#059 - In this episode, Julie is talking about publicity. Publicity is something that could really move the needle for your business especially for a product-based business like a subscription box. Tune in for some tips on how she got and leveraged publicity for Sparkle Hustle Grow.
Subscription Box Bootcamp is going to be open for enrollment later this month, February 19th through the 22nd. You'll have an opportunity to save $300 on your enrollment. So make sure you get on the waitlist at SubscriptionBoxBootcamp.com and we are running a giveaway to give away one seat in Subscription Box Bootcamp. It is $1,500 value.
Summary:
Links:
https://www.impactingmillions.com/JulieBCalendar
https://www.sparklehustlegrow.com
https://www.subscriptionboxbootcamp.com
Get all the details and your ticket at SubSummit.com, THE conference for sub box businesses. We'll see you in Dallas this June!
#059 - In this episode, Julie is talking about publicity. Publicity is something that could really move the needle for your business especially for a product-based business like a subscription box. Tune in for some tips on how she got and leveraged publicity for Sparkle Hustle Grow.
Subscription Box Bootcamp is going to be open for enrollment later this month, February 19th through the 22nd. You'll have an opportunity to save $300 on your enrollment. So make sure you get on the waitlist at SubscriptionBoxBootcamp.com and we are running a giveaway to give away one seat in Subscription Box Bootcamp. It is $1,500 value.
Summary:
Links:
https://www.impactingmillions.com/JulieBCalendar
https://www.sparklehustlegrow.com
https://www.subscriptionboxbootcamp.com
Get all the details and your ticket at SubSummit.com, THE conference for sub box businesses. We'll see you in Dallas this June!
(00:01): So you want to launch a subscription box and don't know where to start? Girl, you are in the right place. I'm Julie Ball, a subscription box coach and your host here at Subscription Box Basics, a podcast for new and aspiring subscription box entrepreneurs that want to avoid overwhelm. So grab a coffee, some pen, and paper, and let's have some fun!
Hey guys, before I start this episode today on publicity, I wanted to give you a quick heads up that Subscription Box Bootcamp is going to be open for enrollment later this month, February 19th through the 22nd. You'll have an opportunity to save $300 on your enrollment. So make sure you get on the waitlist at SubscriptionBoxBootcamp.com and we are running a giveaway to give away one seat in Subscription Box Bootcamp. It is $1,500 value.
If you've been thinking about joining and you're just not quite sure this would be a great place to start, just enter the giveaway. It's at SubscriptionBoxBootcamp.com forward slash win. And every day you can come back to earn more entries. You can earn more entries by sharing on social media and by doing some other activities like watching videos and going to our website. So make sure you head on over to SubscriptionBoxBootcamp.com forward slash win to enter the giveaway. Good luck.
Hey everybody and welcome back to Subscription Box Basics, the podcast. I am Julie Ball, your host. And today I am talking about publicity and more specifically we're going to talk about how I got publicity for Sparkle Hustle Grow, why you need it, how to get it and how to leverage it. So I'm going to dive right in.
(01:43): What even is publicity. Well, simply I'm just referring to getting featured in the media and that could mean a lot of different things. That might be a guest blog that might be a podcast interview. It could be a mention on a website or an online magazine or even an online newspaper. This can mean so many different things you might, maybe that is getting included in a gift guide, which is super awesome for product-based businesses. Maybe you get in print or TV or just a video, any way you look at it, publicity can really play a major role in getting some momentum in your business.
(02:25): And so why would you need it? Well, I have a few reasons that I think are really going to interest you and why visibility and publicity is so so important. So think about when you go to a website and you see the As Seen In section, and maybe it has one of your favorite websites on there. Maybe it has a coach on there that you really respect. Maybe in that As Seen In section, there is a news station that you watch. All of those things are going to provide social proof and social proof improves conversions.
Think about it this way. If someone keeps saying, "Oh, I just went to see this movie. You have to see it. This is what it's called." Well, darn right. You're probably going to go to the movie theater when that movie is available. Or if someone says, "We just went to dinner at the XYZ restaurant and it was so amazing. You have to go." The likelihood that you're going to look up that business and go to it is so much higher now that you have your friends' buy-in on it because they've told you that they kind of approve of it. So think about all those logos in a media mentions area or an As Seen In area on someone's website. That is the online equivalent of that social proof.
Another thing that really, really helps when you get featured in the media is a lot of times they'll link back to your website. So maybe you made a top 10 list and they have a picture, a little snippet, and then a link to your website. Those work in your favor. Not only for people to, you know, as they're looking through that 10 best lists and they see the link they're going to click through, but also on the backend for SEO, which stands for search engine optimization. When it comes down to it, links back to your website, as long as they are reputable and come from a good source, they can work really highly in your favor when it comes to the search engine algorithm. In other words, the more links back that you get from reputable websites, the more chance you have of being on page one of those coveted search engine results page. Now I personally go through a couple of pages, but a lot of people that are on the internet browsing for something for their next purchase. They're going to stop at page one. So anything that you can do to help you get that placement on page one is definitely something you should pursue and links back from media mentions can help you with that.
Another thing that publicity can do is grow your visibility and reach new audiences. And let me give you a quick example, say you got interviewed on a podcast. Well, people already know, like, and trust the person who hosts the podcast. Now when they have you on their podcast, that is kind of this like nod of approval, but you are going to reach new audiences. The people that listened to that podcast might not have found you anywhere else. And so by being on that podcast, that visibility just absolutely opens all these new doors and gets you more degrees out of your network. And a lot of times I find that it's hard to get out of maybe like one or two degrees out of your network.
So say a friend and then a friend of a friend, that's two degrees out of your network. How do you get beyond that without having to pay for ads? And this type of visibility that we're talking about today, this is not paid placement. I'm talking about earned media, things that you have been featured in because you pitched them or because someone nominated you or somehow somewhere, this media has found you and wanted to feature you. So we're not talking about paid placement here. So just to recap why you need it is social proof improves conversions. It gives you that street cred, those endorsements from third parties, and helps people make that buying decision easier. Publicity is going to help you get links back to your website, not only to drive traffic but to also improve your placement on the Google search rankings. And then again, it's going to grow your visibility and help you reach new audiences, and open new doors.
(06:54): Next, I'm gonna talk about how to get publicity. And I want to tell you, this stuff doesn't all come naturally. This definitely takes hard work, and I'll be very honest with you that I've been coached by an amazing mentor. Her name is Selena Soo. She is the founder of the Impacting Millions program, which I am a member of. I've been through the program several times. Now I'm an affiliate for her and you guys know that I only recommend things that I know and use and love. And Selena is high on my list. She has made such an impact in my business with the power of publicity. And if you want to hear the episode where I interviewed her last year, head on back over to episode number 16. So you can hear directly from her.
I'm going to tell you a few of the tactics that really helped me get publicity. But I also wanted to mention too, that if this is something that you think you want to pursue yourself, then I would really encourage you to take a look at Sparkle Hustle Grow this month. Selena is our guest expert. She is providing all the sparklers with training and we are going to be talking about it all month long in how to craft your story, how to pitch it. So this sounds like something that you're interested in and this works really well for subscription boxes. Trust me on this. I would encourage you to think about joining Sparkle Hustle Grow this month so you can be a part of that.
Anyhow, let's now talk about how to get publicity. So one of the things that I feel like is the answer to so many questions in the entrepreneur life is simply to build relationships. So along the way, over the years, I've worked with a lot of coaches and I've had a lot of mentors and I've built relationships with colleagues. And so often it's those relationships that bloom into other opportunities, including publicity. Maybe one of those coaches will feature you in their Facebook group. Maybe one of those mentors will recommend you to somebody or maybe one of those colleagues writes a column for one of the blogs or the websites that you'd really love to get featured. That's on your dream media list. So I think building relationships is definitely one of the top skills that as an entrepreneur you should have, but it's going to help you in your journey to get publicity and visibility.
The next thing that I wanted to point out is that you have to show up there's this Avett brothers song. And one of the lyrics says, "you got to show up if you want to be seen." And I think that is the best quote when it comes to visibility. So often it's just about showing up, getting on camera, doing video, getting on social media, interacting with your customers, and really showing up for your audience. That visibility becomes shareable and it makes you likable. And it can only help you in that quest for more visibility by showing up.
The next thing is something that I feel like takes a little bit more effort, and that's where Selena Soo and her coaching program really, really helped me. The concept is to pitch yourself. Sometimes this can feel really scary or salesy or slimy, but there's really, really good ways to pitch yourself to be a value. So it's not just saying "here, this is my subscription box. I'd love to be featured." No, it is about what is your story? Do you have a great launch story? Do you have a great why? Do you have a way that you solve a pain point for your target audience that is really unique? And do you have value that you can share that is going to bring value to your target audience, but create content for those media features and position you in your zone of genius, position you as the expert in whatever that field is.
So there's so many different ways to pitch. I don't have enough time to go into it today on this podcast, but I do have a really cool little freebie from my coach, Selena Soo. It is a publicity calendar. It's 12 months of story ideas, specific dates throughout the year that should be pitching on, and hooks to help you become the media's favorite go-to expert in your field. It's going to teach you three things. Your pitch must have to avoid the trash folder and actually score major media coverage. And then there's going to be some other information about how to tackle sensitive issues so that your pitches can make a big impact and how to plan your content and your pitches in advance so you don't feel burdened by them. And so you can get this publicity calendar. It's so cool. You can find it at Impactingmillions.com forward slash JulieBCalendar. And we'll put that in the show notes, but again, it's impacting millions.com forward slash JulieBcalendar. You got to go download it. You are going to absolutely love it. And it is going to help you so much with that pitch component of just, you know, making it easy and making it enjoyable.
And so the last tactic of how to get publicity and how to get visibility is to ask, I use this all the time -- just ask. You never know, someone may say no, someone may say yes. But the fact is that, you know people who know people. You can ask your colleagues to make referrals or make connections. And when you pitch, you're honestly just asking them to feature you. So I really encourage you to just ask. You never know until you go through with asking because the answer is always no unless you ask. So don't be afraid to ask.
(12:57): Okay. So let's recap, we've talked about what publicity actually is, why you need it, how to get it. And now I want to talk to you about how to leverage it. So one of the things that I wanted to share too, this was really, really awesome. A couple of years ago, we were featured in Forbes as the best subscription box to gift the boss babe. So was really excited of course, to be in Forbes that was on my dream media list. And so of course I put it on the As Seen In, put the little logo in there. But the fact is, that year we were able to leverage that media feature to triple our gift box sales which is crazy because a lot of times for like, "Oh, you know, it's just a stamp of approval. It's just the logo." No, you guys, this can actually translate into revenue.
And so I'm going to tell you some of the things that we did to leverage that media feature, we didn't just pat ourselves on the back and we're like, "Yay!" No, we leverage it big time. So this is a quick list of some of the things that we did. So one, of course, we shared that on social media. We were not afraid to toot that horn because that was a really exciting media feature for us. So of course we shared the direct link, but we also created some other social media posts that were just visual that had the Forbes logo on that. And it said best subscription box to give the boss babe. And we made it very holiday-esque and we shared it over and over again in multiple places, not just on social media, but we also made sure that we sent it to our email marketing list.
The people who were already warmed up to us that were thinking about either buying from us or subscribing or gifting it when we sent them this little snippet about being featured in Forbes, it really gave us some street and we saw some conversions from that.
We also used it in our Facebook ads. So we were able to kind of like how you can use a testimonial to give social proof in a Facebook ad. Well, we use this feature in Forbes in several different ways, not only in the imagery but also in the copy. So we shared it on socials. We shared it in email marketing. We put it as our As Seen In section on our website and then we put it in Facebook ads, but we took it another step further. We created postcard inserts. So remember this Forbes feature was about gifting. It was for, you know, the best subscription box to gift the boss babe. Well, we made that into a postcard where it had the feature on one side, and then it had gift options on the other side. And at the time when we created that postcard, we offered two different gift options. One was digital gift cards and one was gift boxes. And so we put that information on the back of the insert and we made sure to have special areas on our website where it explained the gifting. And of course, we put it on our website, the Forbes feature right there, so that when they were thinking about gifting it, they saw that social proof. They saw that Forbes loves us. So it must be a good idea.
So we use those postcard inserts and I think we did, there were five by seven and they were a nice, like soft. They weren't the glossy kind. They had this really beautiful finish and we put them inside our boxes in October, November, and December. One year we did it in just November and December. And then this year we did it in October, November, December to get a head start and to get in front of that customer that already buys the box that, "Oh, did you know that you can also gift it?" And so it was our hope that they would see that and they would think, Oh, maybe I'll gift a box to my team. Maybe I will gift a box to a client. So we leveraged that one feature in one, two, three, four, five plus ways. And not to mention that we also added it to our media kit, which makes six ways we added it to our media kit. So anytime that we were pitching another organization, or if we were trying to convince a coach to be our guest expert, we shared with them all these media features, because again, it gave that street credit, that social proof and it made it much easier for them to say yes to it.
So just to recap how we leveraged it, we shared it on socials, Facebook ads, email marketing, a website, postcard inserts, and our media kit. So there are so many ways that you can use these features. And you know, that's just one feature. When you talk about other features, maybe you did a Facebook live in someone's group. Maybe you had a podcast interview. There are so many ways to repurpose that same content, you know, break it into snippets for social media, Instagram reels, or stories, put it on YouTube. There is no shortage of ways that you can use publicity and all these features and media mentions that you got.
So I hope that this was really helpful and it sparked an interest in publicity for you. It has really helped me move the needle. It's helped me gain so much confidence and get clear on my message and my story. And if you're interested in learning more, you know, we've got a couple of resources for you. As I mentioned, episode 16, go back to, and you can listen to my interview with my coach, Selena Soo. You can join Sparkle Hustle Grow for the month of February, where Selena is actually our guest expert. She's providing some training and there'll be all kinds of extra goodies there too. I'm really, really excited about that. And then lastly, that resource that freebie that you can get is the publicity calendar. Again, it's 12 months of story ideas, date hooks help you identify the things that your pitch must-have. It helps you get organized. I'm really excited to share that with you. Again, the link to that is ImpactingMillions.com forward slash JulieBcalendar.
All right, guys, publicity is something you really should be pursuing as a product-based business owner. Trust me, it moves the needle. Thank you so much for listening to this episode, go snag all your freebies. Join me and my team in Sparkle Hustle Grow, and I'll see you in the next episode.