My Look-Back to Look-Forward

Because Chris Brogan's Ending 2010 inspired me to write this:

Looking back at my experiences of 2010:

• I rediscovered my "creative content" due to healing of some "stuff" in my life.
• I dealt with being unemployed for 2 years.
• But - unemployment pushed me toward launching On High Heels.
• I learned that the steps to entrepreneurship can be terrifying, but oh-so worth it.
• I've learned SO much from amazing SM & entrepreneur super-stars like Natalie Sisson, the Mashable crew, Liz Dennery Sanders, Melissa Cassera, Carol Roth, and just a whole host of inspiring people.
• I am throwing aside the intimidation factor, and harnessing the power of belief (though that sounds cheesy).

Looking forward to 2011, I see:

• Meeting more successful women (and men) entrepreneurs, and hearing their stories.
• Learning and applying their techniques and knowledge - and then passing them on.
• Gaining clients, building my business, and becoming more adept at what may well be the new model of business via social media.
• Becoming more recognized in my local community as the go-to-girl for publicity, marketing, and coaching. 
• Helping others believe in their creative content, and teaching them how to use it, show it, and make money from it.  
• Growth in publicity for Camp Laurel and Platform Color Style Salon (for who I willingly and lovingly offer my pro bono PR services, simply because sometimes, it's just about loving what I do). 

I don't know about you, but the challenges (and heartaches) of the past few years, made me realize my mettle.  That I CAN walk "On High Heels", and that making a difference is what counts!

How To Pitch Your Startup To The Press

Here's how most startups that never get written about approach reporters: 

 

Let's say you're working on a new payments system that is obviously better than PayPal in every way, and is therefore a lock to become a multi-billion dollar business within a few years. So, you punch 'PayPal' into Google News, and just like that, you have a list of people who have written stories about PayPal recently. Then you type up an email that starts with "I read your article about PayPal the other day. Very interesting! Since you're interested in PayPal, I thought you might like to know..." You paste in your standard pitch, then you send this email to everyone on your list.
The appeal of this system is obvious -- it lets you reach a lot of reporters in a limited amount of time. The trouble is that none of those reporters will read through this email. Don't waste your time trying to disguise a mass email as a personal one. Instead, use that time to identify one person you think should be interested, and actually write your pitch for that person.
Choosing a target
Avoid the temptation to pitch the person you'd most like to have write about you. Since the time you have to spend on this is so limited, you should instead focus on the person who is most likely to write about you. The way to figure that out is simply to read about your industry -- something you should probably be doing anyway.
Pay attention to who writes interesting things in your industry. If someone is regularly writing about your competitors, that person is presumably interested in what you do. When you are familiar with what someone is writing in general, you're much better equipped to pitch them then when you're referencing a single article.
Pitch a story, not your company
That your company exists is not, in itself, an interesting story. Your job here is to get your company into the news. But the reporter's job is to write things their audience wants to read. You know what sorts of stories this reporter writes. Think of a what a good story written by that person and involving your company might look like, and pitch that. (For more on that, this article by former TechCrunch writer Mark Hendrickson is well worth a read.)
The easiest way to do this is to set yourself up as an expert in your field. If you write interesting things about your industry, or provide interesting data, or are just available to say interesting things about it, reporters will want to talk to you and feature you in other things they write. That isn't as good as having a story written all about you, perhaps, but it gets your name out there, and makes your company and everything it does seem more newsworthy as a result.

Read more: bit.ly/g02BP5

Stick to the Basics (sort of)

As a recent launcher, I am in the throes of learning from other uber bloggers and PR experts.  Whoever coined the phrase," the world is getting smaller" could not have imagined the trifecta of technology, communication and social media.  As I sift through what seems like tons of information on a daily basis, I wonder if there will ever be an over-saturation in media, marketing and PR.  Can I benefit from with the new modes of communication at this stage of the game?  How do I stand out from the crowd and get my message to my audience? 

It reminds me of my frustrations with algebra back in high school.  Whenever I came upon a formula or a problem that seemed impossible to solve, my teacher would tell me to start from the beginning, to remember the fundamentals.  This concept can be applied to media and public relations.  How do I reach my audience?  How can I get the media to perk up its ears?  How do I get the results I need for my client? 

Get back to the basics:
1) Goals
2) Audience
3) Plan
4) Execute

Perhaps these "basics" are not the basics for other entrepreneurs and social media pros, but they have helped me focus on my "to-do" list. 

Come back later as I explain in details these 4 "Basics".