When Pitching a Lesser-Known Brand/Company, You Must Also Explain WHAT It Is
Plus: We're announcing a brand-new workshop that'll improve your ROI when mailing press samples!
Happy Thursday, TTC community!
It’s hard to believe it’s already Q4, but here we are … the final stretch of 2023. We have a lot of great content in store for you over the next few months, including our deep-dive Substacks, monthly Top Tier Talks (which are free to paid Substack subscribers — don’t miss the one coming up on Oct. 11!), and a brand-new workshop we’re rolling out that will be helpful year-round, but especially during the holidays … so that’s why we’re launching it later this month!
We are going to be sending a separate email announcing this brand new workshop, called Everything You Need to Know About Sending Press Samples to Ensure a Better ROI. During this jam-packed session, we’ll share the scoop from a writer’s perspective:
When and how to send a product sample
How to vet the editorial opportunity and do your due diligence
What we like to see in the box and what we don’t
Things we receive that are an automatic waste of your money (avoid these and save your clients some serious money!)
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
How and when to follow up to ensure receipt and inquire about possible coverage
And more!
Stay tuned for all the details in a separate email shortly … we know you’re going to love this one!
Upcoming Top Tier Talk: Don’t Forget to RSVP
Join us for our October Top Tier Talk. Here’s the info to sign up:
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!
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!)
And now onto this week’s topic:
Too often we see sources being submitted as “Dr. so and so” an expert with XYZ company. But then there is no explanation of the company and who they are or what they do. Uhhhh, you’re missing a really important part of the pitch!
As writers, we need to know what the company is. And we don’t have the time to go digging for that answer. Unfortunately, we writers see several mistakes being made in this department time and time again. And many people are doing this unknowingly. Here’s a deep dive into how to explain your clients a bit more so that they become sources that writers want to work with.
So here’s how to properly sell your clients to us and get us to say YES to including them in our article.
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.