One Surefire Way to Get Your Client Cut From an Article AND Lose a Relationship with a Writer
Plus: Last chance to sign up for our Top Tier Talk and there's still time to RSVP for our Press Packages Workshop
Good morning, Top Tier followers.
As a reminder, we’re fully back in operation as a magical duo now that Nicole is back from maternity leave. And on that note, we have lots of exciting things coming up!
Join Us TOMORROW For This Month’s Top Tier Talk (Free to paid subscribers of all plans)
We have our Top Tier Talk for members coming up on Wednesday at 11am PT/2 ET (we’ll be sending out the Zoom link on Wednesday morning). Don’t forget to submit your questions ahead of time … lots of “TBDs” in the Google doc right now, so please get those questions in!
Don’t Miss Our New Group Workshop: Everything You Need to Know About Sending Press Samples to Ensure a Better ROI
Join us on Monday, October 30th — or purchase the recording to watch at your convenience! — for this don’t-miss workshop!
There’s a lot more to consider before simply sticking your client’s product in a box with a little packing paper and dropping it off at the post office. During this jam-packed presentation, we’ll share the scoop from a writer’s perspective so that you can look like a hero to your client. Well touch on:
How sending a press sample can lead to more coverage for your clients
When and how to send a product sample
How to vet the editorial opportunity and do your due diligence to make sure you’re sending your sample to a writer who has the potential to write about it (read: avoid unethical writers looking for freebies)
What writers like to see in the box and what they don’t
Big bloopers people make when sending press samplers (that they probably don’t realize they are making!)
Things writers receive that are an automatic waste of your money (avoid these and save your clients some serious cash!)
What else should be included with the mailing (hint: more than just the product)
Tips for how to best spend your budget AND get a stronger ROI
What to say in an email when asking if a writer wants a press sampler (and the number one thing that a writer never wants to hear)
How and when to follow up to ensure receipt and inquire about possible coverage
Open Q&A at the end where we’ll tackle any other questions that you have.
Date: Monday, October 30
Time: 11 am PT/2 pm EST (this session will last one hour)
Can’t make it live? No worries. Pay now and we’ll send you the link to the recording right after the session — then, you can watch it at your convenience.
Rate: $39 Paid TTC Substack Subscribers; $99 Free TTC Subscribers
Ready to sign up? Send an email to info@toptierconsulting.NET and we’ll collect payment and send you the link for the Zoom session.
Questions about the session? Just shoot us an email and we’ll answer them!
Pitching holiday gift guides? Don't forget to check out our Most Popular Holiday Gift Guide Resources
Here are all our resources to help with your holiday gift guide efforts:
The ULTIMATE INSIDER’S GUIDE to Holiday Gift Guide Pitching Workshop (one full hour of best practices, sample subject lines, a checklist of what to include in your pitch, advice for how to stand out from the crowd, tips for getting your sources included, examples of real HGG pitches that worked and answers to your most pressing questions)
Christmas in July Zoom Q&A with Affiliate Marketing Expert Sarah Karger (this will answer ALL your affiliate-related HGG questions!)
A Real-Life Example of an HGG Product Pitch Format that Most Writers Will Delete (hint: Don’t do this!)
What NOT to Pitch in a Holiday Gift Guide (seriously, save these pitches for another time)
A Handy-Dandy Checklist of 10 Things to Double-Check Before Sending Your Pitch (don’t send another pitch before making sure you’ve included everything a journalist needs!)
Book a Private Consulting Session With
Jill & Nicole for October/November
Yes, we are booking private sessions for you/your agency again, so if you’re interested in more direct access to us, book one of these:
Want to workshop a few pitches with two top-tier writers? Try our Pitch Perfecting session.
Looking to build deeper relationships with journalists? You’ll love our Become a Journalist’s BFF session.
Have a slew of questions you want answers to? Book an Ask Us Anything session.
Are you putting together a press trip and need help with the details? We offer a Press Trip Invites and Itineraries session.
Need fresh ideas for sending mailers to writers? Book our Press Package session.
Scheduling an in-person or virtual media event? We can help, with our Hosting the Perfect Virtual/In-Person Media Event session.
Have other ideas you need help brainstorming or creating an action plan for? We offer Custom sessions, too!
Now onto today’s topic: A real-life example of the quickest way to alienate a writer and get your client cut from an article
A TTC subscriber recently asked if writers have a blacklist. And while there isn't an underground list that goes around within the writing community, doing something to put a writer in a bad position can certainly make them not want to work with you again. If that happens, they’ll likely tell their colleagues about what happened and that can result in ties being severed with multiple writers and editors — and even an entire outlet. This week’s Substack covers a recent pitch we heard about from a writer friend that does a good job of illustrating one way this can occur.
We can all agree that the ultimate goal of any publicist is to get their clients coverage, right? And to do so, you must build and maintain solid professional relationships with writers and editors, right?
Today, we want to share the cautionary tale of a writer friend who recently experienced a very difficult situation with a publicist. This prominent writer, we’ll call her Kristin, was working on an assignment for the upper echelon of top-tier outlets. Literally, every one of your clients would probably have this outlet at the very top of their coverage wish lists.
Everything was going smoothly, until the publicist (let’s call him Sebastian) of one of Kristin’s expert sources decided it was his job to take control of the entire editorial process.
And when Kristin didn’t acquiesce to his ridiculous requests that soon became demands, Sebastian decided email wasn’t enough. He began stalking her via phone calls, texts, and social media DMs. Then he did the UNTHINKABLE … and we’re going to give you the play by play of how it all went down … and what you can take away from the situation P.S. Unfortunately, this is something many writers have had publicists do in the past and it’s the ultimate way to make a writer not want to work with you ever again.
Not a paid subscriber? Upgrade your membership today to keep reading AND to receive access to our extensive archive of content AND the ability to join our monthly Top Tier Talks where both of us are on a Zoom with you to answer any questions that came up during the month. We also bring in experts to talk about all your burning subjects like affiliate marketing and beyond.
*Note: Our consulting sessions, workshops, Zooms and Substack newsletters are strictly educational. Signing up for anything has no bearing on landing coverage in any of our outlets. Our role is to finetune your approach and tactics so that you can apply these learnings when pitching other journalists.
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