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[Music] thank you [Music] hi guys welcome to my weekly Facebook live show I'm Jen Burson I'm the founder of generation PR the award-winning PR agency located here in Los Angeles and our clients are in the beauty and cosmetics baby and kids spaces um and I am the creator of I don't know why I'm talking in this voice I'm the creator of the Generation Academy and profitable PR Pros Community uh you may be watching that here Pro tip if you are not watching on the generation PR page and you are not following generation PR then I won't be able to see your name if you comment we figured this out last week um but as you're watching let me know who's here and we're going to get started in just a minute um I just want to give people a chance to find us how's everybody doing let me know who's here and today's topic is going to be about media contacts lists and uh why you need one how to build one that's really good an effective media contact list for your agency not all lists are created equal hi Nelson thanks for joining us let me know who's here um I have some exciting news to share um I won yesterday they announced the top women in PR from PR news and I was selected as a winner um in the industry Champions category so that's kind of fun hi Kelly um so I'm excited about that it's always um obviously it's it's great we submit you know it's not like they come find me and they're like we want to give you an award I mean you do have to throw your hat in the ring but it's always uh thank you guys so much it's always an honor to be recognized for the work outside of earning our agency the stuff that we're doing here to support this community that's what means so much to me and um you know we want to put it out there so that we can impact more people and an award like this really helps um you know our audience find us and gives us credibility and all the things that are important and wonderful when you win an award um and thank you Nelson for that Kelly um also thank you for the congrats um all right we're gonna jump in right now to our topic and it's funny because all I know who's here is Nelson and Kelly and they are both probably not at all in need of any refresher or info on this topic um but there is something valuable in showing up and hearing how other people do it or I hope both of you will throw uh suggestions our way so that we can have a collaborative conversation um yeah so let's talk about it gang I always like to learn something new that's the best attitude that is the best attitude me too currently learning the drums happened to have my drumsticks on my desk right now but um professionally personally I'm also right smack dab in the middle of my high performance coaching certification so I'm getting re-certified I run a group called Elevate that I take people through the process of high performance coaching and my certification is happening literally right now I'm playing Cookie for one hour to be here with you guys right now um but otherwise I've been doing it all week long and I love the material uh I love I love the process I love the Transformations that our group experienced last time I went through the process I want to say hi Diane it is nice to see you it's been a while um why are you taking your dogs to Starbucks are you getting puppuccinos uh uh I love that you joined us even though you're in the car with the pet with the pups my dog has been landlocked while I've been at this certification because it's been all day Monday through Thursday it ends today and it's been raining so it's been hard to kind of sneak away and take her for a walk but I planned a playdate for her with her favorite neighbor and the neighbor loves taking her because he lost his dog a little while ago papacino is so cute Lola I think she's I don't know what she's crunching on in the other room hopefully it's a bone and not something important um so and yeah Kelly DM me we're talking to prolly right right now um uh Nelson I know you mentioned this last week too um we are trying to get some kind of a promo code and or an extended trial period for our community and like I mentioned last time they want to be able to do that for us but like technically with their platform they're having a hard time finding a way to execute that so we asked them about it again and we got the same feedback that they're working on it okay so I'm not sure what that means for all of you guys maybe that that have already signed up using our link if you are interested in trying proudly you can have a free trial for a wink yeah they only are doing a week so we're trying to figure it out um but if you're gonna reach out and get a trial or look into the platform please just let me know and we'll give you our affiliate link I'm a proudly Ambassador I love the platform highly recommend it we are trying to get a better trial period or a discount or something for our our group and like I said they want to do it they just haven't figured out the technical way they can implement it but if you use my link they'll be able to see that we are driving people over there because you know they want to test the success of our ambassador program uh oh see they don't know it's like the marketing team and the sales team so sorry my name doesn't carry any weight that could help them it's really like the technical piece let me look at my email and tell you exactly what they said so that I'm not like Mis speaking here um uh they're going to have a meeting on Monday with the product team to extend the trial period to all people from my link they couldn't manage it on the marketing side that's why it's taking a lot of time um promo codes are impossible to set up in our system but it's going to be changed in the coming months but extending the trial period is of course possible okay um oh amazing oh my God can you Kelly give them my link that would be Mega heart and I would be so grateful um and let us know is that maybe why you want to DM me but yeah so just so you know that's directly what we heard from them they're meeting on Monday to figure it out so I guess no promo code they can't make that happen but they do want that match check who is the head of the marketing department said that they um oh bam you're the best Kelly thank you um and extending the trial period okay so they said that is of course possible so Nelson I wasn't misspeaking I just don't know how um and they don't even know how to execute that piece anyway okay let's dive into our topic today let me know who else is here so we can say hi and have a conversation um give me one second once I looked at that email I lost my notes okay we're going to talk about the ins and outs of media list building and I hope to give you three takeaways um basic stuff like what is a media contacts list and and what which contacts what types of contacts you should include in yours we're going to talk about three powerful strategies for effectively using your media contact list to land features and how to build a list that's totally completely customized to your needs your Niche your audience your clients all of that so every successful PR Pro knows that pitching is all about reaching the right people the right editor The Gatekeepers at the right time with the right story and to make sure that you reach out to that right editor every single time you need to have a thorough media contact list an up-to-date list at your disposal at your fingertips and your media contacts list either called a Lister or a database will include all of the media players in your Niche that would be interested in your clients that's what you're trying to do is curate a list that is targeted for the kinds of stories you're going to be pitching because of your Niche and your clients audience and the connection there and these contacts are the key to Landing your client high impact features in the top you know top tier outlets in your niches audience so the the outlets that your clients target audience are going to be reading that are the premium top tier Outlets this is who you want on your list and these are the contacts um that are going to help move the needle that are responsive and want to hear from you and really want support with sourcing stories that are interesting relevant um thorough creative you know for Their audience and so having a targeted list is going to help you know that everybody you're sending the story to is a high likelihood that they would or should have interest in what you're sending their way and um we know it takes a lot of time and effort but I do believe that there is a lot of upfront effort and then sort of like maintenance as you go along so let's talk about what goes into it how to build a list that will set you up for success and how to use yours strategically to score big placements for your clients because again it is all about delivering results that's what keeps clients in the door that is the key to consistent predictable recurring retainer Revenue which is the foundation of my framework in the agency accelerator I want you to not have to be constantly in sales mode because clients are leaving because they're not getting the kind of results that they want working with your firm so having a key edited curated list is going to really help you serve your clients well cut right to the Chase and then keep them in the door and keep them really happy so what is a media contacts list this is going to be your go-to resource when you're pitching your clients to the media and it will list out all of your media contacts who would or should be interested in stories about one or more of your clients so it basically looks like a digital address book that's fully customized to your Niche and your agency's needs and that's the key to niching down is that if you build a really solid list in your Niche that should be able to serve more than one client because you're not having to reinvent the wheel and create new media relationships for every type of client that you're working with there should be significant overlap that's how you Niche down how you make relationships get results quicker charge more niching down and this is one of the benefits is having a really tight list that you can form deeper connections with and it should include the key players in your Niche across all types of platforms and Publications so journalists Freelancers um you know uh maybe in-house reporters or freelance reporters but um and editors of course but it should also include TV producers um honor experts that maybe are not affiliated with a TV uh Network per se or um maybe they do have a regular segment about a TV show um but uh they're kind of on-air experts and they pitch themselves kind of all over the place those are great resources to have on there could be bloggers um podcasters for sure and you can also include celebrities and influencers or their teams so that you can connect with those um what is going on with you hold on she is going to start what please don't scratch me she's like dying to get out because she knows it's not raining it's gonna rain here in a little bit but um okay let me repeat that bit so also include celebrities and influencers on your list that is another service you could be providing you can charge extra for that um it might include their team so like there are publicists or their managers um but those are where uh you're going to be able to connect with some of those content creators and influencers or those kind of visible celebrities that would really help your clients if their products are aligned with that particular person you know it just really has an impact when a celebrity is organically just using your clients products and you get it get it in their hand and the next thing you know they're using it we recently did this so we have a curated list of celebrities who are moms we have you know new moms we kind of get down to the granular level of who's breastfeeding because we have a breast pump as a client and so through that we were able to get our clients pump to Mandy Moore who has mentioned it talked about it instagrammed it many many times tagged the brand she was getting ready for the Emmys she was pumping she showed her pump she's shown her milk yield and talked about the the breast pump all for free um and the client obviously it's like the gift that keeps on giving so that is another very valuable service if you want to curate a list of moms that you could pitch your Clans baby products to really powerful there so it it uh you know it should be sort of well-rounded also so that you're not limiting yourself to just major Publications or TV shows either it should include a range of national Regional local TV local TV um anything that will get them visibility wherever Their audience is um of all you know all sizes because if it is relevant to your clients it should be on your list so a lot of times we know that we pitch sort of local in order to work our way up to National and um it's also maybe quicker and easier to get those features so you want quick wins you want them to be on TV in their Hometown um local TV for sure should be on your list so what is included you want to make sure you have a list of names and emails that is technically a media contact list but you can and probably should have far more uh information than that to be effective so we want to have as much information to ensure that we're pitching the right contact at that publication so you want to have their name what is their role or their title at the at the publication obviously the email that's probably the best way to get in touch with them a mailing address if you plan to send a physical mailer and I have mentioned before we are not sending unsolicited packages anymore especially since covid there's a number of reasons why including um you know eco-friendly uh not creating waste and things that aren't really in people aren't interested in and not loading up these editors that are maybe still freelance working from home with boxes and boxes and boxes of things that they don't want if they will if they're interested and you pitch it and they request it then you can send a sample to them but you probably want their phone number if anything to include when you ship the package but maybe at one point um you want to call and follow up we do all our follow-up over email but it's still good to have the number and their social media pages and then you want to also include a link to their publication the type of media that they typically publish is it a Blog is it a digital um version of a print magazine what is their beat or their Niche and some of their relevant pieces so that you have it all in one place you can look and see what they've been up to what have they been writing about what are they currently interested in covering what types of articles are they including now is this person only writing listical content are they only covering products that are on Amazon are they always having a share a sale link you know you can look around and see how they're running their features and start to think about curating your pitch in a way that is that they will be most receptive to um and then you can include some additional notes on how they prefer to be contacted any insights from your history with them if I know that they've had a baby I will kind of keep track of that and check in on their son or daughter I'll keep track of the baby's name their age you know just because we can pitch products as they you know kind of just in advance of when they might need them and know that growth process so that we're sending relevant pitches to them and they can test it on their own baby because have a baby let's get them the monitor that you know they'll need to help them sleep better at night um and you know and then any notes in history so that you remember if they say anything or went on a trip and you can reference the trip they took because it's in your notes it's just all right there um dates of communication so that you know like what to pitch them and when and any kind of follow-up information that they shared you also want to keep your contact list up to date so we know especially right now there's a lot of layoffs a lot of people are leaving and going freelance contact information changes all the time so it's important to be on top of changes in the industry that you're in that's another reason why niching down is so important because all of these media moves are easier to track they switch beats they switch Outlets maybe they go on mat leave and they have an out of office and you take the contact that they reference and refer you to and you make a note there that you're pitching that contact instead and maybe the map leave will say when they come back so keeping track of all that's really important um this is also why our media contacts database is really helpful because our community lets us know we just did a big sweep of our media contacts database to make sure everything is up to date and current and that it's reflecting any changes in the job in the industry Market job-wise because we want it to be up to date and we realize like our community and boots on the ground are able to get that information to us faster and it takes us you know four minutes max to change it so um probably less so we try to keep ours really up to date and so you have your list we love Google Sheets so that the team can access it and you can access it anywhere you are and how you organize your list is up to you so if you have clients across multiple niches organizing your list by beat or by that Niche that could work you can do tabs you can organize it by media type you can organize it by alphabetically by publication that's up to you however your mind prefers to see that information but we love Google if you're creating your own list that spreadsheet because you can easily add columns of information you want to track you can share it with your team it's sort of like a living breathing document so it's a lot easier to ensure you're working off the most up-to-date information so how do we use a media contact list um so first of all we know that having this killer list that's really up to date curated vetted it's really important in landing killer press for your clients but it doesn't guarantee anything so you need to use that list effectively and strategically to set yourself up for success so um and any tips you guys have here let me know Diane Kelly Nelson and anyone else who's watching along please let us know because uh you know we can like Nelson said we love learning new things um and somebody may have like a ninja move that's super super clever that we may not be thinking about but uh okay the first thing I want you to keep in mind when you're pitching anybody anywhere with anything is that these are not just lines of data these are human beings that you're contacting they're real people they want to be treated as such you know um it's not a name you know I guess there's a name but it's not a faceless receptacle for your pitch it is a person so they do not want your spray and pray lazy pitches they will land you on the on a blocked list we have had editors we know very well that have sent back scathing do your research do better don't be lazy know who you're pitching responses which I would imagine really sting um but that person is now on high alert that your pitches are off the mark and they're not going to waste their time reading them so make sure it's targeted make sure it's strategically positioned for that contact put in the effort to build relationships with the people on your list you know so that's your um you're engaging with them in social media and sharing their work and showing them that you're invested in a relationship Beyond just having them do something for you just having them feature your clients and then you're moving on um your reviewing their work you're finding some kind of through line that you can reference you're finding something personal on their social feed that you can connect with like a trip they took or um like a picture they shared or something that shows that you're a person trying to connect with another person um we mention this all the time we talk about it a lot in the pitch lab but give me a heart give me a thumbs up give me something that confirms that this is how we are doing it and we're not I know all of you on here are doing that but I need first I need a like confirmation that I'm not just here talking to myself heart or thumbs up customized personalized tailored pitches not just a mail merge spray and pray thank you Kelly hi Lily nice to see you so we know customization and targeted tailored pitches move the needle thank you for that thumbs up you guys are doing it the right way that's why you're here that's why you're constantly learning and growing love it keep the good work up show your lazy colleagues where to come for the information that actually will help them convert because we see so many lazy pitches and it's embarrassing so um when you consult this list before you send out your pitches don't just pick a random handful of contacts and press send you want to do your research thoughtfully and choose the contacts who are most likely to be interested in the angle that you're pitching out you know or or interested in knowing about your clients and their products or services so they're always moving between Publications double check that they're where you think that they are before reaching out you can do like a quick search of their LinkedIn you can do a quick search of their social media see if there's been any mention of a move in their um you know their job or an announcement that they're now writing at a Current public a different publication they've added to their list of Publications that they're they're writing for so just double check and make sure that you send out that pitch that's personalized and targeted and tailored to that person and you may have this list and not every contact or every Outlet on it would be interested in a specific idea that you have for the story angle you know we're not just pitching like okay I have a product like here you go it's you know this has this is not my client but it's like this has truffles in it okay like is it truffle season who would be interested in Truffles it's like a face mask or whatever uh oh that's so funny Diane that's so clever Diane she said one time I had a Tai Chi client so I photoshopped the reporter's head on top of someone doing Tai Chi and the producer loved it and we did the story that is really really cute and clever it's just like a little extra step and for sure that's not a mass pitch because it's not you know some random picture of a person it's that specific reporter you've sent this pitch to who obviously sees that it's for them it certainly got their attention so that is an idea for customization um you probably had some idea that that producer had a good sense of humor and would be open to that super clever I love it to me that's not gimmicky in a Cheesy way or like a gimmicky PR stunt kind of way that is clever customization that will get the producers attention so well done there I love it I love that they did the story love that you photoshopped I think that's super funny uh so that's you know again another way that you can do some kind of creative personalization um okay so building your list here this is the last like section that I'm gonna walk through but you kind of have two options for creating creating a media list you can build it your scratch uh build it from scratch yourself or buy a pre-made list online and yeah has to be the right client the right reporter for sure but that's when you're using your your like your own creativity and your your mind that strategic like I have this idea the reporter seems cool the client would be okay with this like it's all to me I get that this is gonna land it's not like you're just spraying praying or like somebody will bite if I do this for 10 Outlets you're saying I get to sense this reporter has a good sense of humor and this will get their attention I think it's a good fit here so trust your judgment trust your instincts use your instincts and judgment in situations like that because that's where you bring that added value of like creating a strategy that's out thinking outside the box okay so building your media list pros and cons of building from scratch or buying online they both have pros and cons building your own list takes a lot of time but your list is going to be completely customized to your needs fully up to date because you're building it in the present and getting the most recent information and it'll be easy for your team to use because you'll have exactly the information that they need that you like to keep track of and you'll have it online as a Google sheet and everybody can be working off the most up-to-date pre-made lists are often expensive they're often littered with errors and they need some major editing right off the bat but Big Time Saver right it's a big um Head Start you know you do have to go in and and curate it still but it's a it's a good head start so whatever you choose is up to you just be ready to put in the time and the effort in both scenarios so that you can be effective with that list um if you want so we have a media contacts database it's very inexpensive if you're in the pitch lab and you had an annual membership you got that as a free bonus we have people checking into our media list all the time we have we just dumped in a ton of new contacts that Elaine Marshall shared with us that was from a list that she personally curated in um the like healthy food and beverage space and like sort of organic living so we just really updated that section thanks to her that's the beauty of our list is it's really cost effective not a ton of bells and whistles but it has up-to-date media friendly PR friendly media content not media friendly but PR friendly they want to hear from us contacts because um they are looking for sources looking for ideas and our community has worked with them before so we include them in our list and they're more likely to respond because our community has worked with them and they're responsive that's our list a more traditional done for you list that I recommend is probably like I mentioned I'm an ambassador of prolly um super Blown Away by how great their platform is and uh their database has tons of filters advanced search features um if you want to explore prowley this is my link like I said if you sign up for a free um trial please just use my list because they're tracking our partnership which would be great and like I said if you want to learn how to build a customized list that doesn't take forever you can join our pitch lab and we have really effective easy how to's that will just take you through every step of building your list plus that pure curated media we call it Community curated media contacts database that's full of up-to-date info and this also will include like PR Pro insights that will help you choose that right contact every single time so you um if you have any it has to be the right reporter yeah um sorry I missed that next comment here okay and then this is the pitch lab if you're interested like I said you get that list free if you join the annual but it's also just like anything and everything related to what is working now when pitching the media master classes around topics that are important right now and moving the needle in converting pitches a whole road map that is a Soup To Nuts beginning to leveraging building a strategy all the way to building leveraging strategy for media wins that is our roadmap so if you want to train your team on how to do PR that's in there for you too super super affordable kind of a no-brainer plus plus monthly execution plans so every single month ahead of the month we're giving you timely relevant targeted ideas so that you can work your clients their products their services their story into topical things in long and short lead time frame that editors are probably interested in at that time so um Kelly is in the pitch lab love to hear your thoughts on it um Nelson was um he joined us for a year which was awesome um and Diane Diane are you in the pitch lab I cannot recall but that's um how there is more in-depth information and we show you examples and we give you like a template uh in the pitch lab that's just really you know simple Google sheet but it has all the columns you're tracking and you can customize it and make it your own or get into our database and download those lists for yourself and you know we know that your media contacts want to receive targeted relevant interesting pitches from you so uh I have another freebie for you that is just uh Insider secrets that we'll kind of show you how oh not yet oh yeah Elaine yeah Elaine is in it uh you do need to join Diane it's really good it's like 90 it's so no-brainer it's really good um this is a freebie um that is just a Insider Secrets uh report so we ask our community what were their most kind of burning questions around Landing um top tier media coverage for their clients and our successful members of the community that are converting amazing pitches 10 of them weighed in on every question so um really good insights I always love to learn from the community um lots to learn at all times so that's what I have for you guys today I guess kind of a short one um and I also announced at the top of the call that I won an award maybe you were on when I said it maybe not but I'm really proud of the um the win it's uh an industry Champion PR news top women NPR award so really proud of that and it's all thanks to you guys because you're here you show up you give me a reason to show up every single week and um I'm just so grateful like I can't even tell you it's the greatest thing ever um I'm in the middle right now as soon as I get off I'm going to go back to my high performance coaching certification and then I'm ready to rock and bring another group through my Elevate high performance coaching oh thanks Diane I really appreciate that I love um anything that recognizes the work we're doing to support this community that's what's so important to me it's like it's not I mean it's an honor and it's like I said Awards you have to throw your hat in the ring so you don't win them unless you submit so it's not like they found me but we have to show them the work that we're doing and um it's because of this community that we're able to get that recognition so I am forever grateful for that um guys I'm here for you we have a lot in the works so much in the works um oh my God I can't even like think of everything but we have a ton cooking right now and let me think um I can't think I'm I'm stuck in a certification mode but um you know whether one of the things I'm most proud of is that we have created content that is for Mastery like if you are Nelson and you've been practicing for 30 years our content will still support you in keeping your skills up to date confirming you're doing things right um that was important to me that we have the quality of the content centered around mastery all the way it's all the way to brand new people who are looking to hone their skills or learn the skill in the first place and add it to you know retainer um based PR Services is a very profitable service to provide even as you build a team and there's a lot of margin so if you want to learn the skill we have content that can support you all the way from beginner to Mastery so just wanted to clarify that that is um first of all I'm really proud of that and second no matter where you are in your career no matter where you are in your skill level your experience level whether you're freelancer or white labeling for another company or running your own agency we have content to support you in a way that will turn you into a pitching Powerhouse help you make more money um getting more results for your clients and give you a proven strategy and framework for building and scaling a profitable agency and that is whether you've started an agency already or not if you're launching an agency or you're growing and scaling an agency and I'm mentioning this to clarify because I had a discussion with someone on a coaching call last week who said oh I didn't join the agency accelerator because I didn't think it was for me I thought it was for beginners and I was like oh my God we have so much that we can learn together you know even if like she had only been running her business for about a year or so I was like this is perfect for you she just said well I didn't see it as being for me so thank you for clarifying that that's why I mention it our aim is to support every Pro in this community that's looking to hone their skills no matter what level they're currently at and to help you create the desired business that you want to serve your work-life integration you know like next week I'm taking off um I believe I'm back Thursday oh I don't think I'm back Thursday actually no Facebook live next week because I'm gonna be um skiing with my kids well hopefully I hope that they can ski it's our first time um I probably will snowboard because I prefer it to skiing I'm better at snowboarding than skiing even though I've been skiing longer sidebar but um uh that's what I was saying I lost my train of thought I uh oh the business so I can go and it's not no sweat off my back right like clients aren't going to be like where are you why aren't you here um I probably won't check in too much um you know it's spring break and I want to be with my kids so I want you to build a business that's like that for yourself as well where you can take off you can leave and go on a trip or take the afternoon and go for a hike with your dog and your friend or choose to not work Fridays which is what I do I keep my schedule open um I do check in a little bit on Fridays but only if I want to um but mostly it's a very open day for me that's the kind of business I want to to build is one that will support work-life integration and that's why we have all of these resources for you so whatever you need let me know I'll guide you in the right direction I'll guide you to free stuff you know if you like our free content you like these lives we do every week you like you know the free articles and YouTube and the podcast we have a lot of stuff right but if you like the free stuff wait till you see the paid stuff it's so good it's so so good um so yeah wherever you are in your career I want to help you as much as I can and that's why I'm so grateful for an honor like industry champion industry Champion yeah because I am changing in in my goal is to kind of change the Paradigm of what a career path to success looks like in PR you know mine was never working at a firm mine was coming from a totally different career starting as an attorney starting a PR firm out of thin air and if I can do it you can too and I've had a lot of haters that have said that I'm not legit and I'm a scam fine then I'm not for you and that's totally fine if you are stuck in the old way you know if you want to learn an alternative Paradigm for having the kind of work-life integration you want being a mom running a business making great money loving the work you do getting to take your kids snowboarding next week for four days um and not worrying about your business that's why I'm here and hopefully that's why you're here too so I just wanted to wrap up on that note and make sure that anyone knows whether you're a beginner Advanced new seasoned looking for Mastery looking for fundamentals we got you we have so much stuff and it's all um designed to help you love your business and get results and keep your clients happy and make more money honey so that's what I have for you guys today um let us know on Instagram or um send us a DM any topic you want to learn about how you liked this little quickie training a little simple basic you know fundamental thing but we get asked a lot about media lists and building them and what should be in them and I'm happy to create content around fundamentals and Mastery like I said so have a wonderful rest of your week I will not see you next week I'll probably be driving back from my ski trip but take great care know that I'm getting an another certification I mean I am certified but I'm getting extended and I'm getting all new um Mastery training that I can Implement in high performance coaching for you and I'm so excited so if you're interested in that at all hit me up on DM I'll tell you more about it alright guys have a great rest of your week and I will see you real soon ciao