Lexie Smith
Hey guys, I'm Lexie Smith, a mom, multi hyphenate entrepreneur, founder of THEPRBAR inc. coaching platform and CEO of GROWTH MODE Agency, a PR and communications agency for brands in growth mode. In my career, I've had the privilege of guiding countless brands, ingenious publicists, eager students and ambitious entrepreneurs on their PR journeys. I've danced with the giants and nurtured startups, directed in house PR departments, lent my expertise to boards and spread knowledge across universities nationwide. Throughout all of this, I've seen our industry change and evolve, while simultaneously proving that some timeless fundamentals remain unshaken. This show takes you behind the scenes of the world of media, marketing, and PR, aiming to teach you all the new tips, tricks, and how the best and brightest are achieving success over sips. Now it's time to grow. Welcome to the show.
Lexie Smith
I cannot believe we are wrapping up season six of Pitchin’ and Sippin’. It is the top of April, we are in 2024. I started the show, I think it was three or four years ago. And the amount of incredible humans I have had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing on the show. And meeting from listeners has been such a beautiful gift. And one I never could have even imagined back when I finally begrudgingly said okay, I'll start a podcast. That being said, I always do like to wrap up a season with some of my own musings. And I've been going back and forth and like what do y'all want to hear from me, I've done life lessons, you know. But today, I really want to focus in on some of my core takeaways from the specific journalists that I've interviewed in season six, because I have found some themes. And I've been percolating on them, I've been noting them in my mind. And now I wanted to get them out onto paper or Word doc, right? And onto this podcast. So if this is the first episode, you're ever hearing of the show, welcome. I'm gonna give, you know my own opinion on some of the themes that I heard, but I cannot underline or emphasize this enough. The guests I bring on this show, share invaluable information. So take the time, whether you're watching this on YouTube, or on Spotify, or Apple or wherever, and listen, especially if you're trying to improve your PR career or your journalistic career. Or if you're trying to land press, I mean, there's so many different angles here. And takeaways. I mean, if you're a journalist, you know, listen up, if you're a publicist, listen up, if you're an entrepreneur, listen up, if you're a student, listen up, this, the show is become so much more than I ever imagined it. Okay, that being said, here we go. I came up with eight core takeaways that I want to share today, way more than that have been shared, but here are eight because this is minisode. Number one, AI is top of mind, and people feel all sorts of way about it, myself included, by the way. So we actually kicked off episode one of the season with journalists, Kells McPhillips, talking about the changing landscape. One thing that I know, pra, probably most commonly across all the interviews I had this season was that we agreed it's not going away. Now some saw benefits and opportunities and start real positively more, felt a little bit of fear. Felt a little bit scared. I'm not gonna lie, I teter between the two. I see some pros, but I feel a little bit of fear, too. We all agreed. It's not yet at a point that it can replace the human voice. But all in all, I think my takeaway is that we need to keep it top of mind from all sides of the coin of the coin. So whether you're a publicist or journalist, entrepreneur, you name it. It is affecting our world. It is affecting the media. Is it affecting industries across the board? So AI was top of mind, it's still top of mind it needs to still be top of mind. Takeaway one.
Takeaway number two, personal pitching preferences of journalists are just that, personal, they differ. Now I did see some themes. Everyone was okay with at least one follow up. Okay, so we have a pro follow up and honestly, I'd say this is the case across the entire history of pitching and sip and I don't know, and maybe someone can call me out for this. I don't think I've ever had someone say no to a follow up. Now, they aren't pro excessive follow ups, they aren't pro, you know, follow up five minutes after you first sent me that but a well thought out, relevant, timely follow up is appreciated. Now, opinions on pitching via social media differ, they were really split. And I'm not gonna lie, I did notice some generational differences. So some seasonal pros, some who have been in the industry longer, definitely preferred email only some younger or newer generations were more open to DMs. But even with them, email still remained number one
Takeaway number three, every single contact, or interviewee, or guests on the show, acknowledged or was influenced by the business of media. HuffPost editor in chief Danielle Belton, which was honestly a bucket list moment to have her on the show. She went really deep on to this topic and how we can save journalism if you want to give her episode a listen. But how my guests were influenced did differ based on title. So from ongoing pressure for affiliate links, which is a topic we've dived more into with Freelancer Jordi Lippe McGraw, to the pressure to drive link clicks across the board to the need for thinking about SEO and writing, which was further highlighted by freelance writer and editor Rachel Chang, or just rapid story turnaround. It's very clear to me that a journalist job is evolving and more and more and more is being stacked on their plate, in my opinion. So with that said, the need to keep it relevant and concise when we're reaching out to them is more important than ever before.
With that said, number four, I did feel that ethics in journalism, to those I talked about editorial were for the most part alive and well, when it came to story and news reporting. Okay, so I did feel like a through line of true journalists, like journalistic ethics still being of importance. I know that trusted media has really declined if we look at public sentiment, but I felt like the guests I talked about really, really cared, in my opinion, where the lines do feel a little bit blurred. And I'd say I had some guests agree with me as well as when we talk about commerce, when we talk about commerce reporting or or roundups of products. That's where, you know, the affiliate link conversation came into play. However, I don't see going away back to the business of media, right, this has become a new revenue stream. So if you are a product based business really wanting to be included in roundups, it's going to be to your benefit to get set up with an affiliate program.
Okay, takeaway number five, editors have a lot more on their plate than editing. If anything, this was just a really good reminder to me and got brought up with multiple of my editors now managing and executive editor in Chief's doubly, right. So take this in consideration when your contact selecting. So this was a really great point highlighted by WIRED executive editor Maria Streshinsky. She suggested that pitching be editors would be way more effective than her. But staff writers foremost, okay.
Six journalists feel the need to protect their own. This, in my opinion, is a vibe I picked up. And I think this is partially influenced by aI think that we're seeing a lot of layoffs. And so the positive from that is I feel a sense of banding together. Now, this is different than executives at media companies. I'm talking about the journalists, the people who are creating the content. It really did feel like there was this camaraderie between journalistic colleagues which is a positive and I really appreciate it. I don't think that's the case in every single profession.
Number seven, the rise of Substack. I called it before this has been one of my predictions, and I'm still calling it but this is a platform to watch in my opinion. We had multiple guests on the platform. I think it's going to just continue to go up and up and up. I don't know if you heard but Haro is now going over to Connectively. I'm not sure what is going to happen with that platform, I think Qwoted is still on the rise. We also have platforms like Prowly, we have so many different software's that are up and coming. And they're most of them are also integrating AI to some extent, just just something to keep out with. But I do think the tools at our disposal will increase of all the billions of tools from a pitching resource lens, I think substack, and specifically following journalists on sub stacks.
And then last but not least, on that, the decline of X or Twitter, at least amongst most of my guests, some some reporters or a senior reporter, like Cloey Callahan at Work Life, she still uses it, at least as of our interview, others boycotting it entirely before. I mean, the fact of leaving Twitter was never even a conversation on the show. It definitely is now people have a lot of opinions ever since, you know, Mr. Musk took over.
So those were just some of the key takeaways that I had. Again, I mean, there are, you know, I don't know the number I should have pulled it. Sorry guys calling myself out here. But I mean, dozens and dozens and dozens of interviews, cataloged in the show of editors, freelance writers, staff, writers, editors, and chiefs, I mean, a gold mine giving you direct insight into their career, their life, their pitching preferences, how they got to where they're at today. So take some time. And if you have it, go back to season one, go back to season two, season three, season four, season five, there are, I don't know, like 100. Let's say I'm on my website right now in real time. 100. And I think this will be the 120/5 episode of free information for you, free insider information. Just a reminder, this is on YouTube, too. So if you want to watch the guests and see their mannerisms and see me talk way too much with my hands, go to YouTube, hit subscribe, that would be super helpful for the channel. It's also on Apple podcast. It's also on Spotify. You guys, this goes true for any show that you like, if you want a show to do keep going if you're appreciating what a show is doing. Take 30 seconds of your day, leave a review and subscribe. It helps the show grow. It helps hosts like me stay motivated to keep coming back and it helps us land killer guests. For all of you who have reviewed, thank you. I'm pretty positive, I would say you'd agree I landed some epic upon epic guests. And that's because of you guys. That's because you keep showing up and you keep listening and you keep tuning in. So keep doing that. And I promise that season seven will bring even more fire. Until then get on my weekly roundup, it's the best place to go for even more resources. That's theprbarinc.com/newsworthy and I will see you on the next season of Pitchin’ and Sippin’.
Hey guys, if you are enjoying The Pitchin’ and Sippin’ podcast, please do me a huge favor and leave a review wherever you are listening. If you want to connect with me to learn more about THEPRBAR inc, you can do so on Instagram @ THEPRBAR underscore inc or you can check out my website at theprbarinc.com Cheers!