your data and how their groups work. This way, with an inbox based group, we feel that you will be able to connect with each other and build relationships in a way that is not overwhelming, is safe, and gives you notifications when you need them.
HOW THIS WORKS
This is in beta for now as we get used to it, but here is how this is going to work:
Tin Shingle Member: you need to be a Tin Shingle Member to use this. It is a private group. Once you become a member, your email will be added by our team and you will receive an email notification. If you are already a member of Tin Shingle, your email has been added, and you should be getting a notification shortly. If you are a Tin Shingle Member, and do not want to be in this group, that is fine! Please email us and we will remove you. *Please note, just because you are receiving this email, it does not mean you are a Tin Shingle Member. You are a member if you are paying a member subscription. If you do want to be a part of this group, and you are not a member yet, click HERE to activate your membership now!
Email The Group: When you're ready to reach out and network, you will send an email to the Google Group via a special email address. Only Tin Shingle Members will have this email address, and if you are a member, you will get it in a separate email.
Rules: We are developing the rules of behavior and appropriateness, but you may use this group to help other members by answering their questions, network when you are launching or promoting something, etc. We want you to use this group to give and get support.
Office Hours Open Today: Post-COVID Symptoms (Hopefully!)
Office Hours
Open Today
When: Wednesday, December 23rd
Time: 1pm EST
Where: At your computer or on your phone.
How: Follow the directions on this page to get the registration link.
Or, if you're a Tin Shingle Member and are already logged in, click here to get the secret registration link.
Required: Media Kit Membership with Tin Shingle. Join today.
Hello!
Over the years, Wednesdays have turned into Big Days for Tin Shingle. It used to be that it rained every Wednesday, making for a gloomy day. Then it began snowing every Wednesday, causing School Closures which make live production of Tin Shingle's TuneUps hard. Once Remote Learning started, Wednesday became the day that was the Longest Day for Katie's kids, where they had several online class meetings in one day, which required constant snack-prep and technical support.
And for the latest Wednesday hurdle...Katie learned that her husband had COVID on a Wednesday, which threw everything out of orbit. Katie also learned that she and her middle son had COVID, and she wrote about it at A Little Beacon Blog, and in her newspaper column for the Highlands Current, at their request.
Thankfully, her household is on the other side of it (we think...for now...the hunt for antibodies begins), and for this Wednesday, the Office Hours are Open for Tin Shingle Members.
This is a time to turn on your video camera to speak eye-to-eye, or just talk on the phone or through your computer speakers.
In this series, members of Tin Shingle with the Media Kit Membership can call in to workshop any need in their marketing campaign, including:
Media Pitching: What a pitch to a certain media outlet should look like, and how it should read.
Instagram: How to get sales and create PR opportunities from you posts.
Facebook: How do you increase traffic from this platform?
Website Design: The media will circle back to evaluate their website. What are they seeing, and is it clear?
SEO: What's your game plan? Let's get one. You don't want to miss out on all that search traffic.
HOW IT WORKS:
Tin Shingle's owner Katie will moderate the call.
She will rotate through people on the call, and encourage each other to contribute to each person's challenge as a conversation.
CALL-IN DETAILS
When you are logged into your Media Kit Member account at Tin Shingle, you will be able to click this link in our Community section of the website to get the private link to call in details.
Once on the call, Katie will adjust your settings so that we can hear and/or see you. We love talking face-to-face, so turn your video on if you want. Otherwise, audio-only is fine.