THE EMAIL GROWTH SHOW EPISODE 174
If you’ve ever thought PR was only for celebrities, politicians, or people with massive budgets – think again! Public relations is no longer gate kept by expensive agencies, and in this episode of The Email Growth Show, PR coach Gloria Chou shares how YOU can become your own publicist in just 15 minutes a day.
Gloria is on a mission to make PR accessible to business owners like you, showing you how to pitch, land media features, and boost your credibility – without spending thousands on an agency. If you’re ready to get featured in top publications, improve your SEO, and grow your business with organic PR, this episode is a must-listen!
Click play to listen to this episode in full:
Why PR is a Game-Changer for Your Business
Unlike social media, PR gives you long-term credibility and SEO benefits. As Gloria explains, marketing is you talking about yourself, but PR is your industry talking about you – and that third-party validation is priceless.
Getting featured in high-authority sites like Forbes, Business Insider, and top podcasts not only boosts your brand awareness but also gives you powerful backlinks that improve your website’s SEO, making it easier for ideal clients to find you.
And the best part? You don’t need a PR agency to do it!
How to Start Getting Featured in the Media
Gloria breaks down exactly how any business owner – even without experience – can start getting media coverage by following her simple PR system:
1. Find the right journalists to pitch to—using free tools like Google Alerts, HARO, LinkedIn, and Twitter hashtags like #journorequest.
2. Craft a compelling pitch using the CPR Method:
- Credibility: Why are YOU the right person to speak on this topic?
- Point of View: What makes your insight unique?
- Relevance: Why is this timely and worth covering NOW?
3. Send your pitch with a strong subject line – it should read like a potential headline, not a generic introduction.
4. Follow up the right way – without being spammy (Gloria shares exactly how to do this inside the episode!)
How to Pitch Journalists the Right Way
If you’re wondering what to actually say in your pitch, Gloria provides a proven email template that follows her CPR framework:
Subject Line: 3 Surprising Productivity Hacks That Are Changing the Way Entrepreneurs Work
Email Body:
- Relevance: “With more entrepreneurs struggling with burnout in 2025, productivity strategies are more important than ever.”
- Point of View: “As a business coach, I’ve found that these 3 unconventional hacks have helped my clients get more done in less time…”
- Credibility: “I’ve worked with over 500 entrepreneurs and have been featured in Forbes, Inc., and Fast Company.”
- Call-to-Action: “I’d love to provide insights or a guest article. Let me know if this fits with your upcoming editorial calendar!”
Pro Tip: Journalists are BUSY. Keep your pitch short, relevant, and to the point.
The #1 PR Myth: “You Need a Huge Following”
One of the biggest misconceptions about PR? That you need a huge audience to get featured.
NOT TRUE!
Journalists aren’t looking for influencers – they’re looking for expert insights. If you have experience, a unique perspective, or data to share, you have everything you need to land PR opportunities. Gloria shares how business owners at all stages – even with small followings – have landed features in top-tier publications just by knowing how to craft a great pitch.
Final Thoughts: Start Getting PR Today
If you’re tired of chasing social media algorithms and want to build long-term visibility and credibility, PR is one of the most effective and sustainable strategies you can invest in.
And the best part? You don’t need to spend hours every day doing it. Just 15 minutes a day – finding journalists, writing a pitch, or following up – can lead to incredible opportunities.
Connect with Gloria:
Watch Gloria’s Free PR Masterclass: Learn the CPR Pitching Method and get step-by-step guidance on how to craft a winning pitch. gloriachoupr.com/masterclass
Follow Gloria on Instagram: @gloriachoupr
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Full Transcript:
Gloria Chao [00:00:00]:
You’re talking like you’re talking to a customer, it’s already not hitting the spot. So what you need to do is take off the marketing hat. You need to put on a different hat. And so how do you translate your marketing spiel, which you’re so good at, into something that the journalists will care about?
Kylie Kelly [00:00:17]:
Are you a female business owner frustrated with battling the algorithm and looking for growth strategies that don’t involve awkwardly pointing or dancing online or throwing cash at paid ads? Welcome to The Email Growth Show. I’m your host, Kylie Kelly, visibility and email marketing strategist. I grew my email list from 0 to almost 10,000 subscribers in less than 2 years, and the same is possible for you too. Are you ready to build your email list and start making more money in your online business? Let’s head into today’s episode. Hello, and welcome back to The Email Growth Show. I’m so excited for this interview today. I’m interviewing the lovely Gloria Chao, and we’re talking all things organic PR. Gloria, welcome to the podcast.
Gloria Chao [00:01:03]:
Yay. Thanks for having me.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:05]:
My goodness. I’m so excited. I feel like this has been in the works for the longest time, although it hasn’t, but I feel like we’ve been connected for a little while. I’ve listened to your podcast. You’ve been in my orbit. So I’m so excited to have you and and dive into this topic together.
Gloria Chao [00:01:20]:
Let’s do it.
Kylie Kelly [00:01:21]:
So before we dive into to PR, for anybody that doesn’t know you, can you just give us a little recap about who you are, what you do?
Gloria Chao [00:01:29]:
Sure. So I am Gloria. I’m based in Brooklyn, New York, and I call myself a small biz PR coach because I’m not your traditional PR person. I think that it’s time the industry is changed. For the longest time, PR has been really kind of gatekept where, you know, people think it’s this sleazy thing for either celebrities or politicians and very inaccessible, And I’m really here to change that. I really think that this is sacred work, especially for women to feel comfortable, to take up space, to talk about ourselves. And so PR for me is so much more than just, like, you know, get featured in these places. It’s it’s knowing how to communicate your message and to position yourself as the leader in your space.
Gloria Chao [00:02:08]:
So that’s kind of how I I came into PR. Funny story is I never worked a day in my life at any PR or marketing agency, like 0. And I used to be a US diplomat, so I worked in the government. Completely different, like, total career change. And, I always just love being everyone’s hype woman. I always say that, like, in my previous life, I was, like, a hip hop MC, like, getting everybody, like like, you know, rallied up, like, for the main act to come on. I just love seeing people win and, god, I probably applied for, like, over a 1000 jobs in various PR agencies. And they all wanted very traditional cookie cutter PR experience, which I didn’t have.
Gloria Chao [00:02:44]:
And so I had to start somewhere. So I literally got these clients, you know, like, very small startup. And I had to, I kid you not, put in the Google search bar New York Times newsroom operator. And so from cold calling with sweaty palms and getting phone slammed in my face thousands of times, I picked up on when the journalists would would respond, and I picked up on patterns that I now teach, which we’re gonna talk about so that anyone, no matter if you have connections or not connections, then you can get featured.
Kylie Kelly [00:03:12]:
So good. So in your in your experience so far, so what kind of things let’s let’s inspire everyone first. Like, what can PR do? What have you seen in the clients that you’ve worked with with their visibility, how that how it’s improved their business? Like, what are some that stand out that we can share?
Gloria Chao [00:03:29]:
Yeah. You know, I think it’s a great question because now with, like, influencers and freelancers and social media, the word PR gets very kind of convoluted. Right? What is it? And we all get those, like, scammy, DMs that’s like, you know, get featured in this, like, innovative 40 under 40. It’s like, that’s to me, that’s not PR. That’s paying for an ad, parading as PR. PR for me is organic PR. It’s gonna give you that SEO. And unlike other forms of marketing, like ads or social media, this will give you that those powerful backlinks.
Gloria Chao [00:04:00]:
And the thing is, you know, I always say marketing is you talking about you, and PR is your industry talking about you. And so it’s really important for us to get visible out there, but especially if we can get featured in a high authority domain website like a Forbes where a business designer or getting onto a podcast like this that will give you powerful backlinks. Because as we know, like, SEO is the most important thing. And so there’s nothing more powerful for your SEO than actually getting featured. Because now with AI, anyone can write 50 blog posts a day. And so Google is actually favoring people, you know, in the searches if they are actually, you know, being cited somewhere or quoted somewhere or getting featured somewhere. So that’s why PR is absolutely so powerful that it’s the highest leverage activity you can do to simultaneously check all those boxes of credibility, of authority, of SEO, sales, and traffic.
Kylie Kelly [00:04:52]:
Oh my goodness. So what about for anyone listening that’s like, it sounds like hard work. Like, how do we even get started? Because you’re right. Like, how how do we get started? You can’t Google like like you did back in the day, but, you know, how how does somebody listening actually take a step towards getting featured like this?
Gloria Chao [00:05:11]:
Well, I will say it’s much harder to spend 2 years on Instagram hoping that you’re gonna go viral and then having it hacked and restricted and not being able to get into your account. So it’s just a frame of mind. Right? We have to change our our mindset. And, look, the PR agency wants us to think that this is complex. And that’s why in New York, they charge $10,000 in a month for 6 months, loop you into these long retainers because it’s so shrouded in secrecy. But at its core, PR is very simple. It’s knowing how to write a good pitch. Right? Knowing how to position yourself in a way that’s enticing for a journalist and then sending it to the right people.
Gloria Chao [00:05:44]:
If you can put the 22 together, you can create a system in your business where you’re constantly pitching and getting out there, planting the seeds for that. And so that’s the first mindset shift is that it’s not hard, and it’s not out of reach. Journalists absolutely wanna hear from people. The news cycle is 247, and you’re doing them a favor by pitching to them. Another thing I will tell you is that the reason why we are journalists are credible is because they are interviewing people from all walks of life and, you know, people like me and you. And if they are only interviewing Fortune 500 people, right, they will probably lose your credibility very quickly. And so for the news journalism to be credible and and ethical, they want to feature new or fresh voices. So why have it not be you?
Kylie Kelly [00:06:28]:
I love that. I love that so much. So how do we figure out which publications to go after? Like, is there, like, a little hint that you have to figure that out?
Gloria Chao [00:06:36]:
Mhmm. So very good. So remember, like I said, PR is 2 things. It’s writing a good pitch and sending it to the right person. So let’s talk about sending it to the right person. So and, again, if all of this sounds overwhelming, it’s totally fine. It’s because nobody teaches us this. This is why the PR agencies charge so much money, but we’re gonna teach you now how you can do it on your own. You absolutely can do it on your own. Journalists wanna actually hear from you and not a PR rep, so let’s just remove the middleman. Right? So let’s say you’re pitching. And so give me an example of of somebody in your program. Like, what’s your industry?
Kylie Kelly [00:07:09]:
Oh goodness. Put me on the spot. I have a lot of parenting coaches.
Gloria Chao [00:07:12]:
Great. Perfect. Okay. So parenting coaches. Right? So let’s say, like, a parent magazine or a Business Insider or a Forbes. A lot of times, we think, oh, we’re gonna just send it to, like, a generic inbox, like, you know, media or editor at. And that’s not the right way to go. What you wanna do is find the specific writer that writes for that keyword or industry or whatever, but they call it journals of that beat.
Gloria Chao [00:07:35]:
So there’s a lot of writers who cover family, children’s issues, right, education. So find that writer, whatever that writer is. If you are doing something in finance, right, it could be the labor economics reporter. If you are doing something in ecommerce, it could be the retail reporter. So it’s important to know, like, you wanna find that specific writer and not the generalized inbox because that’s never gonna get read or open. So that’s that’s the first thing. And you might be asking, well, how do I find these journalists? Well, this is all public information. Obviously, in my program, we have a database of a 100000 journalists, but you can start to create your own media list.
Gloria Chao [00:08:10]:
And you can do this in a couple of ways. The first thing is install a Google News Alert. This is a free you literally type in the search bar Google News Alert. And if you’re a parenting coach, you can put in 3 or 4 keywords like parenting, you know, babies, you know, a parent or whatever. Like, whatever those things are. Right? Early childhood education. And then Google will send you all the articles being published online about those topics. And it’s as easy as you clicking on the article and copy and pasting the journalist who wrote it into an ever expanding excel spreadsheet.
Gloria Chao [00:08:42]:
And usually, they have their email listed. It’s public information. And so sooner or later, you’re gonna start to expand and grow your own media list. That’s one grassroots way to find journalists. Another way is there’s websites like HARO, which stands for help a reporter out. I think now it’s bought by a different company. And there’s also tools like Quoted, q w o t e d. So things like that that kind of, send you all of the inquiries that journalists are having that day.
Gloria Chao [00:09:07]:
And it’s, like, 100 and 100 of different things of very specific topics. And if you fit that description, you can respond to that email and get featured. But on now now be careful with that because it can be, like, a huge time suck. And so what you wanna do once you sign up from one of those websites is just do a control f and type in whatever keyword it is, whether it’s parent or wellness. And that’s what how you can sift through that email instead of going through the hundreds of inquiries. So that’s that’s the second way. The third way is there’s many hashtags that you can follow on Instagram or LinkedIn. Because remember, journalists are writers.
Gloria Chao [00:09:41]:
And so a lot of them are writing stories, and so they’re gonna be putting the right hashtags. So LinkedIn, for example. Right? There’s a lot of reporters writing about a certain industry. Follow that hashtag. On Twitter and LinkedIn, there’s also this hashtag called journal request. It’s basically when journalists are requesting certain people to be interviewed for a story that day. So those are all of the grassroots ways that you can find journalists. Oh, and another one I could go on and on about this, but another one I just presented to my group is SubStack.
Gloria Chao [00:10:13]:
So in the US, there’s a lot of freelance writers now because, you know, the media industry is changing. They just can’t afford to have staff writers anymore. And so a lot of the freelancers, in order to, you know, make more money because they’re not gonna pay very much from the outlet, is they’re having their own platform, their own blogging platform, which is Substack. And so you can find a lot of journalists who are basically on Substack trying to grow their platform, their audience, and there could be anywhere from small business writers to fashion to retail to fitness. And then just follow them and subscribe on Substack. And that’s really great because they actually tell you that day what their assignments are that they’re getting, like, fresh off the press even before it hits the newsstand. And so they might say something like, today, these are my assignments. This is what I’m writing for Forbes.
Gloria Chao [00:11:00]:
This is what I’m writing for Parent Magazine. And that’s another great way to find out what they’re writing before they hit the stands.
Kylie Kelly [00:11:06]:
Gloria, you make it sound so much easier than what I thought it was even myself. So I’ve I’ve Harrow. And so I get all those emails and they’re in a folder that I look at randomly when I’m like, oh, I’ve got some extra time on my hands. I’ll just have a quick look. But I’ve never really gotten too much from it because then, and let’s talk about this, like what do you send those requests? Like how do you create a pitch that we feel confident sending that reporter when we find the perfect reporter to send it to?
Gloria Chao [00:11:34]:
Yeah. So there are some tips with with HARO. And so because as you said, it gets very overwhelming. Like, there’s, like, hundreds and hundreds of inquiries, and not all of them are worth your time. So you definitely want to do a control f. You wanna respond right away within 3 to 4 hours before their inboxes get flooded. Otherwise, just don’t respond and just wait for the for the new setup inquiries. So that’s kind of my my quick and dirty trips tricks on that.
Gloria Chao [00:11:57]:
Now let’s talk about what to write. Right? We talked about how to find journalists. The second part of PR is writing a pitch. And here’s the number one thing you need to know. The the journalist is not going to buy from you. So we need to stop talking to the journalists like they’re our clients. Journalists is not stupid. They know that you’re selling a service or a product, so that’s how pitches work.
Gloria Chao [00:12:16]:
But you don’t wanna be so literal with sending them a product brochure or something that you would talk like, if you’re talking like you’re talking to a customer, it’s already not hitting the spot. So what you need to do is take off the marketing hat. You need to put on a different hat. And so how do you translate your marketing spiel, which you’re so good at, into something that the journalists will care about? Well, you can start to ask yourself questions like, where are the changes in my industry? Are there any trends that are happening? Is there seasonality? Because here’s the thing, news is seasonal. News is relevant. And so it’s less about your benefits and features and more about what people are looking for. So for pre for parenting, right, there’s a lot around back to school, how to set yourself set your kid up for back to school time management, procrastination. So those are great seasonal angles right around the time of, you know, September, fall time.
Gloria Chao [00:13:08]:
And if you’re still you know, let’s talk about parenting again. The season of summer. Summer activities, right, how to get your kids engaged. Like, think about the season that we’re in. Right now, at the time of reporting, it’s q 4. And I love q 4 because we’re right on the cusp of end of year angles and beginning of year angles. And so that makes me think of, what did we learn this year? What are the predictions? What trends are gonna be big next year? Out with the old and with the new. Do you see where I’m getting at here? There’s many different angles.
Gloria Chao [00:13:35]:
You know, I go in-depth on this. There’s 10 main angles. So there’s seasonal one. There’s a contrarian one. I love I love the contrarian hot take. We actually had people get featured. He was a content creator, and one of the pitches that I wrote for him was, you know, while the Instagram gurus are telling you to do this, but this trend is actually no longer gonna be working, and here’s what to do instead. We have someone with a speaking coach, and she leveraged data.
Gloria Chao [00:14:00]:
So data informed is another way to pitch. You don’t have to be as data scientist. You can just get a third party data from, like, a research institute or, you know, McKinsey report. And her pitch was how, certain, c level positions were actually better for introverts than extroverts, which, you know, is contrarian but also data informed. So she started her email, boom, right off the bat, citing that that data. Also following trends is a big one. So, like, TikTok, celebrities, pop culture. If you’re a travel lifestyle, you know, there’s a lot around, like, White Lotus, HBO, like, what’s happening in the movies.
Gloria Chao [00:14:35]:
If you’re in food and wine, the show The Bear was huge. If you’re in the bridal industry, I know that Sofia Richie’s wedding was, like, all the rage. So think about what consumers are consuming. It’s not about reinventing the wheel or having something earth shattering. It’s just about, here’s what people are already talking about, and here’s just my point of view about it. Mhmm. And I
Kylie Kelly [00:14:53]:
guess that’s the difference between, like you said, having our marketing head on when we’re thinking about content creation or our own businesses and what we’re putting out there, whereas, actually, it’s a completely different thing when we’re pitching journalists to get exposure.
Gloria Chao [00:15:05]:
Yeah. It’s not really so, you know, I’ve written pitches for candles and bath salts, and they they all get featured. There’s no such thing as a newsworthy person or a news release story. Like, that’s absolute BS. But there is such thing as a newsworthy pitch. And so how can we make our pitch not only like a marketing brochure, but just pitch with the season? Because you all we all have story, and they all are worthy to be shared. We just have to pitch with the seasonal relevance of what the journalist is writing about.
Kylie Kelly [00:15:33]:
How far in advance are they writing? So like we mentioned, q four now, is it too late now for for the end of year angles?
Gloria Chao [00:15:39]:
So if you’re a service provider if you’re a service provider, it’s not as, like, time sensitive. Like, if you, you know, make a physical product, there’s a lot around, like, holiday gifts. Right? So that’s that’s a little bit different. But I will say if it’s digital, which we want it to be digital, so that way there’s an SEO backlink, you can send a pitch and and get a response next week. But, usually, you don’t wanna send it too far in advance because then it’s, like, not relevant. So I wouldn’t pitch, you know, 60 days, like, before 60 days. So for example, if you do something, you know, for mental health and therapy and healing, and you wanna pitch something around mental health day, I wouldn’t pitch something I wouldn’t pitch that more than 60 days beforehand. Does that make sense?
Kylie Kelly [00:16:18]:
Mhmm. Yeah. So keeping in mind that, they won’t be working that far in advance, Ryan, but we’ll keep it relevant.
Gloria Chao [00:16:26]:
Exactly. Yeah. Because more than 2 months and, you know, I’m talking about they’re talking about a whole different thing.
Kylie Kelly [00:16:30]:
Yeah.
Gloria Chao [00:16:31]:
So wanna do do more than that.
Kylie Kelly [00:16:34]:
Yeah. Perfect. And what about the length of pictures, Gloria? Like, we want it to be short, concise, not waste their time.
Gloria Chao [00:16:40]:
This is really an art that I’ve kind of perfected over the years because, again, I was literally throwing spaghetti at the wall. I had zero connections to journalists. Everything I’ve done in my life has been cold pitching, and it’s worked. It’s helped people get 1,000,000,000 combined views. So cold pitch act absolutely works. And, if you watch my master class, which is free, by the way, you can go to Gloria chao pier.com/masterclass. I will show you the anatomy word for word of a pitch the way I like to write it. But my $1,000,000 kind of, like, advice from all the times that I got rejected is I came up with the CPR pitching method, which stands for credibility point of view and relevance.
Gloria Chao [00:17:16]:
And I noticed from all the years of cold pitching and being rejected, the pitches that got a response usually have those three elements. Right? They have the credibility, the relevance, and the point of view. So I like to start my email with relevance. So let’s do, like, health and wellness angle. Right? Q one is huge because people aren’t looking for new year, new habits. So I would start the relevance right off the bat to get their attention by talking about what season we’re in. So something like, as your consumers are looking for ways to have healthy new habits in the 1st month of the year. You see how that is relevant? Instead of starting off with, I am so and so, and I am from here, and this is what I did.
Gloria Chao [00:17:53]:
Right? It’s not relevant to the journalist. So I wanna start off with the relevance. And so let’s say you you do something in wellness, and you wanna pitch something around, you know, hormone balancing. Right? Cortisol. You can say that. You can say, like, there’s a lot of books and trending about, like, you know, the impact of hormones in women and and and, you know, the the stress that women are under. As a coach or systematic healer, I found these 3 rituals or routines especially helpful for women for balancing hormones. 123.
Gloria Chao [00:18:19]:
And so that’s where the point of view is. The point of view I usually like in the email to be, like, 3 bullet points and, like, you know, 3, like, a non a numbered list because it just looks better. It breaks up the text, and it’s not as overwhelming as, like, 5 blocks of text. So point of view comes after the relevance. It’s usually 3 tips, 3 insights, 3 things you wanna share, and then you conclude the email with the credibility piece. And credibility is not like you need to be featured before and listing out all of your resume. It’s just one sentence of why you’re in the position to pitch. It could be you’re a Pilates instructor and you’re a wellness junkie or you’re a parent.
Gloria Chao [00:18:53]:
It doesn’t matter how many followers you have. It’s just like, here’s why I’m interested and here’s why it’s important to me. And then you would put, like, you know, how people can contact you for more information. I like to put phone number and then put call or text to give them, you know, a way to contact you. And instead of putting a this is another pro tip is instead of attaching, like, your, you know, media bio and all sorts of stuff, which will probably trigger their spam box, add a hyperlink and put see my previous press mentions here. To find out more, click here. You’re like, I love the hyperlink, so put in the hyperlink. And and that’s it.
Gloria Chao [00:19:27]:
That’s that’s really what it is. A CPR pitch start off with the relevance, and then talk about the 3 point of view, and then conclude with how they can contact you and the credibility piece. Now that’s really the email, and I show that to you, you know, in the PR masterclass word for word. But the subject line is so important, and you know this because you’re an email pro. Right? The subject line is what gets it opened. So the subject line to the journalist should almost read like the article title and not something with your name, your company name, or the word pitch. It’s gonna get straight, like, in the trash. Right? So the subject line should be, like, you know, 3 power words that introverts can use in the boardroom to stand out.
Gloria Chao [00:20:08]:
You you see how that’s specific, that’s relevant? We don’t want it too long because it’s gonna get cut off in the previews, and we don’t want it too short because we want it to encapsulate it. So that’s kind of the quick and dirty of how I would actually structure that pitching out.
Kylie Kelly [00:20:19]:
Oh my goodness. Amazing. So we’ll put the link to the masterclass in the show notes. So you can go there and watch that and follow along. But that is so incredibly simple to follow. And And I love what you said about the subject line. Because straightaway they’re seeing it go, Oh, yes, I can imagine that in the publication or that’ll be a perfect fit or straightaway. And I think as well, Gloria, remembering it’s not about us.
Kylie Kelly [00:20:41]:
So removing, like you said, removing your name, removing all that stuff from places it doesn’t need to be. And it’s all about the reader and removing all that stuff from places it doesn’t need to be, and it’s all about the reader and and their audience that they’re gonna be sharing it with.
Gloria Chao [00:20:51]:
Yeah. So one other pro tip. So that’s kind of the basic structure of the pitch. Right? If you wanna be a really good student and then let’s say, you know that you wanna get featured in Business Insider. Right? I would even go a step further, and the first sentence could be, I loved your article that you wrote about entrepreneurs hitting burnout. I am someone who deeply resonated with that, and here’s why I am reaching out. So just that layer of personalization just to show them that you’ve read their article and you’re stroking their ego because they’re people. They write articles.
Gloria Chao [00:21:23]:
That will get really far because 99% of people aren’t doing that. Now I’m not saying that you should do that, you know, if you’re pitching to, like, 200 people. Right? But if you can part like, the more you can personalize it, the higher your chances are of getting that response. Mhmm.
Kylie Kelly [00:21:37]:
I love that. What about the follow-up? So what what about we send this amazing pitch? We’ve got the person, and we don’t hear back. What’s the time frame before we follow-up again? What do you believe around that?
Gloria Chao [00:21:46]:
Yeah. You’re asking the best questions. This is exactly what I walked through in my PR masterclass. So we talked about just to recap, we talked about, you know, where to send it, what to send with the CPR pitch. Now after you send it, what do you do? So first of all, pat yourself on the back. You’ve already done something that is like, so few people do because they just think, oh, well, I need to hire a PR agency or I don’t get featured. And you’re like, well, actually, no. So I applaud you for even doing this.
Gloria Chao [00:22:12]:
Please install an email tracking device. This is so key. We have it for our clients. Why don’t we have it for pitching? So when you install an email tracker, I like to use, like, Mail Tracker or MailSuite. It’s a Chrome extension. It’s pretty cheap. It’s, like, $60 a year to get rid of the watermark. And it just tells you whether or not your email has been opened.
Gloria Chao [00:22:30]:
And this is so key so that we don’t make up a mental drama about, oh, this journalist hates us. Or, so it’s really not about that. It’s like, okay. Well, if it’s not open, maybe it’s a deliverability issue or maybe they no longer work there. And so if your data analytics is telling you this person is opening it, that’s a good sign. And if they open it multiple times and the email tracker will tell you this, it means that they really like it. They just don’t have a place for it right then and there. So you have to be patient.
Gloria Chao [00:22:55]:
But in the meantime, engage, engage, engage. Follow them. Comment on their post. Share their stuff. So that way, they can familiarize themselves with you and your name. It’s really a relationship that you’re building just like you would with a client. This is no different. Journalists are people.
Gloria Chao [00:23:11]:
And if you can create a good relationship with them, they feature you once. There’s no limit to the amount of times they’re gonna ask you for another story or another quote because they’re gonna be tasked with writing many, many different stories. So think about it as a relationship, not a one and done. And so that’s why it’s so important to try to have some level of personalization and follow-up. I would follow-up at least once or twice with 1 week in between. So if you send the email on Monday, follow again on follow-up again on Monday, and hit them up on the DMs. Here’s another pro tip for the DMs. If the so the journalists are all on social media platforms.
Gloria Chao [00:23:45]:
Right? If you’re, like, in fashion, wellness, you know, food, things that are visual, like, you know, travel, lifestyle, fitness, a lot of them will probably be on Instagram. But if you’re in, like, you know, parenting, education, psychology, like, all of them are on LinkedIn. Again, it depends on that that that journalist, and you and you can do a search. But what I like to do is after I send that email pitch, I go into the DMs and I actually message them. And I say something like, hey. I love your, you know, your piece on somatic healing. This resonates with me so much because I have had a lot of childhood trauma. It’s really helped me to discover the resources.
Gloria Chao [00:24:20]:
I actually sent you an email titled and then put, like, the subject line on, you know, whatever date. Let me know if you haven’t received it. So do you see how that’s, like, telling them to check their email? And and you need to remind them because they’re getting hundreds of emails. So they actually quite appreciate the follow-up. You’re not doing them a disservice, and you’re definitely not pestering them.
Kylie Kelly [00:24:40]:
Mhmm. Plus you’re starting a relationship. It’s that communication, that conversation that you’re starting, which who knows where that will lead, which is really, that’s really powerful. So do you think there is like a sweet spot for online business owners that are like time poor, like we all are, right? Do you think there’s a sweet spot of what kind of, how much exposure we should get to be able to see traction or to get that back, the ROI back in our business for the time spent? Is it like 10 a year? Is it like what, you know, like, is there a number?
Gloria Chao [00:25:10]:
I think it depends. Like, every time I’m on a podcast, I get someone who’s joining my program. So, like, to me, it’s it’s really good. The thing about podcast is that not only does it stay on the Internet, so it’s like I’m building the SEO, but I can repurpose this conversation 20 different ways. Right? And so when I’m thinking about how do I work smarter and not harder, I would much rather get on one podcast that’s giving me SEO, and I can repurpose that 20 different ways with carousels and quotables and email and then spending 10 hours on social media hoping to go viral. So it’s just a frame of mind. I think a lot of times we’re taught social media, social media, social media, but the buyer’s intent on social media is very low. Everyone people can follow you for years and like your stuff and never wanna buy from you.
Gloria Chao [00:25:53]:
But if someone’s clicking on this episode and they’re investing 30 minutes listening to me, the buyer intent’s probably much higher. Right? They’re probably like, this is a problem I need to solve, this PR problem. So it’s just a different mindset. Always think about, are you building long term assets in your business, which any PR is driving SEO traffic back to you, so that’s a good thing. So for me, that’s there’s no higher leverage activity. So and also in terms of, like, what type of media, only you know because you know what your people what what they’re listening to. I know my people are listening to podcasts. They’re probably not watching cable TV, but they’re watching they’re listening to podcasts.
Gloria Chao [00:26:30]:
So I really prioritize getting on podcasts. And, also, you know, they’re they’re reading things like on Business Insider Forbes, and so these are the places I have featured. So it just it really it really depends. But I also don’t think that there’s anything as, like, quote, unquote, like, bad press unless you’re doing something very controversial like politics or something that’s secretive. All of those things are gonna help you with your search rankings, and it’s going to help you with your SEO in the long run. Rebecca Hotsko (3five forty four):
Kylie Kelly [00:26:53]:
It’s music to my ears, Gloria, because I’m not really on social. I hate Yeah. I don’t have time for that. I’m on Instagram stories when I feel like it, but I feel like the pressure to Katie Booth
Gloria Chao [00:27:09]:
(3seven forty four): Or it gets hacked one day.
Kylie Kelly [00:27:11]:
Katie Booth (3seven forty four): Yeah. How many stories have we heard of people just losing their accounts overnight? So we don’t own that. Hence why I’m all about email, right? It’s an asset that we own. And it’s the same thing with things that lead back to your website and other asset that you own. It just makes so much sense. So as we wrap up, somebody listening, first step, haven’t had PR exposure before? Would that be researching the reporters and thinking about angles? What do you think?
Gloria Chao [00:27:36]:
The first time is to watch my PR masterclass. It’s gonna encapsulate everything in a very clear way for them. So it’s gloria choupr.com/masterclass. It’s gonna show you exactly the anatomy of a pitch and how you can start thinking about what are the angles. Because a lot of times, we’re not taught to think in terms of angles. We’re taught to think about benefits of features. I assure you, we all have so many angles. We just have to know that it’s available to us.
Gloria Chao [00:27:59]:
So after you watch that masterclass, you’re gonna realize, okay. Well, maybe I wanna pitch a seasonal angle or maybe I wanna pitch and so the first step is really figure out what are the 3 or 4 angles that work for you. And after that, start writing your pitch using the CPR method. And in the meantime, you can still set up a Google newsletter and start to auto populate your, your media list. And that way, when the time is right, you can put the 2 inches together and press start pressing send. You can also delegate this to someone on your team, which is way better ROI than, like, hiring a an agency. And here’s why. You hire an agency to do it.
Gloria Chao [00:28:32]:
They own the contacts. And the moment you stop paying them, they they leave. The better way to do it is to learn how to do your own PR and hire someone in house to send emails so that you have transparency on who’s opening it, what the responses are. Now you don’t have to share your personal email with this assistant or an intern. I recommend having a different email, preferably not your customer service email, but a different one, like a team at or, you know, info at. And then just give the person who’s who’s sending this that specific email address and password. You can use a thing like last password, as in full, to protect your passwords. And so that way, you own it, and it’s in house.
Gloria Chao [00:29:07]:
And I’ve seen people get way higher ROI than than, you know, hire an agency. And I know that the inkling for all of us is we’re busy moms. We have we’re wearing so so many hats, at least the people in my program. And so many people come to me after they spent $20,000 on a pure agency, and it just didn’t land because a pure agency was pitching things that didn’t align with them. And so now they have to go back to, like, learn how to do this. So absolutely do not try to throw money at the problem. Learn how to pitch. Learn what you wanna speak about.
Gloria Chao [00:29:36]:
Learn how to position yourself. And then if you might, you can hire a PR agency later. But I think a lot of times people try to skip that because they just don’t have time, which, you know, I would say Beyonce also has 24 hours in a day. Right? Like, learn how to pitch. And then that way, if you do work with a peer agency, you know exactly what stories resonate and what they’re doing.
Kylie Kelly [00:29:54]:
Yes. I I a 100% agree. I as a podcast host, and you’d be the same, I get so many podcast pictures that are from agencies that are so random and so poorly written and done that and I never say yes. It’s very, very rare that I say yes. Sunny Lenard (2seven forty seven):
Gloria Chao [00:30:10]:
Isn’t it kind of off putting when you can’t even pitch yourself and you’re just some random person pitching on your behalf? Right? Sunny Lenard (2seven
Kylie Kelly [00:30:16]:
fifty two): Yeah. Yeah. And it’s not received very well. So, yeah, I love that advice to learn to do it yourself, figure it out, and then have somebody on your team or come up with systems, right, to simplify it and save some time. A bit of a personal question there. When you were saying about the pitch you had, you mentioned the phone number. Obviously, I’m international, so my phone number is not going to work.
Gloria Chao [00:30:36]:
You can set up a free Google voice number.
Kylie Kelly [00:30:39]:
Oh, so you would still use that over an email address?
Gloria Chao [00:30:42]:
Email is, like, minimum. Right? But some people wanna text, so you can give them the option to text you. But a lot of times, it will be on email. I just like to give them as many options as possible.
Kylie Kelly [00:30:52]:
Okay. Yeah. That’s great.
Gloria Chao [00:30:54]:
But they’re not really, like, calling. Do you know what I mean? Like, I feel like in this day and age, like, people aren’t doing, like, desk side with reporters. Like, it’s just over email. So don’t feel afraid, like, you’re gonna be an interrogation on a life whole line. You know, it’s a nice to have, but most of the people in my program who have gotten featured never had, like, a live interview with a journalist. It’s just back and forth emails.
Kylie Kelly [00:31:16]:
Okay. That’s good to know. I mean, I hate phone calls. I think our generation does for some reason. Right? I’m never on the phone.
Gloria Chao [00:31:21]:
Yeah. A podcast is different. Right? Because that’s like a live recording. But, we people don’t pick up the phone anymore. Aziz Ansari, who’s like a a famous comedian, said something that was like, who’s who’s picking up the phone in this day and age? Like like, if I pick up the phone, you better be on fire. Otherwise, I’m not picking the phone.
Kylie Kelly [00:31:39]:
That’s so true, though. It’s so true. Yeah. 100%. Okay. This has been so helpful. One last question that I like to finish with because this is a podcast, All About Email Growth. Would you share with us the number one way that you’ve grown your email list in the last 12 months?
Gloria Chao [00:31:53]:
I think email is so important. I’m, like, all about that first party data. I will say that being in so the one first way that I’ve grown is honestly getting on other people’s podcasts. And so when you do email people about the episodes, people find out about me. But that’s a really great way, is leveraging other people’s platforms, be a guest on their show, providing so much value that the host will send an email to their audience of, hey, this week we’ve had so and so. And then you always put the link in there, which directs back to my website, and then I have an opt in. So that has been a really great way for me to grow my email list.
Kylie Kelly [00:32:32]:
I love that. Yeah. I love that. So good. So good. Well, thank you, Gloria, so much for being on the podcast. This has just been so insightful and really confidence building because it’s such a scary topic from the outset because of what we talked about at the top, like of of the perception of it. But you’ve just tore it open and made it feel so accessible. So I just really appreciate you doing that for us.
Gloria Chao [00:32:54]:
Yeah. Yeah. Don’t let that’s another thing. As I always say, we gotta be careful with, like, who we follow in the online world. If people make it super complex and, like, you know, it’s not very accessible. And my whole thing is, like, how how can we create more access for people? How can we get people into our work world not by, like, gatekeeping stuff, but just showing them everything that, like, yes, you can do this yourself. And I think by attracting the empowered buyer, we can build way more successful businesses than gatekeeping and making people buy out of fear.
Kylie Kelly [00:33:22]:
Oh, a 100%. And how much better does that feel then? Then we’re working with people that really wanna be there that aren’t just buying out of FOMO or scarcity. And, yeah, 100%. I love that. Well, I’ll put the link to that masterclass in the show notes. Go and watch it. Start pitching, and I can’t wait to hear all the wins everybody has after tuning into you today.
Gloria Chao [00:33:42]:
Yeah. Send me send me your ideas. I’m happy to chat through angles. I’m on Instagram at Gloria Chow PR. That’s really me. So I’m a voice note gal. I’m always multitasking and walking my dog. So you might get a voice note from me.
Gloria Chao [00:33:54]:
But, at Gloria c h o u p r. Feel free to DM me, and we can we can talk all things pitch writing.
Kylie Kelly [00:33:59]:
Yes. I love that. Voice notes are my love language as well, so I love that you just said that. Alright. Thanks so much, Gloria. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of The Email Growth Show. I hope you found valuable insights into the next steps you can take to grow your email list and boost your business without relying on social media or paid ads. If you enjoy this episode please take a moment to rate and review the show and share it with others.
Kylie Kelly [00:34:24]:
Your feedback helps me reach more female entrepreneurs just like you, who are ready to say goodbye to social media and leverage email marketing to grow their business and make a bigger impact. Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you in the next episode.
