← Strategy Hour | Online Marketing for Business Growth
Strategy Hour | Online Marketing for Business Growth
961: How to Land Celebrity-Level Press Without Being Famous (Yet)
00:53:53
You don’t have to be Oprah, the Beach Boys, or a big box brand to land major press, but you do have to know what you’re doing.
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- [00:02]
Abigail Pumphrey
Welcome to the Strategy Hour podcast brought to you by Boss Project. I'm your host Abigail Pumphrey and I'm dedicated to supporting online businesses. I don't believe in one right way to build a business. I'm here to help you build business your way, one that supports not only the life you have, but the life you want. I'm on a personal mission to help you become financially free. I'm taking all the lessons learned as I turned a layoff into a seven figure online business. I'm here to help you prioritize your life every step of the way, whether you're creating your first digital product, growing an email list, or scaling an already profitable business. Settle in. It's time to talk strategy.
- [00:44]
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- [01:12]
Abigail Pumphrey
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- [02:11]
Lydia Bagrosa
Freshbooks.Com if your brand is one that is a service brand and it has that really like personal high touch and you want to share your personal moments and it totally makes sense for the brand. So again, coming back to like the authenticity piece. What feels true to you? What are your differentiators? And then leading from there.
- [02:32]
Abigail Pumphrey
You don't have to be Oprah, the Beach Boys or a big box brand to land major press, but you do have to know what you're doing today, I'm talking to Lydia Bagrosa, co founder of Visibility on purpose. With 4000 plus media placements and features in outlets like Forbes, Entrepreneur and more, she's making top tier press accessible for small brands and founders without hiring a publicist. Today, she's giving away all her best secrets. So let's dive into today's episode.
- [03:06]
Host
Hey Lydia, welcome to the show.
- [03:08]
Lydia Bagrosa
Hello. So excited to be here today.
- [03:10]
Host
I'm excited to have you on the Strategy hour podcast. I mean, you have a really, truly impressive background in PR and media, so. So before we dive into those strategies, can you share a little briefly about how your journey in the PR industry brought you to start Visibility on Purpose?
- [03:30]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah, absolutely. So I started my career over 10 years ago in PR, which is insane to think about now. So I began in the music industry, which is very different, where I was working with Grammy award winning artists. I did the whole like internship turned into a full time role and I was just so hungry to get in and like be the best publicist that I could that I was kind of burning myself out, to be completely honest with you. I was trying to like, you know, work after hours. I was going to all the meetings in New York and I didn't really like. I loved that time there and I think what I was able to do there was really incredible in terms of like working with some of the biggest brands or like musicians in the world. But I really wanted to work with more brands where I could see the journey all the way through. So I ended up leaving there. I started working at a PR agency that had anywhere from like huge brands that felt a little bit more boutique. Maybe their like teams were a little bit smaller to brands just starting out, some that were in some of the biggest retailers that we shop at. So Ulta, Sephora, Target, Whole Foods, lots of different grocery stores. Amazon, when Amazon had just really started to become more of a marketplace versus like a bookplace. I don't know if you remember, that used to be like. I do, yeah. It used to be the spot for books only. So during COVID I had that come to Jesus moment, like a lot of us. So I was like, what am I doing here? So I ended up starting my own agency to support a lot of brands that were more in like the personal brand space, which I think was also kind of like the boom of personal brands. Super fun. I absolutely love that space and that's kind of my bread and butter today. And then I found Bridget online like many of us did during COVID where She owned a publishing house, so she was helping online business owners publish their own books and get onto Amazon. Lol. To Amazon and books. And she kept talking about how it was so important to get your brand featured, to go on TV shows, to like, get your book, start talking on podcasts and get your book out there more. And I just DM'd her one day and I was like, hey, I really think we should talk and like work together. We ended up falling in love and not really, but like, you know, absolutely loved what each other were doing. And so we ended up collaborating on a few projects and then eventually our collaborations turned into visibility on purpose, which is a place where we call it like an online, kind of like PR training school, I guess, where we have our DIY flagship course which teaches entrepreneurs, small business owners and their teams how to get featured in our simple step process.
- [06:18]
Host
Amazing. Well, you mentioned working with some really huge campaigns.
- [06:24]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah.
- [06:25]
Host
With artists like the Beach Boys and brands that have been featured in places like Neiman Marcus and even Target. I'm curious, what's one major thing that brands do consistently that smaller brands don't, but easily could?
- [06:41]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yes, PR. So I think I've been in PR for over 10 years and what frustrated me is I think a lot of the smaller brands don't know what the bigger brands are doing, which, fair enough, it's been very gatekept for years where when you see, you know, some new product come out, maybe you like a beauty brand and you see a new, like, you know that that product is being launched, you know, that is being launched because they have a PR team behind it, where they are reaching out to magazines, to podcasts, they're making sure that when that launch happens, we all know about it. Like when a new, you know, Tesla comes out, we all know when a new iPhone comes out, we all know. So I think it really was that aha moment of seeing a lot of entrepreneurs get to a place on their maybe like in their business, maybe two, three, four years in, where they launched on their social media, which we all kind of started there because that's our own warm leads. And we hear the same thing over and over again. The frustration of like, I'm posting every single day, I'm doing all the right things, I'm making the canva things, I'm doing the reels and like, why am I plateauing? And social media is fantastic, we should all be there, but it's not SEO friendly and it doesn't create new avenues for, you know, people to find us. It doesn't borrow other people's audiences so we can talk, you know, more about that in the podcast. But PR is something that every small business should do, I think, early on, or boutique brand should do, and a lot of them just don't know. It's possible it exists, and you can actually do it yourself.
- [08:20]
Host
Yeah. Aside from that, the ability to do it yourself, I'm sure there are other huge misconceptions with smaller brands and personal brands specifically. What do you think is in their head that they feel like they can't do it? That, you know, is possible?
- [08:40]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah. Well, I'll hear a lot. Well, I'm not famous, so how am I supposed to be featured? I'm like, how do you think they got there? You're not famous yet.
- [08:50]
Host
Yes, yes.
- [08:51]
Lydia Bagrosa
And so there is a misconception that you need to be discovered or you need to already be famous to get featured, and that's just not the case. And I think it's more of an education piece on how media works and the media landscape. So the media landscape is very much either brands internally or their publicists. Whoever represents you, you can do it yourself. You can have your brand do it. You can have a publicist do it. They reach out to writers and let them know that they exist. And then, you know, if the writer is interested in their value, what they have to say. If you're a personal brand or if they're interested in products, maybe they sample them, and then that's when the features happen, when they give that. Yes. Ooh, this is an interesting angle. I'd love to interview you. Yes, this is an interesting product. I'd love to feature it in a Father's Day gift guide. Father's Day is coming up. We're, you know, recording this the beginning of June, so.
- [09:44]
Host
Yeah, well, it should air later this month.
- [09:47]
Lydia Bagrosa
So I'm.
- [09:50]
Host
I'm wondering how you reach out, though. Like, I think it sounds good in theory. Hey, I know I can tell people my story, I can share my expertise, but where do I find the people to reach out to? How do I craft that pitch? How do I make sure they're actually reading it?
- [10:08]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah. Yeah. So where to find the people? I actually, Bridget and I pitched ourselves to your podcast, so we can tell you it works. So what you do is you want to think about your industry and where you want to be featured. I hear a lot. Brands will come to me or Bridget and they'll say, okay, really want to get featured in Cosmopolitan. I'm like, okay, why? And they're like, well, I read Cosmo when I was younger, and I just think it's like the magazine. And it's like, okay, well, we want to also think about what makes sense for our brand and our brand goals. And so although Cosmo was really fun to read and it maybe holds a special place in our heart as, like, the magazine, it might not make sense for what we're doing today. So number one is think about your goals and where you want to go. So for us, like, for example, we really want to spread this message of small business owners and boutique brands should be implementing pr and it should not be gatekept for the big mega companies. Like, that's our big message. And so for us, we think podcasts is a great platform to be able to share this knowledge. And so that's what we're going to do. Whereas some other brands, they may say, well, I really want to get into the top magazines, maybe like Forbes Entrepreneur Inc. Because I'm more of a business type of person and I want to be seen in those business outlets. So I would say, number one is to think about your goals and your brand. Number two is to then go onto those platforms and start researching. So for magazines, maybe, we decided we want to get featured in Forbes. So let's look up some writers that make sense for you. Forbes, I have a lot of women clients, and so I let them know there's actually Forbes for women. There's like a whole column for just female entrepreneurs. And a lot of people don't know that. It's not a difficult thing. I would say it's more of just understanding the steps and strategies on how to figure out the best plan of action and when you know the action steps. It's very simple. And I will give an example for podcast too, because I know I mentioned it and I can hear the listeners being like, okay, well, what for podcasts? So for podcasts, it's looking at the categories that make sense. Like, we love your show because it's aligned with us, where we're helping online business owners, we're helping personal brands, we're helping maybe some that are just starting out versus some that have been in it for a while and they're looking to, like, uplevel their business. Like, very, very aligned with our messaging of what we're looking to do. And so when we came across your podcast, it made sense. I also like to think about the types of individuals I want to be surrounded by. So for us, like, maybe Amy Porterfield makes a lot of sense. She's like a marketing Voice. She's been on a lot of different platforms, a lot of podcasts, so. So I would Google Amy Porterfield and kind of see where she's been featured, like, wherever she's been featured. Makes sense for us too, because it's around that same idea of helping businesses with a service that will help them do better.
- [13:11]
Host
I like the thought of kind of reverse engineering who these writers are and who's the decision maker. But once you figure out a name or even the name of a podcast, how do you figure out where to send it? And then ultimately, what do you put in that pitch?
- [13:29]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah, so a pitch is essentially an email where. I mean, back in the day, we used to call too, which is crazy. I used to literally call, like, radio stations. But nowadays, thank you to the Internet, we very much are doing everything online. So a pitch is essentially a introduction of letting them know your value. I'm big on value. You'll probably hear me say like a million times in this show, and why you have maybe, like, introducing a big idea and why you make sense for their platform. So keeping that in mind, we want to keep that pitch short, concise, to the point, and showcase your value. I think the one thing that a lot of business owners get wrong is they'll especially, like, personal brands will shoot out in the gates with all of their credentials. They'll be like, well, I am a, you know, naturopath and I'm also a nutritionist. I'm a this and I'm that and I'm that. And they talk about themselves, but they forget to talk about the big idea and why they would be of value to the outlet, so the show or the publication. So we want to think about what's that big idea. So, like, for me, for example, I'll just keep using myself as an example. It's to share why PR is essential for online business owners and how to do it right. And so that's what I'm going to lead with. I'm not going to, you know, email Abigail and be like, hi, I'm amazing. I want you to enter me, interview me. It's more like, here's the idea. So we want to keep that short, concise. I do have a formula that I use that's worked for me over the years. Again, reverse engineering, like, what the heck I've been doing for the past 10 years to help online business owners introduce in a way that's really mindful and also highlights all the amazing things that they do. And so you would reach out through an email and again, Going back to that media landscape of how things work. Like, the writers want you to reach out to them, the podcast hosts want you to reach out to them. If they didn't have anybody reach out, they wouldn't have any extra value to share. They wouldn't have any interviews. And so it's a very like, win, win kind of landscape, which I think is really cool, where, like, sometimes I'll reach out to a writer and with an idea and they respond back and say, this is so cool. I've been looking for something like this. I would love to interview you. And that's really fun to hear because it's like, oh, that's the whole point. Like, we're all kind of just helping each other out to share some value and some messages. Yeah.
- [15:55]
Host
What do you think the difference is between a pitch that lands versus one that, like, gets ignored?
- [16:01]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah. Okay. I always think of the subject line as your first line of defense. So when you're thinking about sending out a pitch, you want your subject line to spark some. Something interesting. So I always think about subject line first. Sometimes it's kind of like a book where, like, you write a book and the title comes later, and that's totally fine. So sometimes I'll sit in front of my computer and I'll have an idea for a pitch angle, and then the subject line will come later. To me, that's totally fine. But you want to make sure that that strikes their attention. So when they're looking through their inbox, maybe if I'm a podcast host and I look through my inbox, I see that subject line, I say, ooh, I actually haven't covered that topic before. Yes, I definitely want to interview them. And so you want to think about it as, like, the consumer side. Like, if I'm receiving the email, what would I personally find interesting? So I'm constantly reverse engineering everything I do and trying to see it from the other person's perspective, because that's going to give us the most success. Same thing with the introduction. Does this intro have a hook? Is this exciting to me?
- [17:07]
Host
I definitely think you have to think about not just what's interesting, but, like, what's of value to them, not to you. So you're way more likely to land any kind of deal if you're thinking about what's in it for them when you're crafting that email. Obviously we wouldn't be doing this if it didn't have some sort of backend thing that would impact you and your business. But if you portray that as the reason they're going to roll their eyes and be really frustrated and hit delete. I can't tell you how many times a day my team and I just have to ignore, you know, pitches that come our way because they clearly are mass sent out. They're not really paying attention to what our particular podcast does or how we talk and show up. And they haven't done any research. So I think having that individualization is really helpful too. So if you were pitching yourself and you were talking about the value you could give this other person that to make a pitch land harder, faster, whatever that you include, why you, like, why should you be the expert on that particular topic and then why now? Why should they cover it in the near future versus, you know, three months down the line or two years down the line?
- [18:30]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah, okay, this is a really good question. So there's a million people that do what I do. I'm not the only publicist out there. But what I would say is my special sauce is I can, as you can probably see, like, I understand both sides. I understand how to reverse engineer. I understand how to show your value. And so I'm sharing that. That's. My value, is to share. Honestly, my value is to show you your value and how you can position it. So a lot of it is about brand positioning. And what I mean by brand positioning is like, everyone is different. Where do you live in the marketplace that sets you apart from everybody else? I'm again, a publicist in a sea of publicists. Why am I different? And so we want to think about those differentiators. Now, it could be an education background. I have a client that's a transformation coach, like a life coach. There's a million life coaches out there. However, she got her certification through a clinical psychologist at a program at Columbia University. She has a master's degree in psychology. She has a minor in bioengineering, which is like, what, Like a total brain. Right? And then in addition to that, she has 10 years of experience, she has her own methodology, and she has, you know, a reel or two that have gone viral on certain topics. Those are credential pieces where I can kind of use all of those and be like, okay, well, how do I weave this into my pitch to showcase that she's valuable, to showcase that not only does she have the education background, not only does she have an association with an Ivy League school, but she also has a unique idea and she has proven results. Right? And so I think it's thinking about, like, if you're thinking about a specific topic. How do you use all of those value points, those differentiators, in a way where it's really strengthening your pitch? And if you're sitting here and thinking, oh, my goodness, I don't have any of those, I promise you, you do. Think about why a client would work with you. Like, say, if you're a service provider, you might hear a ton, that you're super kind, and you get them on a certain level, like, you're listening. Like, those are valuable pieces. I would call them a value point. I would call them some sor of differentiator. And so thinking about your differentiators and why it's so important, I'll give another example. I had a branding strategist that worked with me a few years ago. She wanted to get on podcasts. She wanted to get some editorial features, and she's a brand strategist. She does this all day long. She knows what she's doing. She's super freaking smart, truly a genius. But sometimes it's hard to look at ourselves. So I would even ask, like, other peers and talk to them. So when she was speaking to me, she was like, you know, Lydia, like, I just really think it's so cool to work with the industry disruptors and, like, help them craft their brand, but not just the disruptors, like, the rebels. Like, I want the rebels. And she kept saying the word rebel. And I was like, what if we just created Industry Rebel as, like, your pitch angle, but you can also use that in your brand, too. A lot of PR is about brand positioning. Honestly, it's like branding disguised as, like, pr, right? And so she absolutely loved that. She started, like, changing all of her branding to working with the industry Rebel. I pitched her to Forbes and was like, do you know an industry rebel? And talked about this idea of her working with the ones that are really changing their industry in different ways. And Forbes came back and they were like, this is amazing. We love this. We'd love to interview her. So that was a really cool example of, like, maybe she doesn't have the traditional credentials, but she had a big idea that she came with, and that was something that they had never heard before. So I think there's a lot of different ways to do it. I don't think there's a right and wrong way, but I do think there is a way where you can look at your authenticity and yourself and your own brand. And I'm speaking a lot from personal brands, but this can be the same for products, too. Like, your product brand could be Bold, or it could be young or it could be fun, or there's so many different things. Right. And so we want to think about that brand authentically, where it lives and what it does differently. And then how do we showcase that in the best way possible to almost, like, convince, I guess, but, like, show them. Like, this is so cool and unique and different. And yeah, now is the time.
- [22:57]
Host
Yeah, I think to that point also really focusing on how you've successfully done it before, like, obviously, if this is the first time pitching this makes this angle a little bit harder. But once you have a few of those under your belt, being able to say, I've already been featured here and there and talked about these specific things, there's certain ones that are signaling to writers that make them perk up and, you know, listen to what you're saying, maybe a bit more instead of just glazing over. So I know leveraging it is really huge, but I think the more we can think about that, almost like a testimonial would be if you were selling a product or a service. Like, if you got someone a transformation, it's going to be easier to sell the next person whatever it is you're selling. In the PR world, if you've landed a publication on XYZ topic and it's unique and different, maybe you can talk about not necessarily stealing. You don't want to pitch the same idea. But, like, here's what we could do different and how I could make my story exclusive on your platform. I think there's so many opportunities to find what that unique angle is, but figuring it out and nailing it takes time. What do you think some of the most important, like assets or ingredients, small businesses need to have prepared before they even start pitching themselves?
- [24:32]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yes, I love this question because I think we always need to have a strong foundation before we start reaching out. Because you just want the best chance for yourself. Right. And there's always times where you can reach out again. But you don't want to be annoying and, like, constantly be, you know, badgering somebody if they said, you know, not right now. We want to give it some time. So anyways, with that in mind, just wanting to, and I don't mean this by saying it needs to be perfect. Like, please throw perfect out the window because it doesn't exist. We're always evolving and changing, and our brand should be evolving and changing with us. But what I will say is we do want to have professional headshots. We do want to have professional pictures of our products. Right. Especially for product brands. If anyone's listening out there, that's a product brand. You want to make sure you have your products in a white background in high resolution. This is because a lot of publications like to do their own branding and stuff and so they like to have that white background, very clean aesthetic picture. Lifestyle images are fun but we want to make sure we have that. Now back to headshots for service based businesses. Also, lifestyle images are really fun to have and different sizes too. So Forbes has come back to me multiple times and said that they want a landscape photo. They've also featured my photos in portrait mode. I don't know why I'm like okay, so just knowing that they will ask for those. I think because it just looks nicer in a article. You want to have portrait size, landscape size, traditional headshots, and then some lifestyle images. You also want to know your credit line and so what a credit line is. It's your official type.
- [26:09]
Abigail Pumphrey
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- [26:52]
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- [28:12]
Lydia Bagrosa
So for me, it would be Lydia Bagaroza, you know, publicist and co founder of Visibility on Purpose. That's something that feels good to me. When it comes to titles, we don't want to be playing with too many. It can be confusing. So you want to think of like two, maybe three that make the most sense and resonate with your brand. I will say with titles, with any of the fun spiritual girlies out there. I have a lot of spiritual brands that come to our business. We can't be doing like lead alchemist at Bloody blah blah, because, like, it just doesn't make sense to the reader. So we want to make sure that we can meet the reader halfway. So instead of that, like, maybe she's an astrologer, right? We want to say, like astrologer, AKA the lead alchemist ad. So it's really allowing you to again, share your authenticity of your brand, but still give them a title that holds weight and makes sense. So when you are featured in an article, say you're featured in an astrology article and they're reading that article, they want to be able to credit you as an astrologer, not an alchemist, because it doesn't make any sense to anybody and they don't know what that means. So always thinking about, again, the reader and kind of reverse engineering. I think that's something we do really well at Visibility on Purpose, helping you see from the other perspective so we can kind of meet people halfway and really share this new idea and this value point. Other things we want to make sure we have unlock is our brand summary. I call it a brand summary. It's kind of confusing, but kind of like a brand bio where you know exactly what you do. This is like your elevator pitch, right? So if I were to come to Abigail and explain what visibility on purpose is, I want to kind of have that unlock and have some value in that. So if somebody's asking you, like, okay, tell me about what visibility on purpose is, and I go on a tangent for like 15 minutes, it's going to be confusing. You want three to four sentences, short, concise and to the point. So that. And this will probably be like the Silliest question of all time. But think about the date that you actually started your business. I have heard so many entrepreneurs on podcasts, they're like, so when did you start this? And they're like, it could have been 2019. Actually, maybe it was 2018. Well, there was this one time. These are, like, silly things we don't want to get tripped up on. So just knowing just the all of your brand assets right in one place, and I would encourage everybody to write them all down in a document, is going to be super helpful. And the foundation and step one for starting to pitch yourself. And the last thing that I will say is making sure that your brand website is up to date and feels good and authentic to you. And then any social platforms, we want to make sure that they're professional. We love pictures of our dogs and our pets, but if the whole page is a picture of our pets, and then we're reaching out to a podcast and asking if we can get featured and everything looks unprofessional, they might be turned off. So we want to make sure everything is super professional.
- [31:23]
Host
I do think you can mix in some of those personal moments, but, you know, if you have kind of an 80, 20 rule of sorts of, like you're presenting yourself a certain way 80% of the time, the 20% for that personality and the personal moments, and I think certain brands still want that. So I wouldn't completely move away from it if it were me. But you didn't ask me. You asked Lydia. So.
- [31:47]
Lydia Bagrosa
No, that's perfect because I agree. I think authenticity, it also depends on your brand. If your brand is one that is a service brand and it has that really, like, personal high touch and you want to share your personal moments, it totally makes sense for the brand. So again, coming back to, like, the authenticity piece, what feels true to you? What are your differentiators? And then leading from there.
- [32:12]
Host
Yeah, I know people can get really overwhelmed and intimidated and start to get imposter syndrome, especially when we're talking about pitching some of those larger outlets. What do you want to tell people that are feeling that way?
- [32:32]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah, this is so normal. I. Even when I pitch myself to podcasts, I'm like, oh, my goodness, why would they want to interview me? I mean, I've been in PR for 10 years. I can talk about this like, oh, my God, in my sleep. Truly, I'm responsible for over 4,000 pieces of press floating around on the Internet, which is insane. I did the math and I was like, oh, my God, Lord. But even, like, talking about pr. Like, I get a little nervous sometimes. Like, it's normal. I even have brands that are like leading brands and I'll get them on big podcasts or big publications and they're like, what? They want to interview me. Like, it's scary. And so I think that adds another layer when you're diying it or doing it yourself, because it does feel vulnerable. But the things that I do want to tell you is, number one, they need you. Right? They have magazines that need articles, they have podcasts that need episodes. So just remember that just as much as you need them, they also need you. And in different ways. But yes. So you might be the answer to somebody's prayers. I feel like Bridget says this a lot, but she's like, your business might be the answer to somebody's prayers. There have been so many times where we've reached out to different publications or our clients have and our clients will come back to us and they'll say like, oh my gosh, she ended up saying that. Like, we. Okay. For example, we had an ayurvedic practitioner that was a client who went through our course and she reached out to a writer. This writer was like, I've been having gut issues for years. I've been so interested in this. They ended up having a catch up call. They had. She was like obsessed with everything that she had to say. She ended up featuring her more than once and on different publications because she's a freelance writer. And so things like that happen all the time. What I will say is, you don't need press before you get press. So throw that out the window. You are absolutely worthy. They need you as much as you need them. And if they say no, who cares? You know, there's a million writers out there. They're all rotating. What I mean by rotating is, I mean the media runs. It works so fast. Where a writer may be at Self magazine today and then in three weeks from now or a year from there, they might be at Mind bodygreen or. Or they might move to Forbes. Like, that happens a lot. And so just know, like, things are happening fast pace. It's okay if someone says no. And I have had people say no and then come back to me and say, oh my gosh, I actually filed this pitch away months ago. I wasn't writing anything about this category then, but I really want to write about it now. I pitched a client myself because I also do some pr. I have an agency. Bridget does some as well. So, you know, there are tears. But for us, we Just didn't want to gatekeep this information. So that's why we created the DIY course. But I had a client where I pitched her to this huge podcast under Dear Media. Dear Media is one of, like, the big podcast houses. She didn't really have any press or anything. Pitched her and was like, you know what? Hail Mary. Let's see what happens. I always hail Mary. I hail Mary every single day. And she said no. And then two weeks later, she came back and she was like, actually, I think this is super interesting. I personally just went through X, Y, and Z, and I think it would really align with what I'm going through right now. And I want to bring her on my podcast. And so you really never know. Whenever I see a no, to me, it's more of a no for right now.
- [35:59]
Host
Yeah, you never know. Plus, so often I don't want people to get the conception that people see everything. Like, I mean, sure, some of these writers are checking their own inboxes and moving through their own pitches, but they're going really fast, and they see a lot all of the time. And so maybe you didn't catch their attention in that split second that they were running through their email, but that doesn't mean you won't later. And they're not going to remember that they turned you away. I promise, if you didn't end up working together, they. They still don't know who you are. So you reaching back out unless you're insistent. And you do it all of the time. Like, we definitely have people that continue to not necessarily pitch themselves, but people who pitch podcasts, they will, like, pitch over and over and over again. And we will email them back. You're like, you're an agent. We have a process. We've shared our process. You don't follow our process block. Like, Like, I mean, it's just as simple as that. So you can catch people's attention later and it's going to land. But I was going to say, for me specifically, I don't actually see every pitch. Like, it gets in the inbox. Some of those get deleted. Some of those get responded to in terms of, like, send us XYZ thing. Then it gets vetted by my team, and then I get the top, like, 5%. So don't assume that the person that's ultimately gonna handle the interview even knows, like, that you were turned away. So there's still opportunities to circle back and have new chances. It's not just gonna, like, go away.
- [37:46]
Lydia Bagrosa
Gosh, that's so good. That you mentioned this, because I think also remembering that we're all human beings at the end of the day. And so if I'm pitching somebody and they respond back to me with their process, I'm going to respect that process. And so what that means is, say I send them a pitch, right, And I really want to get on the show. And then their team member responds back to me and they say, actually, can you fill out this form? We only look at forms. I'm going to respect that and only fill out their form because they shared with me their process. And so every podcast is different. I feel like podcasts, like, have the most processes, and there are some huge shows where I get a response back from like a freaking celebrity and I'm like, oh, hey, what's going on, girlfriend? And so that's funny. It really, you know, and maybe for them, they really want to go through their own inbox. And so just remembering people are people at the end of the day, always be respectful when you're reaching out to them and respect their process. What you were just saying. Yeah, yeah.
- [38:44]
Host
Are there any outdated strategies or myths that you're just like, wish people would stop sharing and it should just go away?
- [38:53]
Lydia Bagrosa
I am so not into press releases. I'm like, guys, we gotta stop. I think that there's a time and place for a press release. I think if you're a big brand, say, like, Gibson Guitar is like doing a collab with Taylor Swift, right? For them, it makes sense to do a press release on it, write about it, put a quote in with Taylor Swift saying, like, the reason why she chose Gibson to do this collab with, and then blasting it out onto the Internet totally makes sense. But if you're a smaller brand or boutique, however you call yourself, small business owner, boutique brand, maybe you have a smaller team and you're like, okay, I'm going to reach out to the media today and I'm going to write a press release. And that's like the only way that you think that you should be or can reach out to the media. I would say don't do it because you're not a humongous brand. Or it's not like if you don't have a launch, for example, some sort of big launch. And I don't mean like a program, I mean like a product with programs and online courses. It's just like the media doesn't want to cover it. They just don't. They want to talk about your value and that's it. And I think leading with value Even feels more authentic anyway, because, like, I'm not going to come onto this show today and be like, let me tell you about Pitch party or DIY pr. Course, I will mention it because it makes sense. Like, that's what we do. But I'm sharing my value. I'm sharing my process. I'm talking with you and having just a chill, authentic conversation about PR and why it's important. Important because that's what is newsworthy. So, anyways, going back to your question, I think press releases do have a time and place for some of those bigger brands. But if you're a small business owner or say you, like, wrote a book, like, oh, my God, this is big. In, like, the personal branding book world. They'll write a memoir and then they're like, I'm gonna write a press release and I'm gonna send it out and everyone's gonna read about it. It's like, let's talk about the value in the book. Maybe you're sharing some really beautiful, you know, transformation that you went through and you want to talk about it on podcasts, Talk about that. Don't lead with the book, lead with you. Lead with the value, lead with the contents in the book.
- [41:00]
Host
Yeah, I mean, Taylor Swift, dare I say, the largest personal brand in the world, you know, she just made an announcement the other day that she now has bought back her entire catalog and everything she's ever done. She did not put out a press release. She hand wrote a letter and posted on her website and posted on social media. And I promise you, the people who are going to share about it picked it up all on their own. And it was just a race after that. Like, it was just a race to who can cover this as quickly as possible, but we all have access to the same information. So I think to your point, it doesn't matter. Like, that is not relevant, especially on the personal brand side. Like, if you have a personal brand, if you have an online business without that physical product, like, because you're not, like, disrupting the freezer aisle, like, some brand on Shark Tank is, like, you are essentially selling yourself. And so I totally feel you on that kind of. My last question before we wrap up, what should a small brand consider? Like, when does hiring PR help make sense versus diying their media placements?
- [42:20]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah, I think if you have the time to diy, like, that's a tongue twister and you want to start getting your feet wet, I think it's great to do diy. I also think it's really, really good for brand positioning. I know I mentioned this before, but PR is a lot about understanding the value of your brand. Told you I'd say it a lot. The value of your brand, your differentiators, where you live in the marketplace, why you're different from others. And so in our DIY course, like, we spend a lot of time on that because we know how important it is. Like, especially if you're going to be competing with the top brands in the world in your industry, I'm like, well, let's compete. Like, you're incredible. So let's find the right words, let's find the differentiators, let's reverse engineer, bring those out to the forefront. Because I've seen this a million times over. It does not matter if you're famous or not. You can still get on the biggest podcast, you can still get on the biggest publications. It's just a matter of sharing your value. There have been so many times where I had a client that had zero press and they pitched themselves to a huge publication or a huge podcast, and they got on it because the host or the writer responded back and they were like, this is incredible. Yes, please. So I think when you are not fully sure of your branding or if you're just starting to dip your toes in and get out of social media, I think it's really great. If you have the budget for a publicist, I would say, and you feel really solid in your branding, you're like, I just want somebody else to do this and just, like, push me out and put me in all the right places. Find the right publicist for you. And even for me, like, I'm a publicist and I do this on the side, but I don't bring on brands that, like, we are not fully aligned with. Like, I always want to make sure that when I work with a brand, I know I can deliver. And so if it's a category that I'm not, like, familiar with, I will be transparent with them if I'm trying something new or I will let them know, hey, you know what? I can refer you to this person that I think is a better fit. I have heard so many horror stories over the years of brands that have gone to, you know, a publicist, and they're like, I spent $20,000 and I didn't get one press piece out of it. And, you know, some of the bigger agencies are like, the ones that are doing that. Just side note. So just make sure they have references or you feel comfortable with them. Have a call, an intro call. But I think when you're going to third party pr, it's when you feel really solid in that place and you really want to just build team out because essentially they are a extension of your team.
- [45:00]
Host
Yeah. And I think if you don't have that story nailed down, you're probably not ready to hire that person anyway. You have to know your direction and to your point. I think while some of those bigger agencies sound sexy on the outside, a lot of the results they talk about are the people they began with that they really poured absolutely everything into and then they got too big for their britches and they had to hire more help. And the people who are, you know, the best at what they do are buried in management and not necessarily focusing on what they did initially. So I think finding standout freelancers can really be an opportunity, especially in this space, because you have to have a lot of extra time to work on something like this. It's a very time heavy task to attempt to land media, but worth it, I think in the end. I know for me, having those features, I mean, it's a huge deal to me that Forbes and Inc have both named the Strategy Hour podcast as one of the top podcasts for entrepreneurs. Like, I will hold onto that for the rest of my life. And, you know, I don't care that that was said six years ago or whatever. Like, what does that matter? It doesn't matter.
- [46:17]
Lydia Bagrosa
That is the best about earned media. It's like, you have that for life. Seriously. My very first client, when I started my agency, I actually did it pro bono because I was like, I don't know if I can actually do this by myself. Like, why would I not be able to? I've been doing it, but it's fine. You know, we got to start somewhere. So my very first agency client, I was like, would you give me a testimonial if I did PR for you? I landed her a Forbes feature in the first three weeks. I was so proud of myself. It gave me like the confidence to be able to do it. And, you know, now I've got my agency, we've got visibility on purpose, all the things. But still to this day, it's been five years since I started my agency, a few years since. Visibility and purpose. I still see her on the Internet being like, well, I'm a Forbes featured coach. And I'm like, yes, yes, queen. Because she earned it. Yes, I was the one that pitched her. But she also, she's an incredible brand and we came up with a beautiful story that felt authentic. To her, we pitch it out, she can share that for the rest of her life. And so I think the difference also between advertising and pr, which we didn't really touch on advertising or marketing, a lot of that is like paid kind of media. Whereas this is organic, this is not paid. Like when you are reaching out, you get the yes, because they want to share your story or your message or whatever it is. And so when you earn that, you should put that everywhere. Like the fact that the Strategy Hour has been named one of the best podcasts from Forbes six years ago. Like you can, I mean, yeah, you talk about it and as you should, it should be on your website, it should be on your Instagram, it should be on, you know, wherever you can talk about it, I think is fantastic. PR does so many things, but credibility and trust is one of the top things I think it does for your brand.
- [48:00]
Host
Yeah, you can immediately win that trust from a brand new, you know, person who's new to your world, new to what you do. And it can make all the difference between them sticking around and, and buying your stuff versus moving on and scrolling. So definitely take advantage. I know we covered a lot of strategies today about, like, what you need to have in place before you start pitching, how to craft a good pitch, how to stand out, you know, DIYing versus hiring a publicist. It was a lot. So if you were to give someone their first and simplest step that they could take today, what would you suggest that they do?
- [48:37]
Lydia Bagrosa
So for your first and simplest step, I want you to just dream up where you want to be featured and what your long term goals look like. PR is a long term strategy and that, you know, sometimes it takes time to build up those features. I know Abigail mentioned it earlier, you can use some of your past features as leverage for bigger features. Meaning, like, sometimes it takes time. You know, we get the first feature, wait a week or two, a few weeks, the next one comes out, the next one comes out. And so I've had clients come to us and say, I really want to be on an Oprah magazine. And I'm like, okay, well what are the steps we can take to get there? What other publications underneath that feel good? And now we know our North Star. How do we continue to build that credibility in your category to get there? And so, for example, this client that told us, you know, Oprah, we got her on a podcast here that made sense for her. We got her on a mid tier podcast there that made sense for her. Then we got her like a feature feature in this Magazine and that magazine. And honestly, in two years, she ended up getting featured on Oprah, which was, like, freaking amazing. But, you know, Oprah is one of the goats when we're thinking about wellness brands. And so she knew that, I knew that. And I think just thinking about our North Star and starting to build a strategy towards that is really important. I think it can feel overwhelming. But why don't we just sit down and get grounded and make a little, like, vision board for ourselves and so then we can start to craft the steps and the pieces to get there.
- [50:09]
Host
Yeah, I think that's a great first step. Dreaming about where you want to go, where you want to land, what you want, your name associated with such a powerful but, like, very tangible step. Like, this is the equivalent of starting the Pinterest board. You know, like, where are you going from here? Well, I know people are going to want to be able to find you, hang out online, learning more about visibility on purpose and get plugged into your resources is where can people do that?
- [50:34]
Lydia Bagrosa
Yeah, we love to give away free content, AKA me talking your ear off today. So I highly recommend heading over to our YouTube channel where you can get so many free resources. We have people that just watch our YouTube channel and comment and say that they've gotten featured on a bunch of places. And we're totally cool with that. We're like, hell yes. A win is a win. Let's go. If you want to dive really into everything, you can always go over to our website. We have our DIY course pitch party that is like, everything that you need. And then we're also hanging out on Instagram as well, so you can always DM us. We love to chat. Obviously, everything is at visibility on purpose.
- [51:13]
Host
Amazing. Well, I know Lydia mentioned that you may not be famous yet, but that is only going to happen if you consistently show up. With clarity. You're putting yourself out there. So I hope this conversation today demystified the process of getting earned media a little bit more because that media visibility is absolutely within your reach and can be such a powerful tool for you moving forward. Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure that you're leaving a review if you haven't yet. I'd also love if you would share this with a friend. Maybe you have a friend that you know would really benefit from earned media. Share this. Pass it along. Let them know that we're here to give them those steps so they can get started as well. Thank you so much for being here today, Lydia.
- [52:03]
Lydia Bagrosa
Thank you it was a dream to be on the show. Truly, we love this show.
- [52:07]
Host
Awesome.
- [52:08]
Abigail Pumphrey
Hey, a few quick favors before you leave. I'd love if you'd share today's episode, send it to a friend who needs to hear it and post on social. You can show us where you're listening from, your favorite takeaway or why someone else should listen. Be sure to tag me at Abigail Says and at Boss Project so we can share it.
- [52:25]
Host
Okay.
- [52:26]
Abigail Pumphrey
Second favor to get podcast updates and all the behind the scenes news from Boss Project, I'd love if you'd join my VIP list. Just head to bossproject.com signup to make sure I have all your contact details. Really love this show. It would mean so much to me if you'd leave a rating and review. It not only helps more listeners find the show but allows us to bring on quality sponsors so we can keep bringing you this valuable content for free. Thanks so much for listening. Until next time.