LA is on Fire (and it's so hard to work right now) but the show must go on! Current Sourcing Needs
Looking for people to talk about creative vow renewal ideas, financial experts, people with age-related sensory decline, gardening experts, cardiologists and more!
Hello all.
It’s a crazy heavy time right now living in SoCal with fires. We are OK. We lost power for a few days and are chugging along. Friends have lost homes, friends have had their kids schools burn down, there are all sorts of horrible things happening and lots of uncertainty — which is something I am TERRIBLE at living with. But I’m doing my best to roll with it day by day. We are so fortunate to not be in the extreme extreme trenches of it all but nevertheless we’re all anxious as hell and obsessively watching that fire app to see what the heck the winds want to do next.
We took a little break with family and ended up at a random aquarium in a strip mall 6 hours outside of Los Angeles and had the chance to feed toucans. Toucans being in a strip mall aquarium in and of itself was a bit sad but apparently lots of rescue animals are in this place so that was good. Needless to say, feeding a toucan a blueberry, whether that was PETA friend or not, was the first time since last Wednesday that I think I’ve really felt joy at anything other than my toddler son being cute and doing and saying silly things — which has honestly kept my household sane this past week. It’s been super heavy but grateful that I allowed myself a moment to unwind and do something silly. I highly recommend to those in the same boat!
As the city that I have called home since 2007 continues to burn, the world goes on around us. And there is work to be done and bills to be paid. So here are a bunch of sourcing requests.
First up, I’d LOVE to see you all at this amazing workshop I’m co-hosting with Jill Schildhouse. If you’re looking to introduce yourself to new journalists this year, reinvigorate your relationship with journalists you used to work with and haven’t heard from in a while and find new ways to network, you’ll want to tune in.
It’s January of a brand new year. Hopefully everyone had a nice holiday break and is feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work. It’s a crazy time in the media world (a phrase it feels like we’ve all been saying lately a lot ::sigh::). But a new year is a fresh start and a good time to make some big business waves.
One of the biggest steps you can make now is to network. January is a great time to:
Intro yourself to new journalists you’ve never worked with before
Touch base with journalists you’ve fallen out of touch with
Reconnect with your go-to journalists
Put yourself in positions to meet new journalists
Team up with new journalists to try new things for your clients
On that note — and before we dive into this week’s topic — a quick announcement: We’re bringing back one of our most popular workshops this month in a group format. It’s been an entire year since we’ve offered this and it’s been highly requested so here goes… and we’ve updated it for today’s ever-changing journalism landscape, of course!
How to Become a Writer’s BFF: Networking & Relationship Management session
Here are the details:
What: Some publicists seem to have a transactional “wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am” approach to their work, but highly successful publicists know that building long-term relationships with journalists is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Learn how to meet new journalists, and discover best practices for staying in touch, following up, and creating meaningful relationships.
Format: 1-hour workshop via Zoom with Jill and Nicole includes:
a formal 45-minute presentation of our best relationship-building and management tips:
Learn how to meet new journalists and develop a lucrative working relationship with them
Discover best practices for staying in touch
Learn the finer points of following up that will increase your response rate
Discover how to become a writer’s go-to source
Learn how to stand out when answering a writer’s call for sources (whether that’s on HARO, a FB group, Twitter, Substack etc) — there is definitely an art to this and we will walk you through our magic formula!
Discover how to avoid common writer pet peeves that may make someone want to pass on working with you again.
15 minutes for Q&A: Anything and everything is on the table for discussion here and you will walk away with your questions answered.
Opportunity to network with and learn from your colleagues
Date:
Tuesday, January 28th 10 am PST/1:00 pm ET. Can’t make it live? Sign up anyway and we’ll send you the recording to watch on your own time!
Pricing:
$99 per person for annual Top Tier Paid Subscribers; $149 per person for Free Subscribers (prepayment is required to hold your slot)
(Note to free subscribers: The TTC annual subscription fee is $99 — so, upgrading would save you $50 on this workshop, PLUS you’d get access to ALL our paid content — including our vast archive of content — and monthly Top Tier Talks.
Questions? Ready to sign up?
Reach out to us at info@toptierconsulting.NET today! We hope to see you there!
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We combine our 40+ years of experience as top tier journalists into actionable tips that you can use to help you take your clients to the next level, whether that’s landing a spot in a dream publication, putting together a killer event that will garner tons of media interest or crafting pitches so enticing you’ll have writers jumping at the chance to work with you.
You’ll get inside our heads, hearing us provide our own personal examples of topics, like presenting and dissecting pitches that worked for us and why, discussing media events that we found to be beneficial, talking about how we handle our very busy inboxes, sharing insider info, such as why we may pass on a pitch the first time around but then hop on it after a carefully thought-out follow up, how to leverage your clients to fit into trending pop culture moments, how the heck to get media interest in experts tied to brands, what goes through a journalist’s head when they are reading your pitches, what editors really want in a gift guide submission and more.
We’ll keep you posted on what the industry is looking for at the moment and advise you on how you can keep your clients relevant….and so much more!
Plus, join us for our monthly Top Tier Talks where we Zoom with our audience to answer any questions that popped up for you during the month pertaining to pitching and working with journalists.
Sourcing Needs for This Week
AARP: Cover Story
Looking for people ages 50+ to talk about age-related senses loss that they have experienced. Need people to talk about how as they’ve gotten older, they’ve noticed a change in smell, taste, touch, sight and hearing.
BROOKDALE SENIOR CENTER BLOG
(A leading senior center in North America with 700+ locations
What Sentimental Assets to Include in Your Will
Have you considered including these sentimental assets in your will as you plan your estate?
Need financial experts to weigh in
Financial Deadlines You Need to Know About
Between taxes and various open enrollment periods, yearly financial deadlines can sneak up on you. Here’s a list of a few important dates to mark on your calendar.
Need financial experts to weigh in
What to Plant in Your Balcony or Patio Garden
Make the most of your outdoor space with these space-efficient gardening tips.
Need to speak to some gardening experts
First Questions to Ask Your Doctor After Being Diagnosed with Heart Failure.
Your doctor diagnoses you with heart failure. What are the first questions you should ask your doctor?
Need to speak to a few heart doctors
AARP
Looking for people 50+ to talk about the most romantic thing their signifiant other has done for them
Looking to speak to couples 50+ who have done fun, creative, out of the box vow renewal ceremonies
MEDSCAPE/WEB MD
Looking for experts in thought-controlled bionic limbs to weigh in on what the latest is in this technology
NEW AMERICAN FUNDING
Need some experts to talk about how property taxes are a big part of homeowners bills, how they vary widely across the country, why they vary so much as it depends on what local governments need the money for with a call out to some of the most and least expensive states, why they change due to local governments needing the money or retirees getting breaks, and how homeowners who believe they are being overcharged can protest (grieve them.)
Please send any leads to NCPajer@gmail.com
Thanks all and hope to see you on 1/28 at the BFF Workshop
So glad you and your family are safe Nicole! Sending big hugs & prayers xo