PRESS FOR SUCCESS An Online P.R. School & Resource for Entrepreneurs from Sabina Knows www.sabinaknows.com
How to Pitch Holiday Gift Guides 2017 Edition - 02 -
Welcome! 3
You re in the Right Place If. You have a product that you would like to get into holiday gift guides. Your business makes something that could be used as a stocking stuffer or hostess gift. You would like to get your product into monthly magazines. You want to begin building long-term, powerful relationships with the press that can turn into press not just right now, but into the future
You re in the Right Place Because I ve been teaching entrepreneurs, small biz owners & experts how to do their own PR (successfully & confidently) for 8 years! I ran a public relations agency in New York City for over a decade. Prior to doing PR I taught high school and did work in education curriculum design teaching is my jam! My clients were PR success stories and now more and more of my students are becoming the same thing. You re in good hands my friends! Oprah Spoiler Alert: This works: Our students are hearing back from outlets after using these strategies!
Our Agenda The Basics: From Timelines to Organizational Prep Do Your Research: Get to Know the Outlets & Media Before Pressing Send! Who to Pitch: How to figure out who at a magazine (or blog) is working on holiday stories. Your Holiday Gift Guide Checklist: What You Need Before You Pitch How to Pitch: Sabina s Simple & Successful Pitch Script Template Customize it and make it your own! 3 Things You MUST Do Before You Pitch I ve Pitched, Now What? What to do after you send out the pitch. GO FOR IT! Take this token of PR Love with you
Your Resources Your PR Training Comes With How to Access Your Resources Sample Media Contact Ask Email This will help you track down WHO to pitch. Go to www.sabinaknows.com and download it directly from the replay page. Sample Holiday Gift Guide Pitch Script. Video Replay Free & Online. Get alerted to this and all PR goodies, from classes to downloadables, via the newsletter: SabinaKnows.com/newsletter
Mindset Work 8
Let s Get the Inside Working The path to success is to take massive, determined action. - Tony Robbins But also little, action steps made every day are just as important. Simply act. Take action. Do something. Do it again and again. Learn lessons through your action-taking. Learn. Improve. Get better, get faster, get more successful, get press, get sales, get clients, get EXCITED! - Sabina Moral of the story: Take Action!
The Basics 10
What s the Timing & How Does That Impact Pitching? We are pitching what the PR world calls LONG LEAD media (the lead time is 3 to 6 months). This means we re pitching monthly magazines (a.k.a. Redbook, InStyle, Real Simple, O, the Oprah Magazine, etc.) Hoping to hit up some blogs as well? Never fear! You can apply the same strategies you learn today later in the year (think November through December) when pitching the SHORT LEAD press (dot com, television, radio, newspaper) during the actual holiday season, so create a folder to house all of your PR material to re-use and repurpose later. Because holiday is such a major undertaking with so many people and steps involved, editors begin early and the competition is fierce. Keep that in mind as you do your work!
Streamline Your Work! Track all of your holiday outreach (names of outlets and contacts, email addresses, pitch status ) so you can keep track of who you reached out to, who needs a follow up, and how best to reach them. If you are already using a spreadsheet or other system to track your PR outreach, create a separate tab just for holiday outreach work. You want to consolidate all of this outreach so you can zip down your list when executing your pitches. Press for Success Masterclass Students: You can download a PR Home Base to do this at anytime via your member page in the online course.
Do Your Research 13
How to Do Your Holiday Gift Guide Research Review last year s HGG s via a quick online search or at your local library. Don t simply look at what types of products they featured (and who did the coverage). Keep your eyes peeled for tone, voice, style, and layout aswell! Look at the themes they have covered in the past and use this intel to prepare for themes you ll most likely encounter again this holiday season Under $100, Under $50, Gifts that give back, hostess gifts, stocking stuffers, for the in-laws, for athletes, etc. When doing your research get to know their readership and offerings and decide if you re truly a good match: don t resist it ifyou are EVEN IF you don t read the magazine regularly!
Your Holiday PR Prep List 15
Holiday Pitching Checklist qprepare your PR Home Base - The Spreadsheet You ll Use to Track Your PR Outreach, Media Contacts, and Upcoming Publicity. qdecide what you will be offering the press for holiday outreach. (More on this shortly) qbe sure you have 300 dpi (high res) images and low res images of every product you intend to offer for holiday gift guides. qbe sure you have a press-worthy sample available of every product you will offer for gift guides. qkick your Living Media List into high gear by starting to record (long lead) magazine goals in your PR Home Base (holiday tab) this list will be ongoing and ever-growing during this outreach season.
Holiday Pitching Checklist qholiday-themed line sheets (with retail pricing) if you re offering multiple items. You can also make more than one of these to address specific markets or magazines. qa holiday Pinterest board for easy product overview and access. qbe sure you have 300 dpi (high res) images and low res images of every product you intend to offer for holiday gift guides. qbe sure you have a press-worthy sample available of every product you will offer for gift guides. qkick your Living Media List into high gear by starting to record (long lead) magazine goals in your PR Home Base (holiday tab) this list will be ongoing and ever-growing during this outreach season.
WHAT Will You Be Offering 18
Deciding WHAT to Offer This isn t the time to offload product or merchandise you don t want. Most magazines are looking for WOW factor these are gift guides not the normal editorial pages. Don t have a brand new line for holiday? No worries: half the battle is how you sell, spin, and package (PR-wise) your offer! Remember, this isn t about what YOU want to pitch as much as it is about what the outlet and their readers will find valuable, interesting, a good fit. Remember the way you present your product to the press matters as well!
Two Types of Ways You ll Choose Your Offerings Pro-Active: You Determine Your Holiday Offerings Put them into groupings or share via pitches, links, line sheets, etc. You may end up using more than one type of line sheet/mktg. material for this. You choose products and offerings that are items the readership of your magazine targets would enjoy customize your offerings! Reactive: You will Receive PR Leads (HARO, Press for Success Facebook Group), and Share Offerings Accordingly. Mentally & strategically prepare for these as they are often reused year after year: Under $100.00 Under $50.00 Luxury/Wow Factor For Mom Sentimental/Customized For the X Person (foodie, health nut, Zen goddess, etc.) Don t forget men! Entrepreneur Made (especially the dot coms, later).
Keys to Choosing Pieces That Get Attention 1. Remember the media don t have time to do a lot of work to get what you re offering them. Don t send a link to all your offerings, don t make them dig for pieces or good fits, don t launch into a story about you as a brand that is better suited for a business profile, this is about what you have for their HGG or other stories they are working on for this season. 2. This is a simple and straightforward product pitch, and the more clear and high value you make it, the better. 3. This MUST be a match for their readers you won t be a match for everyone and not every piece will work for every outlet.
WHO to Pitch & HOW to Find Them 22
WHO to Pitch *Please note: You ll receive a sample email to use for this type of ask in your class materials (on the Sabina Knows website). We ll review it shortly Begin with the people you know editors at the target magazine who you may already have a relationship with. Do some online sleuthing (Twitter, Google). Refer to past HGG issues, check who did the coverage of it, and look for online clues to see if they re doing it again. Ask the Gatekeepers: Editorial assistants and assistants in your niche (accessories assistant, fashion assistant, health assistant) who is handling the holiday issue and any other thematic insight they may have. Reference Sabina s media contact article (linked below this class).
3 Must Do s Before You Pitch Check your social media accounts to be sure they re not naked or nekkid. See every interaction as a HUMAN interaction, and always begin it on social media (Twitter, Instagram) before heading into a cold pitch. Never pitch any magazine or reach out to a gatekeeper about their holiday story plans before having opened it in the past 4 weeks, and checked out their website. If you haven t done this, how will you know who to pitch? If you truly fit in? What their style and tone is?
How to Ask for More Information about Holiday Gift Guides SAMPLE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE ASK
What Happens Next Send your email ask as you work to fill in your Holiday Outreach list (with contacts and HGG details). If they refer you to somebody who handles the holiday gift guides you want to be prepared to quickly react: thank them, record all relevant information and proceed to pitching the referred editor. When reaching out to this HGG editor you were referred to, mention how you found them: Kelly Wellington referred me, Danielle Hartfield said I should reach out to you for HGG stories This referral information accompanies a full HGG pitch that you ll be sending them. We ll be discussing that next! Not hearing back from your Holiday Outreach Ask emails? Feel free to follow up. If you still aren t hearing back, move on to another Gatekeeper.
COMMERCIAL BREAK 27
This Class is Brought to You By PRESS FOR SUCCESS www.pressforsuccess.com Online Ever-growing Ongoing Success Stories Lifetime Access! $150.00 OFF with code PRSEXY at checkout.
Holiday Outreach Execution 29
Sabina s Simple, Successful Pitch: A Breakdown qsubject Line: Clear, Concise, Not Just Naming Your Brand. They need to know what they re getting (under 100? Statement Jewelry for holiday parties? Customizable Stand-Out Pieces? Try to include the words Holiday/Holiday Gift Guide (for their search purposes). qintroduction: 2-3 (short) sentences: Briefly introduce yourself, your brand, link to it, and explain why you re writing. q Let them know in these sentences: What you have to offer and why what you have to offer is valuable to their readers. Why is it perfect for holiday and their magazine? qbullets! Put all the things they want (and need) to know in bullets. This includes: Your description, materials, retail price points, suggestedproducts for holiday that you re offering if it s more than one, where to buy, highlights, celebrity praise) all in bullets! Eyes love bullets! qinclude an image (embed or link to it) that matches what you re pitching and WHO you re pitching. For holiday, I love a good collage. qnext steps: Close with an offer to answer questions, send info/images/samples and solid contact information where they can reach you.
Let s See a Sample Let s Look at an Example of a Simple & Successful Holiday Pitch
I ve Got the Pitch, Now What? qdedicate time (daily, every few days) to grow and build your living outreach list. Fill it with target magazines and HGG editors. qsend your holiday outreach ask emails to help you determine who to pitch (and what to pitch) for holiday gift guides. qpitch the holiday gift guide editors (via email). qfollow-up within one week. A pitch without a follow-up is now complete! qfeeling persistent? Try one more (short, sweet, direct) follow-up before you give up. Not sure about this and feeling too pushy? Let me tell you a story qlog all activity in your PR Home Base. qmaintain social contact with your target editors as well.
I ve Got the Pitch, Now What? qremember that these interactions go far beyond holiday outreach qyes holiday gift guides are our main focus today, but don t forget, that s not the only type of long lead content the magazines are working on right now. Opportunities exist in their regular, seasonal editorial spreads. Think holiday parties (what to eat/wear/do/drink), holiday resolutions and how to keep them, and so forth. qstore all holiday outreach materials in a folder (online) so that you can use it when SHORT LEAD holiday pitching time roles around! qkeep your PR skills on point by joining the Press for Success Facebook Community and considering the Press for Success Masterclass. qstay tuned into the free newsletter and I ll pop only the most useful PR tools, tips, resources and more into your inbox.
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