June 19, 2025 • 25 mins
Unlocking the power of regional publicity could be your design business's greatest untapped marketing resource. Many designers dream of national magazine features while overlooking the goldmine in their own backyard – local publications that reach the very clients who might actually hire you.
This episode shatters the common misconceptions about media coverage. Getting press doesn't require hiring expensive PR firms or having celebrity clients. Regional magazines actively seek local talent and compelling projects to showcase. Unlike national publications that receive thousands of pitches weekly, local editors are typically more approachable and genuinely interested in featuring businesses from their community. The perceived value of print coverage remains remarkably high in the design world, providing credibility that digital mentions simply can't match.
What makes regional publicity particularly powerful is its targeted reach. When potential clients in your area see your work beautifully displayed in a local magazine, it positions you as a trusted expert while building valuable relationships with media professionals. These features provide exceptional social proof, enhance your reputation, potentially improve your SEO, and can continue working for your business for years after publication. We break down exactly how to craft effective pitches: identifying compelling project stories, finding the right editor contact, creating an introduction email, and providing quality photography. With these straightforward steps, you'll discover that pitching your work is far less intimidating than you might have imagined.
Ready to get your projects the visibility they deserve? Join our Designer Discussions Academy where we guide you through every aspect of marketing your design business. Sign up for our waiting list at designerdiscussions.com and transform how potential clients discover your work.
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Designer Discussions is a partnership of three experts: Jason Lockhart, CEO of KABMS; Maria Martin, founder of DesignAppy; and Mirjam Lippuner, founder of Get Ink DIY
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maria Martin (00:00):
Hello and welcome to Designer Discussions with
Miriam, Jason and Maria.
Today we're speaking withMiriam about the first step to
take to get your next bestproject.
Jason Lockhart (00:13):
Welcome to Designer Discussions podcast
with.
Miriam Maria and Jason Tune ineach week, where we discuss
marketing, PR and businessadvice for design professionals.
Mirjam Lippuner (00:24):
Where we discuss marketing, pr and
business advice for designprofessionals.
So let's talk about whyregional publicity is important
for your design and for modelingbusiness.
Getting press doesn't have tobe intimidating or out of reach
and I'm saying this up frontbecause that's usually the
(00:47):
sentiment that I sense coming upwhen I start talking to people
about actually proactivelyreaching out and getting PR.
But it doesn't have to be hardbecause, in fact, some of your
best media opportunities mightbe right in your own backyard,
(01:08):
which makes it a lot moreaccessible and, I hope, less
intimidating than thinking youhave to go reach out to an
editor at AD right.
So what are we going to talkabout today?
We're going to dive into alittle bit about how to pitch to
(01:30):
local magazines.
That is the topic we have inour Design Discussions Academy
this month, so it's very top ofmind.
I'm going to go a little bitinto the difference between
regional and national outletsand how working with those two
different types of media differs.
We're going to talk more aboutthe mindset and how you can.
(01:57):
I'm basically going to try toconvince you that you can
totally do this, because I knowthat anybody can, and I'm going
to explain to you why that is,and then we're going to touch a
little bit on, once you've doneregional media, expand and grow
(02:23):
your other PR opportunities aswell.
So why should you pitch?
Why should you try to getcoverage, visibility, in your
regional media, as probably mostof you who followed us for a
while, and if you look back atprevious episodes we talk a lot
(02:46):
about getting quick press wins,which we should probably update
that episode because thoseplatforms are always changing
and just recently have.
But that is the first thing Italk about.
Then the second building blockin how I teach design and
remodeling companies to getvisibility in the media is
(03:08):
regional media.
And the reason why that is isbecause regional and we're
mostly talking regionalmagazines because in the world
of design and projects and thehome overall, print is still the
gold standard and you'veprobably heard me say this
(03:30):
before, but it's true.
It has a completely differentperceived value to have a
project covered in a magazineand printed on paper so you can
flip through it and if you havea showroom or a studio office,
you can show it to people.
And even if it's half a page ora page or maybe a double page,
(03:55):
sometimes the features are fourto six pages long.
So if you can land one of those, that's on a level on its own
it's much more valuable thanmost online mentions that you
can get for your regional, localclient base.
(04:16):
So regional magazines reallyare always looking for local
talent and they like to showcaselocal talent, local projects.
They're always looking forstories in the community and you
(04:37):
are a part of the community soyou want to think about what
content you can offer a magazinethat would be interesting for
them and their readers.
If you get coverage in yourcity or state or region, it
(05:00):
really gets your name out infront of the people that are
actually going to hire you andbuy your services.
So I'm not proclaiming thatgetting regional media coverage
is a lead generation tool, but alittle bit it is.
You know it has a touch of that.
It really helps with your brandawareness, your reputation
(05:30):
awareness, your reputation.
It can act as a pull and andbring people into into your
showroom or into your business.
It can make your phone ring allof those good things that we're
looking for.
So it really one good localfeature means that you're gonna
get get more leads.
It'll probably help your SEO.
It is amazing social proof andonce you have this piece of
(05:50):
coverage, you can use it for along time.
I know Jason said in a recentepisode that all of your content
should be very recent on yourwebsite, but trust me, if you
got coverage in a regionalmagazine two years ago, people
are still going to want to lookat it and you can still use that
(06:11):
logo and the credibility fromthat media outlet.
So I'm not saying you shouldrest on your laurels and get the
one placement and be done withit, but they are pretty
evergreen.
You know, it's like there arepeople who used to have a show
on HGTV, or maybe an appearance,and they're still using it 10
(06:34):
years later and say as featuredon.
So I think that's probably, youknow, that borders on being a
little bit unethical or just notas impactful as I'd want it to
be, but you can use it for along time, is my point.
So let's talk a little bit aboutwhy I am proposing regional
(07:00):
media over national media to you, media over national media to
you, it's number one.
It's the reach and therelevance.
I mean, obviously, nationalpublications like, let's think,
ad El Decor How's BeautifulVeranda?
(07:20):
You know all those, all theglossies.
Basically, they have a ton ofprestige, they have a wide
audience and, um, it's amazingto be picked up in one of them.
It's very difficult, though, andthe likelihood that a feature
(07:41):
like that is directly going toresult in you getting more
clients is questionable, right?
Because people are reading itall throughout the country.
The audience is not focused,and that is exactly the case
when you work with your regionalpublications.
The audience is narrower, butit's highly relevant to your
(08:05):
business and most likely yourideal client is reading that
magazine.
Especially if they are in themarket to have something either
do a remodel or have a newkitchen put in, have their house
redesigned they're likelyreading those magazines.
(08:27):
There's also accessibility, andwhat I mean by that is that it's
really, really difficult to getthe attention of the editors
that work for the big nationals.
They get hundreds, probablythousands, you know they get an
insane amount of emails everyweek from people who want to be
(08:51):
featured in the magazine.
It's difficult to get them toopen your email and it's even
more difficult if you have never.
They don't know who you are,you know.
So if you send them an email,they have no idea who you are.
They have 1,000 emails in theirinbox.
(09:12):
They're likely not going toopen it.
And even if they do, if youdon't have credentials behind
your name, like if you haven'tbeen published in other places,
it's very unlikely that they aregoing to be responsive to you
(09:32):
pitching them.
On the other hand, regionaleditors they're much more
approachable, you know, becausetheir job is to cover the
community and the good stuffthat's happening there, and so
they're much more open topitches directly from designers,
remodelers, small businesses,small and medium-sized
(09:56):
businesses in the community,because that is their focus is
to cover exactly that content.
So they are much more likely toread your email Even if you
have never talked to them.
You just want to introduceyourself when you pitch them.
Those are a couple of thethings that we specifically
(10:17):
teach in our academy in themonth where we talk about
regional pitching.
But they're very likely,probably very happy actually to
get an email from you, which isalways more fun, you know, if
you can get a positive reactionout of somebody.
There is also the timeline.
(10:38):
Actually, if it's for print,the timeline is always pretty
long, which what I mean by thatis like from the point where you
pitch your project to the pointwhere it actually gets
published.
It's definitely at least goingto be six months, even with a
lot of the regionals, especiallyfor print right, online digital
(11:01):
coverage can sometimes gofaster, but that's definitely
going to there's it takes.
It takes some time, but for thenationals it can be insanely
long, aside from the fact thatyou need professional
photography, ideally not justdone by a professional
(11:24):
photographer, but you shouldhave a stylist.
You know they're really keen onfeaturing famous people,
celebrities that live in thesehomes, properties, um, that live
in these homes, and you reallyhave to have some level of
pedigree when it comes to mediacoverage.
And even if you have all that,sometimes a project can take a
(11:47):
year or a year and a half beforeit actually gets published.
So that's really that's.
It's sort of like the tippy topof the PR tiers, I would say.
Whereas regional outlets, theyreally mostly they just care
about a great local story, youknow, any kind of project you're
(12:11):
working on that has wherethere's some community impact or
a nonprofit is involved.
They also love homeownerstories that have a human
(12:31):
interest element alongside withthe project, but it doesn't have
to be somebody famous, right?
So it's just that the barrierof entry is a lot lower.
So, in summation, I would saythat you know, national press
(12:52):
really mostly boosts your brandimage, where regional press
actually drives your business,which is why I'm a big advocate
of this for any of us businessesthat operate mostly on a local
level, from a mindsetperspective, I want to say you
(13:16):
just have to stop tellingyourself that you're not ready
for press or you don't know howto do it.
I'm like, if you've completed aproject and you're proud of it,
you are ready to pitch it.
It's not that hard, you know,it's really not that hard.
Trust me and I can teach youexactly how to do it.
(13:37):
And the first.
It doesn't have to be perfect,you know.
We have to drop the mindset ofperfection, which is something I
personally struggle with a lot,as Maria and Jason will attest
to.
We really just have to drop it.
You just have to get it done.
I also I think one of themisconceptions that's widely
(14:03):
spread is that a lot of people,when they think of regional
media, they think of buying ads.
Right, it's like oh, and thenthe ad reps are hounding you and
they're trying to sell you thisand that.
But that is not what we aretalking about here.
Right, there's two sides toevery media outlet and sometimes
they intermingle some, butthere is what I call the
(14:28):
publishing, the sales side ofthe business, where they try to
sell you ads that you pay thespace for, you create the ad and
you get published.
That is absolutely not whatwe're talking about here.
We're talking about earnedcoverage, where you have an
interesting story and the editorwho is on the editorial side of
(14:53):
the magazine, not on the salesside.
So you're working with theeditor and you're not going to
have to pay for everything andchances that you're going to be
hounded by the magazineafterwards to place more ads.
I'm not saying it can't happen,but I don't think it's likely.
You know, a lot of them havepretty not strict, but they're
(15:18):
ethical about it and if theyreach out to you and want to
sell you an ad, you can say no,there's absolutely zero pressure
to that.
If they offer, if they say,well, run the story, if you buy
an ad, that's really not veryethical.
Um in in in in the world ofmedia, but that is something
(15:40):
that's happening more and more.
I wouldn't even say that'salways necessarily a bad idea,
as long as the editorial contentis actually executed by the
editor who works at the magazineand if it, if you have money in
your marketing budget to dothat, I'd say it is actually a
good option to keep in mind.
(16:03):
But it just comes down toweighing those options.
But generally speaking, we'regoing after content for you to
get published without having topay for it.
Okay, just wanted to make thatclear.
Let's talk a little bit aboutwhat's typically holding people
(16:25):
back from pitching theirprojects.
It's often it's fear ofrejection, right Said, oh my God
, they're going to gonna ignoreme.
It's like I don't know how todo it.
I don't know what, what to say,and I'm like, and what if they
say no?
You know, and I'm like, and youknow they might very well say
(16:47):
no, but that's okay.
You know, that does not meannecessarily that your project
was bad or that your pitch wasbad.
It might just mean that it'snot right now the fit that they
are looking for.
Truth is, editors need goodcontent.
(17:07):
So you're not bothering them,you are helping them.
So if you can flip your mindsetfrom you trying to sell them
something to you trying to helpthem, you know, oftentimes that
makes people a lot morecomfortable with the approach.
And you're not pitchingyourself, right, you are
(17:29):
pitching a story.
You're pitching content to them.
So even if they turn it down,it's not a personal rejection.
You know, don't take itpersonally.
It's all part of business andwe're all just trying to run our
businesses and make a goodliving, right?
(17:50):
So if you can reframe it andwhen you reach out to them,
reframe it.
And when you reach out to themyou're just saying you know, if
I can write an email tointroduce myself to anybody, I
can pitch to the media, becausebasically that's what it is.
You're just writing an email tothem with content that they
(18:12):
care about.
So how do you do that?
I'm like there's a fewdifferent steps involved and
we're not going to go into toomuch detail, but basically you
have to find the right contactat the magazine and with you
know, media operations arerunning very, very lean these
(18:33):
days, so it shouldn't be toodifficult.
But if you read the magazine,in the front of the magazine
there's usually a page it'scalled a masthead where they
list the staff of the magazine,and you should be able to find
the editor right there.
So then what you do basicallyis you craft an email where you
(18:58):
introduce yourself and yourbusiness, you describe the
project, tell them a little bitabout what's interesting, unique
about it.
You have to give them some kindof photography, because they
need to know visually what itlooks like, and then you offer
yourself as a resource.
(19:18):
Looks like, and then you offeryourself as a resource.
Those are the basic blocks ofwhat we call a media pitch, but
let's just call it an emailyou're going to send to the
editor of your regional magazineSome of what makes projects
unique and honestly, if youthink about it, you probably
(19:38):
have a very good sense of whichones of your projects would make
a good story.
It's the ones that maybe they'retimely, they have seasonal
features, like mud rooms inspring or an outdoor living area
in summer, living area insummer, a college dorm room, you
(20:04):
know when it comes time forback to school.
Maybe the design is justspectacular in terms of color or
materials, or there's reallyfun storage solutions that you
built in.
Or maybe the project has alocal angle, like it's a
historic home or there's acommunity connection with it.
(20:26):
So there's so many differentways that you can pull out a
story from the project thatyou're working with.
But if you go through yourproject catalog in your mind I
am sure that there's probablyone or two that are going to pop
out that are a good fit, andthose are the ones you should
(20:53):
single out and pull togetheryour materials and present them
to your regional media becausechances are they might love them
.
That's really how easy it is,and once you land coverage in
(21:13):
your regional magazine numberone, it's great because you'll
have built a connection with theeditor of the magazine, which
oftentimes those people stickaround for a long time.
So that relationship really isan investment in your business.
And editors are usually reallysuper nice and sociable people
(21:38):
because they deal a lot withpeople and they love stories.
So they love connecting withbusiness owners.
So just cultivate that, youknow.
And once you've gotten oneproject published, if you have
another good idea, you can runit by them and it's going to
feel much more natural.
The second and third time youdo it, they may also reach out
(22:02):
to you and ask you for, like,expert commentary on stories
that they're working on.
So it's just just treat it likeyou treat other relationships
and just you know, maintain them, cultivate them, keep the
network and the informationflowing.
(22:26):
So once you've mastered that,then is when we would go on to
thinking about pitching higherprofile national media outlets,
which that is a whole otherpodcast episode that, honestly,
most businesses that listen tous that are in the design and
(22:48):
remodeling design build space.
Probably not, maybe, somethingthat you're ever going to want
to do, but if PR is what floatsyour boat and that's what's
important to you and you enjoyit, then absolutely go for it.
And we could talk about that inmore detail as well.
(23:09):
But so let's recap.
The recommendation is, you know, start local.
You know, with pitching yourprojects, always keep it simple.
You know, don't overthink it.
You are way more ready than youthink.
So I would encourage you you'velistened to this and maybe, if
(23:32):
you thought, oh, you know, maybeI could actually do this, you
know, I promise you you can doit, maybe I could actually do
this, you know, I promise youyou can do it.
So just, you know, pick up allyour courage and start working
on it.
If you feel like you're notquite ready, you're interested,
(23:56):
you might need some help.
You know our DesignerDiscussions Academy is a program
that you know.
It runs year round.
Our waiting list is open rightnow.
We'll start again in Octoberand if this is something maybe
you want to tackle sometime nextyear and you'd love for us to
help you with it, you can signup for the waiting list and
we'll let you know when we'reready again.
So, with that said, thanks forlistening and we'll see you
(24:20):
again in two weeks here atDesigner Discussions.
Jason Lockhart (24:24):
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(24:47):
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(25:10):
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Hello and welcome to Designer Discussions with
Miriam, Jason and Maria.
Today we're speaking withMiriam about the first step to
take to get your next bestproject.
Jason Lockhart (00:13):
Welcome to Designer Discussions podcast
with.
Miriam Maria and Jason Tune ineach week, where we discuss
marketing, PR and businessadvice for design professionals.
Mirjam Lippuner (00:24):
Where we discuss marketing, pr and
business advice for designprofessionals.
So let's talk about whyregional publicity is important
for your design and for modelingbusiness.
Getting press doesn't have tobe intimidating or out of reach
and I'm saying this up frontbecause that's usually the
(00:47):
sentiment that I sense coming upwhen I start talking to people
about actually proactivelyreaching out and getting PR.
But it doesn't have to be hardbecause, in fact, some of your
best media opportunities mightbe right in your own backyard,
(01:08):
which makes it a lot moreaccessible and, I hope, less
intimidating than thinking youhave to go reach out to an
editor at AD right.
So what are we going to talkabout today?
We're going to dive into alittle bit about how to pitch to
(01:30):
local magazines.
That is the topic we have inour Design Discussions Academy
this month, so it's very top ofmind.
I'm going to go a little bitinto the difference between
regional and national outletsand how working with those two
different types of media differs.
We're going to talk more aboutthe mindset and how you can.
(01:57):
I'm basically going to try toconvince you that you can
totally do this, because I knowthat anybody can, and I'm going
to explain to you why that is,and then we're going to touch a
little bit on, once you've doneregional media, expand and grow
(02:23):
your other PR opportunities aswell.
So why should you pitch?
Why should you try to getcoverage, visibility, in your
regional media, as probably mostof you who followed us for a
while, and if you look back atprevious episodes we talk a lot
(02:46):
about getting quick press wins,which we should probably update
that episode because thoseplatforms are always changing
and just recently have.
But that is the first thing Italk about.
Then the second building blockin how I teach design and
remodeling companies to getvisibility in the media is
(03:08):
regional media.
And the reason why that is isbecause regional and we're
mostly talking regionalmagazines because in the world
of design and projects and thehome overall, print is still the
gold standard and you'veprobably heard me say this
(03:30):
before, but it's true.
It has a completely differentperceived value to have a
project covered in a magazineand printed on paper so you can
flip through it and if you havea showroom or a studio office,
you can show it to people.
And even if it's half a page ora page or maybe a double page,
(03:55):
sometimes the features are fourto six pages long.
So if you can land one of those, that's on a level on its own
it's much more valuable thanmost online mentions that you
can get for your regional, localclient base.
(04:16):
So regional magazines reallyare always looking for local
talent and they like to showcaselocal talent, local projects.
They're always looking forstories in the community and you
(04:37):
are a part of the community soyou want to think about what
content you can offer a magazinethat would be interesting for
them and their readers.
If you get coverage in yourcity or state or region, it
(05:00):
really gets your name out infront of the people that are
actually going to hire you andbuy your services.
So I'm not proclaiming thatgetting regional media coverage
is a lead generation tool, but alittle bit it is.
You know it has a touch of that.
It really helps with your brandawareness, your reputation
(05:30):
awareness, your reputation.
It can act as a pull and andbring people into into your
showroom or into your business.
It can make your phone ring allof those good things that we're
looking for.
So it really one good localfeature means that you're gonna
get get more leads.
It'll probably help your SEO.
It is amazing social proof andonce you have this piece of
(05:50):
coverage, you can use it for along time.
I know Jason said in a recentepisode that all of your content
should be very recent on yourwebsite, but trust me, if you
got coverage in a regionalmagazine two years ago, people
are still going to want to lookat it and you can still use that
(06:11):
logo and the credibility fromthat media outlet.
So I'm not saying you shouldrest on your laurels and get the
one placement and be done withit, but they are pretty
evergreen.
You know, it's like there arepeople who used to have a show
on HGTV, or maybe an appearance,and they're still using it 10
(06:34):
years later and say as featuredon.
So I think that's probably, youknow, that borders on being a
little bit unethical or just notas impactful as I'd want it to
be, but you can use it for along time, is my point.
So let's talk a little bit aboutwhy I am proposing regional
(07:00):
media over national media to you, media over national media to
you, it's number one.
It's the reach and therelevance.
I mean, obviously, nationalpublications like, let's think,
ad El Decor How's BeautifulVeranda?
(07:20):
You know all those, all theglossies.
Basically, they have a ton ofprestige, they have a wide
audience and, um, it's amazingto be picked up in one of them.
It's very difficult, though, andthe likelihood that a feature
(07:41):
like that is directly going toresult in you getting more
clients is questionable, right?
Because people are reading itall throughout the country.
The audience is not focused,and that is exactly the case
when you work with your regionalpublications.
The audience is narrower, butit's highly relevant to your
(08:05):
business and most likely yourideal client is reading that
magazine.
Especially if they are in themarket to have something either
do a remodel or have a newkitchen put in, have their house
redesigned they're likelyreading those magazines.
(08:27):
There's also accessibility, andwhat I mean by that is that it's
really, really difficult to getthe attention of the editors
that work for the big nationals.
They get hundreds, probablythousands, you know they get an
insane amount of emails everyweek from people who want to be
(08:51):
featured in the magazine.
It's difficult to get them toopen your email and it's even
more difficult if you have never.
They don't know who you are,you know.
So if you send them an email,they have no idea who you are.
They have 1,000 emails in theirinbox.
(09:12):
They're likely not going toopen it.
And even if they do, if youdon't have credentials behind
your name, like if you haven'tbeen published in other places,
it's very unlikely that they aregoing to be responsive to you
(09:32):
pitching them.
On the other hand, regionaleditors they're much more
approachable, you know, becausetheir job is to cover the
community and the good stuffthat's happening there, and so
they're much more open topitches directly from designers,
remodelers, small businesses,small and medium-sized
(09:56):
businesses in the community,because that is their focus is
to cover exactly that content.
So they are much more likely toread your email Even if you
have never talked to them.
You just want to introduceyourself when you pitch them.
Those are a couple of thethings that we specifically
(10:17):
teach in our academy in themonth where we talk about
regional pitching.
But they're very likely,probably very happy actually to
get an email from you, which isalways more fun, you know, if
you can get a positive reactionout of somebody.
There is also the timeline.
(10:38):
Actually, if it's for print,the timeline is always pretty
long, which what I mean by thatis like from the point where you
pitch your project to the pointwhere it actually gets
published.
It's definitely at least goingto be six months, even with a
lot of the regionals, especiallyfor print right, online digital
(11:01):
coverage can sometimes gofaster, but that's definitely
going to there's it takes.
It takes some time, but for thenationals it can be insanely
long, aside from the fact thatyou need professional
photography, ideally not justdone by a professional
(11:24):
photographer, but you shouldhave a stylist.
You know they're really keen onfeaturing famous people,
celebrities that live in thesehomes, properties, um, that live
in these homes, and you reallyhave to have some level of
pedigree when it comes to mediacoverage.
And even if you have all that,sometimes a project can take a
(11:47):
year or a year and a half beforeit actually gets published.
So that's really that's.
It's sort of like the tippy topof the PR tiers, I would say.
Whereas regional outlets, theyreally mostly they just care
about a great local story, youknow, any kind of project you're
(12:11):
working on that has wherethere's some community impact or
a nonprofit is involved.
They also love homeownerstories that have a human
(12:31):
interest element alongside withthe project, but it doesn't have
to be somebody famous, right?
So it's just that the barrierof entry is a lot lower.
So, in summation, I would saythat you know, national press
(12:52):
really mostly boosts your brandimage, where regional press
actually drives your business,which is why I'm a big advocate
of this for any of us businessesthat operate mostly on a local
level, from a mindsetperspective, I want to say you
(13:16):
just have to stop tellingyourself that you're not ready
for press or you don't know howto do it.
I'm like, if you've completed aproject and you're proud of it,
you are ready to pitch it.
It's not that hard, you know,it's really not that hard.
Trust me and I can teach youexactly how to do it.
(13:37):
And the first.
It doesn't have to be perfect,you know.
We have to drop the mindset ofperfection, which is something I
personally struggle with a lot,as Maria and Jason will attest
to.
We really just have to drop it.
You just have to get it done.
I also I think one of themisconceptions that's widely
(14:03):
spread is that a lot of people,when they think of regional
media, they think of buying ads.
Right, it's like oh, and thenthe ad reps are hounding you and
they're trying to sell you thisand that.
But that is not what we aretalking about here.
Right, there's two sides toevery media outlet and sometimes
they intermingle some, butthere is what I call the
(14:28):
publishing, the sales side ofthe business, where they try to
sell you ads that you pay thespace for, you create the ad and
you get published.
That is absolutely not whatwe're talking about here.
We're talking about earnedcoverage, where you have an
interesting story and the editorwho is on the editorial side of
(14:53):
the magazine, not on the salesside.
So you're working with theeditor and you're not going to
have to pay for everything andchances that you're going to be
hounded by the magazineafterwards to place more ads.
I'm not saying it can't happen,but I don't think it's likely.
You know, a lot of them havepretty not strict, but they're
(15:18):
ethical about it and if theyreach out to you and want to
sell you an ad, you can say no,there's absolutely zero pressure
to that.
If they offer, if they say,well, run the story, if you buy
an ad, that's really not veryethical.
Um in in in in the world ofmedia, but that is something
(15:40):
that's happening more and more.
I wouldn't even say that'salways necessarily a bad idea,
as long as the editorial contentis actually executed by the
editor who works at the magazineand if it, if you have money in
your marketing budget to dothat, I'd say it is actually a
good option to keep in mind.
(16:03):
But it just comes down toweighing those options.
But generally speaking, we'regoing after content for you to
get published without having topay for it.
Okay, just wanted to make thatclear.
Let's talk a little bit aboutwhat's typically holding people
(16:25):
back from pitching theirprojects.
It's often it's fear ofrejection, right Said, oh my God
, they're going to gonna ignoreme.
It's like I don't know how todo it.
I don't know what, what to say,and I'm like, and what if they
say no?
You know, and I'm like, and youknow they might very well say
(16:47):
no, but that's okay.
You know, that does not meannecessarily that your project
was bad or that your pitch wasbad.
It might just mean that it'snot right now the fit that they
are looking for.
Truth is, editors need goodcontent.
(17:07):
So you're not bothering them,you are helping them.
So if you can flip your mindsetfrom you trying to sell them
something to you trying to helpthem, you know, oftentimes that
makes people a lot morecomfortable with the approach.
And you're not pitchingyourself, right, you are
(17:29):
pitching a story.
You're pitching content to them.
So even if they turn it down,it's not a personal rejection.
You know, don't take itpersonally.
It's all part of business andwe're all just trying to run our
businesses and make a goodliving, right?
(17:50):
So if you can reframe it andwhen you reach out to them,
reframe it.
And when you reach out to themyou're just saying you know, if
I can write an email tointroduce myself to anybody, I
can pitch to the media, becausebasically that's what it is.
You're just writing an email tothem with content that they
(18:12):
care about.
So how do you do that?
I'm like there's a fewdifferent steps involved and
we're not going to go into toomuch detail, but basically you
have to find the right contactat the magazine and with you
know, media operations arerunning very, very lean these
(18:33):
days, so it shouldn't be toodifficult.
But if you read the magazine,in the front of the magazine
there's usually a page it'scalled a masthead where they
list the staff of the magazine,and you should be able to find
the editor right there.
So then what you do basicallyis you craft an email where you
(18:58):
introduce yourself and yourbusiness, you describe the
project, tell them a little bitabout what's interesting, unique
about it.
You have to give them some kindof photography, because they
need to know visually what itlooks like, and then you offer
yourself as a resource.
(19:18):
Looks like, and then you offeryourself as a resource.
Those are the basic blocks ofwhat we call a media pitch, but
let's just call it an emailyou're going to send to the
editor of your regional magazineSome of what makes projects
unique and honestly, if youthink about it, you probably
(19:38):
have a very good sense of whichones of your projects would make
a good story.
It's the ones that maybe they'retimely, they have seasonal
features, like mud rooms inspring or an outdoor living area
in summer, living area insummer, a college dorm room, you
(20:04):
know when it comes time forback to school.
Maybe the design is justspectacular in terms of color or
materials, or there's reallyfun storage solutions that you
built in.
Or maybe the project has alocal angle, like it's a
historic home or there's acommunity connection with it.
(20:26):
So there's so many differentways that you can pull out a
story from the project thatyou're working with.
But if you go through yourproject catalog in your mind I
am sure that there's probablyone or two that are going to pop
out that are a good fit, andthose are the ones you should
(20:53):
single out and pull togetheryour materials and present them
to your regional media becausechances are they might love them
.
That's really how easy it is,and once you land coverage in
(21:13):
your regional magazine numberone, it's great because you'll
have built a connection with theeditor of the magazine, which
oftentimes those people stickaround for a long time.
So that relationship really isan investment in your business.
And editors are usually reallysuper nice and sociable people
(21:38):
because they deal a lot withpeople and they love stories.
So they love connecting withbusiness owners.
So just cultivate that, youknow.
And once you've gotten oneproject published, if you have
another good idea, you can runit by them and it's going to
feel much more natural.
The second and third time youdo it, they may also reach out
(22:02):
to you and ask you for, like,expert commentary on stories
that they're working on.
So it's just just treat it likeyou treat other relationships
and just you know, maintain them, cultivate them, keep the
network and the informationflowing.
(22:26):
So once you've mastered that,then is when we would go on to
thinking about pitching higherprofile national media outlets,
which that is a whole otherpodcast episode that, honestly,
most businesses that listen tous that are in the design and
(22:48):
remodeling design build space.
Probably not, maybe, somethingthat you're ever going to want
to do, but if PR is what floatsyour boat and that's what's
important to you and you enjoyit, then absolutely go for it.
And we could talk about that inmore detail as well.
(23:09):
But so let's recap.
The recommendation is, you know, start local.
You know, with pitching yourprojects, always keep it simple.
You know, don't overthink it.
You are way more ready than youthink.
So I would encourage you you'velistened to this and maybe, if
(23:32):
you thought, oh, you know, maybeI could actually do this, you
know, I promise you you can doit, maybe I could actually do
this, you know, I promise youyou can do it.
So just, you know, pick up allyour courage and start working
on it.
If you feel like you're notquite ready, you're interested,
(23:56):
you might need some help.
You know our DesignerDiscussions Academy is a program
that you know.
It runs year round.
Our waiting list is open rightnow.
We'll start again in Octoberand if this is something maybe
you want to tackle sometime nextyear and you'd love for us to
help you with it, you can signup for the waiting list and
we'll let you know when we'reready again.
So, with that said, thanks forlistening and we'll see you
(24:20):
again in two weeks here atDesigner Discussions.
Jason Lockhart (24:24):
Did you know it takes 17 to 20 touch points
before your potential clientsrecognize who you are?
Is your business the one thatthey find first when they are
looking?
If not, there's a solution.
The Designer DiscussionsAcademy membership with your
Designer Discussions podcasthosts are your personal coaches,
with weekly live sessions andexclusive community practical
(24:47):
resources and expert guides.
We're here to simplify yourmarketing and boost your
business.
Sign up atdesignerdiscussionscom or follow
a link in the show notes.
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a link in the show notes.
We hope you enjoyed thisepisode of Designer Discussions
and all of the helpfulinformation.
Subscribe to our podcast, leaveus a review and share it with
(25:10):
your friends.
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