How Do I Get Press For My Small Business? With Nicole Lewis

[00:00:00] So I'm pitching myself and my story, my founder story. 

[00:00:03] And I have a list of different angles that you as an expert or you as a maker, or you as a business owner. 

[00:00:09] Teaching other people to do X, Y, and Z can pitch. 

[00:00:12] For publications like Forbes and entrepreneur and CNBC make it. 

[00:00:16] These publications that typically write about small businesses and their stories.

[00:00:21] Welcome to the third season of the Simple and Smart SEO Show, the podcast dedicated to empathy driven, brand building SEO. 

[00:00:28] I'm your host, Crystal Waddell. 

[00:00:30] I leverage my obsession with user experience to help business owners just like you optimize your website with confidence. 

[00:00:36] Thank you so much for being here.

[00:00:38] Let's jump into another great episode

Welcome Back to the Simple and Smart SEO Show!

[00:00:40] All right. 

[00:00:41] Hey guys, welcome back to the simple and smart SEO show podcast. I'm your host Crystal Waddell, and I am back with the fabulous Nicole Lewis of ArtToTheExtreme. com. And I want to give Nicole a big shout out because her previous episode is actually number two, all time for the simple and smart SEO show! So Nicole, welcome back to the show. Thanks for being here. That's exciting 

[00:01:04] news to hear. Thank you so much for having me back. I'm that's, I'm really excited to hear that. I'm glad that information is getting to so many people. 

[00:01:12] Yeah. 

[00:01:12] One of the reasons why I've loved talking to you so much is because you genuinely have a heart to help people and help people understand. 

The Power of Press for Your Business

[00:01:18] And that's why you're back here today is to talk to us about PR, getting press, public relations, all of that. 

[00:01:25] Oh my goodness. I get so giddy talking about this because press, getting press, it works. It works so well. 

[00:01:33] And I've been in business almost 20 years. 

[00:01:35] I started my press journey, probably seven years into my business. And if I truly believe that I can do it, you can do it. 

[00:01:41] If I can do it out of all people, then you can do it.

[00:01:43] You don't have to hire someone in PR. You don't have to have some magical connection.

[00:01:48] Or backdoor into press. 

[00:01:50] You should never be paying for press. It is out there for the taking and it's all about relationship building. 

[00:01:56] So it's so much easier than people think, other than the time it takes.

[00:01:59] Okay. So I would agree with that, but in case people don't know, You are also the founder of the original rainbow crayon, which is an amazing product. 

[00:02:08] It comes in a whole bunch of different forms. You can get it at Art2TheExtreme.com. 

[00:02:12] Part of it is that you have to have a really amazing product, right?

[00:02:15] You do. 

[00:02:16] But don't forget getting press is not just for product people. 

[00:02:20] If you're an expert, someone such as yourself could be getting press all the time and becoming an expert.

[00:02:25] Having a service whether a product person, or even just telling your story about your business, whatever that may be product or not product, there are so many different angles to getting press as well.

[00:02:35] So let's start off with the importance of press. 

The Real Benefits of Getting Press

[00:02:38] What's the business benefit?

[00:02:40] What does press actually have to do with growing my business or sales or, like the end result type stuff? Like how does that fit into the ecosystem of running a business?

[00:02:50] A lot of times people think getting press, like yes! Press equals sales, I'm going to get a lot of sales if I'm featured on Oprah's favorite things or Martha Stewart. com. 

[00:02:59] And that's not necessarily the case. First off, I've been featured in over 300 different publications, everything from online magazines, good morning America.

[00:03:08] Today's show. My crayon products were chosen as Joanna Gaines's top gift for kids. They were on the Drew Barrymore show. So I've been all over the place, as far as different types of media. 

[00:03:18] And different types of media and press have different jobs. But first and foremost, you want to make sure that you're getting press and why you want press.

[00:03:25] Yes, you want sales, but you need more eyes on your product. You're looking for that brand awareness, that increased exposure. 

[00:03:32] The social proof, especially if you're a business or an expert, just starting off, you want to start getting that credibility and building that trust between you and your buyers. Or your audience.

[00:03:43] It also helps you differentiate yourself from the competition too. 

[00:03:46] If there are two like products or two like services, how are you going to stand out and shine above them and getting press and being notable, being quoted, having products featured is going to get you a step ahead each time.

[00:04:00] And, not only creating longevity. Having press, you can run ads all day long and spend money.

[00:04:04] But having press, having backlinks to your website, that longevity, it has a lasting impact. Unlike some other forms of advertising that disappear. 

[00:04:14] Once your campaign ends, articles and features remain accessible online and allows new audiences to discover your business over time.

Building Brand Trust Through Press

[00:04:23] I have an interesting story on that. It's not business related technically, but if somebody searches Crystal Waddell. 

[00:04:29] I have a press feature because I won the volleyball coach of the year for my region for a couple of years. 

[00:04:36] And that was featured in our local newspaper. 

[00:04:39] So when people search my name, that's still 1 of the top search results that comes up, but ironically, it's actually a brand builder.

[00:04:47] And I'm so grateful for it. 

[00:04:48] Because I tell people, Hey, I started making the photo collages for collagewood. com because I was a volleyball coach. 

[00:04:54] And I wanted to give my players a gift. So it actually aligns with my brand story. And so I'm really grateful for it because even though it doesn't necessarily link back to my website, it's still like reinforces what I say and who I am.

[00:05:09] So I just wanted to share that with you. 

[00:05:10] Oh my gosh. 

[00:05:11] It establishes that authority. 

[00:05:13] It positions yourself as, a sports expert, that bringing your craft and your talent to work. Merging that with the sports in your area too. 

[00:05:20] But it helps position yourself, as that thought leader in your community, in your field, whether it's local or in general But yeah, there's just so many different, I see like this like web in my mind of all these different offshoots of why you need press for your business and talking with you, SEO and backlinks are going to be extremely important.

[00:05:40] Yeah. And most of the people that I've talked to in 2024, say that press related backlinks are the future of search engine optimization. 

[00:05:50] And so there's a couple of reasons why this is important. 

[00:05:53] Number one with SGE, which is the search generative experience from Google, you might have seen it already.

[00:06:00] Like when you search for something and instead of those traditional search results coming up on the page, you get like a summarized paragraph. 

[00:06:07] So getting links and getting people to go directly to your website is going to be harder and harder. 

[00:06:13] But if you are showing up in publications, like you're talking about. 

[00:06:16] Like ,JoannaGaines.And different, well known name magazines and journals. 

[00:06:21] You have more of a chance to show up as part of the summary of that topic.

[00:06:26] Even if you show up in the top 10, that search generative experience takes up the first half of the page. 

[00:06:32] There's a real benefit here, obviously. 

[00:06:34] For being mentioned in the press and just getting identified as an expert.

[00:06:39] I completely agree. 

[00:06:40] Getting to the top of the search results is so incredibly important.

[00:06:45] And there's so many different ways that you can go about doing that too. 

[00:06:49] I know I'm not the expert on web authority. 

[00:06:51] But getting publicity and backlinks to your sites that come from Top tier media... you're the web authority expert, what does that look like?

[00:07:00] If I'm getting something from a local press versus like time. com or Martha Stewart. com and things like that. How does that I know how that affects a little bit, but you, as you were like the numbers person that typically helps me with that type of thing. 

[00:07:16] But it makes a difference to where you're getting press.

[00:07:19] Yeah we talked about domain authority, and there's also this concept of EEAT. 

[00:07:25] So let me just break this down for you who are listening on the other side, because what Nicole is saying is absolutely right. 

[00:07:32] When you get press from a major publication or an online publication that's been around for a while.

[00:07:37] It then generates a backlink to your website. A lot of the bigger brands and more established brands, they have what's called a higher domain authority. 

[00:07:46] And that domain authority scores between one and a hundred and the higher the domain authority of the site linking to your website. 

[00:07:53] The better the vote of confidence that you're receiving. 

[00:07:57] Then Google looks at that like, Oh my gosh. 

[00:07:59] This website's endorsing this other website. 

[00:08:01] New website must be pretty good. And so we're going to bump up their domain authority as well. 

[00:08:06] Which then gives you more power to rank for other search results. So they all feed each other.

[00:08:12] But then the other part of that is EEAT, which is experience, expertise, authority, and trust.

[00:08:19] And so what Google is asking businesses to do with their websites is to display that you have experience with whatever the topic is. 

[00:08:28] You are an expert and that you have authority and that people can trust you.

[00:08:33] And so you can see how having a nod from a well known publication builds all of those things for your website. So it's look, if this really respected website trusts this particular business and their website, then Google can feel good about serving your website up in search results. 

[00:08:51] I like that.

[00:08:52] And especially when you're talking about. Trust. 

[00:08:55] Google has to learn that we're a trustable source. But a lot about getting press is building that trust in the first place. 

[00:09:02] And showing people that you have a product or a service that is wanted. That is there's a need for that product or service.

[00:09:09] And then like the interesting humanizing piece to it. 

[00:09:13] Whether you're talking about your brand story or how you came about. 

[00:09:17] But trust plays a huge part of getting press. And one of the initial reasons why I started seeking out press to show that credibility to my customers.

[00:09:27] Yeah. And you mentioned demand. 

[00:09:29] And capturing demand is one of the ultimate goals of optimizing. 

[00:09:34] You want to optimize your website and everything on site, offsite, whatever. 

[00:09:39] You want to capture the demand of the people who need what you sell. 

[00:09:43] Or the service that you provide. And people won't know that you do what you do or sell what you sell, unless you are putting yourself out there. And doing what you said earlier, creating brand awareness.

[00:09:57] So a lot of times people think, I'm going to start this business. 

[00:10:00] I'm going to throw up a website. Okay. And then people will come, just like the field of dreams.

[00:10:05] That wasn't real first of all, and that's not how it works on the internet either. So that's why your information and what you're talking about with press is just so on time.

[00:10:14] And it is the future of SEO. 

[00:10:17] The future of SEO is going to be PR and press mentions. 

[00:10:23] So knowing this, and now we're thinking, okay, great. I've been working so hard on these other things. 

[00:10:30] How do you even prepare to get this kind of press? 

The Importance of High-Quality Photography

[00:10:34] So some of the things I tell people about preparing to get press. One of the first things I outsourced back in the early days of my business, back when I had no money to even be doing this. 

[00:10:44] The first thing I did was hire a photographer and that was scary for me cause that was a lot of money at the time.

[00:10:49] But it has been the number one thing that has helped me get press.

[00:10:55] Because my images are so press ready. And when I say press ready, they are high quality images. 

[00:11:00] I have a collection of my products on a white background. So that background can be edited out real quick and put into a magazine easily for members of the media coming up with these gift guides.

[00:11:11] I have lifestyle images. So my products being actually in use by the audience it's intended for. 

[00:11:18] I went ahead and had, Headshots for when different news outlets would do features on me. 

[00:11:25] Whether it was my expertise on owning a business, being a former teacher and switching to my side hustle, turning into this full time career. 

[00:11:34] I always had supportive images that were high quality and ready to go.

[00:11:39] And I typically have all that sitting in a little Google drive because members of the media typically will trust a Google link, already to go everything that somebody could possibly need from me. It's ready to go. 

[00:11:51] And when I wound up hiring out photographers to really let my product shine, that's when I started seeing opportunities come forward more. 

[00:12:00] As an entrepreneur, the value of good photos, like it cannot fully be expressed. 

[00:12:06] Examples of this. 

[00:12:07] Product photography. When I had a professional photographer, take pictures of my products, it finally showed them, like you said, in use.

[00:12:16] And it showed like what the output could be. 

[00:12:19] Because I sell unfinished wooden numbers. So sometimes you look at that and you're like, how could that really be beautiful? 

[00:12:26] And then you get all of these beautiful girls taking pictures with beautifully painted numbers. 

[00:12:31] And it's Oh, that's what I'm getting, and I'm telling you, sales went up immediately with better photography.

[00:12:37] The other thing, whenever I had my first brand photo shoot, I remember I posted the pictures on my personal Facebook page. 

[00:12:44] People that had known that I had a business for years were like, Oh my gosh.

[00:12:49] Congratulations on all of the success, like I look like a million bucks. 

[00:12:53] So they assumed I was making a million bucks. 

[00:12:56] And the last thing I wanted to say about the photographer piece of it is if you're bootstrapping and right now you don't have, a lot of money for professional photography. 

[00:13:04] This is a great time to find a partner. 

[00:13:07] So maybe another business owner that's new.

[00:13:10] They want to do product photography. 

[00:13:12] Or maybe a photographer that's established. That wants to get into product photography. 

[00:13:18] They need photos for their portfolio. You need photos for your website. 

[00:13:22] Collaborate like that. Because that's how I first got started as well.

[00:13:26] When photographers started purchasing from me, I was like, Oh. Could I have a picture?

[00:13:30] And they started sharing pictures with me and then I would reciprocate and say, Hey, here's a free photo prop. 

[00:13:35] Could you take a picture with this photo prop so I can use it on my website? So there's different ways to level up. 

[00:13:42] Even if your finances aren't where you can, have a 10, 000 product photo shoot or something like that.

[00:13:49] That's how I even started dipping my toe into photography. 

[00:13:52] Back in the day there were Facebook groups called let's collab! 

[00:13:55] And you would send, you'd post your product and say, Hey, I need a photographer to shoot X, Y, and Z.

[00:13:59] Is anybody interested?

[00:14:01] And that's how I found my photographer. One of the first people that reached out to me. 

[00:14:04] I don't think she was just getting started, but she was still at a place where she was accepting brands to trade product for services. 

[00:14:10] And she wound up being fabulous. And just that interaction I had with her and got a few photos.

[00:14:16] I was like, I'm sold. Okay. How much do you cost? 

[00:14:18] And I'm going with it, whatever it is. And Qiana K. Photography. 

[00:14:22] She is still my photographer. 15, almost 20 years later, so it's nice when you work with another artist and you were able to build a relationship that works for both of you.

[00:14:32] Absolutely. 

Leveraging Collaborations and Networking

[00:14:33] And not to go too far off the topic of public relations and NPR and stuff, but Collaborations are such a key part. 

[00:14:41] I've never been a part of one of those Facebook groups. 

[00:14:44] And I do try to collaborate as much as possible now, but early on, I didn't see the value of collaboration.

[00:14:50] And I think a lot of it shifted to artists want to be paid for their time. 

[00:14:55] And especially in a time where there's so many influencers out there and gone are the days really where somebody can gift a product and the influencers like, yeah, I'll make this whole video about it. 

[00:15:04] There are still people that exist, but Even myself as a business person, I value my time.

[00:15:09] I value other people's time. I think that plays into it a little bit. But when you can find a partnership and that networking, that's the right fit. 

[00:15:17] Media coverage can attract attention of potential partners. And investors and collaborators who might be interested in working with you. working with you in the future.

[00:15:25] I work with a lot of artists that have nothing to do with crayon and I'll say, Hey, I would love to see your artwork in a crayon form. 

[00:15:32] Let's somehow create, let me create a crayon in your style of maybe it's like an, someone that's drawn something for a children's book or they are a textile designer or something.

[00:15:42] I would love to make crayons in those different shapes that you use. And it's a great advertising tool for both of us. 

[00:15:47] Maybe it's a giveaway. Maybe it's you're buying a wholesale for me and selling it on your site. So you have something physical to sell. 

[00:15:53] To bring eyes to you. And it helps you get in front of a different audience.

[00:15:57] If those two brands have nothing to do with each other. And that's like my specialty is thinking outside of the box. Of how can I take my crayons and get them in the hands of people have nothing to do with crayons. Like I've worked with Microsoft. I've worked with Marco Polo, Pandora, companies have nothing to do with crayon all through this networking and branding and getting press.

[00:16:18] You know where this intersects in my mind with what's happening right now in the world is like the Travis Kelce slash Taylor Swift relationship. 

[00:16:27] At first, a lot of people in the NFL were like, Oh no, we don't want all these Taylor Swift people over here, whatever.

[00:16:32] But then all of a sudden. All of her fans start buying all sorts of NFL stuff. 

[00:16:37] Or watching NFL games and things are just exploding. It's a new audience. So that's really a powerful, benefit of collaboration.

[00:16:45] Exposing new audiences to something that they may have never thought about before.

[00:16:50] Exactly. Exactly. 

[00:16:52] 

Creating a Media-Ready Website

[00:16:52] When we talked before about press, I think you mentioned having a media page that was ready.

[00:16:59] I just wanted to give you a shout out because Due to our conversation, I created a media page.

[00:17:05] And I put that out there. And then recently I had a publication reach out to me and say, Hey, we want to feature one of your products in an article.

[00:17:15] And I really feel like it's because I showed that I was prepared to be in their article. 

[00:17:20] So you're nodding your head. I'm like, 

[00:17:23] Oh my goodness. 

[00:17:23] I did something right there. 

[00:17:24] I love that so much.

[00:17:26] You can even take it a step further too. 

[00:17:27] So on my website, Art2theExtreme.com, I have a customer- facing about me page. 

[00:17:33] There's so many people that do not put their first and last name on their website and it drives me nuts. 

[00:17:39] If you're a product. Or if you have a service or if you're an expert, make sure you have your first name.

[00:17:43] First and last name on your website somewhere, please. That's easily accessible. 

[00:17:47] Because if I'm a member of the media from the press. And I want to write about you. 

[00:17:51] I need to know who you are in the first place. 

[00:17:53] People want to get behind a brand or a product where there's a face to it.

[00:17:57] Even if you're a big company, it started somewhere. 

[00:18:00] So making sure that you have that. A picture of you or your family or your team, something that shows that you're a human. 

[00:18:06] There's a name. Having that on there, but I have a customer facing side that has our story and important links and things like that.

[00:18:12] But then behind the scenes, I have a separate page I've created on my website, that is my media page. 

[00:18:18] So it gives examples of some stuff I might've been in. 

[00:18:21] I can show that I can talk on camera. Because if you want to either be on local press or if you have big dreams of going on Good Morning America, today's show. 

[00:18:30] Having yourself talk on video is going to be extremely important to show someone that's interested in featuring you.

[00:18:37] They want to know that you can keep the conversation going. 

[00:18:39] That you're, not going to stop and just totally do deer in the headlights eyes in the middle of your talk. 

[00:18:46] So having b roll is great too. 

[00:18:49] And if you don't know what B roll is, it's having that kind of, when you watch a news story, when the reporter's talking, they show the images of like kids playing. 

[00:18:57] Or an artist working behind the scenes while there's a voice over on top of that. 

[00:19:01] Having those things ready on a media page, and then a little blurb about your story and some different highlights.

[00:19:09] If you've won any awards and things like that. 

[00:19:10] All that type of information. Can be on a separate private page that you can link in emails when you are pitching members of the media and having that ready, like you said, is going to be key. 

[00:19:22] Because a lot of times some of these stories come out the same day or need to be wrapped up the same day.

[00:19:27] And if you can be first and fast and most ready and professional, then most likely you will get that gig. 

[00:19:34] I was wondering, like, why people might not want to put their whole name on there. 

[00:19:38] Do you think some businesses, because they're home based or anything like that. 

[00:19:43] That they have a fear of, putting that information out there?

[00:19:47] And if that is a fear do you have any advice for those business owners, in terms of just mindset towards building a business? 

[00:19:56] Most of the time, I think it's just an afterthought where they've just honestly forgotten. 

[00:19:59] Because there's not even a first name on it.

[00:20:01] Hi, I'm so and so here's what I do.

[00:20:03] And I really feel like it's a missed opportunity. 

[00:20:05] But if you're the type of person that doesn't want your name out there, you're probably not the same type of person that is actively trying to seek out media and being in front of the camera.

[00:20:14] That's just my 2 cents on that.

[00:20:16] Absolutely. I'm so glad you share that. Okay. 

Strategic Approaches to Getting Press

[00:20:19] Knowing that and knowing what we need to have in place, like, how can we be strategic about this?

[00:20:23] How can we like maybe create a strategy for ourselves?

Understanding Your Target Media Landscape

[00:20:26] So what I start telling people is first, you need to start ingesting the media that you want to become a part of.

[00:20:33] If you want to be on Good Morning, America, you need to be watching Good Morning, America. 

[00:20:37] Figure out which hour of the day that you belong. 

[00:20:40] Which are the writers that are covering the topics that you talk about? If I pitch someone that's writing about sports, I should not be pitching them about children's products.

[00:20:49] So the first thing I do is I try to find three or four articles. 

[00:20:54] Whether they're online, whether they're publications. 

[00:20:56] Like, Oh, I really want to be on BuzzFeed. Okay. I'm going to go to BuzzFeed and start making a list of the writers I see that are writing for me. 

[00:21:05] I make children's products, crayons, things for artists, unique shaped gifts.

[00:21:09] So I'm writing down the writers that are creating gift guides to that audience, basically. 

[00:21:15] So to parents, it's, they're usually kid roundups of different things or stocking stuffers, holiday gifts. 

[00:21:21] Who are those writers? Usually you can click on their name and it will show a whole list of what they've done in the past.

[00:21:27] It could show like their last 40 articles they've written.

[00:21:29] A lot of times, so say on Buzzfeed, if you click on their name, it will give you their email address. 

[00:21:34] If you don't see a contact information, if you don't see email, if you don't see Instagram or any of that, I wind up looking them up on LinkedIn.

[00:21:42] LinkedIn is like my secret tool at my back door, my work around of finding information. 

[00:21:47] Because once you start going on LinkedIn a little bit, you can click on someone, you can find them. And then over to the right hand side of the LinkedIn, you'll start seeing all the people that are associated with.

[00:22:00] So if I want to find somebody that works for oprah. com and I find one person and I click on their profile, it's going to start showing up on the right. 

[00:22:08] Oh, you might also want to find these people. And a lot of times your email addresses are on there. 

[00:22:13] Or you can find a profile that does have an active email and follow the pattern.

[00:22:18] So if it's like nicole.lewis at hearst. com. 

[00:22:22] You can find that pattern for the same type of writers. So that's the way that I start my research. 

[00:22:27] And finding emails and contact info. I also use Instagram. So I will look up writers and members of the media on Instagram, and I will try to mimic what I see on there.

[00:22:37] If they are writing and only posting things about babies and families, and they're only sharing their personal private stuff. 

[00:22:44] Then that's what I typically interact with them. I spend a couple of months just liking their posts, commenting on things, mentioning things on their shirts. 

[00:22:51] Oh my gosh, I love her outfit.

[00:22:53] What, which brand is this? If it's like a new baby or something like that. 

[00:22:57] Like I'm trying to relate to them where they are at. 

Building Relationships with Media Professionals

[00:23:00] On their social media. Now, if they're posting business and they're sharing articles and things that they're writing constantly on there. 

[00:23:06] Then I feel a little bit more comfortable sending them a cold DM and being like, Hey, I have a great idea for something for your next gift guide.

[00:23:14] What's the best email that I can reach you at? Sometimes members of the media don't mind being DM'ed directly about stuff like that on social. 

[00:23:23] And sometimes they do. 

[00:23:24] So you have to start building this relationship slowly with them. Actually read the articles that they're writing, say, Hey, I really love the article about X, Y, and Z.

[00:23:33] My favorite part was this. 

[00:23:34] Don't do these things right away and then go for the big ask. You just want to start learning what they do, learn what they write about.

[00:23:41] Get them to know you a little bit and really start building that relationship. 

[00:23:45] That just clicks and makes so much sense. 

[00:23:47] Because really, why would someone want to invest in me if I don't take the time to invest in them? 

[00:23:53] And, from the strategic perspective, The problem that I've had is I don't watch a lot of TV. I don't read a lot of newspapers. 

[00:24:01] Where are they getting their information? Who are they watching on these shows?

[00:24:06] And then what the segment part. 

[00:24:07] That was, stood out as genius too. 

[00:24:09] Because it's like, when you watch this, the shows, then you know how it's set up, how to even pitch for a particular, piece of the show. 

[00:24:17] Versus just sending some sort of blanket message. It's I'd like to be on your show or I'd like to do this.

[00:24:22] And it's have you even watched the show? 

[00:24:24] Because that makes no sense. 

[00:24:25] So you're telling us things that really set us up for more success because when people realize that you care a little bit about what they're doing, I think they pay attention more. 

[00:24:34] And it's an analogy that came into my mind was with my son Asher, I told him like you want more friends, you have to be a friend. 

The Art of Effective Communication and Networking

[00:24:43] If you want people to listen and pay attention to You have to listen and pay attention to them. 

[00:24:47] And sometimes you have to do it for a little bit longer then they're going to do it for you that's relationships you give and take and I think you laid that out and i'm just like have to Vomit it back to you because it makes so much sense to me now.

The Dos and Don'ts of Pitching for Podcasts and Collaborations

[00:25:00] It's the same for people that want to be on this podcast. If they email you and they don't use your first name. 

[00:25:05] If they don't talk about referring to what you're actually speaking on, they just say Hey, I'd be a great guest for your podcast. Okay. Do you know the name of the podcast?

[00:25:13] Do you know who's in charge of it? Why would you be a great guest? 

[00:25:16] Smart people are going to make sure that they include that information in an email. 

[00:25:20] Even if it's a cold email to be on a podcast. 

Navigating Influencer and Product Pitches

[00:25:22] Or for me, I have plenty of influencers that will reach out to me and say, Hey, we'd love to have a video of your product.

[00:25:30] Okay. You don't, I didn't mention what my product was. You haven't, you don't follow me in the first place. That's a big no for me. 

[00:25:37] So things like that, which just seemed common sense to me. 

[00:25:39] But I guess it's not for a lot of people, but something important to keep in mind. 

[00:25:44] 

Aligning Values for Growth and Collaboration

[00:25:44] That's the reason why I love that you're coming back on the show. 

[00:25:47] You and I align with the fact that we want to help people. We want to help people grow without, hey, give me 10, 000 for this one piece of advice or whatever.

[00:25:56] You know what I mean? It's let me share what I know so that you can grow. 

[00:25:59] And people who pitch the podcast and they're just like John wants to come on your podcast and talk about blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And i'm like, john sounds really cool.

[00:26:07] But what does that have to do with SEO? You know what I mean? 

[00:26:11] I would also like to know, Why isn't john emailing you directly instead of so and so representing john? 

[00:26:16] I guess that's a thing now. 

[00:26:17] They have these people that just go out and pitch. But their pitch doesn't align. It doesn't make sense. 

[00:26:23] Because they haven't taken the time to do some of these things. Listen to an episode?

[00:26:27] I'm glad you said that because it's the same thing as you don't need to hire a PR firm. 

[00:26:32] Or someone else to write these emails and these pitches for you.

[00:26:36] It's so much easier than people think. And a lot of times you're going to get the yes, because it's coming straight from the maker. 

[00:26:43] Straight from the expert, straight from the business itself. And not a third party. Yeah. That third party might have relationships with some people. But it, that it doesn't need to be there.

[00:26:52] You can make those relationships and you can be that person that they trust and go to each time that they need a gift for kids. 

[00:26:59] Or an expert tip or quote for an article. 

[00:27:01] Yeah. 

[00:27:02] And the fact is, most of these people don't have relationships. It's just their job to write cold emails. And so it's like you can write a cold email, 

[00:27:10] and it's going to get deleted quickly.

[00:27:12] And I think about it like this too, because if you are building a relationship with somebody who connects with your audience. 

[00:27:19] And then you guys have a genuine connection, now you're going straight to people who want what you sell.

[00:27:25] Versus, a lot of people take this blanket approach in SEO. 

[00:27:29] It's Oh, I want a lot of traffic. 

[00:27:30] So I'm going to rank for this keyword. But it's does that keyword really have anything to do with driving traffic to your moneymakers?

[00:27:39] To an actual sale? Because all you're then doing is just generating more work for yourself that actually doesn't align with anything that you want to do.

[00:27:48] I guess long way of saying work smarter, not harder. 

Crafting the Perfect Pitch: Insights and Strategies

[00:27:51] So, talking about press. 

[00:27:52] One of the things that kind of stopped me from getting going was just like, okay, I get the concept, but where do I start? 

[00:28:00] And what do I do? And then you sent me a preview of this guide that you made.

[00:28:05] And I was like, Oh my gosh, that's amazing. 

[00:28:08] I love the pitch examples. Because now I'm going to pitch them and build a relationship.

[00:28:13] But what do I say?

[00:28:14] 

Leveraging Press and Media for Business Growth

[00:28:14] I wanted to come up with this guide about getting press for experts in small businesses. 

[00:28:20] Because really it's just a brain dump of every single thing that I've, I know and I've experienced. 

[00:28:26] I've organized it in a way that's chunks that are easy to take on. Little by little. 

[00:28:32] Because getting a press journey can be overwhelming. If you don't know where to start or you don't know who to contact. 

[00:28:38] So this guide is going to give you step by step of here's what you need to do to get ready for press. This is why you need press.

[00:28:46] So it's at art2theextreme. com. And if you go to "about", I have a section that says Etsy U or Etsy expert help.

[00:28:53] It says that because I teach for Etsy on the side a little bit with their Etsy U program. 

[00:28:57] This is how you start finding people to actually pitch to.

[00:29:01] It talks about what does pitches look like as a product.

[00:29:05] As someone that's an expert that wants to be quoted. It goes through, how do you tell your brand story? 

[00:29:11] What do you do once you get press? 

[00:29:13] Not only does it go through these steps in detail, but it gives you actual examples of what a pitch looks like. 

[00:29:19] What do you do after to follow up with a pitch? It gives examples of things to pitch. 

[00:29:24] If you're an expert, like right now, this is my slow season. 

[00:29:27] So I'm not necessarily pitching things other than like graduation gifts and birthday presents. 

[00:29:33] So I'm pitching myself and my story, my founder story. 

[00:29:36] And I have a list of different angles that you as an expert or you as a maker, or you as a business owner. 

[00:29:42] Teaching other people to do X, Y, and Z can pitch for publications like Forbes and entrepreneur and CNBC make it. 

[00:29:50] These publications that typically write about small businesses and their stories. 

[00:29:54] So that's how that landscape shifts for me a little bit in the spring.

[00:29:57] But I have all of this in this guide. 

[00:29:59] I've just brain dumped all of my thoughts about getting press and these steps that I've taken. 

[00:30:05] Into one guide that has a ton of useful information that's going to move the needle for you.

[00:30:10] Yeah, I'm already excited because it's got little boxes that I can check off.

[00:30:14] But one thing I wanted to ask you, because I always love it when like somebody gives me a little bit of like special advice for my business. 

[00:30:21] I get it for the product side, but beyond pitching podcasts, I'm like what do I have to offer, as a SEO expert? 

[00:30:30] What do I have to offer a publication?

[00:30:33] And that's what you should be pitching right now is your expertise about SEO. 

[00:30:37] As an SEO expert, I would be pitching places like CNBC make it and say: I'm an SEO expert for small businesses. 

[00:30:44] Here are the top three tips that people are missing from their website. 

[00:30:47] Here are the top five things I would not do when approaching SEO.

[00:30:52] People love like a number and the things that you wouldn't do. 

[00:30:56] I am a mom and an SEO expert. Here are three things that people are making a mistake on people. 

[00:31:03] Am I making a mistake? 

[00:31:04] I want to know what mistakes I'm making. 

[00:31:06] And that guide lists out a ton of different prompts or subject lines or titles that you could be pitching for yourself. 

[00:31:13] But you should be talking about how you're building this SEO business, this business that is helping people understand.

[00:31:20] What SEO looks like. 

[00:31:21] How your website should be set up in order to get more eyes and attention on that. 

[00:31:27] You do such a good job of training a small businesses and providing this information that really everybody should have and have access to. 

[00:31:36] And that's what you should be pitching. 

[00:31:38] You should not only be pitching the products that you make, that's one kind of route. 

[00:31:42] But you need to be pitching how you as an expert kind of fit into this field too. 

[00:31:48] And You can even do that with things that are timely in the news, with Tik Tok going down, Tik Tok might be banned.

[00:31:54] Here are three things I know as an SEO expert that you should be transitioning over your to your website to get eyes on your business.

[00:32:01] Finding timely topics in the news is great to piggyback on. 

[00:32:04] Yeah. Oh my gosh. Like my mind is going.

[00:32:07] TikTok one would be really good for you actually.

[00:32:09] Cause whether that gets shut down or not. That would be a good angle for you. 

[00:32:13] Yeah. And absolutely. 

Maximizing TikTok for Practice and Engagement

[00:32:14] And, one thing about TikTok and you've heard me say this about every platform. Like so many times we start on TikTok. Or we start on Instagram. 

[00:32:23] And there's so much great content that you already have there, bring it to your website.

[00:32:28] Do you know what I use Tiktok for? 

[00:32:29] What do you use Tiktok for? 

[00:32:31] Cause I'm not very consistent at using it. 

[00:32:32] But. When I first started wanting to be on video. 

[00:32:37] Like, I was getting tons of features on like Martha Stewart and parents and different online publications, different physical magazines.

[00:32:43] I wanted to be on good morning America and today's show. 

[00:32:46] And so I would go on my local press. I pitched my local press to do different segments and things to have that video. 

[00:32:51] But I use Tik TOK as a way to warm up and practice. If you're someone that's not comfortable in front of a camera yet, go live on Tik TOK.

[00:33:00] And for me, I have such a tiny account that I, people hang around for a little bit and if they're tired of it, they move on and leave. 

[00:33:05] And I have a new audience every 10 or 20 seconds or something. I'm pretty sure it needs, it's supposed to be longer than that. But for me, I don't use TikTok that often, but I go on TikTok.

[00:33:15] To practice like, Hey, my name is Nicole Lewis. I'm the founder of art to the extreme home of the original rainbow crayon. I was the first person ever to create and sell a handmade crane online. 

[00:33:24] And I go through my spiel and I practice it over and over as I'm doing something. As I'm showing the work that I'm creating behind the scenes.

[00:33:32] And then. Five minutes go by two minutes go by whatever you need. Hey, if you're just joining us, My name is Nicole Lewis.

[00:33:38] And I practice that over and over until it's ingrained in my brain. 

[00:33:41] And that's a great way to start getting comfortable on camera. 

[00:33:44] And you can't see the people that are watching you. 

[00:33:46] And it's just you and your phone! 

[00:33:48] So it's a great way to practice if you're not Comfortable with being on camera. 

[00:33:52] Or if you don't know what to say or how to say it yet 

[00:33:54] Oh my gosh.

[00:33:55] Like finding your message. That's what podcasting did for me. 

[00:33:58] But I don't even know what I'm going to follow up with on this episode!

[00:34:01] Now I want to do this! 

[00:34:02] How many purposes does that serve?

[00:34:04] First of all, you create more content for Tik TOK, which is great.

[00:34:07] And which can then come to your website. And then you could repurpose over on Pinterest. And on Instagram. And pretty much wherever you want to. 

[00:34:17] So that's awesome. And you can take the really good clips and put them on LinkedIn or, also on Facebook. 

[00:34:22] All that stuff. But like you said, you get that practice and you practice your messaging.

[00:34:26] And since I started this small group, the SEO squad.

[00:34:30] The messaging of the group is starting to gain a life of its own.

[00:34:35] And I'm starting to hear from members who are saying, this is what you told me that, is working for me and why it's working for me. 

[00:34:42] Seeing it applied to other people's businesses. And seeing how they massage it and make it work, the best for their business. 

[00:34:48] It's given me a new way to think and talk about it. So I'm excited. I could do this on Tik TOK and really, find my voice over there and you just have given us so much.

[00:34:58] Yeah. 

[00:34:58] And one thing I didn't expect to come out of practicing on Tik TOK was. All the different audiences that aren't necessarily my typical audience. 

[00:35:07] Since I was so new to Tik TOK, I was getting some random people. 

[00:35:10] And the questions that they would ask, those were things that I didn't necessarily think about. 

[00:35:14] Or maybe I didn't find it was interesting enough for me to bring up in the past.

[00:35:18] And they would ask me questions like, Oh, where do you get your crayons from? Or how did you get started? Or, Oh, are you on an Etsy too? 

[00:35:24] Oh, I had issues with Etsy. 

[00:35:26] And I could slowly start to see the types of people that were coming to my Tik Tok and giving me talking points to push me along.

[00:35:32] And that's in a live interview. 

[00:35:34] Those are some of the things that would come up. And they might ask you a question that you're not prepared for. How are you going to answer that, handle that, or pivot around that question? And it's great practice.

[00:35:43] But also great to know what your audience or your customers are thinking about your products.

[00:35:49] And asking. And what kind of outside of the box things that you might not have expected. 

[00:35:53] Yeah. And that probably then could feed the ideas of pitching to, different journalists or writers or that type of thing. 

[00:36:01] I know we're winding down with time. 

Building Relationships and Pitching to Journalists

[00:36:03] But when you pitch to journalists, is it important that you have an out of the box idea? Or does it just depend on like the type of content they typically put out? 

[00:36:13] The most important thing you need to do is make sure that you're providing value for the writer that you are pitching. Whether it's a cold pitch or whether you're answering a lead.

[00:36:22] There's plenty of platforms out there. And sub stacks and things that will say, Hey, I'm so and so I need, Three top kids gifts by the end of the day.

[00:36:30] Please email this email and put this in the subject line. Some of the writers will come right forward and say, Hey, I need five stocking stuffers for kids by the end of the day, Tuesday. 

[00:36:41] And then that's how I know, okay, these are my top two products that I'm going to pitch this person. 

[00:36:46] They might be needing a quote. 

[00:36:48] I need, two quotes from a woman's health expert on this, and this. A lot of times members of the media will tell you specifically what they are needing to be able to complete their articles.

[00:36:58] So a lot of times I'm pitching my products to gift guides.

[00:37:01] Everything has a purpose. You really should not be emailing anybody just saying, Hey, I just want to share what I'm doing with you. 

[00:37:07] Everything needs to have a purpose and keep it short. Keep it simple. Keep it sweet. 

[00:37:12] I love using bullet points in my emails.

[00:37:15] I love using a couple of bold words here and there, because remember that. 

[00:37:19] These members of the media, they're getting hundreds of these emails a day. 

[00:37:22] And if they even open yours in the first place, they're going to skim your email really quick to see if it's even a fit. 

[00:37:28] If you know what the heck you're even talking about pitching them. 

[00:37:31] If they Blog about food.

[00:37:33] If they write about sports, are you doing, boppies and baby care and things like that? Do you know what you're talking about? Are you providing value? Why will their readers like this information or find it interesting? 

Understanding the Importance of Affiliate Links in Pitches

[00:37:45] And then another thing we haven't talked much about are How is it going to serve the writer with an affiliate link?

[00:37:50] A lot of times these writers are being let go from different publications.

[00:37:54] Or they're moving from publication to publication, and they have to have a way to make an income for themselves and for the publication. 

[00:38:01] So a lot of them do require affiliate links. So if you're like me, I don't belong to a lot of times it's skim links is the one that they want.

[00:38:09] You have to be on Target, Walmart, Amazon have skim links. 

[00:38:12] Or, etsy is a well known and well trusted affiliate link with their A1 platform. So luckily for me, I would love people coming to my website for the back links for the SEO, but a lot of times when I pitch, they're going to want my Etsy link because Etsy pays them every time somebody that's reading their work will click on my item. 

[00:38:34] So Etsy is the affiliate program that I wind up using. It's called Awin and it's through Etsy, it's free. If you're on Etsy, you don't have to do anything, you're already a part of their affiliate program and you are affiliate friendly if you have an Etsy shop.

[00:38:46] But if not, I highly suggest you look into maybe your products speak on Amazon. 

[00:38:51] Because that's the top one for members of the media or a lot of times they'll talk about skim links. 

[00:38:56] I know there's share a sale and a few others, but affiliate links are going to be very important for a lot of the. com type of gift guides and articles. 

Strategizing Your Pitch: Timing, Preparation, and Execution

[00:39:04] Do you have any tips for like how to know when you're ready to pitch? Or, like creating a strategy to get started? 

[00:39:11] It seems like when you're ready to grow your business versus just start.

[00:39:15] But then it also seems like SEO where the sooner you start, the better. So any thoughts on that? 

[00:39:22] So timing's going to be important in general with pitching. 

[00:39:25] Because depending on when you want to be featured, you have to know in advance. 

[00:39:29] So right now we're heading into May and really the end of May, all of June and the start of July is where if you want to be in a physical magazine.

[00:39:39] That they're actually picking up and buying at the stands and opening. 

[00:39:42] You need to be pitching holiday stuff in June. 

[00:39:45] End of May, beginning of June, July. 

[00:39:47] By the end of July, a lot of these publications already have their products and they're already doing photo shoots for them and that set in stone.

[00:39:55] So thinking about the long game, are you wanting to be in a physical magazine? So for me, when I first started. I was on a lot of physical magazines. 

[00:40:03] I wanted something that was tangible that I could hold up and show off in content. And get that buyer trust. 

[00:40:09] Now think about magazines that you read. Do you go home and type in www and then look at the page dot, do you actually go in and type in the products that you see in a physical magazine?

[00:40:20] I doubt it. You usually wind up hopefully looking it up on your phone. 

[00:40:23] Or maybe it leads you to a different brand, a different product. You have to think about what job is that doing. 

[00:40:29] For me, being in a physical magazine was giving that physical thing I could show off on my social media. 

[00:40:35] I could put a picture up on, I could have on behind me on a wall and show it off and talk about it.

[00:40:40] Great. If they typed in my website and I got sales from it, but no, I was in Joanna Gaines's Magnolia magazine and people were like, Oh my gosh, you were the top gift for Christmas last year. 

[00:40:51] Did you just get so many sales because you were in there? And I was like. 

[00:40:54] No, I don't even know what I would have gotten because they have no online presence.

[00:40:58] Magnolia does not have an online presence. It's only a physical magazine. There's no supporting blog to be featured in both. 

[00:41:05] That was for pure bragging rights. And for me. As the brand, it's up to me to turn that into content, to turn that into SEO. 

[00:41:15] And sales and backlinks on my end. So I have to do the legwork afterwards.

[00:41:19] Now I got lucky in a couple of other publications.

[00:41:22] Since Joanna Gaines is a, a figure that people like to watch for trends. A lot of magazines actually wound up picking up. I think a people magazine wound up picking up here's Joanna Gaines's top gifts for kids for the holiday season. 

[00:41:33] So I got lucky there and I did get a lot of clicks from that.

[00:41:37] But you have to think about timing.

[00:41:39] And you have to think about what is the purpose of that publication doing?

[00:41:43] So online gift guides, online articles, those are being written all the time. 

[00:41:49] Sometimes there's a quick turnaround. 

[00:41:50] And sometimes they could be writing stocking stuff or gift guides in the middle of November.

[00:41:55] So that all just depends on writer's deadlines. 

[00:41:57] Those are going to get you the most clicks to your site. 

[00:42:00] Or clicks to wherever they're purchasing it from. 

[00:42:02] So you have to think about the purpose and. The after effect of that. 

[00:42:06] Just because you're in a physical magazine does not mean it's the Oprah Winfrey effect. 

[00:42:10] Where everyone's going to start flooding and getting sales.

[00:42:13] How can you turn that around and turn it into content to bring those people to you? 

[00:42:18] I promise this is it. 

[00:42:19] How often do you do this?

[00:42:21] Do you actually make a specific time to pursue, even if you don't get all the way through the checklist, it's okay. 

[00:42:27] But I'm going to pick this back up on this specific day. 

[00:42:30] How does that work for you? 

[00:42:31] So for me a lot of times, I'm still thick into my own business of making my own products.

[00:42:36] So a lot of times I will miss deadlines for things like I should be pitching Valentine's day middle of November for online stuff. 

[00:42:44] And I'm still in the thick of making stuff. So a lot of times I miss deadlines for specific holidays I should be pitching for. 

[00:42:50] Because I'm still the maker in my business, but I like to bunch, to chunk it out a little bit and.

[00:42:57] I will spend probably mid May, beginning of June, really start ramping up that relationship building again with writers I might not have interacted with for a long time on social media. 

[00:43:08] And then June is really when I start pitching for holiday. Because all these holiday assignments are going to start coming out. 

[00:43:15] And I like to sit down on a Sunday evening and write these pitches, have them ready to go. 

[00:43:19] I don't typically pitch on Mondays. People don't want to open up pitches on Mondays. People are still trying to catch up on their inboxes. 

[00:43:27] So I only pitch Tuesdays through Thursdays when I do write email pitches. And for those that are just getting started, I would pick three people or three publications that you really want to be in and start there. 

[00:43:40] Figure out who's writing about what you want to be in and start with those three people and go today on their Instagram, go on their LinkedIn and start following them, start interacting with them, start commenting on their posts and get to know them a little bit. So they have some familiarity with you.

[00:43:56] Start with those three people and then start looking around for what you want to be in.

[00:44:02] That resource guide that I have, my ebook it's called let's get press and there's a whole section about where you actually find these leads. 

[00:44:10] Yes, you want to get press, but how do you figure out what they want?

[00:44:13] Yeah. Okay. So where do we get this thing? 

[00:44:16] It's on my website. 

[00:44:17] So you can get the, "Let's Get Press" e-book by going to art to the extreme. com. Clicking on about, and then it says, Etsy U workshops and brand consultation. 

[00:44:26] I do pick my brain sessions. If you have questions for me.

[00:44:29] I'm more than happy to help. 

[00:44:30] But you can find my ebook under there. There's a little graphic that says, let's get press.

[00:44:35] How to build a media list and land press opportunities. And there's a click there and I try to make it super affordable because if you're like me, it's just another program or another coaching thing or another book to read right now it's 29. 99. Eventually that's going to go up, but for you guys, it's 29. 99 today. 

[00:44:52] And It's a really good resource, very organized, very detailed. 

[00:44:56] Oh man, I'm so excited. What I'm going to do is I'm going to put it on my calendar. 

[00:45:01] To just work through it, for 30 minutes at a time. 

[00:45:04] Again, this is so reminiscent of SEO. 

[00:45:08] It's like you just got to start.

[00:45:10] And then as you start doing it, it starts getting easier and you start recognizing patterns and people and all of those types of things. 

[00:45:18] But we could all start relation building right now. 

[00:45:21] Even if we're not throwing out pitches, we could start that part of it now and like track who we want to collaborate with in terms of getting press.

[00:45:30] So thank you so much. This is so good. \I've got so much work ahead of me, but it's going to be so fun. \ Thank you for being here. 

[00:45:37] Thank you so much for having me. This is, this has been wonderful. And I really love helping people on this topic. So I get so giddy and excited about getting press. And so let me know if you're successful and you get featured.

[00:45:48] I want to hear about it. 

[00:45:49] Yeah. So I'll drop all of the links for Nicole in the show notes. 

[00:45:52] And that way you can reach out to her after you, get your first feature and we can all celebrate together. 

[00:45:58] All right, I'll see you next time. 

[00:46:00] But Nicole, thanks for being here.

[00:46:01] Thanks. 

[00:46:02] ​