Ever wondered how some entrepreneurs land major media features while others spend thousands on ads with minimal results? Former journalist Mercedes Barba pulls back the curtain on the world of earned media, revealing exactly how busy moms can get featured in publications like Business Insider, Forbes, and more—without spending a dime.
After 15 years as a journalist covering everything from Hollywood red carpets to personal finance, Mercedes noticed something fascinating: entrepreneurs featured in major publications often appeared across multiple outlets, exponentially growing their visibility and businesses. Now, as the founder of Mercedes and Media, she helps small business owners and mompreneurs tap into this powerful yet underutilized marketing strategy.
The secret lies in crafting compelling story angles that appeal to specific publications and their audiences. Mercedes shares tactical advice on creating irresistible pitches (keep them short!), finding the right journalists (research is key), and following up effectively. Unlike paid placements that can cost thousands, earned media builds authentic credibility while generating valuable backlinks and leads. One client's Business Insider feature instantly generated 5,000 leads to her website!
What makes this approach particularly valuable for mothers is its efficiency. Rather than constant content creation across multiple platforms, strategic media features provide maximum impact during limited work hours—allowing you to be fully present with your children when it matters most. As Mercedes puts it, "Time is your most valuable asset. Money means nothing if you can't control your own time."
Ready to elevate your business through media coverage? Grab Mercedes' free pitch template and start crafting your story today. The journalist's inbox is waiting for you!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Mercedes (00:00):
It's a matter of figuring out your angle,
figuring out the target mediapublications that your story
fits and then directing it andstructuring your story that will
get the attention of thejournalist.
Camille (00:21):
So you want to make an impact.
You're thinking about startinga business, sharing your voice.
How do women do it that handlemotherhood, family and still
chase after those dreams?
We'll listen each week as wedive into the stories of women
who know this is Call Me CEO.
Welcome back everyone to CallMe CEO.
(00:43):
This is Camille Walker, yourhost, and here we celebrate
mothers building businesses andfinding different ways to make
your life your own.
What is that path?
What is that division of yourtime personal and also business
that makes you feel your bestself?
And so today we're talkingabout how to use marketing to
your advantage, specificallywith public relations and
(01:07):
journalists and all of thosethings that sometimes you think
gosh, is this publicist?
Is that the way to go?
Do I need to pay for ads?
How do I do this?
Well, mercedes Barbara is withus today.
She is the CEO of Mercedes andMedia.
She spent nearly 15 years as ajournalist covering
entertainment, personal financeand entrepreneurship.
(01:28):
She's seen firsthand the powerthat media has to elevate small
businesses and helpsentrepreneurs and small
businesses get featured in bigmedia to help you get the
exposure you deserve.
So what I love about this isthat she can help you to be
discovered and featured inForbes, business Insider and
more.
But also, how do you do thiswhile being a mom?
(01:51):
How do you create thevisibility without losing your
identity or your privacy?
I think that that's a reallyinteresting piece as well.
So so excited, mercedes, tohave you on the show.
Thank you for being with ustoday.
Mercedes (02:05):
Camille, thank you so much for having me and hello to
everyone listening.
Camille (02:09):
Yeah, so when we talk about marketing and leveraging
media to grow our businessvisibility, I feel like social
media has been fantastic because, let's face it, most of it is
free.
Where we can get on thesedifferent challenge channels, we
can do our best to putourselves out there, but even
then to be really seen, it is apay to play If you're looking
(02:32):
for big exposure and findingaccess to audiences you wouldn't
otherwise have access to.
So tell us a little bit moreabout how you got into this line
of work and a little bit moreabout you.
Mercedes (02:46):
Yeah, thank you so much for that incredible
introduction.
Hello everyone, my name isMercedes Barba.
I am a former journalist turnedpublicist that helps
entrepreneurs, small businessowners, moms get featured in the
media in order to grow theirbusiness, generate visibility
and gain clients and revenue.
Grow their business, generatevisibility and gain clients and
revenue.
I spent, as you mentioned,camille, in the introduction I
(03:07):
spent almost 15 years about 13and a half years in journalism.
When I was 18, I knew I wantedto be a journalist.
I was born and raised in LA.
Somehow I found myself at 18years old interviewing on red
carpets and press junkets andinterviewing celebrities, and
I've worked with Morgan Freeman,justin Timberlake, jason Siegel
, cameron Diaz, and I was like,oh my gosh, this is so cool, but
(03:29):
there was something aboutcovering entertainment that
didn't give me that like passionthat I was really sort of
looking for in journalism.
And so, you know, growing up inLA, being a city girl, I always
loved New York City, and so Imoved to New York to pursue my
master's in journalism and itwas there that I fell into
covering personal finance,entrepreneurship, business, and
(03:51):
I was realizing, wow, you know,we're featuring small companies
or small CEOs or founders aboutmaybe their struggles in their
business or what they learned orhow they bootstrapped
themselves.
And then all of a sudden I'mnoticing, oh wow, like look, you
know, we covered them at MoneyMagazine, and now Yahoo Finance
is covering them, and nowBankrate is covering them, and
(04:13):
now Business Insider is coveringthem.
And oh look, their visibilityis getting bigger and their
business is growing.
And I was like, how can I dothat for entrepreneurs, and
particularly women?
I work a lot with women andactually most of my clients are
mothers, right, and I'm a mothermyself.
I have a two and a half yearold little boy.
So how can we get the most bangfor our buck in marketing so
(04:35):
that we can spend more timebeing at home with our little
ones, right?
And so that's sort of my ethosand what I do for myself.
You know, my son goes to schoolin the morning and that's my
time where I can kind of focusin and make sure that I'm doing.
I'm pulling all of the leversthat are going to get me the
greatest bang for my buck.
So then when I pick him up fromschool, I'm focused with him,
(04:58):
right, and so I try to do thatwith the entrepreneurs that I
work with.
So you look at a mediapublication like Business
Insider, right, they get about200 million readers a month on
average.
Okay, it could be 100 one month, it could be 300 the next month
, but on average they get about200 million readers a month.
If you get yourself featured inthere, okay, as a feature or
(05:20):
maybe as an expert source,you're instantly being put in
front of potential.
You know, I'm not saying 200million, but a million, right,
if you click to that article andboom, all of a sudden Camille
Walker is in front of a millioneyeballs and you know it really.
You know media and PR reallygives that instant credibility
(05:43):
and that instant visibility thatyou can't really get.
It's a lot harder to get with,maybe, other avenues of
marketing like social media ormaybe some paid ads.
Right, you kind of got to forkout a lot of money in paid ads
to get a lot of visibility.
So I do a type of PR that iscalled earned media.
So we don't pay like my clientsdon't pay to be featured in
(06:03):
Business Insider.
What we do is we generate storyideas that target the audiences
that read Business Insider andwe send our emails to
journalists that are coveringthose stories.
So you just have to make surethat you are formulating a story
that resonates with theaudience of whatever media
publication you're targeting.
Camille (06:24):
Okay and I love that too, because I don't know how
many of you listening have everbeen in this situation but
you'll get a DM on Instagramwhere it's like be featured in
Forbes and Business Insider.
All you have to pay is $5,000or whatever, and maybe those
articles or those features doactually happen, but it's always
(06:46):
been this pay to play scenario.
So I would love to hear whereit is a legitimate.
You've created a story, you'resharing something that people
find value in and then you arefeatured.
What are the steps or what'sthe process of doing that?
Mercedes (07:01):
Yeah, definitely so.
So, for example, I have I havea client that we got her a
feature in business insider andit was a story about her.
Here's how she shaved 20 yearsoff of her retirement age.
She's a personal finance expert, she coaches women on investing
, and, and here's how she did it.
Here's four steps that sheleveraged in order to start
investing more money.
(07:22):
Uh, you know, she, she, shebuilt a side hustle, started
investing that money, she boughtreal estate, she bought a
triplex, rented out two, livedin one right, so she's kind of
creating a little bit of wealthfor herself.
And so that business insiderimmediately generated 5,000
leads to her website.
Boom, because media publicationthey will link your website.
It'll be like Mercedes Barba,founder of Mercedes and media,
(07:45):
says that media is the numberone thing.
That and that that website linkthat you get in there.
That is your like meal ticket,as not only does it help your
SEO, which is your search engineoptimization, which is where
Google recognizes you as theexpert in your industry Um,
because the better your SEO is,the higher up in the search
rankings you are.
Camille (08:05):
Oh yeah, and if you're getting linked from Business
Insider, that's huge, huge.
Mercedes (08:10):
It's major and not only is it for your SEO, but it
is to generate direct leads toyour site.
So I always want to make surethat the clients that I work
with have some sort of leadmagnet or some sort of like
automatic opt-in page that says,hey, sign up for my newsletter,
get my free guide, and so thatway you are capturing those
leads, because we're doing a lotof the behind the scenes work
of getting you in BusinessInsider and then, once we do, we
(08:32):
want to make sure that you'regrabbing those leads right.
And so some of the things thatyou can kind of start thinking
about is like what is my story?
Like what could I talk about?
Right, I just got off a callthis morning with one of my
newest clients.
Today was our kickoff call andI'm helping her.
It's my pitch, the press programwhere I coach one-on-one on how
(08:54):
to get featured in the media,and so I'm like all right, tell
me everything.
Just word vomit everything tome.
Tell me your life story, tellme how you grew up, tell me some
of the talking points.
And so we were able to reallypinpoint a very interesting
story.
She grew up in a very religiousfamily.
She was never taught aboutfinances, never taught about
business, because in thatreligion it was the men that ran
everything.
And so for her, you know, nowshe's a mother and she teaches
(09:16):
her children about money andthey have weekly conversations
and I'm like that's the story,right, I grew up in a religious
cult where women weren't taughtfinances.
But I'm changing that narrativewith my own kids and so we're
pitching that out to businessinsider right now.
And actually she just sent me atext that, um, that she got a
response from a journalist therethat was like Ooh, I like the
(09:36):
story.
So it's a matter of like.
It's a matter of figuring outyour angle, figuring out the
target media publications.
That your angle, that your storyfits, and then directing it and
and and structuring your storythat will get the attention of
the journalist.
Because journalists I mean Iwas a journalist for 13 and a
half years Like I knew, like Iknow what pitch lands, because I
(10:00):
would get hundreds of them,even to this day, because I'm
just in like a journalistdatabase somewhere, I get
pitches all the time and even tothis day I'm like no, no,
that's not a good one.
That's not a good one.
You got to keep it short, youkeep it succinct.
You got to make sure you'respeaking to the audience that
that publication is writing toand make sure you target the
right journalists that arecovering your story or your
(10:22):
industry or your niche, becauseif you start emailing
journalists that are coveringsomething totally different,
they're going to be likeMercedes didn't do her research
on me.
Had she looked me up onLinkedIn, she would know I don't
cover that, I cover this.
So it's all about getting thosepieces in order and sending out
the pitch and waiting for theresponse.
Camille (10:43):
Ooh, I like that.
So with that, I think on yourwebsite you share your net work.
Is your net worth when you'repitching to these publicists, is
it who you know Like?
How do you find the rightpeople to reach out to that?
It could even be a potentialopportunity.
Mercedes (11:03):
That's a great question.
So when you hire a publicist soI'm also a publicist I take
pitching off of media ofentrepreneurs as plates and I do
the media pitching for them andfor me it's great because I was
a journalist for so long so Ibuilt those connections, so that
is a really great arm If youwant to get into journalism.
Hire a publicist that iscovering your industry because
they built those connections andtheir emails actually go to
(11:26):
somebody that knows their nameand they get opened For my Pitch
the Press program because I'mcoaching entrepreneurs through
it.
The beauty about that is youare building those relationships
with those journalists becausewe worked together for three
months and after three months wewill have pitched that
journalist over and over andover again and they will start
to your name and perhaps theyused you as a source in one
(11:48):
story and they're like Ooh,camille, I like her, you know
what?
I have an idea.
Maybe she could be a goodsource for my second story I'm
working on.
And so with my pitch the pressprogram, it's beautiful because
you are creating your ownnetwork and so as your business
grows, no-transcript you're notpitching them.
(12:34):
The right story that speaks tothe audience of the New York
times, then your story is notyour, your pitch is not going to
go anywhere.
Camille (12:41):
Yeah, okay, so let's let's pretend for a minute that
we're pitching someone.
How long of a pitch do theywant and how often do you pitch
them?
Mercedes (12:52):
Great question, you, okay.
So because I'm I'm still inthis database of journalists and
I still constantly get emailsto my personal Gmail.
I look at them and when they'relong, I don't read them.
And even when I was ajournalist, if they're too long,
I'm not going to read itbecause, as a journalist, I'm
working on my own deadlines.
I have my own stories that I'mworking on.
(13:13):
I've already interviewed fivepeople for a story.
I'm going through a transcript.
The last thing I want to do isread something else that is too
long and that you know.
There's a, there's a saying injournalism burying the lead
right.
Don't bury the lead.
Don't bury the the mostimportant part of the story
right.
The lead is your, is your veryfirst sentence.
(13:33):
It's going to grab the viewerand so when you're sending your
pitch email, don't bury the lead.
Start with the most importantgrabby thing first.
Like, for example, my clientwho grew up in a religious cult.
It was like I grew up in areligious cult where I were as a
woman.
I was never taught about money.
Like that is the lead, that isthe most amazing, incredible
part of her story.
(13:54):
Like, wow, look, she grew up inthis religious cult.
They didn't teach her aboutmoney, but now she's changing
the narrative with her own kids,and so when you're pitching a
journalist, you want to keep itreally short.
I do have a free guide on mywebsite, and if you go to my
website, mercedesbarbacom,you'll see it there.
It is three steps, three waysto get featured in the media
(14:14):
today, and I actually have apitch template in there that I
use every single day on my ownclients.
I'll copy it, I'll put it in aGoogle Doc and I'll rewrite it,
and it basically gives you theframework of how to write a
short, succinct pitch.
So you just want to make surethat your lead, you know your
hook, is there A little bit ofcontext about who you are, and
(14:35):
then you know a way to maybecheck out your website or your
LinkedIn or learn a little bitmore about you and your
signature, and that's it.
You want to keep it short.
You want to keep it short.
You want to keep it punchy andto the point.
Okay, so subject line what doyou typically suggest for a
(14:58):
subject line?
I always write pitch, colon, uh, and then whatever your
headline is.
So I grew up in a religiouscult and was never taught about
money.
That could be a good headlineor a good subject line for you,
because that's going to grab theattention of someone.
But you always want to makesure it says pitch so that the
journalist says, oh okay, theyknow what it is.
They know what it is, and alsosome journalists will filter it
into a different folder laterand if it says pitch, it'll
(15:21):
potentially get filtered into adifferent folder.
Or they'll search and they'llsearch pitch, and then yours
comes up, because sometimes orthey'll search and they'll
search pitch, and then yourscomes up because sometimes
journalists will get it andthey'll look at it later.
Sure End of Friday goingthrough all their pitches, right
?
So, yeah, yeah, those are greatquestions.
I mean, you're like spot onwith well, thank you.
Camille (15:42):
So I love well, we will link that freebie in the show
notes below.
And what an amazing resource.
I think that is so helpfulbecause I can relate to this in
terms of working with sponsorsfor over a decade, where either
I'm getting pitched or I'vepitched with someone and it's
always the shorter the betterwhere it's almost like making
that offer.
Are you interested in this?
(16:04):
Is it a hook, literally, thatyou would want to spend time
digging a little deeper, yes orno, and then you can continue
the conversation, or is is thiseven the right person to be
sending the pitch to?
In terms of if you're reachingout to a company and you're not
quite sure where, that's whereresearch would come into play.
And one thing that I did as ifI was looking to reach out to a
(16:26):
sponsor for one of my blog postssponsors or whatever is I would
Google a PR release and thenthe company name and see who
came up?
and see if I could link.
You know, figure out that way,or go to LinkedIn and then take
that name and plug it in and seeif that's the current one,
because it could be that theymoved to a new position or you
(16:47):
know something like that.
What?
What is your advice for findingthose people?
Mercedes (16:52):
Yeah, yeah.
So if actually finding thejournalists right, and that was
the question that you asked mebefore.
So so what I do with my clients, or what I advise my clients to
typically do, is go to businessinsider right, go to
businessinsidercom.
Typically on a mediapublication, there's a little
search bar, a little search baron the corner.
Click that search bar, type insomething associated with your
niche so motherhood,entrepreneurship, career,
(17:15):
business, uh, finance and lookto see the articles that they
have coming up.
And look, you know, click thearticle that you like that kind
of resonates with you and lookto see who wrote it.
Look to see by.
It's called a byline byMercedes Barba, written by
Mercedes, and that's a byline.
(17:35):
And if you typically those,those names are hyperlinked and
if you click that name, if youclick that link that byline page
, it'll take you to their bylinepage and a lot of the times
their email addresses will bethere.
A lot of the times it'll it'lllink to other stories that
they've covered and you're like,oh okay, this person definitely
covers career, so let me sendher a pitch.
(17:59):
Or, if they don't have theircontact info, find them on
LinkedIn and on their LinkedInsometimes they'll have their
email addresses, especially ifthey're journalists.
That's the thing withjournalists it's like we want
good stories, right, we're goingto put our emails out there so
that you pitch me a good story,because, especially if I'm a
freelance writer and I write forbusiness, insider, success
(18:19):
magazine, forbes, fortune,essence, if I'm writing for all
these publications, I'm going towant multiple stories because I
want to get paid.
So I'm going to put my emailaddress out there so that you
can continually send me pitchemails because I want to pitch
them to my media publicationsthat I'm writing for because I
want to get money to write astory.
(18:40):
So you know, with journalistssending them a blind email, I
know it's a little scary forsome people, but we welcome that
, we want that, that's sointeresting, yeah, where it's
like, why not?
Camille (18:51):
And one thing you mentioned earlier was something
like I mean, you mentioned thatyou are contacting these people
many times.
Yeah, what would you suggest?
Let's say that I am reachingout to someone and I have the
same idea, or it's this I'm thesame person.
Do I send the same pitch everytime?
(19:11):
Do I modify it every time?
How many times is too much Like?
What's your advice in thatregard?
Great question.
Mercedes (19:17):
So initially, I like to send two versions of a pitch.
So the first pitch that Itypically advise my clients to
do is let's write anintroduction of who you are,
okay, so this takes theguesswork out of what
journalists are covering.
So for you, camille, like, uh,hi, my name is Camille Walker
(19:37):
and I'm an entrepreneur and I'mthe founder of XYZ.
I'm also a mother, you know ifyou're writing, and then we
could target this to like mommy,like right, like parentingcom.
You know motherly, right, andyou could say if you're ever
writing a story where you need,um, a mom's point of view, you
know who's an entrepreneur.
I can touch on these fivedifferent things.
(19:58):
Number one running a businessfull time with four kids in the
house.
Number two, building a businesswhile my child is napping.
Number three, you know right,xyz, you know, building a
sustainable podcast that bringsyou know guests in, right, or
whatever.
And I would send that tojournalists that are covering
(20:20):
your industry, because if yougive them four or five different
talking points of what you cantouch on, then they're like ooh,
you know what I am writing.
I'm actually writing a story onentrepreneurship.
Camille, thank you for sendingthis email.
Can you touch on?
Dah dah, dah, dah dah, becauseyou're taking the guesswork out
of like what they're working onby sending them five different
ideas of what you can talk on.
Camille (20:41):
I love that because then it it establishes you in
different categories that youwant to be seen as an expert in,
and also, if any, so okay.
So that's our first one.
Yeah, like this is who I am,nice to meet you.
Mercedes (20:55):
Meet you.
So you send that today, today's, you know, let's say today's
Monday, send that on Mondaymorning.
I like to.
I liked because journaliststypically are on the East coast.
I like to schedule my emailsand send them for like 9 am
Eastern and since I'm on theWest Coast, I'm sleeping, so all
of my emails go out.
So when I wake up at 630 am, mytime, which is 930 Eastern, I
(21:16):
usually have a bunch of emails Ineed to respond to because I've
already scheduled them and sentthem out.
So typically, becausejournalists are on the East
Coast, you want to send them onEast Coast time.
There's journalists everywhere,but for the most part they're
in New York and so you want tofollow up, always in two days.
So if I send a pitch email on aMonday, I want to follow up on
Wednesday.
(21:36):
Hey, mercedes, just followingup here, if you're ever writing
any stories on moms andentrepreneurs, I would be happy
to be a source.
And if the thing withjournalists, if they like the
story, if, or if they like youas a source, they're going to,
they're going to respond to you.
If you don't hear from them,don't get discouraged.
(21:57):
It is very normal and being apublicist now this is my karma,
because I would get pitch emailsand I would never respond.
If I didn't, if I, if they, ifthey didn't resonate with me, I
wouldn't respond to them.
And so this is my karma now,because I get ghosted all the
time and but it's all verynormal, right, it's all part of
the game and so I would not giveup on that journalist.
(22:18):
It's just, it just doesn't workright now.
So what I would do is I wouldfollow up once and then kind of
leave it alone for thatintroduction pitch email.
I would send it to a number ofreporters and if you don't get
any bites, I would rewrite itand add like different talking
points, send it to the samepeople and do the same again,
(22:39):
but a different pitch, adifferent, like different bullet
points.
Okay, because maybe those bulletpoints didn't resonate.
Well, there's been so manytimes where I've rewritten a
pitch and it's generally thesame idea, but it's just
rewritten a little differently.
And then that lands with people.
They're like Ooh, yes, that soit.
You know, whatever works, yougo with it.
(22:59):
So if you get a response,continue using that.
So that would be.
My first advice is just to sendan introduction of who you are
to journalists that are coveringyour industry.
The second thing is writing anindividual pitch.
So let's kind of take out whatyour story is, let's find a hook
.
Don't bury the lead.
Let's find the hook and thenlet's write a little bit of like
(23:22):
a descriptor, a little bit moreabout what your story is, and
then we'll send that out totargeted journalists that write
features.
And again, doing your researchis extremely important.
So going on CNBCcom, going tothat search bar and typing in
stories associated with yourniche, finding the journalist's
name, trying to get theircontact information via the
website on the byline page, orfinding them on LinkedIn and
(23:46):
finding their email addressesthere.
I also do suggest connectingwith them on LinkedIn, because
if you're very active onLinkedIn and you're like hey,
I'm writing, let me write a postabout how media can create the
visibility da, da, da, da.
And let's say I'm connected to ajournalist that is writing an
article about that.
She'll see that I'm alreadytalking about it in the media
(24:07):
and she'll be like oh Mercedes,can I use you as a source?
So there's a lot of differentthings you got to do.
It's not going to happenovernight.
It definitely takes some timeto get off the ground and it's
work, you know, which is why alot of people outsource it to a
professional that justautomatically do it.
But what I like to do is I liketo teach people how to do it
themselves, so that they knowhow to do it.
(24:29):
And and maybe you can createthat offer in your coaching
program later down the line hey,here's how I use media to grow
my business.
Here's what I learned from mymedia coach.
Now I'm going to teach you.
So there's a lot of different,like incredible things that the
media can do.
Uh, create that visibility foryou.
It's fun, you know, cause yousend an email out to the ether
(24:52):
and then you get a response andyou're like oh my God, or you
get featured in an article andyou're like that's me, that's so
cool.
I didn't think it would happenfor me, but it can.
Camille (25:03):
Are you drowning in your to-do list, stuck in the
day-to-day tasks that keep youfrom scaling your business?
You didn't start your dream tobe buried in busy work.
You started it to make animpact.
That's why I am here to helpyou find how the truth and the
beauty of delegation will helpyou to reach those goals much
more quickly.
I am offering a free discoverycall to help you identify
(25:26):
exactly what you need to do andhow to find the right virtual
assistant, which are actually.
I have many graduates from mycourse 60 days to VA, who are
masters in many, many differentskillsets, so that you can find
the right virtual assistant foryou and you're able to be the
CEO that you are meant to be.
Imagine focusing on what you dobest while a skilled VA handles
(25:50):
the rest.
It's time to ditch theoverwhelm and step into your
next level of success, and youcan book your free call below at
camillewalkerco.
We can build your dreambusiness together.
Do you think it's a good idea?
Let's say, for example, um theWashington.
This is a real story.
The Washington post came to myhouse and it was during a time
(26:17):
that they were looking at umNash.
I'm trying to remember exactlywhat the poll was, but it was
something like building nationalpride and how they got to.
They did two interviews with aperson from each state and they
sent a team to your house andtalked about who you were in
America.
(26:37):
So it was presenting, likepeople of all different ages,
what they did for work, whattheir background was, and I was
featured as one of the people inthe state.
Way cool, that's very cool.
Yeah, thank you, and I'mcurious if I were to approach
another news line or anotherresource or news center, would
(27:00):
you want to bring up somethinglike that, to say I was saying
that it relates somehow, thatyou are a mother in America, as
an entrepreneur or whatever thestory is.
Is it a good idea to say asseen in and then put different
resources or places that you'vebeen seen?
Does that help for people to belike, oh, she has some
(27:21):
authority, that's helpful, or isthat just like, eh, don't
mention it.
Mercedes (27:26):
I would a hundred percent mention it.
Camille (27:28):
Okay.
Mercedes (27:29):
Yeah, yeah.
So the beauty about this islike now, if you get featured in
the in the wall street, it wasat wall no.
Camille (27:34):
Washington post yeah.
Mercedes (27:35):
You get featured in the Washington post and it's
related to your cause.
There's a lot of entrepreneursout there that are like I was
featured in a USA today article,but it has nothing to do with
your business.
It was like some random.
You know, maybe they interviewedyou in a restaurant on, like, a
different idea topic that hasnothing to do with your industry
.
A lot of entrepreneurs will belike I was featured in that
article and I'm like, yeah, butwere you not really?
(27:57):
Um, if it's not associated withyour niche, I don't suggest
putting it on your website.
Same with these pay to playthings.
So like forbes is like pay usfive thousand dollars and we'll
put you on the cover.
Like, no, like it's veryobvious that you paid for that.
Camille (28:13):
What is that?
Like, how do you are peoplegetting into that?
And then, but how do peopleknow if it's legit versus
someone?
Just I mean for it like how,how does that work?
Mercedes (28:24):
unless you're're like Mark Cuban or like Jeff Bezos,
you're probably not going to beon the cover of Forbes.
Right, that's the truth.
Oh yeah, we.
You know um, or Sarah Blakelyor you know Kim Kardashian right
, you're not going to be on thecover of Forbes.
Uh, and so when I seeentrepreneurs like I was on the
cover, it's like no, and thereason these media publications
(28:46):
do that is because media is itdoesn't generate as much money
as it did back in the day.
Right, it's sort of an evolving.
I'm not going to say it's adying industry, because I hate
when people say it's a dyingindustry, cause it's not it's,
it's evolving.
Camille (28:58):
It's an evolving industry, for sure.
Mercedes (29:00):
Evolving industry and they're just trying to see how
how to make money.
That's why there's a lot ofpaywall, you know.
That's why, like businessinsiders behind a paywall,
fortunes behind a paywall LAtimes, new York times you read
three articles a month and nowyou can't read anymore unless
you pay for it.
So they're all just trying toto stay alive in this crazy
economy that we're in.
So the reason they do thosethings is to generate money and
(29:23):
it's guaranteed placement.
And that's why you see a lot ofthese like give us 5,000,
because Fortune is probably onlycharging 2,500.
And so this media publicationis pocketing 2,500.
And so I don't like those.
I don't say, I say steer awayfrom those.
You get more visibility, morecredibility, more expertise and
(29:45):
authority when you do earnedmedia, when you have earned your
way into the media.
Camille (29:51):
Yeah, you know, and is there a way to decipher, or how
do people know, like one thatwas paid for versus one that was
earned?
Mercedes (30:00):
Sometimes it'll say like a sponsored post.
Actually, if it is sponsored,it will say sponsored post,
maybe me, because I've been.
I was a journalist that I cansee right through it you can
spot it, yeah, spot it.
I'm like no, no, like you're notgoing to be.
I mean me, as much as I wouldlove to be on the cover of
Forbes, I'm not going to be onthe cover of Forbes, you know,
unless I'm a multi-billionaireone day.
(30:22):
Right, and so you can kind ofspot those things.
Um, if you get a larger feature, typically it's an earned
placement.
Um, I mean, there are smaller,really really smaller, smaller,
like blogs and publications thatpeople are like we have a
hundred thousand subscribers onour newsletter and we get, uh,
(30:44):
you know, 200,000 clicks to ourwebsite a month and for $500,
you can have a full spread.
And again, I would take thosewith a grain of salt, because
how true are those numbers?
How many engaged subscribersare there on their newsletter?
So if you're paying 500 bucksand you only get 3% people click
(31:07):
, it's not really effective foryou.
So earned media for me isnumber one.
It's like when you get featuredin Business Insider, you're
building that credibility foryourself, you're building that
SEO, you're building thatauthority and those are the
types of articles that you wantto be placed in.
Camille (31:24):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Let's switch gears just alittle bit With building this
business.
I mean, you were in New Yorkcity, you were doing the big
corporate deal and you became amom and switched gears and built
this business for yourself.
Can you tell us a little bitabout how you did that for
yourself and how you were ableto grow that and balance the
(31:44):
craziness with also being a mom,like that's?
That's why we're here.
Mercedes (31:49):
I'd love to hear about that, how you were able to do
that, of course, and you knowwe're all moms, somehow we get
it done.
I don't know how we I mean, Ihave one and I'm, like, you know
, like drowning with one, youhave four.
You know we're women can just,can just make it work Like we
can multitask, we can hold ababy, we can type with one hand
(32:12):
and do a podcast at the sametime, you know.
But for me I felt very blessedbecause I was living in New York
.
Covid hit and I'm originallyfrom LA, so my family was like
come home.
I'm like okay.
So then when I moved back,that's when I found I met, I had
my son and but I was because ofCOVID, I was working remotely
(32:33):
and so I was able to, you know,have my son.
I was nursing him, I was inmeetings you know remote
meetings and I would hop off thecall, go go nurse him, come
back, get on my other meetings.
And so I felt very blessedbecause, as a journalist at the
time, I was working remotely andCOVID kind of changed
everything for moms, I think ahundred percent like it really
(32:54):
kind of it made it a lot easierbecause I didn't have to put my
three month old baby in adaycare.
You know, if I was in New York,I, I, I would have, I mean, I
probably would have needed itwould have been program as usual
.
Camille (33:05):
You would have just done the thing, yeah.
Mercedes (33:14):
Put my kid there, take the subway down, work five, six
, eight hours, come back, rightso, but for me I it was a.
It was a total blessing indisguise, right?
You know, covid was a horribleevent that we all went through,
but the fact that I was able tobe home with my baby was was
incredible and and but I wasworking a lot and and I didn't
have I wasn't feeling thatpassion again.
You know, I was just kind ofgoing through the motions of
journalism and I was like youknow what I want my little boy,
(33:35):
because my parents wereentrepreneurs.
I watched them as entrepreneursgrowing up and I was like I want
my son to see me working fromhome, being a mom building my
own business, because I want toshow him that it's not about
getting a college degree andworking in corporate America for
40 years and then retiring at65.
I want him to build his ownbusiness, control his own time,
(33:59):
and I'm doing that with myself.
I'm like I'm building mybusiness, I'm controlling my own
time so that when he's here,I'm focused on him and I want
him to see that.
And when he's at school, I'mfocused on my business and uh,
you know it's, it's beenbeautiful, being able to, to
stay home with him and and everyday, you know I'm I feel very
lucky.
I know a lot of moms can't dothat and for me it's just it's.
(34:23):
It's something that is such apassion for me.
I need my son to see me beingan entrepreneur, Just like your
kids, you, yeah.
Camille (34:30):
It's.
You know it, it has been such agift in that regard.
And as they get older, thequestions that they ask you
about well, what does this mean?
And how do you make the money,and how do you do this and that
and just seeing the the wheelsturn, you know, as they bring in
that information and translateit for their own meaning, is
really cool, especially where,in many cases, you can make them
(34:55):
a part of well, I'm working onthis and I need to have you help
with X, y, z, because that willhelp me and we work as one big
team.
And then it becomes thispartnership where they're like,
oh, this is cool.
And then we go on vacation andI'm like, hey, you know how I
work and do this and thatcoaching and I'm writing those
(35:15):
blog posts, that pays for thisfun that we're having together.
And it clicks for them in adifferent way when I think they
can see and be a part of it inthe day to day, where they get
to be a part of the cog, of thatfunctioning wheel to make the
life and the fun and the workall come together.
So I'm happy for you, likethat's so cool that you're
building that for yourself.
Mercedes (35:36):
And you too.
I mean, you've been, you'vebeen so incredible since you
said 2011 is when you startedbuilding, so yeah, it's, it's
wild, it just goes so fast andit's so cool.
Camille (35:47):
I would love to know for you, especially with client
acquisition?
I think that's something that Icoach a lot of people on.
Marketing is not my number oneskill.
I'm more about the systems andbuilding the teams and putting
it all together.
I have some marketing skills,but client acquisition is always
that number one pain point.
(36:07):
When someone's starting abusiness and they're saying I
need to make money, how do Ifind the clients, where are they
?
Where did you start with thatand what do you suggest other
people do with your experiencethat?
Mercedes (36:18):
you've had Great question.
I think there's a lot of, likepeople talk about imposter
syndrome, which is definitelyreal.
I mean I wake up, I mean I quitmy full-time job and I'm doing
this full-time, like this is myfull-time gig.
Yeah, quitting my job was thescariest thing, but I was like,
if I don't do it now, I'm nevergoing to do it.
I'm in my I'm 35.
Like, if I don't do it now, I'mgoing to, I'm going to work at
(36:46):
this business till I'm 65.
And then I'm going to live mylife.
That's not gonna.
That's not gonna work for me.
I will, I will I will shrivel up.
We know one wants that.
Yeah, I can't.
So so for me, what I did, youknow?
So you have this impostersyndrome that definitely comes
in.
I think there's this also, thisfear of success and this fear of
like oh, if I get a client nowI have to deliver.
(37:07):
And so I think a lot ofentrepreneurs I feel like nobody
really talks about this, butit's a fear of like oh, if I
actually get a client, like Iknow I will be successful in my
business, but oh, if I actuallyget a client now, I have to like
, deliver, and that's scary.
And so I think trying torealize that you are the expert,
that people are paying you foryour expertise, for a reason
(37:35):
they have gravitated towards you, I think sort of getting away
from that and over deliveringand over prom, over under
promising and over delivering, Ithink can help you get away
from that imposter syndrome, canhelp you get away from that uh,
fear of success syndrome.
Uh, that I definitely have.
Um and so for me, getting myfirst client, it was, it was
amazing.
And what I did is I justcreated an Instagram and I just
(37:55):
started like hey, this isMercedes, I'm a journalist, you
want to get featured in themedia, I'll teach you.
And boom, boom, boom, got one,got two.
One really big thing that hashelped me is networking calls.
Tell us about that Getting onvirtual networking calls and,
and you know cause, at thebeginning of every call it's
like okay, everyone goes aroundtelling each other what you do
(38:17):
and if you have something reallyinteresting, people are like oh
, Mercedes, they send youmessages on Zoom and they're
like I got to talk to you laterand so that's in the follow me
on Instagram.
Like that's a really good wayto kind of create that
visibility and you're notselling yourself per se, but
you're saying hi, I'm MercedesBarba, I'm a media coach.
I help entrepreneurs getfeatured in the media to grow
their business.
And having a quick elevatorpitch, they're like yes, I need
(38:40):
you, I need that, yeah and uh.
And also another big thing toois like getting in Facebook
groups and saying hi, everyone,I'm Mercedes, I just launched my
business.
I'm looking for people becauseI'm doing market research,
Market research.
I'm looking for people thatwant to hop on a call with me,
(39:01):
who fall within this category.
You know, have you ever thoughtabout media?
You know, getting featured inthe media, I can offer you some
free tips in return of a marketresearch, Right?
And so what?
What you're gaining from themis their, their pain points.
You know, you get their painpoints, and then you sort of re
(39:21):
I don't want to say regurgitate,because that's such a gross
word, but you, you know yourepeat it back to them and you
say, oh, so you have thisproblem of no visibility while I
have the solution, or you havea no problem of dah, dah, dah,
dah.
Yeah, you know.
So that's that's kind of how Idid it in the beginning, and I
was working full time and I didthis as a side hustle and then,
and then my side hustle becamemy main hustle and I left that.
Camille (39:44):
So Very cool Networking calls.
Where are we finding this?
Mercedes (39:58):
There's a lot of really great ones.
If you go on Instagram and youfollow networking like
influencers, there's a lot ofpeople out there that are like
that are networkers that willcreate these networking calls.
So if you just kind of searchon Instagram like networking,
call networking, or go toEventbrite, you know there's a
lot of virtual ones, a lot ofin-person ones too in your
community can do that yeah.
Camille (40:16):
I love all these ideas.
This has been so helpful.
You are awesome and I love thatyou're not gatekeeping anything
.
You're like this is how it is.
This is how I did it yeah.
And I think that genuinenesscomes across where people want
to work with you because theycan feel that you have a really
good energy that way.
Mercedes (40:32):
You know?
And that's, we're all in thesame boat, right?
We're all moms.
We all want to gain our timeback, because time is the most
valuable asset.
Money means nothing, you know.
Time is your valid, the mostvaluable asset, because life is
fleeting, it changes from oneday to the next and you need to
be able to control your own time.
That's, that's the biggestcommodity that we all have.
Camille (40:54):
Yeah, and yes it is.
Mercedes (40:56):
It is it's life.
Life goes like that.
I mean, how quickly do youremember your little, your 17
year old?
Don't bring it up.
I know, like at two, you knowand I know that my two year old,
I'm going to blink and he'sgoing to be 17.
Right, and it's spending.
That it's, it's, it'sreclaiming your time, especially
as a mom, and you know to, tocreate income where you can,
(41:17):
where you can stay home or youcan show your kids
entrepreneurship and business.
The world is changing, you know, especially with AI, like we
don't know where the world isgoing to be when our kids are
older.
You know, you know, and so Iwant to show them that no, you
don't have to work 40, 50 hoursa week in an office.
No, you could be on a beachright now in Mexico, working
(41:39):
remotely.
You know.
Camille (41:41):
Yeah, it's funny because I created my 60 days to
VA course pre COVID and when Ireleased it, a lot of people
were saying to me well, what's aVA?
Like a veteran, you're makingthis for a veteran.
And I'm like, no, a virtualassistant, this is something
women, I made it for mothers todo from home, or it could be
anyone.
Half of the people who havedone that course are retired
(42:04):
people who don't want to work inan office anymore, but have
amazing business experience, andpost COVID, they're like, oh my
gosh, how did I not think aboutthis working remotely, of
course and then it became thisnorm and everyone knew what a
virtual assistant was, or an, avirtual admin or whatever, and
so it's been really interestingto watch that trend and how
(42:26):
that's changed and how much moreopportunity is available for
all of us.
It's so cool.
So, yeah, I really appreciateyou sharing your experience and
everything you've done, and weare going to link that freebie
below I I know I'm going to bechecking that out because I for
sure have work to do in thisarea.
And also, I ask three questionsto all of my guests, and the
(42:50):
first is well, it's really two,but it's like, well, you'll see.
So it's what are you reading,watching or listening to?
You can pick one of each, orjust one, and then share a
motherhood moment.
Mercedes (43:02):
Oh, oh, okay, oh, you're gonna make me cry.
So what am I watching at themoment?
I always I'll finish it andthen I'll start it over and then
I'll watch it through a month.
I'm watching sex in the cityfor like a hundredth time.
Camille (43:15):
I've never seen it.
Oh, you have to, I have to butit's good.
I mean you watch it when you'reolder, from a different lens,
that you sure Younger now it'slike a comfort video where
you're like I get it now,especially where you lived in
the city.
Mercedes (43:28):
I bet that's so fun and I'm like, oh, I know exactly
where they are Exactly, butit's comforting because you know
what I really like about it.
I love the writing.
I love the writing.
It's very witty, it's funny.
Camille (43:55):
You know, obviously there's a lot of issues with
like Big and Carrie and likewhatever.
But if you want to get intolike the nitty gritty
psychological stuff, like youknow you can with them, but I
just I.
I appreciate the writing andthe humor, clever writing.
That's one of the reasons why Ilove Gilmore girls.
The writing is so clever andlike the theater, music and book
references, or like pop culture, that a lot of people don't
even catch because they say itso quickly.
It's a very clever writing.
Mercedes (44:08):
Yeah, it's so great, I love it, I love it, so I'll
just put it on the background.
When I'm like writing my pitchemail, I look up.
I'm like, oh, I remember thatpart, but yeah, you got to see,
you got to watch it.
Okay, I will, I will reportback.
Yeah, just put it out, it'sgreat.
And then my motherhood momentjust happened the other day.
Like my little boy mean, he's,he's so smart and he's like he's
(44:29):
funny, and he's only two and ahalf and he says, I mean it's,
he loves to sing.
Oh, my god, this kid will singhe knows every word to, like he
knows abracadabra by lady gaga.
He knows, like the words, likeI didn't know the words, um,
that app appa 2 song with brunomars, and it's like a Korean the
APT, apt.
(44:50):
He loves us, which I know allthe kids are nowadays like
catnip for kids.
Yes, he knows the words, likethe, the, even the Korean words,
like it's so funny, it's sofunny, and he'll sing it in his
crib.
I hear him in his bed likesinging all night Um.
But one of the things is, um, Ialways call him angel baby.
I'm like hi, angel baby, and Iwould say you're so cute.
I was telling you're so cute.
(45:11):
And so the other day I pickedhim up and I was holding him
like you know, holding where hehad his head resting on my
shoulder, and he was like, oh,mama, you're so cute, my angel
baby.
And I went oh, you know, andthese kids are listening, you
know, they're listening andthey're absorbing, and the fact
that I'm in, sometimes I'm in azoom call and he runs in and I'm
(45:33):
like, hey, babe, say hi to myclient, you know.
And he's like hi, and it's just, it's great for them to see
this like this new world of work.
I want him to see that becausefor me, my parents, they were
entrepreneurs, they never workedin an office, so I saw that,
you know, and that's what I wantfor him.
Camille (45:51):
So that's a cool legacy .
That's so awesome.
Oh, I love it.
And just a little pitch here mypodcast, five minute
meditations for kids, isdesigned for kids ages two
through 12.
And it's five minute episodesof video and audio that helps to
develop resiliency.
Episodes video and audio thathelps to develop resiliency.
(46:13):
Good affirmations we go throughall the emotions for emotional
regulation and we're actuallyopening up a Patreon that is
starting in June, so it's goingto have more nighttime bedtime
stories and it's been so fun towatch that grow, because it's
again something I researched induring COVID five minute
meditations for kids.
My youngest was three at thetime and I just wanted a place
(46:34):
of calm for my family and Icouldn't find enough of it, so I
created it.
So if that's something thatwould be of help to you, please
subscribe.
That's just my little plug forthe moment.
But, mercedes, thank you somuch for sharing everything
you've shared today.
Please tell our audience wherethey can find you.
Mercedes (46:53):
Of course.
Thank you, camille, so much forhaving me.
Thank you everyone listening.
Again.
My name is Mercedes Barba.
You can find me on InstagramMercedes and media is my handle
or you can go to Mercedes Barbadot com and send me a message
there.
Go ahead and pick up thatfreebie.
That pitch template willliterally help you write a pitch
email today and send it out toa reporter.
(47:13):
So I use it all the time.
I will copy and paste my ownlead magnet into Google and plug
and play that template.
So definitely go there.
And I'm also on LinkedIn too.
I'm very active there, butInstagram is a great way to get
hold of me.
So if any of you listening haveany questions on media and just
want to know even where to getstarted, I would love to just
say hello and send you a voicenote and and you know, I'd love
(47:37):
to just I love to helpentrepreneurs and you know, I
think a lot of people don'trealize that media is for them
and then like, oh my God hugeresource.
Camille (47:46):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
That's amazing.
And thank you everyone fortuning in.
Please make sure you aresubscribed so you never miss an
inspiring story like this one.
All right, we'll see you nexttime.
Hey CEOs, thank you so much forspending your time with me.
If you found this episodeinspiring or helpful, please let
(48:07):
me know in a comment and afive-star review.
You could have the chance ofbeing a featured review on an
upcoming episode.
Continue the conversation onInstagram at callmeCEOPodcast,
and remember you are the boss.
It's a matter of figuring out your angle,
figuring out the target mediapublications that your story
fits and then directing it andstructuring your story that will
get the attention of thejournalist.
Camille (00:21):
So you want to make an impact.
You're thinking about startinga business, sharing your voice.
How do women do it that handlemotherhood, family and still
chase after those dreams?
We'll listen each week as wedive into the stories of women
who know this is Call Me CEO.
Welcome back everyone to CallMe CEO.
(00:43):
This is Camille Walker, yourhost, and here we celebrate
mothers building businesses andfinding different ways to make
your life your own.
What is that path?
What is that division of yourtime personal and also business
that makes you feel your bestself?
And so today we're talkingabout how to use marketing to
your advantage, specificallywith public relations and
(01:07):
journalists and all of thosethings that sometimes you think
gosh, is this publicist?
Is that the way to go?
Do I need to pay for ads?
How do I do this?
Well, mercedes Barbara is withus today.
She is the CEO of Mercedes andMedia.
She spent nearly 15 years as ajournalist covering
entertainment, personal financeand entrepreneurship.
(01:28):
She's seen firsthand the powerthat media has to elevate small
businesses and helpsentrepreneurs and small
businesses get featured in bigmedia to help you get the
exposure you deserve.
So what I love about this isthat she can help you to be
discovered and featured inForbes, business Insider and
more.
But also, how do you do thiswhile being a mom?
(01:51):
How do you create thevisibility without losing your
identity or your privacy?
I think that that's a reallyinteresting piece as well.
So so excited, mercedes, tohave you on the show.
Thank you for being with ustoday.
Mercedes (02:05):
Camille, thank you so much for having me and hello to
everyone listening.
Camille (02:09):
Yeah, so when we talk about marketing and leveraging
media to grow our businessvisibility, I feel like social
media has been fantastic because, let's face it, most of it is
free.
Where we can get on thesedifferent challenge channels, we
can do our best to putourselves out there, but even
then to be really seen, it is apay to play If you're looking
(02:32):
for big exposure and findingaccess to audiences you wouldn't
otherwise have access to.
So tell us a little bit moreabout how you got into this line
of work and a little bit moreabout you.
Mercedes (02:46):
Yeah, thank you so much for that incredible
introduction.
Hello everyone, my name isMercedes Barba.
I am a former journalist turnedpublicist that helps
entrepreneurs, small businessowners, moms get featured in the
media in order to grow theirbusiness, generate visibility
and gain clients and revenue.
Grow their business, generatevisibility and gain clients and
revenue.
I spent, as you mentioned,camille, in the introduction I
(03:07):
spent almost 15 years about 13and a half years in journalism.
When I was 18, I knew I wantedto be a journalist.
I was born and raised in LA.
Somehow I found myself at 18years old interviewing on red
carpets and press junkets andinterviewing celebrities, and
I've worked with Morgan Freeman,justin Timberlake, jason Siegel
, cameron Diaz, and I was like,oh my gosh, this is so cool, but
(03:29):
there was something aboutcovering entertainment that
didn't give me that like passionthat I was really sort of
looking for in journalism.
And so, you know, growing up inLA, being a city girl, I always
loved New York City, and so Imoved to New York to pursue my
master's in journalism and itwas there that I fell into
covering personal finance,entrepreneurship, business, and
(03:51):
I was realizing, wow, you know,we're featuring small companies
or small CEOs or founders aboutmaybe their struggles in their
business or what they learned orhow they bootstrapped
themselves.
And then all of a sudden I'mnoticing, oh wow, like look, you
know, we covered them at MoneyMagazine, and now Yahoo Finance
is covering them, and nowBankrate is covering them, and
(04:13):
now Business Insider is coveringthem.
And oh look, their visibilityis getting bigger and their
business is growing.
And I was like, how can I dothat for entrepreneurs, and
particularly women?
I work a lot with women andactually most of my clients are
mothers, right, and I'm a mothermyself.
I have a two and a half yearold little boy.
So how can we get the most bangfor our buck in marketing so
(04:35):
that we can spend more timebeing at home with our little
ones, right?
And so that's sort of my ethosand what I do for myself.
You know, my son goes to schoolin the morning and that's my
time where I can kind of focusin and make sure that I'm doing.
I'm pulling all of the leversthat are going to get me the
greatest bang for my buck.
So then when I pick him up fromschool, I'm focused with him,
(04:58):
right, and so I try to do thatwith the entrepreneurs that I
work with.
So you look at a mediapublication like Business
Insider, right, they get about200 million readers a month on
average.
Okay, it could be 100 one month, it could be 300 the next month
, but on average they get about200 million readers a month.
If you get yourself featured inthere, okay, as a feature or
(05:20):
maybe as an expert source,you're instantly being put in
front of potential.
You know, I'm not saying 200million, but a million, right,
if you click to that article andboom, all of a sudden Camille
Walker is in front of a millioneyeballs and you know it really.
You know media and PR reallygives that instant credibility
(05:43):
and that instant visibility thatyou can't really get.
It's a lot harder to get with,maybe, other avenues of
marketing like social media ormaybe some paid ads.
Right, you kind of got to forkout a lot of money in paid ads
to get a lot of visibility.
So I do a type of PR that iscalled earned media.
So we don't pay like my clientsdon't pay to be featured in
(06:03):
Business Insider.
What we do is we generate storyideas that target the audiences
that read Business Insider andwe send our emails to
journalists that are coveringthose stories.
So you just have to make surethat you are formulating a story
that resonates with theaudience of whatever media
publication you're targeting.
Camille (06:24):
Okay and I love that too, because I don't know how
many of you listening have everbeen in this situation but
you'll get a DM on Instagramwhere it's like be featured in
Forbes and Business Insider.
All you have to pay is $5,000or whatever, and maybe those
articles or those features doactually happen, but it's always
(06:46):
been this pay to play scenario.
So I would love to hear whereit is a legitimate.
You've created a story, you'resharing something that people
find value in and then you arefeatured.
What are the steps or what'sthe process of doing that?
Mercedes (07:01):
Yeah, definitely so.
So, for example, I have I havea client that we got her a
feature in business insider andit was a story about her.
Here's how she shaved 20 yearsoff of her retirement age.
She's a personal finance expert, she coaches women on investing
, and, and here's how she did it.
Here's four steps that sheleveraged in order to start
investing more money.
(07:22):
Uh, you know, she, she, shebuilt a side hustle, started
investing that money, she boughtreal estate, she bought a
triplex, rented out two, livedin one right, so she's kind of
creating a little bit of wealthfor herself.
And so that business insiderimmediately generated 5,000
leads to her website.
Boom, because media publicationthey will link your website.
It'll be like Mercedes Barba,founder of Mercedes and media,
(07:45):
says that media is the numberone thing.
That and that that website linkthat you get in there.
That is your like meal ticket,as not only does it help your
SEO, which is your search engineoptimization, which is where
Google recognizes you as theexpert in your industry Um,
because the better your SEO is,the higher up in the search
rankings you are.
Camille (08:05):
Oh yeah, and if you're getting linked from Business
Insider, that's huge, huge.
Mercedes (08:10):
It's major and not only is it for your SEO, but it
is to generate direct leads toyour site.
So I always want to make surethat the clients that I work
with have some sort of leadmagnet or some sort of like
automatic opt-in page that says,hey, sign up for my newsletter,
get my free guide, and so thatway you are capturing those
leads, because we're doing a lotof the behind the scenes work
of getting you in BusinessInsider and then, once we do, we
(08:32):
want to make sure that you'regrabbing those leads right.
And so some of the things thatyou can kind of start thinking
about is like what is my story?
Like what could I talk about?
Right, I just got off a callthis morning with one of my
newest clients.
Today was our kickoff call andI'm helping her.
It's my pitch, the press programwhere I coach one-on-one on how
(08:54):
to get featured in the media,and so I'm like all right, tell
me everything.
Just word vomit everything tome.
Tell me your life story, tellme how you grew up, tell me some
of the talking points.
And so we were able to reallypinpoint a very interesting
story.
She grew up in a very religiousfamily.
She was never taught aboutfinances, never taught about
business, because in thatreligion it was the men that ran
everything.
And so for her, you know, nowshe's a mother and she teaches
(09:16):
her children about money andthey have weekly conversations
and I'm like that's the story,right, I grew up in a religious
cult where women weren't taughtfinances.
But I'm changing that narrativewith my own kids and so we're
pitching that out to businessinsider right now.
And actually she just sent me atext that, um, that she got a
response from a journalist therethat was like Ooh, I like the
(09:36):
story.
So it's a matter of like.
It's a matter of figuring outyour angle, figuring out the
target media publications.
That your angle, that your storyfits, and then directing it and
and and structuring your storythat will get the attention of
the journalist.
Because journalists I mean Iwas a journalist for 13 and a
half years Like I knew, like Iknow what pitch lands, because I
(10:00):
would get hundreds of them,even to this day, because I'm
just in like a journalistdatabase somewhere, I get
pitches all the time and even tothis day I'm like no, no,
that's not a good one.
That's not a good one.
You got to keep it short, youkeep it succinct.
You got to make sure you'respeaking to the audience that
that publication is writing toand make sure you target the
right journalists that arecovering your story or your
(10:22):
industry or your niche, becauseif you start emailing
journalists that are coveringsomething totally different,
they're going to be likeMercedes didn't do her research
on me.
Had she looked me up onLinkedIn, she would know I don't
cover that, I cover this.
So it's all about getting thosepieces in order and sending out
the pitch and waiting for theresponse.
Camille (10:43):
Ooh, I like that.
So with that, I think on yourwebsite you share your net work.
Is your net worth when you'repitching to these publicists, is
it who you know Like?
How do you find the rightpeople to reach out to that?
It could even be a potentialopportunity.
Mercedes (11:03):
That's a great question.
So when you hire a publicist soI'm also a publicist I take
pitching off of media ofentrepreneurs as plates and I do
the media pitching for them andfor me it's great because I was
a journalist for so long so Ibuilt those connections, so that
is a really great arm If youwant to get into journalism.
Hire a publicist that iscovering your industry because
they built those connections andtheir emails actually go to
(11:26):
somebody that knows their nameand they get opened For my Pitch
the Press program because I'mcoaching entrepreneurs through
it.
The beauty about that is youare building those relationships
with those journalists becausewe worked together for three
months and after three months wewill have pitched that
journalist over and over andover again and they will start
to your name and perhaps theyused you as a source in one
(11:48):
story and they're like Ooh,camille, I like her, you know
what?
I have an idea.
Maybe she could be a goodsource for my second story I'm
working on.
And so with my pitch the pressprogram, it's beautiful because
you are creating your ownnetwork and so as your business
grows, no-transcript you're notpitching them.
(12:34):
The right story that speaks tothe audience of the New York
times, then your story is notyour, your pitch is not going to
go anywhere.
Camille (12:41):
Yeah, okay, so let's let's pretend for a minute that
we're pitching someone.
How long of a pitch do theywant and how often do you pitch
them?
Mercedes (12:52):
Great question, you, okay.
So because I'm I'm still inthis database of journalists and
I still constantly get emailsto my personal Gmail.
I look at them and when they'relong, I don't read them.
And even when I was ajournalist, if they're too long,
I'm not going to read itbecause, as a journalist, I'm
working on my own deadlines.
I have my own stories that I'mworking on.
(13:13):
I've already interviewed fivepeople for a story.
I'm going through a transcript.
The last thing I want to do isread something else that is too
long and that you know.
There's a, there's a saying injournalism burying the lead
right.
Don't bury the lead.
Don't bury the the mostimportant part of the story
right.
The lead is your, is your veryfirst sentence.
(13:33):
It's going to grab the viewerand so when you're sending your
pitch email, don't bury the lead.
Start with the most importantgrabby thing first.
Like, for example, my clientwho grew up in a religious cult.
It was like I grew up in areligious cult where I were as a
woman.
I was never taught about money.
Like that is the lead, that isthe most amazing, incredible
part of her story.
(13:54):
Like, wow, look, she grew up inthis religious cult.
They didn't teach her aboutmoney, but now she's changing
the narrative with her own kids,and so when you're pitching a
journalist, you want to keep itreally short.
I do have a free guide on mywebsite, and if you go to my
website, mercedesbarbacom,you'll see it there.
It is three steps, three waysto get featured in the media
(14:14):
today, and I actually have apitch template in there that I
use every single day on my ownclients.
I'll copy it, I'll put it in aGoogle Doc and I'll rewrite it,
and it basically gives you theframework of how to write a
short, succinct pitch.
So you just want to make surethat your lead, you know your
hook, is there A little bit ofcontext about who you are, and
(14:35):
then you know a way to maybecheck out your website or your
LinkedIn or learn a little bitmore about you and your
signature, and that's it.
You want to keep it short.
You want to keep it short.
You want to keep it punchy andto the point.
Okay, so subject line what doyou typically suggest for a
(14:58):
subject line?
I always write pitch, colon, uh, and then whatever your
headline is.
So I grew up in a religiouscult and was never taught about
money.
That could be a good headlineor a good subject line for you,
because that's going to grab theattention of someone.
But you always want to makesure it says pitch so that the
journalist says, oh okay, theyknow what it is.
They know what it is, and alsosome journalists will filter it
into a different folder laterand if it says pitch, it'll
(15:21):
potentially get filtered into adifferent folder.
Or they'll search and they'llsearch pitch, and then yours
comes up, because sometimes orthey'll search and they'll
search pitch, and then yourscomes up because sometimes
journalists will get it andthey'll look at it later.
Sure End of Friday goingthrough all their pitches, right
?
So, yeah, yeah, those are greatquestions.
I mean, you're like spot onwith well, thank you.
Camille (15:42):
So I love well, we will link that freebie in the show
notes below.
And what an amazing resource.
I think that is so helpfulbecause I can relate to this in
terms of working with sponsorsfor over a decade, where either
I'm getting pitched or I'vepitched with someone and it's
always the shorter the betterwhere it's almost like making
that offer.
Are you interested in this?
(16:04):
Is it a hook, literally, thatyou would want to spend time
digging a little deeper, yes orno, and then you can continue
the conversation, or is is thiseven the right person to be
sending the pitch to?
In terms of if you're reachingout to a company and you're not
quite sure where, that's whereresearch would come into play.
And one thing that I did as ifI was looking to reach out to a
(16:26):
sponsor for one of my blog postssponsors or whatever is I would
Google a PR release and thenthe company name and see who
came up?
and see if I could link.
You know, figure out that way,or go to LinkedIn and then take
that name and plug it in and seeif that's the current one,
because it could be that theymoved to a new position or you
(16:47):
know something like that.
What?
What is your advice for findingthose people?
Mercedes (16:52):
Yeah, yeah.
So if actually finding thejournalists right, and that was
the question that you asked mebefore.
So so what I do with my clients, or what I advise my clients to
typically do, is go to businessinsider right, go to
businessinsidercom.
Typically on a mediapublication, there's a little
search bar, a little search baron the corner.
Click that search bar, type insomething associated with your
niche so motherhood,entrepreneurship, career,
(17:15):
business, uh, finance and lookto see the articles that they
have coming up.
And look, you know, click thearticle that you like that kind
of resonates with you and lookto see who wrote it.
Look to see by.
It's called a byline byMercedes Barba, written by
Mercedes, and that's a byline.
(17:35):
And if you typically those,those names are hyperlinked and
if you click that name, if youclick that link that byline page
, it'll take you to their bylinepage and a lot of the times
their email addresses will bethere.
A lot of the times it'll it'lllink to other stories that
they've covered and you're like,oh okay, this person definitely
covers career, so let me sendher a pitch.
(17:59):
Or, if they don't have theircontact info, find them on
LinkedIn and on their LinkedInsometimes they'll have their
email addresses, especially ifthey're journalists.
That's the thing withjournalists it's like we want
good stories, right, we're goingto put our emails out there so
that you pitch me a good story,because, especially if I'm a
freelance writer and I write forbusiness, insider, success
(18:19):
magazine, forbes, fortune,essence, if I'm writing for all
these publications, I'm going towant multiple stories because I
want to get paid.
So I'm going to put my emailaddress out there so that you
can continually send me pitchemails because I want to pitch
them to my media publicationsthat I'm writing for because I
want to get money to write astory.
(18:40):
So you know, with journalistssending them a blind email, I
know it's a little scary forsome people, but we welcome that
, we want that, that's sointeresting, yeah, where it's
like, why not?
Camille (18:51):
And one thing you mentioned earlier was something
like I mean, you mentioned thatyou are contacting these people
many times.
Yeah, what would you suggest?
Let's say that I am reachingout to someone and I have the
same idea, or it's this I'm thesame person.
Do I send the same pitch everytime?
(19:11):
Do I modify it every time?
How many times is too much Like?
What's your advice in thatregard?
Great question.
Mercedes (19:17):
So initially, I like to send two versions of a pitch.
So the first pitch that Itypically advise my clients to
do is let's write anintroduction of who you are,
okay, so this takes theguesswork out of what
journalists are covering.
So for you, camille, like, uh,hi, my name is Camille Walker
(19:37):
and I'm an entrepreneur and I'mthe founder of XYZ.
I'm also a mother, you know ifyou're writing, and then we
could target this to like mommy,like right, like parentingcom.
You know motherly, right, andyou could say if you're ever
writing a story where you need,um, a mom's point of view, you
know who's an entrepreneur.
I can touch on these fivedifferent things.
(19:58):
Number one running a businessfull time with four kids in the
house.
Number two, building a businesswhile my child is napping.
Number three, you know right,xyz, you know, building a
sustainable podcast that bringsyou know guests in, right, or
whatever.
And I would send that tojournalists that are covering
(20:20):
your industry, because if yougive them four or five different
talking points of what you cantouch on, then they're like ooh,
you know what I am writing.
I'm actually writing a story onentrepreneurship.
Camille, thank you for sendingthis email.
Can you touch on?
Dah dah, dah, dah dah, becauseyou're taking the guesswork out
of like what they're working onby sending them five different
ideas of what you can talk on.
Camille (20:41):
I love that because then it it establishes you in
different categories that youwant to be seen as an expert in,
and also, if any, so okay.
So that's our first one.
Yeah, like this is who I am,nice to meet you.
Mercedes (20:55):
Meet you.
So you send that today, today's, you know, let's say today's
Monday, send that on Mondaymorning.
I like to.
I liked because journaliststypically are on the East coast.
I like to schedule my emailsand send them for like 9 am
Eastern and since I'm on theWest Coast, I'm sleeping, so all
of my emails go out.
So when I wake up at 630 am, mytime, which is 930 Eastern, I
(21:16):
usually have a bunch of emails Ineed to respond to because I've
already scheduled them and sentthem out.
So typically, becausejournalists are on the East
Coast, you want to send them onEast Coast time.
There's journalists everywhere,but for the most part they're
in New York and so you want tofollow up, always in two days.
So if I send a pitch email on aMonday, I want to follow up on
Wednesday.
(21:36):
Hey, mercedes, just followingup here, if you're ever writing
any stories on moms andentrepreneurs, I would be happy
to be a source.
And if the thing withjournalists, if they like the
story, if, or if they like youas a source, they're going to,
they're going to respond to you.
If you don't hear from them,don't get discouraged.
(21:57):
It is very normal and being apublicist now this is my karma,
because I would get pitch emailsand I would never respond.
If I didn't, if I, if they, ifthey didn't resonate with me, I
wouldn't respond to them.
And so this is my karma now,because I get ghosted all the
time and but it's all verynormal, right, it's all part of
the game and so I would not giveup on that journalist.
(22:18):
It's just, it just doesn't workright now.
So what I would do is I wouldfollow up once and then kind of
leave it alone for thatintroduction pitch email.
I would send it to a number ofreporters and if you don't get
any bites, I would rewrite itand add like different talking
points, send it to the samepeople and do the same again,
(22:39):
but a different pitch, adifferent, like different bullet
points.
Okay, because maybe those bulletpoints didn't resonate.
Well, there's been so manytimes where I've rewritten a
pitch and it's generally thesame idea, but it's just
rewritten a little differently.
And then that lands with people.
They're like Ooh, yes, that soit.
You know, whatever works, yougo with it.
(22:59):
So if you get a response,continue using that.
So that would be.
My first advice is just to sendan introduction of who you are
to journalists that are coveringyour industry.
The second thing is writing anindividual pitch.
So let's kind of take out whatyour story is, let's find a hook
.
Don't bury the lead.
Let's find the hook and thenlet's write a little bit of like
(23:22):
a descriptor, a little bit moreabout what your story is, and
then we'll send that out totargeted journalists that write
features.
And again, doing your researchis extremely important.
So going on CNBCcom, going tothat search bar and typing in
stories associated with yourniche, finding the journalist's
name, trying to get theircontact information via the
website on the byline page, orfinding them on LinkedIn and
(23:46):
finding their email addressesthere.
I also do suggest connectingwith them on LinkedIn, because
if you're very active onLinkedIn and you're like hey,
I'm writing, let me write a postabout how media can create the
visibility da, da, da, da.
And let's say I'm connected to ajournalist that is writing an
article about that.
She'll see that I'm alreadytalking about it in the media
(24:07):
and she'll be like oh Mercedes,can I use you as a source?
So there's a lot of differentthings you got to do.
It's not going to happenovernight.
It definitely takes some timeto get off the ground and it's
work, you know, which is why alot of people outsource it to a
professional that justautomatically do it.
But what I like to do is I liketo teach people how to do it
themselves, so that they knowhow to do it.
(24:29):
And and maybe you can createthat offer in your coaching
program later down the line hey,here's how I use media to grow
my business.
Here's what I learned from mymedia coach.
Now I'm going to teach you.
So there's a lot of different,like incredible things that the
media can do.
Uh, create that visibility foryou.
It's fun, you know, cause yousend an email out to the ether
(24:52):
and then you get a response andyou're like oh my God, or you
get featured in an article andyou're like that's me, that's so
cool.
I didn't think it would happenfor me, but it can.
Camille (25:03):
Are you drowning in your to-do list, stuck in the
day-to-day tasks that keep youfrom scaling your business?
You didn't start your dream tobe buried in busy work.
You started it to make animpact.
That's why I am here to helpyou find how the truth and the
beauty of delegation will helpyou to reach those goals much
more quickly.
I am offering a free discoverycall to help you identify
(25:26):
exactly what you need to do andhow to find the right virtual
assistant, which are actually.
I have many graduates from mycourse 60 days to VA, who are
masters in many, many differentskillsets, so that you can find
the right virtual assistant foryou and you're able to be the
CEO that you are meant to be.
Imagine focusing on what you dobest while a skilled VA handles
(25:50):
the rest.
It's time to ditch theoverwhelm and step into your
next level of success, and youcan book your free call below at
camillewalkerco.
We can build your dreambusiness together.
Do you think it's a good idea?
Let's say, for example, um theWashington.
This is a real story.
The Washington post came to myhouse and it was during a time
(26:17):
that they were looking at umNash.
I'm trying to remember exactlywhat the poll was, but it was
something like building nationalpride and how they got to.
They did two interviews with aperson from each state and they
sent a team to your house andtalked about who you were in
America.
(26:37):
So it was presenting, likepeople of all different ages,
what they did for work, whattheir background was, and I was
featured as one of the people inthe state.
Way cool, that's very cool.
Yeah, thank you, and I'mcurious if I were to approach
another news line or anotherresource or news center, would
(27:00):
you want to bring up somethinglike that, to say I was saying
that it relates somehow, thatyou are a mother in America, as
an entrepreneur or whatever thestory is.
Is it a good idea to say asseen in and then put different
resources or places that you'vebeen seen?
Does that help for people to belike, oh, she has some
(27:21):
authority, that's helpful, or isthat just like, eh, don't
mention it.
Mercedes (27:26):
I would a hundred percent mention it.
Camille (27:28):
Okay.
Mercedes (27:29):
Yeah, yeah.
So the beauty about this islike now, if you get featured in
the in the wall street, it wasat wall no.
Camille (27:34):
Washington post yeah.
Mercedes (27:35):
You get featured in the Washington post and it's
related to your cause.
There's a lot of entrepreneursout there that are like I was
featured in a USA today article,but it has nothing to do with
your business.
It was like some random.
You know, maybe they interviewedyou in a restaurant on, like, a
different idea topic that hasnothing to do with your industry
.
A lot of entrepreneurs will belike I was featured in that
article and I'm like, yeah, butwere you not really?
(27:57):
Um, if it's not associated withyour niche, I don't suggest
putting it on your website.
Same with these pay to playthings.
So like forbes is like pay usfive thousand dollars and we'll
put you on the cover.
Like, no, like it's veryobvious that you paid for that.
Camille (28:13):
What is that?
Like, how do you are peoplegetting into that?
And then, but how do peopleknow if it's legit versus
someone?
Just I mean for it like how,how does that work?
Mercedes (28:24):
unless you're're like Mark Cuban or like Jeff Bezos,
you're probably not going to beon the cover of Forbes.
Right, that's the truth.
Oh yeah, we.
You know um, or Sarah Blakelyor you know Kim Kardashian right
, you're not going to be on thecover of Forbes.
Uh, and so when I seeentrepreneurs like I was on the
cover, it's like no, and thereason these media publications
(28:46):
do that is because media is itdoesn't generate as much money
as it did back in the day.
Right, it's sort of an evolving.
I'm not going to say it's adying industry, because I hate
when people say it's a dyingindustry, cause it's not it's,
it's evolving.
Camille (28:58):
It's an evolving industry, for sure.
Mercedes (29:00):
Evolving industry and they're just trying to see how
how to make money.
That's why there's a lot ofpaywall, you know.
That's why, like businessinsiders behind a paywall,
fortunes behind a paywall LAtimes, new York times you read
three articles a month and nowyou can't read anymore unless
you pay for it.
So they're all just trying toto stay alive in this crazy
economy that we're in.
So the reason they do thosethings is to generate money and
(29:23):
it's guaranteed placement.
And that's why you see a lot ofthese like give us 5,000,
because Fortune is probably onlycharging 2,500.
And so this media publicationis pocketing 2,500.
And so I don't like those.
I don't say, I say steer awayfrom those.
You get more visibility, morecredibility, more expertise and
(29:45):
authority when you do earnedmedia, when you have earned your
way into the media.
Camille (29:51):
Yeah, you know, and is there a way to decipher, or how
do people know, like one thatwas paid for versus one that was
earned?
Mercedes (30:00):
Sometimes it'll say like a sponsored post.
Actually, if it is sponsored,it will say sponsored post,
maybe me, because I've been.
I was a journalist that I cansee right through it you can
spot it, yeah, spot it.
I'm like no, no, like you're notgoing to be.
I mean me, as much as I wouldlove to be on the cover of
Forbes, I'm not going to be onthe cover of Forbes, you know,
unless I'm a multi-billionaireone day.
(30:22):
Right, and so you can kind ofspot those things.
Um, if you get a larger feature, typically it's an earned
placement.
Um, I mean, there are smaller,really really smaller, smaller,
like blogs and publications thatpeople are like we have a
hundred thousand subscribers onour newsletter and we get, uh,
(30:44):
you know, 200,000 clicks to ourwebsite a month and for $500,
you can have a full spread.
And again, I would take thosewith a grain of salt, because
how true are those numbers?
How many engaged subscribersare there on their newsletter?
So if you're paying 500 bucksand you only get 3% people click
(31:07):
, it's not really effective foryou.
So earned media for me isnumber one.
It's like when you get featuredin Business Insider, you're
building that credibility foryourself, you're building that
SEO, you're building thatauthority and those are the
types of articles that you wantto be placed in.
Camille (31:24):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Let's switch gears just alittle bit With building this
business.
I mean, you were in New Yorkcity, you were doing the big
corporate deal and you became amom and switched gears and built
this business for yourself.
Can you tell us a little bitabout how you did that for
yourself and how you were ableto grow that and balance the
(31:44):
craziness with also being a mom,like that's?
That's why we're here.
Mercedes (31:49):
I'd love to hear about that, how you were able to do
that, of course, and you knowwe're all moms, somehow we get
it done.
I don't know how we I mean, Ihave one and I'm, like, you know
, like drowning with one, youhave four.
You know we're women can just,can just make it work Like we
can multitask, we can hold ababy, we can type with one hand
(32:12):
and do a podcast at the sametime, you know.
But for me I felt very blessedbecause I was living in New York
.
Covid hit and I'm originallyfrom LA, so my family was like
come home.
I'm like okay.
So then when I moved back,that's when I found I met, I had
my son and but I was because ofCOVID, I was working remotely
(32:33):
and so I was able to, you know,have my son.
I was nursing him, I was inmeetings you know remote
meetings and I would hop off thecall, go go nurse him, come
back, get on my other meetings.
And so I felt very blessedbecause, as a journalist at the
time, I was working remotely andCOVID kind of changed
everything for moms, I think ahundred percent like it really
(32:54):
kind of it made it a lot easierbecause I didn't have to put my
three month old baby in adaycare.
You know, if I was in New York,I, I, I would have, I mean, I
probably would have needed itwould have been program as usual
.
Camille (33:05):
You would have just done the thing, yeah.
Mercedes (33:14):
Put my kid there, take the subway down, work five, six
, eight hours, come back, rightso, but for me I it was a.
It was a total blessing indisguise, right?
You know, covid was a horribleevent that we all went through,
but the fact that I was able tobe home with my baby was was
incredible and and but I wasworking a lot and and I didn't
have I wasn't feeling thatpassion again.
You know, I was just kind ofgoing through the motions of
journalism and I was like youknow what I want my little boy,
(33:35):
because my parents wereentrepreneurs.
I watched them as entrepreneursgrowing up and I was like I want
my son to see me working fromhome, being a mom building my
own business, because I want toshow him that it's not about
getting a college degree andworking in corporate America for
40 years and then retiring at65.
I want him to build his ownbusiness, control his own time,
(33:59):
and I'm doing that with myself.
I'm like I'm building mybusiness, I'm controlling my own
time so that when he's here,I'm focused on him and I want
him to see that.
And when he's at school, I'mfocused on my business and uh,
you know it's, it's beenbeautiful, being able to, to
stay home with him and and everyday, you know I'm I feel very
lucky.
I know a lot of moms can't dothat and for me it's just it's.
(34:23):
It's something that is such apassion for me.
I need my son to see me beingan entrepreneur, Just like your
kids, you, yeah.
Camille (34:30):
It's.
You know it, it has been such agift in that regard.
And as they get older, thequestions that they ask you
about well, what does this mean?
And how do you make the money,and how do you do this and that
and just seeing the the wheelsturn, you know, as they bring in
that information and translateit for their own meaning, is
really cool, especially where,in many cases, you can make them
(34:55):
a part of well, I'm working onthis and I need to have you help
with X, y, z, because that willhelp me and we work as one big
team.
And then it becomes thispartnership where they're like,
oh, this is cool.
And then we go on vacation andI'm like, hey, you know how I
work and do this and thatcoaching and I'm writing those
(35:15):
blog posts, that pays for thisfun that we're having together.
And it clicks for them in adifferent way when I think they
can see and be a part of it inthe day to day, where they get
to be a part of the cog, of thatfunctioning wheel to make the
life and the fun and the workall come together.
So I'm happy for you, likethat's so cool that you're
building that for yourself.
Mercedes (35:36):
And you too.
I mean, you've been, you'vebeen so incredible since you
said 2011 is when you startedbuilding, so yeah, it's, it's
wild, it just goes so fast andit's so cool.
Camille (35:47):
I would love to know for you, especially with client
acquisition?
I think that's something that Icoach a lot of people on.
Marketing is not my number oneskill.
I'm more about the systems andbuilding the teams and putting
it all together.
I have some marketing skills,but client acquisition is always
that number one pain point.
(36:07):
When someone's starting abusiness and they're saying I
need to make money, how do Ifind the clients, where are they
?
Where did you start with thatand what do you suggest other
people do with your experiencethat?
Mercedes (36:18):
you've had Great question.
I think there's a lot of, likepeople talk about imposter
syndrome, which is definitelyreal.
I mean I wake up, I mean I quitmy full-time job and I'm doing
this full-time, like this is myfull-time gig.
Yeah, quitting my job was thescariest thing, but I was like,
if I don't do it now, I'm nevergoing to do it.
I'm in my I'm 35.
Like, if I don't do it now, I'mgoing to, I'm going to work at
(36:46):
this business till I'm 65.
And then I'm going to live mylife.
That's not gonna.
That's not gonna work for me.
I will, I will I will shrivel up.
We know one wants that.
Yeah, I can't.
So so for me, what I did, youknow?
So you have this impostersyndrome that definitely comes
in.
I think there's this also, thisfear of success and this fear of
like oh, if I get a client nowI have to deliver.
(37:07):
And so I think a lot ofentrepreneurs I feel like nobody
really talks about this, butit's a fear of like oh, if I
actually get a client, like Iknow I will be successful in my
business, but oh, if I actuallyget a client now, I have to like
, deliver, and that's scary.
And so I think trying torealize that you are the expert,
that people are paying you foryour expertise, for a reason
(37:35):
they have gravitated towards you, I think sort of getting away
from that and over deliveringand over prom, over under
promising and over delivering, Ithink can help you get away
from that imposter syndrome, canhelp you get away from that uh,
fear of success syndrome.
Uh, that I definitely have.
Um and so for me, getting myfirst client, it was, it was
amazing.
And what I did is I justcreated an Instagram and I just
(37:55):
started like hey, this isMercedes, I'm a journalist, you
want to get featured in themedia, I'll teach you.
And boom, boom, boom, got one,got two.
One really big thing that hashelped me is networking calls.
Tell us about that Getting onvirtual networking calls and,
and you know cause, at thebeginning of every call it's
like okay, everyone goes aroundtelling each other what you do
(38:17):
and if you have something reallyinteresting, people are like oh
, Mercedes, they send youmessages on Zoom and they're
like I got to talk to you laterand so that's in the follow me
on Instagram.
Like that's a really good wayto kind of create that
visibility and you're notselling yourself per se, but
you're saying hi, I'm MercedesBarba, I'm a media coach.
I help entrepreneurs getfeatured in the media to grow
their business.
And having a quick elevatorpitch, they're like yes, I need
(38:40):
you, I need that, yeah and uh.
And also another big thing toois like getting in Facebook
groups and saying hi, everyone,I'm Mercedes, I just launched my
business.
I'm looking for people becauseI'm doing market research,
Market research.
I'm looking for people thatwant to hop on a call with me,
(39:01):
who fall within this category.
You know, have you ever thoughtabout media?
You know, getting featured inthe media, I can offer you some
free tips in return of a marketresearch, Right?
And so what?
What you're gaining from themis their, their pain points.
You know, you get their painpoints, and then you sort of re
(39:21):
I don't want to say regurgitate,because that's such a gross
word, but you, you know yourepeat it back to them and you
say, oh, so you have thisproblem of no visibility while I
have the solution, or you havea no problem of dah, dah, dah,
dah.
Yeah, you know.
So that's that's kind of how Idid it in the beginning, and I
was working full time and I didthis as a side hustle and then,
and then my side hustle becamemy main hustle and I left that.
Camille (39:44):
So Very cool Networking calls.
Where are we finding this?
Mercedes (39:58):
There's a lot of really great ones.
If you go on Instagram and youfollow networking like
influencers, there's a lot ofpeople out there that are like
that are networkers that willcreate these networking calls.
So if you just kind of searchon Instagram like networking,
call networking, or go toEventbrite, you know there's a
lot of virtual ones, a lot ofin-person ones too in your
community can do that yeah.
Camille (40:16):
I love all these ideas.
This has been so helpful.
You are awesome and I love thatyou're not gatekeeping anything
.
You're like this is how it is.
This is how I did it yeah.
And I think that genuinenesscomes across where people want
to work with you because theycan feel that you have a really
good energy that way.
Mercedes (40:32):
You know?
And that's, we're all in thesame boat, right?
We're all moms.
We all want to gain our timeback, because time is the most
valuable asset.
Money means nothing, you know.
Time is your valid, the mostvaluable asset, because life is
fleeting, it changes from oneday to the next and you need to
be able to control your own time.
That's, that's the biggestcommodity that we all have.
Camille (40:54):
Yeah, and yes it is.
Mercedes (40:56):
It is it's life.
Life goes like that.
I mean, how quickly do youremember your little, your 17
year old?
Don't bring it up.
I know, like at two, you knowand I know that my two year old,
I'm going to blink and he'sgoing to be 17.
Right, and it's spending.
That it's, it's, it'sreclaiming your time, especially
as a mom, and you know to, tocreate income where you can,
(41:17):
where you can stay home or youcan show your kids
entrepreneurship and business.
The world is changing, you know, especially with AI, like we
don't know where the world isgoing to be when our kids are
older.
You know, you know, and so Iwant to show them that no, you
don't have to work 40, 50 hoursa week in an office.
No, you could be on a beachright now in Mexico, working
(41:39):
remotely.
You know.
Camille (41:41):
Yeah, it's funny because I created my 60 days to
VA course pre COVID and when Ireleased it, a lot of people
were saying to me well, what's aVA?
Like a veteran, you're makingthis for a veteran.
And I'm like, no, a virtualassistant, this is something
women, I made it for mothers todo from home, or it could be
anyone.
Half of the people who havedone that course are retired
(42:04):
people who don't want to work inan office anymore, but have
amazing business experience, andpost COVID, they're like, oh my
gosh, how did I not think aboutthis working remotely, of
course and then it became thisnorm and everyone knew what a
virtual assistant was, or an, avirtual admin or whatever, and
so it's been really interestingto watch that trend and how
(42:26):
that's changed and how much moreopportunity is available for
all of us.
It's so cool.
So, yeah, I really appreciateyou sharing your experience and
everything you've done, and weare going to link that freebie
below I I know I'm going to bechecking that out because I for
sure have work to do in thisarea.
And also, I ask three questionsto all of my guests, and the
(42:50):
first is well, it's really two,but it's like, well, you'll see.
So it's what are you reading,watching or listening to?
You can pick one of each, orjust one, and then share a
motherhood moment.
Mercedes (43:02):
Oh, oh, okay, oh, you're gonna make me cry.
So what am I watching at themoment?
I always I'll finish it andthen I'll start it over and then
I'll watch it through a month.
I'm watching sex in the cityfor like a hundredth time.
Camille (43:15):
I've never seen it.
Oh, you have to, I have to butit's good.
I mean you watch it when you'reolder, from a different lens,
that you sure Younger now it'slike a comfort video where
you're like I get it now,especially where you lived in
the city.
Mercedes (43:28):
I bet that's so fun and I'm like, oh, I know exactly
where they are Exactly, butit's comforting because you know
what I really like about it.
I love the writing.
I love the writing.
It's very witty, it's funny.
Camille (43:55):
You know, obviously there's a lot of issues with
like Big and Carrie and likewhatever.
But if you want to get intolike the nitty gritty
psychological stuff, like youknow you can with them, but I
just I.
I appreciate the writing andthe humor, clever writing.
That's one of the reasons why Ilove Gilmore girls.
The writing is so clever andlike the theater, music and book
references, or like pop culture, that a lot of people don't
even catch because they say itso quickly.
It's a very clever writing.
Mercedes (44:08):
Yeah, it's so great, I love it, I love it, so I'll
just put it on the background.
When I'm like writing my pitchemail, I look up.
I'm like, oh, I remember thatpart, but yeah, you got to see,
you got to watch it.
Okay, I will, I will reportback.
Yeah, just put it out, it'sgreat.
And then my motherhood momentjust happened the other day.
Like my little boy mean, he's,he's so smart and he's like he's
(44:29):
funny, and he's only two and ahalf and he says, I mean it's,
he loves to sing.
Oh, my god, this kid will singhe knows every word to, like he
knows abracadabra by lady gaga.
He knows, like the words, likeI didn't know the words, um,
that app appa 2 song with brunomars, and it's like a Korean the
APT, apt.
(44:50):
He loves us, which I know allthe kids are nowadays like
catnip for kids.
Yes, he knows the words, likethe, the, even the Korean words,
like it's so funny, it's sofunny, and he'll sing it in his
crib.
I hear him in his bed likesinging all night Um.
But one of the things is, um, Ialways call him angel baby.
I'm like hi, angel baby, and Iwould say you're so cute.
I was telling you're so cute.
(45:11):
And so the other day I pickedhim up and I was holding him
like you know, holding where hehad his head resting on my
shoulder, and he was like, oh,mama, you're so cute, my angel
baby.
And I went oh, you know, andthese kids are listening, you
know, they're listening andthey're absorbing, and the fact
that I'm in, sometimes I'm in azoom call and he runs in and I'm
(45:33):
like, hey, babe, say hi to myclient, you know.
And he's like hi, and it's just, it's great for them to see
this like this new world of work.
I want him to see that becausefor me, my parents, they were
entrepreneurs, they never workedin an office, so I saw that,
you know, and that's what I wantfor him.
Camille (45:51):
So that's a cool legacy .
That's so awesome.
Oh, I love it.
And just a little pitch here mypodcast, five minute
meditations for kids, isdesigned for kids ages two
through 12.
And it's five minute episodesof video and audio that helps to
develop resiliency.
Episodes video and audio thathelps to develop resiliency.
(46:13):
Good affirmations we go throughall the emotions for emotional
regulation and we're actuallyopening up a Patreon that is
starting in June, so it's goingto have more nighttime bedtime
stories and it's been so fun towatch that grow, because it's
again something I researched induring COVID five minute
meditations for kids.
My youngest was three at thetime and I just wanted a place
(46:34):
of calm for my family and Icouldn't find enough of it, so I
created it.
So if that's something thatwould be of help to you, please
subscribe.
That's just my little plug forthe moment.
But, mercedes, thank you somuch for sharing everything
you've shared today.
Please tell our audience wherethey can find you.
Mercedes (46:53):
Of course.
Thank you, camille, so much forhaving me.
Thank you everyone listening.
Again.
My name is Mercedes Barba.
You can find me on InstagramMercedes and media is my handle
or you can go to Mercedes Barbadot com and send me a message
there.
Go ahead and pick up thatfreebie.
That pitch template willliterally help you write a pitch
email today and send it out toa reporter.
(47:13):
So I use it all the time.
I will copy and paste my ownlead magnet into Google and plug
and play that template.
So definitely go there.
And I'm also on LinkedIn too.
I'm very active there, butInstagram is a great way to get
hold of me.
So if any of you listening haveany questions on media and just
want to know even where to getstarted, I would love to just
say hello and send you a voicenote and and you know, I'd love
(47:37):
to just I love to helpentrepreneurs and you know, I
think a lot of people don'trealize that media is for them
and then like, oh my God hugeresource.
Camille (47:46):
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
That's amazing.
And thank you everyone fortuning in.
Please make sure you aresubscribed so you never miss an
inspiring story like this one.
All right, we'll see you nexttime.
Hey CEOs, thank you so much forspending your time with me.
If you found this episodeinspiring or helpful, please let
(48:07):
me know in a comment and afive-star review.
You could have the chance ofbeing a featured review on an
upcoming episode.
Continue the conversation onInstagram at callmeCEOPodcast,
and remember you are the boss.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.