[00:00:00] Arsen: Okay, and we are live. Hello, everyone. If you are just joining us, say hello in the comments. We are gonna start here in just a few, in just a few minutes. We’ll let some people join in. Um, tell us where you’re from. Tell us where you’re joining us from. We wanna hear that. All right, show comments on stage.
[00:00:29] Arsen: Here we go. Awesome. All right. Seems like we got some people coming in.
[00:00:38] Arsen: All right Hello from Europe. Yay. We’ve got a- we’re international. I love it.
[00:00:44] Anina: We’re in Europe.
[00:00:46] Arsen: Yeah. Where in Europe are you, Sophie?
[00:00:56] Arsen: Greece. Oh. Nice. I live
[00:00:57] Anina: in the Mediterranean
[00:00:58] Arsen: Good place to be . Awesome. Okay, so let’s slowly start getting started here. We have people joining in. Welcome to Top Hat Chats. This is episode 57 of our SEO for Bloggers webinar. Top Hat Chats is a series of SEO for Bloggers webinars focusing on in-depth conversations on specific topics micro-learnings with brilliant and special guests.
[00:01:21] Arsen: Today, we’re excited to have Anina Bell Giannini. Did I say that right?
[00:01:27] Anina: You did. Yeah?
[00:01:27] Arsen: I got it
[00:01:28] Anina: Way to
[00:01:28] Arsen: go. Yes. She’s amazing. She- we- we’ve- I think we’ve worked together for a few years. Mm-hmm … we’ve- we’ve met in person at a few conferences. Um, and then when I found out that she’s not only a brilliant food blogger, but she’s also a former PR and marketing executive for lo- luxury hospitality brands, like Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton, I really wanted to have you on to talk about this with us especially with- with our audience, is who- who we have.
[00:01:56] Arsen: Um, today we’ll be discussing how creators and entrepreneurs can earn meaningful media coverage. Anina will be sharing practical lessons in pitching, authority building, personal branding, and turning media opportunities into lasting visibility. As always, we will have a Q&A at the end. Unfortunately, StreamYard, our amazing platform, does not give us a Q&A little section, so put your question in the comments.
[00:02:18] Arsen: We do want you to put a little Q in front of them so that we know that it’s a question that you want us to answer. Um, and if we have time, we’ll answer those questions for you. If not, we will have Anina answer those, and we’ll post them in the, along with the recap. So, with that I wanna kind of, I wanna set the stage for all of us.
[00:02:39] Arsen: Um, a big chunk of our audience are food bloggers, travel bloggers who’ve been doing this for a while, and we have some, some people who are new. Um- I want to frame this conversation through the lens of that. Through, through… Let’s pretend that I am a food blogger. I’ve been doing this for a while and, um, at this point in my journey, I’m noticing that I’m making less money because of everything that’s happening with Google.
[00:03:12] Arsen: We’re getting less clicks, we’re getting less page views, and you know, I need to start applying more putting less eggs into that Google basket, basically, right? So I need to start doing more. I need to build my brand. I need to build my authority signaling, and all of that is PR, and we’ve been talking about this for a while.
[00:03:30] Arsen: Um, PR is super important. We’ve been at this for since 2019 with this webinar. Um, and we’ve talked about like, you know, s- certain strategies that bloggers can apply, and this was, again, at that time, through the lens of like, how do we build backlinks? Because at that time, that was the thing, right? So like we were talking about doing outreach to publisher to local news channels creating magnets and all of that.
[00:03:55] Arsen: Um, now it’s much more important than just backlinks, right? Because Google is looking at this like, “Hey, do I really trust this person? Do I really trust this publisher with this information? And how do I showcase that to Google and other entities and other people?” So I’m a food blogger, um, and I need to start doing this.
[00:04:14] Arsen: Let’s start with the first question. So by the way those of you who haven’t been with us at all in the past these questions are submitted by the audience, people who have registered for this webinar. We’ve sent them through our little AI system, which combines these questions together. And so we have these, these are questions directly from our listeners, from bloggers.
[00:04:34] Arsen: So, how do I find the right person to pitch to, and what’s the best way to track down their contact information?
[00:04:41] Anina: So if I can just roll back for one moment, Arsen. Okay, please. Um, before we dive right into it, I just wanna give a little bit of context of why, um, I think PR is so important, and why I think that bloggers can really be their own publicists as well.
[00:04:54] Anina: Um, in addition to 20 years career with luxury hotels, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons in four different countries, um, I was able to leave my day job, um, submit my resignation in a life-defining moment, and went all in on being an entrepreneur two years ago. Um- But me being who I am, it w- did not suffice that I would dive full on into my blog.
[00:05:17] Anina: I was like, “Well, I may as well open a PR and marketing firm as well.” Um, so now not only do I manage my blog and I’m s- able to spend more time on Le Chef’s Wife, I also do PR and marketing for clients in all different industries. So we have k- luxury kitchen design, um, clients, we have travel clients, we have, um, a dance studio.
[00:05:37] Anina: Um, and I founded this company, Savoir Faire, two years ago. So really, I’m able to see all different sides of the PR, um, and marketing spectrum, and I see just how incredible and how life-changing it can be to get those big media mentions, those big media hits. Um, I was able to secure the Today Show for myself in 2022.
[00:06:01] Anina: Um, and it was definitely a big moment in Le Chef’s Wife journey. Um, does it change your life overnight like in the movie Julie and Julia? No, it does not. That does not happen where every, all of a sudden your answering machine is blowing up with 50 calls from The New York Times and people wanna give you a book deal right away.
[00:06:21] Anina: But as a blogger, it really is something, it’s a calling card in the same way that people often say that getting a cookbook pub- published is a calling card. Um, it’s a way to signal that your blog is worth listening to, and that what you’re saying has weight. Um, so I think it’s incredibly important for bloggers, especially when they are in this small to medium size, to spend time on PR.
[00:06:45] Anina: Um, I also think, and I’m, I t- I’m sure we’ll get into this in questions as well, but as you know, publicists are very expensive. And as bloggers are starting out, spending money on hiring a publicist to represent you sometimes just does not math. Um, and so I think there’s some really great tips and tricks I learned, one, representing big brands, um, but two, when I was just representing myself and I didn’t have a big brand name behind me, and all of a sudden had to call big media outlets and be like, “Hey, pay attention to me.”
[00:07:17] Anina: Um, and the strategies that I used to get them to pay attention even if there was no reason that they should. Um, so I’d like to frame our conversation through that lens and that we can really talk about the nitty-gritty on how you can get yourself mentioned in press today. And these questions- Right … are absolutely for it.
[00:07:36] Anina: Um, and I think also the way that we are addressing PR right now, we have incredible tools at our disposal that two years ago we did not have, that make it so much easier to find the right people. I used to pay very expensive, um, monthly subscriptions to services like Proarly, like Cision, to find media contacts.
[00:07:55] Anina: Today, ChatGPT or Claude. You can really Hone in on who should receive your message by putting those questions through ChatGPT. So question number one, right person to pitch to, feed it into ChatGPT and say, “Who should I reach out to?” They will not always give you the contact details, but you can quickly find that with a few more clicks.
[00:08:19] Arsen: Right. So, y- you’re- you’re going into ChatGPT, and you’re… Are- are you- are you giving it context? Are you saying, “Look, I’m a food blogger. This is what I’m trying to achieve. I need to reach out to a specific person,” or are you saying, “Find me a list of people who I need to reach out to”?
[00:08:33] Anina: So the wonderful advantage that we have as bloggers is that we already have a body of work online.
[00:08:39] Anina: So by simply putting in your website address into ChatGPT, it already knows a lot about you, where your opportunities are, and where your strengths are. So I would say, this is my blog. This is lechefswife.com. Um, what are some key, um, holidays coming up that I can pitch for, and who would be interested in those?”
[00:09:02] Anina: Or you can even go further and say, “I’ve got a great recipe for French baguettes. Um, who would be an interesting writer that may wanna publish my recipe for French baguettes?” And then ChatGPT will pull up a list of people that have written about affiliated stories and give you their contacts so that you can then reach out to them.
[00:09:25] Arsen: Right. So y- So
[00:09:26] Anina: nothing replaces relationships in press, which is where the PR piece comes in, but you can get really far, um, if you have a very targeted pitch. If you find the person that writes about easy baguettes, um, and you’re coming up on UNESCO World Heritage Baguette Day, and you reach out to them in the right time, you can get your story mentioned on huge national publications because you did the right pitch at the right time to the right person
[00:09:54] Arsen: Um, so and this kind of flows into our next question here, but you kind of have to, you kind of have to be aware of like how all of this works, right?
[00:10:04] Arsen: So like you mentioned like a specific day. There’s a reason. There’s a, let’s call it a qualifying event, right? So like, you’re like- Mm-hmm … “Hey, with this thing coming up, we wanna make sure I wanna see if there’s room for an article or a piece or I can contribute to this if you are writing one, or somebody who has already written on this topic.”
[00:10:22] Arsen: So you definitely don’t wanna like just like blindly email them. And with that like- Mm-hmm … what makes a pitch stand out? How do you avoid coming off as spammy or, you know, you wanna avoid getting, ignored, right? So you will get ignored. Um, and I really want everyone to understand that. You will get ignored.
[00:10:39] Anina: Talking to journalists is talking… It’s like talk- me talking to my young son. I will repeat it 50 times, “Pick up your socks, pick up your socks, pick up your socks,” um, and then it will finally sink in. But you have to be okay with not receiving a response. No response does not mean no. It just means that it wasn’t the right pitch, not at the right time, maybe not the right person.
[00:11:03] Anina: Um, if someone says no, then you absolutely move on. Um, but I, my general rule is that I will approach three times with the same pitch, um, before moving on. So you have to develop a thick skin in PR as in sales. Um, you will get no response, and it’s like talking… I have a journalist that I pitch every single month for one of my restaurant clients.
[00:11:25] Anina: They never respond to me, never respond to me, and then they just put the restaurant on the power list. So, and so they obviously were seeing what we were doing, but they just didn’t respond because they’re so busy. And I think that’s another thing to really keep in mind is that, um, budgets are cut dramatically on media outlets.
[00:11:46] Anina: And so if you are not delivering a perfectly packaged, signed, sealed, and delivered story that they can really just take and insert into their publication, you’re not going to be as successful. Journalists are looking for the work to already be done, that there be great photos, that the story be already written, at least in most part, and that they can easily publish it without a lot- large lift because their staffs are being reduced incredibly.
[00:12:16] Anina: So to go back, I guess, um, you often talk about potatoes. So knowing that it’s, I think in September it’s National Potato Day, so the way I would preface it is, “It’s National Potato Day,” I forget which day it is, um, “coming up. I am a local Arizona-based food blogger, and I have top five recipes you can make for potatoes in under 30 minutes.
[00:12:39] Anina: I’d love to share them with your community or your readers,” or, “I have great clips of me, um, online speaking during a challenge that I did last year about potatoes. I’d love to share them with your readers or your community.” So it’s really prefacing. It’s packaging it differently, not, “Would you be interested in this?”
[00:13:00] Anina: It’s, “This is coming up. This is a media event. This is a world event. This is what I do, and this is how it actually ties on to what’s happening in the world.” You need to be really in tune to trends, which we are as bloggers.
[00:13:14] Arsen: Right,
[00:13:14] Anina: right. You are in tune to trends. You’re on social media. You know what’s happening.
[00:13:18] Arsen: So you mentioned you wanna appear in front of, you wanna hit up the same person a few times. You don’t wanna just, like, one pitch and if you don’t get a response, move on. Yes. Um, can you track this, like, is, people can just track this normally inside their email? Or is there- Mm-hmm
[00:13:30] Arsen: like a system that you recommend? Something that’s affordable to, for media outreach?
[00:13:35] Anina: So I’m old school. There are systems for this. Um, I mean, you can use any kind of project management system, but I have my media contacts list. And so anytime I identify a media contact, I literally put them in a Google Sheet doc, um, that is of interest, and then I add tabs for every time that I’ve reached out to them.
[00:13:53] Anina: And I also add tabs for- Important information. Like if I know that, um, they just came out as alcohol-free then that’s really interesting. And you know so much more now than we did 10 years ago in the field because they will probably post on social that they are sober or that they are, um, or that they enjoy non-alcoholic beverages, and then therefore you can reach out to them, um, with that unique perspective.
[00:14:21] Arsen: And I’m pretty sure you- we- m- people can use like ChatGPT’s deep research to look through their social media and- Mm-hmm … and collect all this information. I love that. That’s very KGB. Let’s build a file
[00:14:33] Anina: on you. Well,
[00:14:33] it’s
[00:14:33] Arsen: funny- your dog’s name is this.
[00:14:36] Anina: It’s funny but I guess for me it doesn’t surprise me because I come from the luxury hotel background.
[00:14:40] Anina: Um, in Ritz Carlton hotels and Four Seasons hotels, you check into those h- hotels, they know about you. They’ve printed out a photo of your dog and put it on your nightstand, um, that they got on Instagram. So it’s very much a way to personalize the guest experience, and I think I apply the same notion when I am building relationships with journalists, and I didn’t even think that it was something that was unique.
[00:15:04] Anina: So thank you, Arsen.
[00:15:06] Arsen: I like that. Um, okay. So, um, how long should a pitch be? Like, if I’m writing a pitch- … like I wanna know um, um, what should it include? How do I frame it? Um, should I be- should it be just like me, or should it be like, “Here’s how I can be helpful to you,” or, “Here are the benefits to you”?
[00:15:22] Arsen: Like, how do I frame this?
[00:15:25] Anina: So it needs to be as short as possible. Um, if you send six paragraphs, they will not be read. Um, the way I frame a pitch, very similar to what we just did with the Potato Day. Um, hi I always start with a- A warm introduction. “I love the segment that you did on X.” So do your research beforehand, right?
[00:15:45] Anina: Um, “I love the segment that you did on raclette.” Thank you potatoes, raclette. Um, “National Potato Day is coming up. Um, I’ve got five really great recipes that you can do in under 30 minutes that I’d love to share with you. I am a Arizona-based food blogger. Um, my specialty is in this, and this. You can find online, um, cooking demonstrations that I’ve done with these three links.
[00:16:10] Anina: Um, I’d love to talk to you more about it. Um, and I can be in the Tucson area and would be happy to come on on the show.” So something very short, very succinct. They do not need your entire bio. Really just who you are, how you can help them, and then proof of concept. So if you have already been on TV, links to your previous TV segments if we’re talking TV.
[00:16:34] Anina: Um, if you’ve never been on TV but you talk to camera a lot, or you’ve done live cooking demonstrations, um, or you’ve done travel segments, then link to those. Um, you can link to your own Instagram as well, or your own YouTube. Right. But people will want to see proof of concept that you can actually speak in front of the camera, and that you won’t freeze up the moment you get on the stage
[00:16:57] Arsen: that’s very important to to be able to to ch- to do that.
[00:17:01] Arsen: Um, okay, cool. So, um, y- you mentioned, you know, explaining a little bit about yourself and that you want, you know, th- this is what I’m comfortable with doing. Mm-hmm. Um, where does the press kit come in? Should I have a press kit? Um, what should be in it? Like, how do I come around? Is this something that ChatGPT can help me with?
[00:17:18] Arsen: How do we do this?
[00:17:20] Anina: ChatGPT can totally help you with it. It’s not as important as it used to be. Um, and I w- I will admit when I was on the hotelier side, people would, influencers would send me their press kits all the time saying, “We wanna stay at the Four Seasons. Here’s my press kit.” A press kit can look as pretty as you want, um, but it doesn’t mean that there’s actually the substance there.
[00:17:40] Anina: So really what counts would be those top three links that you want someone to look at. Um, a press kit is great for just adding additional context, and it never hurts to have a press kit, but then keep your press kit to two pages. Keep it really short, snappy, brands that you’ve worked with. Um, a testimonial from someone that you’ve collaborated with.
[00:18:01] Anina: Maybe s- a few screenshots of media, um, newspaper or magazine articles that you’ve been in. Um, but know that’s not what’s going to land you the pitch. And often many people can’t open attachments on a work email. So know that it’s not the most important thing. Yeah. They may ask for it afterwards and then therefore have it ready.
[00:18:24] Anina: In the press kit, very simple, and you can also use ChatGPT saying, “Help me create a press k- kit. This is my website. These are the links of what I’ve done.” Um, and they will make it very succinct for you. We have so many more tools than we ever used to have.
[00:18:39] Arsen: This is very true. So I have my press kit.
[00:18:42] Anina: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:43] Arsen: I have my pitch.
[00:18:44] Anina: Mm-hmm.
[00:18:44] Arsen: Now it’s time for me to do this. I’ve drank my coffee. I’ve gathered my strength. Mm-hmm. What’s the best time to pitch? Um- That’s a- What’s a good follow-up cadence after that pitch also? Like-
[00:18:55] Anina: Yeah.
[00:18:56] Arsen: Um, so- How do I not be annoying?
[00:18:58] Anina: It depends on when your story, um, like the timing of your story.
[00:19:03] Anina: If it’s National Potato Day next week and you are pr- pitching, um, your local TV news station- You still may be able to get in if you get them very early on the Monday morning. So my general rule, so TV often will produce for the week afterwards on the Monday, um, or then be filling any segments that they need to fill during the week.
[00:19:27] Anina: Um, they always give precedence to advertisers, so know that when you’re doing PR, you’re asking for earned media. You’re not paying for it. So you need to give them value, um, or else they would say, “That should be an advertisement. They should sell that.” Um, and so TV on the Monday, generally three weeks before is ideal the time.
[00:19:50] Anina: Um, if it is for an online publication, um, it can be two weeks before is a good time, and then follow up four days later, I guess. Um, but I really would encourage earlier pitching, and then for print magazines, three months before. So that’s why if you are thinking, um, Thanksgiving recipes, you should be getting your pitch ready now.
[00:20:16] Arsen: Interesting. Okay. So, um, is there like, like a, um- Should you, so should you be building a calendar ahead of time? Like, should you be planning, like, y- a year’s worth of outreach in advance, especially with, like, around holidays?
[00:20:33] Anina: Um, ideally. I’d love to say that I do that. I really do not do that. Um, I am the most I’m not diagnosed at ADHD, but I am sure that there’s an undercurrent in there.
[00:20:44] Anina: Um-
[00:20:44] Arsen: Dates are difficult.
[00:20:47] Anina: That I will, like, plunge into… And it’s funny. So f- a little story. When I, um, was able to land the Today Show segment was because on January 2nd, I had this entire ball of energy of, like, “This is a new year. I’m gonna t- make big moves for Le Chef’s Wife blog.” And on January 2nd, I sent out some really great pitches, and I think I sent out, like, 50 pitches.
[00:21:10] Anina: Um, and I was pitching National Homemade Soup Day, which was February 4th. So this is the Today Show. It was January 2nd. Big fan of
[00:21:17] Arsen: soup. Pitch for February
[00:21:18] Anina: 4th. And was able to land that story, um, not for National Homemade Soup Day, but because they were doing a feature on love in the kitchen, and I cook with my husband, Le Chef’s Wife.
[00:21:30] Anina: Um, and it was the perfect fit for them. And they were like, “That was a great pitch,” and it worked, and so was able to land the Today Show. So you never know. Um, but I think being more strategic about it is very helpful. I, as part of the show notes, I know Arsen is sending out, um, anyone who subscribes to my Substack gets a media content calendar for the entire year.
[00:21:53] Anina: So you can look at it and say which are the holidays that are the most pertinent to what you do, what you create. Um, and then there’s also media tips in there as well for crafting the perfect pitch. Um, so that’s really helpful. You can print that out and look at it and say, “Okay, when’s Potato Day? ‘Cause I’ve got great potato recipes.”
[00:22:09] Anina: For me, Bastille Day is always a big one. Um, in the same way, Valentine’s Day, and then of course the, the holidays.
[00:22:16] Arsen: And we’ll post a link to your Substack here o- once we get closer to the end for those who have stuck around through the webinar. Um, okay, so let’s keep it going. Um-
[00:22:28] Arsen: If I don’t have a huge following, if I don’t have a, a strong- Mm-hmm … um, you know, s- something that like, you know, a, a way to amplify the message. So like not only me being a part of your press release or your article- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm … um, your video, whatever have you um, I’m also like I don’t have a huge audience to help promote that on my own, right?
[00:22:53] Anina: Mm-hmm.
[00:22:53] Arsen: How do I approach that? If I don’t have a huge social following, how do I still become enticing to these brands?
[00:22:59] Anina: Keep an eye on trends because, so for example, um, girl dinner was all the rage, or things that you could jump onto and show your spin and show why, how you can demonstrate them for a local audience.
[00:23:15] Anina: Now, I’m gonna talk TV again because this is great for TV, and this is why the TV will source their segments by looking at viral posts. So if there’s a viral post, even if it’s not yours, for example, if you do a mean baked sweet potato. Everyone was doing, um, baked sweet potatoes because of Courtney Cook’s Insta.
[00:23:33] Anina: Um, not every- Courtney Cook’s Insta can’t go on every local TV station, but if you are, um, Brittany Cooks, you can go on your local TV station and show variations of the viral sweet potato recipe. And so there’s ways to adapt what’s happening, um, what’s trending, what people are getting excited about, and make it newsworthy, even if your following is not so huge.
[00:24:01] Arsen: How do I pitch US brands if I’m an international content creator?
[00:24:06] Anina: So it really depends on your audience. You have to find a way to make it important for them to share your story. So if you are an international content creator but your audience is based in the US, then you are important to those brands.
[00:24:23] Anina: Um, or if you are an int- like if you’re in Greece, for example, um, and there is an olive oil recipe that is blowing up on TikTok or on Instagram, um, and you happen to have access to an olive oil farm, that’s a story, right? So I think that there’s really w- it’s all in how you spin it. That’s the spin, um, of taking something that is trending, taking something that is newsworthy, and spinning it so that you have a voice in that story
[00:24:59] Arsen: As a food blogger with no products to sell, I don’t have potatoes for sale is there still value in pitching media?
[00:25:07] Arsen: Like, what should I pitch? Like, what, like, what am I doing?
[00:25:10] Anina: Um, so the way I read that question, and I actually, I got my hackles up when I saw that question, ’cause I was like, of course you have a product to sell. Right. You have an audience. Your product is their eyeballs, their attention.
[00:25:23] Anina: Um- Right … that’s your ad revenue. That is your influence. That is your product until y- I th- and I think we often think of, “Oh, if I don’t have a digital download product, I don’t have a product.” No you have a product. You’ve created, um, a blog. You’ve created a social pl- media platform. Um, their attention is what you are looking to grow.
[00:25:43] Anina: Um, and I think it’s absolutely worth it because it’s, again, as we were talking, it boosts SEO, it boosts ranking on LLMs. LLM ranking, and this is more your area than mine, PR is so important for LLM rankings because they literally- Right … will take your question and reformulate it. Um, so if- Right … you already have s- the, you know, a great news publication that is saying that you’ve got the best French onion soup recipe, LLMs are gonna identify that much easier.
[00:26:10] Anina: Um, so it’s very important to go and get PR. Also, I think often people underestimate the value of a great PR mention. Um, I don’t know how many times I have been referenced as featured on the Today Show. I was featured on the Today Show once. It happened once. I have a 22-year career, um, and a whole list of accomplishments around what I’m doing, but it’s that Today Show feature that continues to be mentioned.
[00:26:43] Anina: Um, and I think that’s because it’s that seal o- of approval. It’s that stamp of validation, um, that people are very quick to hold onto. It also helps that people that you grow up with have more of a… You know, they can, um… They’re proud to say that you were on the Today Show or The Washington Post or Woman’s Day, because there’s something very tangible in that, whereas a food blog does not seem tangible.
[00:27:09] Arsen: Right. Um, and we talk about this, like the aspect of third-party validation, right? Mm-hmm. So like, um, in real life I know in PR it’s that’s like the key, right? So like that’s the third-party validation, like somebody else is um, saying that, “Hey, you are an expert on- a, a topic or a subject because we’ve had you on,” right?
[00:27:28] Anina: Mm-hmm.
[00:27:29] Arsen: And that’s a huge signal for Google as well, and you know, we touched on this earlier. Um, especially for LLM. So it’s not just the mention it’s that validation, that third-party validation, and especially when you’re properly organizing, and we’ve had webinars around this , like, like your About page and putting it there.
[00:27:46] Arsen: Mm-hmm. Linking out to the word that’s been mentioned. Linking out to that interview, to that article that was published. Um, there’s so much benefit to that. So it’s not just about selling a product. There’s… and it’s like you said it’s ongoing. Mm-hmm. Because not only it’s helping you with your digital presence and overall just like Google and other platforms understanding, “Yeah, I’m an expert.
[00:28:07] Arsen: I was on the Today Show on this,” right? Mm-hmm. Um, so yeah, it… I think I agree with you. So it’s not just sh- it shouldn’t be just, “Hey, I have something to sell.” Mm-hmm. It’s you also, right? Um, okay.
[00:28:18] Anina: And I think when you have something to sell, that’s when you should be spending money on advertising, and that’s when, um, journalists get really kind of touchy on that because they, the publications need advertising dollars to survive.
[00:28:31] Anina: And if you’re coming at them with a pitch to sell something, they’ll send you right to the advertising department, and you won’t- Right … land media.
[00:28:40] Arsen: Here’s a funny one. Is sliding into somebody’s DMs with a pitch ever appropriate or should we stick to email?
[00:28:47] Anina: Totally appropriate.
[00:28:48] Anina: Totally appropriate. Um, and it always, it depends on the person, right? Some people will say, um… And I believe Megan Murphy of Women’s Day, she said she shared it all over her social media. She says, “Stop pitching me on DMs. This is my email. Feel free to pitch me.” Um, when people say that then you go to their email, but until they say that, and I think this is where Instagram is an incredible rapport-building tool, is that you can connect with someone genuinely through human interactions.
[00:29:19] Anina: Um, they have a cat, you have a cat. You can like their posts. Don’t go straight in there. It- In the same way, think about any human interaction. You wouldn’t just, um, meet someone for the first time and be like, “Hi, this is what I’m about and this is what I do, and, um, y- we need to work together.” You don’t say that in the first two seconds.
[00:29:35] Anina: You say-
[00:29:36] Arsen: Right … “
[00:29:36] Anina: Hi, nice to meet you. Um, where are you from?” You know, you start the conversation, warm it up a little bit, get to know them, have a genuine connection, um, and then say, you know, “I’d love to pitch you. May I have your email?” Or I have been on so, um, there is a journalist that f- with ABC Good Morning America who put on her Instagram that she was looking for pitches.
[00:29:58] Anina: I pitched her and I got a segment, which was amazing. Um, and it was all about micro habits in the kitchen, Kelly. Um, and I think that’s a great way to use Instagram, is that you can come across things that you wouldn’t have normally. So always DM, always build a warm connection. Um, if they’re ghosting you or if they’re saying, if they’re not responding, be res- mindful of that.
[00:30:20] Anina: Um, but I encourage DM, absolutely.
[00:30:25] Arsen: There’s a huge value in building that relationship and it’s something that we’ve experienced not only doing like PR for link building, right? Mm-hmm. When we do outreach to other publishers, news publications. Um, because you might not be a good fit right away-
[00:30:42] Anina: Mm-hmm
[00:30:43] Arsen: but if you continue with that relationship and, you know, we’ve done all kinds of, we’ve sent swag we’ve bought dinners for people, um, you know, to build that relationship because there’s that, that aspect of, “Hey, I wanna be in front of you-
[00:30:56] Anina: Mm-hmm …
[00:30:57] Arsen: or I wanna make an impression, an imprint- Mm-hmm
[00:31:00] Arsen: so that when I do pitch and it’s a good connection, I’m going to be top of mind. Um, yeah that’s very interesting. Um, we have a question from somebody who’s watching us now and it kind of fits our next question here. Um, what are the best alternatives for HARO, Help a Reporter Out, which has been around for a very long time.
[00:31:19] Arsen: I remember using HARO back in the early 2000s. And Qwoted. Are the platforms still worth using?
[00:31:26] Anina: So I get the emails. Have I landed anything that came from those emails? Quite honestly, not in the last year. Um, doesn’t mean that it’s worth s- stopping to look at. Absolutely not. I think that you need to be resourceful when you…
[00:31:44] Anina: If you have a focus of like, “Okay, the next six months I’m really gonna work on, um, getting media mentions and media segments,” then use all the tools at your disposal, especially the free ones. They don’t cost you much to use them. Um, and I think if you have the r- if you see something on Qotted that is, like, right fit for exactly what you write about, then absolutely go all in.
[00:32:09] Anina: Um, but I think you can be just as resourceful using AI, um, to find your right pitch. Excuse me.
[00:32:20] Arsen: Um, okay, so we have a question here-
[00:32:22] Anina: Mm-hmm …
[00:32:23] Arsen: from Connie: Have you had issues with online and magazine publications that use AI detection software? Quoted has it on their site, and it has- … graded pitches of mine as 90%, even 100% AI created, when in fact it was 100% human created.
[00:32:39] Anina: That’s annoying. I have not personally had issues with that, so I don’t I unfortunately can’t speak to that. Um, but I do know that, um, I think the thought around AI usage is changing a lot, um, and that whereas people before were saying, “Oh my gosh, you can’t use AI,” I think companies and organizations are realizing if you’re not using AI, then you’re hindering productivity and progress, and that it’s important to use intelligently.
[00:33:06] Anina: Um, but I haven’t, I can’t speak to the AI detection software on Quoted.
[00:33:15] Arsen: Um-
[00:33:15] Anina: Can you?
[00:33:16] Arsen: The next… Well, listen it’s you might want to… Well, I don’t know what, Connie, how you approach it. You know, we I create, created for myself a tone and voice guide. Um, that’s me. I mean, I don’t know if that’s the issue with you.
[00:33:29] Arsen: You’re writing it yourself. Um, but maybe, you know, re- reframe it a little bit. Maybe your writing is too perfect, right? That it’s not… And then I know, um, oh my God, um, brain’s not functioning. Grammarly. Grammarly helps me out a lot- Mm-hmm … because I s- I, I have a hard time sometimes expressing what I need, so I just put, like, a bunch of gibberish in there and then it helps me really.
[00:33:54] Arsen: And then it also has AI detection in there. So if your own writing is coming very close to sounding like AI, maybe Grammarly can help you out with correcting that as well.
[00:34:03] Anina: That’s a good point.
[00:34:03] Arsen: Um, okay. Next question. I like this question because this is something that we’ve talked about in the past.
[00:34:11] Arsen: I’m gonna do this as a two-part. So-
[00:34:12] Anina: Mm-hmm …
[00:34:13] Arsen: um, um, local media opportunities, right? Mm-hmm. Um, especially for travel and food bloggers. And we’ve talked about this a few webinars ago. And saying like- Mm-hmm … like even creating something along the lines of like, “Hey, I’m going to do a, a digital class or virtual class on you know, how to cook with your you know, with your child or with your teen.
[00:34:34] Arsen: Or teaching- Mm-hmm … your teen about nutrition,” you know, if you have the expertise on that. And then using that as a way to pitch local stations or saying, “Hey, I’m going to do a workshop with a, you know, with a daycare here,” right? Like something- Mm-hmm … along the lines of that and just showcasing your expertise.
[00:34:50] Arsen: And those like feel-good stories that local news really likes, they have segments specifically for that. Um, have you had success in pitching local? And i- if you did or didn’t, what would you recommend doing in that regard?
[00:35:01] Anina: Um, definitely. My client was just on a segment 30 minutes before we started talking.
[00:35:06] Anina: Um, it was a, the dance school that I represent, and, um, they did a segment on tap and how it benefits the brain. So, and again, that’s a, an example of spin. Taking something- Right … that, you know, it’s not just there’s, they do a tap class, um, it’s how this benefits the brain for children and what, how, why it’s a great activity for them to get into.
[00:35:27] Anina: Um, a lot has happened to local media, meaning that there’s less and less media opportunities as a PR firm owner. I definitely know that. What used to… So I’m based in Washington DC area. Um, so we used to have a lot more outlets for our clients. They’re less and less, but they’re still very much there.
[00:35:47] Anina: And even if you’re not in a, and I think DC is considered, um, a secondary market it’s not New York or LA, um, but there’s still opportunities there. And I think that it’s just making, being conscious of how limited resources that they have and making it very easy for them. Um- So pitch local media, and local media is interested in local stories.
[00:36:12] Anina: So if you are launching a course, that’s not a local story. If you are going to be I’m gonna talk about my, um, little town that I grew up in. There was a cherry pit spit com- competition in Penticton, British Columbia. Um, and if you are going to be at the Cherry Festival, and you’ve got a great cherry recipe, and, um, there’s the cherry pit spit competition, well, that becomes local news.
[00:36:39] Anina: Um, and it’s wild that’s the example that just came to the top of my mind. Um, but tie onto something that is locally relevant, um, and you’ll have much more chance of, um, getting exis- landing your pitch than if you are talking about this incredible, um, course that you’re launching that may not have as many local ties.
[00:37:01] Anina: And it helps- Right … as well if you’re doing something in a local area or institution. Um, if you are doing something at the public library, that can be local news, and there’s so many other outlets as well that we don’t often think about. So there’s the TV stations, there’s the newspapers. There’s also the online publications, and there’s often a lot of like, um, local blogs as well, which are media outlets.
[00:37:25] Anina: And so one thing that’s really important, um, to think about is the whole ecosystem of media opportunities often include other bloggers, other influencers that you may know or may not know yet but could know and could join forces with.
[00:37:45] Arsen: Right. Um, that’s also like, there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of crossover between what we used to do for, and still do for outreach link building ego baiting saying, “Hey, you’re doing such a good job on social. We’d love to feature you here on our site,” and then you kind of, you know- Yeah … using that to build the connections. Um- So, going back to local media, and they, ’cause I feel like that’s such a strong… I think, I feel like it’s easier for someone who is not like a big time or has a huge presence on social because local is…
[00:38:18] Arsen: Again, you’re kind of like you’re trying you’re understanding like here is here are you know, the feelgood segments of your local channels. Mm-hmm. You probably have like five, six local channels, and here are the feelgood segments. And you can get s- do a little bit of watching and learning and getting to know them.
[00:38:33] Arsen: Mm-hmm. And then plan your approach. Like, like having something at the local library, teaching something or doing some s- something for free and then you know, maybe doing it once, Mm-hmm … without pitch, collecting that and using that as a reference for your next pitch. “Hey, I’m gonna do this.
[00:38:48] Arsen: I did this last time and this was, this turned out really well.” Um-
[00:38:52] Anina: Entirely. Yes, 100%. Community center events.
[00:38:54] Arsen: What other ma-
[00:38:55] Anina: 100%.
[00:38:57] Arsen: What other ideas? How do you successfully pitch local TV and press? Like, like how… What, what other things, like again, through the lens of food bloggers and travel bloggers, like what could be like, like a good, interesting unique little magnet that can be used in o- as a part of your pitch?
[00:39:12] Anina: Well, let’s talk about travel bloggers because, of course, as a hotelier I came from the travel space. Um, you’re leading into summer. They are often looking for… You can be a panelist talking about trips for European, um, successful European travel this summer. Or how to, um, you know, great wardrobe ideas and s- and get together with a style blogger that is going to model, um, the outfits that you should wear in Capri for example, or in Greece.
[00:39:42] Anina: Mm-hmm. This is what, um, you should pack to go to the Greek islands. And then you can use those as different ways of featuring what you do. And for food, it’s really easy to get into what the food calendar looks like, upcoming festivals and events. Right now we’re celebrating the America at the Table Eat250 in Washington DC, so local restaurants are creating incredible menus celebrating the culinary history that is in the United States.
[00:40:12] Anina: Um, and so as a food blogger, and as I’m saying this, I should have done it, but I haven’t, um, I should have an, you know, I should have a historic mac and cheese recipe because To- Thomas Jefferson brought mac and cheese to the United States, um, using a French technique for Mornay sauce that he discovered when he was in France.
[00:40:32] Anina: I should have done that. Did I do that? No, I did not. But I bet you that would be something that’s really good.
[00:40:37] Arsen: That i- like that, that, that is really cool. I doubt a lot of people knew about this.
[00:40:42] Anina: Right. Um, and it’s a recipe that went viral a couple years ago, and that I did my, um, three, my Mornay sauce mac and cheese.
[00:40:51] Anina: It went viral on Instagram, and I haven’t reused it so much since, so maybe I should do that now. So it’s really just paying attention to what’s happening in your local area and nationally, and, um, and thinking about ways that what you do can be tied onto that. And my best pitching ideas often will come in the shower or while walking my dog, um, because you need space to think about that.
[00:41:14] Anina: Um, and I think that it’s unrealistic to think that you’ll come up with great media hooks every single day. It really requires clearing space in your calendar to just think. It could be while you’re at the pool or, um, doing another activity that an idea will come to you, or recording a podcast. Um, and then it’s up to you to make sure that you’re then following up on it and making it happen, because that’s how media opportunities really can create magic
[00:41:43] Arsen: We have a question here. How do you build confidence when pitching, especially when you keep hearing nothing back or getting rejected, and your bribing doesn’t work?
[00:41:55] Anina: Your bribing. Um, don’t take it personally. It’s not personal. Um, and it’s hard. Of course it’s very hard. Um, but you know, it’s just like when you’re trying to sell Girl Scout cookies when you’re a, a tween, um, and you knock on doors and you get a lot of nos.
[00:42:10] Anina: Well, you still get some yeses, and knowing that it’s a numbers game and that you’re going to get more opportunities than you would have if you had not said anything. Um, and with every pitch, you get better at pitching. With every media segment, you get better at media opportunities. And, um, kind of making it as part of your important business functions that you have to do, if not every week, every month, um, to keep your business growing.
[00:42:41] Anina: Prioritize it, even though there’s no deadline. And this is where for someone like me, it’s hard for me sometimes to get up the motivation to do it because no one’s saying, “You have to pitch today.” Um, no one’s saying you need to do that, whereas there’s checklists for other things. There are other things that are much more timely that will pull attention.
[00:43:00] Anina: But spending an hour doing targeted pitches at the beginning of every week will be much more beneficial for your business than if you had not done anything.
[00:43:12] Arsen: Right. Right. And then looking at it as a, like you said, like something that needs to be done. Mm-hmm. It’s not, you’re not doing this you know, removing that expectation of a response from the task.
[00:43:24] Arsen: This is something that you’re like, you’re checking the box, right? Mm-hmm. And like I tell my staff this, “You’re checking the box on certain things,” and … ‘Cause you know, there’s a lot of feelings. So like we work with clients, and rankings go up and down. And some of my team members are like, “Oh, you know, I feel like, like I’m not succeeding, or I’m not doing it.”
[00:43:40] Arsen: Just like, “Look, it will go up, it will go down. Regardless, the work needs to be done.” And this is one of those things where you remove the emotion and the expectation of a specific outcome- Mm-hmm … and you just continue to work at it. Because the more effort you put into it, the … It’s an, it’s a game of numbers at the end of the day.
[00:43:56] Arsen: The more of these pitches you send out, the more opportunities you have. And over time, it’s going to be easier. We notice this, that as when we pitch again for link building, we pitch for link building as we continue to do this over and over again, not only that you’re increasing your opportunities by increasing the numbers of pitches, you’re also getting better at pitching, right?
[00:44:12] Arsen: Mm-hmm. Because it’s a repetition, right? Um, so yeah I agree with you. Just don’t get discouraged. Turn it into a task, something that you check a box, and you’re like, “I’m not expecting a response. I’m going to continue doing this.” Mm-hmm. “This is something that I have to do.” Um-
[00:44:30] Arsen: What are the most underutilized media opportunities for food bloggers beyond the obvious magazine features?
[00:44:37] Anina: Your own counterparts. Being featured, um, on someone else’s Instagram or someone else’s blog. Sometimes, and th- this is where we need to pat ourselves on the back, the little passion projects that we’ve created, they often have more readership than local media outlets.
[00:44:58] Anina: Um, there’s more people that go to a medium-sized blog than read a local community newspaper. Um, so really think about that. Reaching out to someone that you’ve already developed a genuine relationship with and being like, “Hey, can we, um, do a 4th of July barbecue roundup together and publish it?” And I’ll give an exa- example of this, because I have three blogger friends that are in the DC area.
[00:45:26] Anina: Um, actually, one is in Portland. Shani, and Brittany, and Cheryl, and we got together and we did a Easter recipe roundup. Um, because we like each other’s work, we w- had created this group chat where we were, um, sharing tips and tricks after several of the conferences that you were at, Arsen, as well. Um, and then I took that roundup that we had posted about Easter recipes, there were 44 Easter recipes from four food blogger BFFs, um, and I pitched it to Virginia Living magazine, and they took exactly that and published it in Virginia Living magazine.
[00:46:03] Anina: That’s
[00:46:03] Arsen: really
[00:46:03] Anina: cool. So, it’s very cool, and it’s, it wouldn’t have been newsworthy if it had just been Le Chef’s Wife’s 44 Easter recipes, because that’s advertising. That’s about me. Right. It’s not about- Right …
[00:46:13] Arsen: the
[00:46:14] Anina: community, it’s not about the reader. Um, but all of a sudden, four blogger BFFs sharing 44 recipes, um, became newsworthy, and was worthy of being in Virginia Living magazine.
[00:46:26] Anina: So using your counterparts, using your friends, um, to create more of a media event is absolutely one of the most underutilized tools. And I think people were using it a lot more when tagging someone in, on Instagram meant that your followers would also follow them. That doesn’t happen so much anymore. Um, so I’ve seen that bloggers have not been collaborating as much as they used to, but I think that there’s incredible opportunity to collaborate together and create your own stories that will get more attention
[00:47:04] Arsen: Um, we have a question from Michelle.
[00:47:06] Arsen: I’ll pull it up here on the screen. Mm-hmm. Is it worth to try, is it worth it to try with large national outlets if you have a great idea but still a smaller audience? Absolutely. If you’ve got a great idea and you know that it is of interest to a specific national outlet, it’s absolutely worth trying.
[00:47:27] Anina: Now, I wouldn’t go, and I’m gonna use the Today Show again, um, I wouldn’t go to the Today Show if you’ve never been on TV before. They are not gonna put you on the Today Show if you don’t have clips to show that you can do TV. Stepping on the Today Show platform or stage was an insane experience with probably 1,000 cameras and lights looking at you.
[00:47:48] Anina: Um, they’re not going to put you on there if you’ve never done TV. But if you have done TV before, um, and I’m saying TV, but this is not even a TV question you can absolutely pitch Food & Wine and say, “Food & Wine Magazine, um, I’ve got a great corn recipe. It goes well with state fairs. Um, you know, if you’re doing a corn roundup or you’re doing a feature on corn recipes this summer, I’d love to be, to submit my recipe for it.”
[00:48:14] Anina: Um, and then once you’re a contributor, I’m a contributor to Food & Wine Magazine, it is easier to get back onto Food & Wine Magazine because they’ve added you to payroll, um, they’ve checked you out, and then you’re on there, and so then you can just continue to pitch. But even my editor at Food & Wine Magazine doesn’t always respond when I send her pitches, even though I’m already a contributor and I’ve already proven my worth to her, but I don’t take that personally because I know that she is busy and receives multiple pitches a day.
[00:48:43] Anina: Um, and that when I get the right pitch, it will land and she will respond. But if it’s not landing, she’s not gonna respond.
[00:48:52] Arsen: Right.
[00:48:53] Anina: So yes- and, and- … it’s always worth the pitch, and especially if you’ve found the right hook. That makes- And use ChatGPT- That makes- … to help you to find the hook. If your brain doesn’t work like mine where I’m constantly l- finding links between things that are previously unrelated, um, use ChatGPT to help you to find a great link
[00:49:16] Arsen: I like what you said, your, you know, if your brain doesn’t work like mine. And let’s say, like, my brain doesn’t lo- doesn’t work like yours. Um, can we talk about just, like, rapid fire? And I know this wasn’t, like, a part of the questions, I just thought of this. Um- That’s good … top of mind Mm-hmm
[00:49:33] Arsen: rapid fire like what would be some, like, awesome pitches? Let’s say I have a general food blog. Like, what would be some, some, some ideas?
[00:49:43] Anina: Well, so the- let’s just look at what the next holidays are coming up. So barbecue and grilling, July 4th, Americana recipes. We’re celebrating America 250. Definitely get on heritage recipes done different.
[00:49:54] Anina: If you’ve got a great recipe for an Americana heritage recipe that you have put a new spin on or made it easier, um, or you’ve broken it down so that it’s not as intimidating, this is the time to pitch it. It’s, you know, it’s only two weeks away, so you’re not gonna get magazine, um, features, but you could get an online journal, you could get online publications, roundups, or TV.
[00:50:20] Anina: Um, then we’re dealing with July picnic season, and we’re dealing, you know, anything that is happening in your local community. If there’s a state fair, go with that. If you’re based in Greece and Greece gets completely overrun by American tourists, um- … these are the top five recipes that you have to try in Greece that are better than you think they are.
[00:50:40] Anina: Um, and work your hooks. You want to write the headline for the journalist, um, and use ChatGPT to help you to do that. If your headline falls flat, they’re not gonna see the interest in the story. They don’t know you. They don’t know what you’ve written. They don’t know what you’re about. And that was a huge adjustment for me, especially when you leave a career where you are known, people know you, um, and you’re with a big brand, to becoming a food blogger, where people don’t know you.
[00:51:13] Anina: They don’t know what you’re about. And so you really have to make it very simple for them to be able to place why your story is of value to them.
[00:51:21] Arsen: Um, what about travel? Some rapid fire ideas for travel
[00:51:26] Anina: traveling with kids, way to get… um, to reduce screen time. Um, getting around anything that is happening, like right now people are getting anxious about the long lines at European airports.
[00:51:37] Anina: Let’s talk about that. Ways to, um, to manage those long lines. Ways to book last minute trips or budget ways to book last minute trips to X destinations. Or staycations, um, how to do a great staycation in your own city. People right now are really worried about how they’re gonna fill their summer, um, especially people with young kids like myself.
[00:52:01] Anina: Um, and you’ve got spotty plans for childcare. Um, I think that really leaning into that. Last minute road trips you can take with your family. A friend of mine, Christy Albert, wrote a book on road trip activities. Um, that would be something to pitch. There’s really… think about what’s happening around where you are and what’s happening in your industry, and then get ahead of it is the only thing.
[00:52:24] Anina: So instead of thinking, you know, July 4th is a short time away, let’s talk about if you’re going to start your pitching journey now, then I would actually say, “You know what? Maybe summer’s not gonna be the s- what I’m gonna lean into. I’ve got these great tips for back to school. I’ve got these great tips for mini weekends you can take in the fall.”
[00:52:43] Anina: And then you start pitching it, you start getting comfortable. You’re going to magazines talking about great, um, Eastern Americans road trips to take in the fall. This is when you start thinking about it, and then- Right … work your way up. So I wouldn’t put too much pressure on yourself to land something tomorrow.
[00:53:03] Anina: Start thinking further down the road than what you think, and then work backwards.
[00:53:09] Arsen: Um, let’s quickly talk about tools. We have a few minutes left. Mm-hmm. And I think this is important, especially with everything that’s happening today. So, um, you know, we, we talked about tools that help you, um, you know, keep track of your pitches.
[00:53:25] Arsen: We talked about ChatGPT. Um, what else? What else would you recommend right now? Like, like what, what other platforms, tools that are good for what you do with outreach?
[00:53:37] Anina: So I think for bloggers, it’s really important to keep costs at a minimum, especially now as traffic is down for so many people.
[00:53:45] Anina: Um, and- Realizing that the t- tool is only as good as how often you use it. Um, I have paid expensive subscriptions, as I mentioned earlier, to services like Powerly, like Cision, that’s very expensive. Um, if you’re not using it every day, it’s not worth it. And even when y- you are using it every day, what I was absolutely blown away by is that the contacts that they would provide, because one of the services is that they offer contacts, would be like hello at The Today Show.
[00:54:22] Anina: Are you kidding me? Um, so I think it’s really important to do a lot of your own research. Um, and that you know, I don’t think that there’s a great tool for food blogger pitching yet. Maybe, Arson, we should talk about that. Um- Because that, that tool doesn’t exist in my mind. A- and if, and correct me if I’m wrong, but a tool that is really targeted to bloggers, um, in the travel space or the food space, I do not know of its existence that says, that brings journalists and, um, and bloggers together
[00:55:02] Arsen: Um, we- we’re coming to the end of this webinar, and I’m gonna post a link to your Substack.
[00:55:09] Arsen: Um, and you put together this really interesting um, document that y- I already took a look at, and y- you’ll be sending it out to people who um, who, who register. Tell us like how, like the, the process of this, right? Because like I really like what you did here because this is really, this is unique because you’re creating you created a list of let’s call them holidays. I don’t wanna give away- … unless you’re okay with that.
[00:55:32] Arsen: No,
[00:55:32] Anina: you can talk about
[00:55:32] Arsen: it. Absolutely. And here I’ll post a link, I’ll post a link in here. I’ll also um, beam it onto here, um, for everyone to screenshot or to take a look. Definitely go over there. But tell us what- … what your what, what’s happening with this, and how can this be utilized by bloggers?
[00:55:49] Anina: So I think it’s creating a calendar that you can then add into your workflow, um, that is really important. And especially when you’re starting out and you’re doing a lot of it yourself, or even if you have a VA, even if you have a small team, um, by really putting the emphasis on, okay, this is a business function that needs to get done every single week, like payroll or invoicing, um, that pitching be part of your workflow.
[00:56:16] Anina: Funnily enough, Arsen, after our conversation, I was like, “I have so much to share about what to pitch when,” that I was like, “I should start a Substack,” and literally just started a Substack about, um, what bloggers should pitch when s- specifically food creators, because that’s really my area of expertise as a blogger.
[00:56:34] Anina: Um, I think I’d be happy to talk travel as well because love travel. Um- Right Putting a weekly newsletter out where every week on Monday delivered in the inbox is, “This is what’s coming up. This is what you should be pitching for TV. This is what you should be pitching for magazines. This is what you should be pitching for online, um, publications.”
[00:56:56] Anina: Um, and also interviewing my friends who are either journalists or media experts themselves in the media of, um, realm of tips and tricks for landing the best pitch. Um, and so that’s really why this Substack was created, and that I’m really excited about and welcome you all to follow me there. Um, but I think that it’s just making sure that prioritizing pitching, because it’s often something that we say, “Oh, I have to pitch,” or, “I’ve got this great idea, I’m gonna do it,” and then we don’t touch it for six months.
[00:57:25] Anina: Um, what gets measured gets done. And just adding it to your list of responsibilities that you check in on every single week, the same way that you check in on Pinterest, the same way you check in on Instagram, um, that you create your strategies, adding PR as a strategy for your business, because it will make that difference that…
[00:57:45] Anina: And also in a way that doesn’t cost you a lot of money. Right. Because often people think that, um, you need to put a lot of money behind it. It’s not, doesn’t work that way. It’s earned media for a reason. Um, but the impact can be absolutely huge. Also, do not for, do not sleep on local awards and, um, recognition.
[00:58:07] Anina: So if there is in a magazine that has a list of top local content creators, reach out to them and say, “Hey, how can I get on your list?” A lot of them are pay to play, so even if you are a, um, dynamic woman of DC, a lot of them do require that you pay into the advertising for it. And understand that’s the way it works.
[00:58:31] Anina: Um, but it’s also can have an incredible impact on your business, um, to have those recognition, because then it feeds back, as we were talking about, LLMs, SEO. Right.
[00:58:40] Arsen: Right.
[00:58:41] Anina: Um, someone else saying that you’re great, you’re
[00:58:43] Arsen: an asset. It’s an amplifier, right. Yes. Right. Okay, so I go to Substack. I- Mm-hmm … I follow this link, I go to Substack.
[00:58:49] Arsen: I, I- Mm-hmm … I register. W- what do I get? Y- you’re do- you’re doing something cool with this, right?
[00:58:54] Anina: Yes. So you get the Food Content Creator, um, Amplifier. It is a five-page PDF with all the holidays in the year that you really should pay attention to. There’s, of course, more holidays. Um, and also don’t sleep on religious holidays as well.
[00:59:10] Anina: If you, um, have a specialty, if you’re, like I mentioned, Easter recipes, maybe it’s Yom Kippur recipes. It could be, um, really think about what is going to impact your community. Um, and then all the holidays that you should plan for, and look at them and say, “You know what? I don’t have a sweet potato recipe.
[00:59:30] Anina: I’m gonna miss Sweet Potato Day.” But maybe you do have a great recipe for Bestie Day, which is coming up on July 14th I need to pitch that now
[00:59:39] Arsen: Best potato soup. Okay, um-
[00:59:41] Anina: Yeah, and use that as- Fast
[00:59:43] Arsen: question, so-
[00:59:43] Anina: Print it up
[00:59:48] Arsen: Google Alerts- Mm-hmm … used to be the best thing ever. I’ve since stopped using them. It’s been years. Mm-hmm. But we used to set up Google Alerts for our client’s name, for anything that’s happening in an industry so that we were aware. Are there other systems or platforms that you can use right now?
[01:00:06] Arsen: And I don’t know, are Google Al- Alerts still a thing?
[01:00:08] Anina: Yes. Um- I definitely have Google Alerts set up for my clients, um, so that I can see when a pitch lands. Um, it’s always good to see it right away when it happens, ’cause you don’t always, um, you don’t always see it come through right away.
[01:00:23] Anina: Um, so Google Alerts, definitely. If you’re using media outreach platforms, um, I’m not sure if Quoted does it, but Powerly also put in alerts. Cision does alerts. Um, but again, those are very expensive. Um, so Google Alerts would be my way in. But that’s retroactive, right? It’s saying what has been said.
[01:00:44] Arsen: Right.
[01:00:45] Anina: What you could set it up for though is for keywords that are particularly interesting to you. So I have a really great crepe recipe. If crepes are being mentioned, now I haven’t done this, but I could, um, if crepes were being mentioned then maybe that’s something that I want to kind of grab onto and say, “This is happening.”
[01:01:08] Anina: Um, and I can pitch that, that I’ve got a great crepe recipe, and it happens that, um, Kim Kardashian was just eating crepes and said they were the best crepes she’s ever had. Then I can say, “Kim Kardashian loves crepes. I’ve got a great crepe recipe,” even if they’re two completely unrelated things.
[01:01:25] Arsen: Right. Right. This has been amazing. I really enjoyed this conversation. I was looking forward to this because this is different than what we usually talk about, right? We typically talk about SEO and email marketing. I feel this is very necessary. This is very important, and I think this is, like you said, this is an amplifier.
[01:01:40] Arsen: It’s not just- Mm-hmm … for SEO. It’s not just for the digital presence, because this helps across the board with everything. Mm-hmm. Anina, thank you for joining us today. Thank you for your time. We’re gonna end the stream. Don’t go anywhere, ’cause we gotta upload all this stuff so we have really good footage.
[01:01:54] Arsen: Everyone, thanks for joining us today. We’ll have a recap up soon, and this is obviously available for everyone to view as much as they want on YouTube right away. Thanks a lot. Thank you, Arsan. Loved being on here. Thank you.
[01:02:10] Arsen: All right
