Hi guys, how are you? Uh, welcome to my weekly Facebook live. I'm so excited. This is like one of my favorite topics. Let's get you into PR. Let's talk about what it's going to take. Um, if things are a little crazy around here, it is because we have a new puppy and she's wild, and this is her like puppy energy time. So if you want to know the truth, um, and who was this? My head? Um, my husband's like, I left a message for Julie. I'm like, who is Julie? Um, anyway, if you must know with this puppy, I can't get anything done and my family's not here. And when they are here, it's almost even worse because I'm trying to potty train her. And every single thing I'm doing to be consistent and be on top of it, my kids let it all go.
So just this morning, this dog pooped in the house after I'd been so on top of it and very proactive. So I can't get anything done because I have this little dog, um, super cute. Hi guys. Thank you. Um, so I barely took a shower, um, crazy around here, so let's see. I see somebody trying to talk to me. Oh, hi Nelson. Hi, Gail. You guys are my diehard rider dies. So, um, all puppy training. Hi, Chloe and Daria. Nice to see you guys. Yeah, she's so cute. And it's, it's awesome. And all of that, but it's like full on like having a baby it's like everyone said and just like having a baby. Hi Kelly. All of the like 4:00 AM, potty things fall on me. Just the way it is. Um, Kelly, I got your email. I know I owe you a reply, but, um, yeah, so I'm exhausted.
I'm slow, mentally get like I'm losing all my brain cells and, um, I was able to take a shower only because I like changed her up and gave her a treat and did the whole thing. So I'm being really honest. I prepped my presentation. Like I always do really quickly reviewed it, but not to the extent that I normally do. So, um, if you guys will just bear with me, if I'm a little choppy, the information is good. I think it's good. Um, but you know, it's a, it's not like I'm not like all there. Well, maybe not always ever, but especially not now because of this little, this little Trumper down there, um, she chumps her food and like 40 seconds we say she Snarks it. So we're learning ways to slow feed her. And we have a trainer that's given us all these strategies.
So we're really excited about like slowing it down. Um, I did see it. Yes, Nelson. I did. I've been, as I'm describing just a little, just a little tied up. Um, and the other thing that is happening is my kids are leaving the door open when they bring the dog out and I have a cat that doesn't get to go outside. So the cat has escaped three times in two days. I've screamed my head off at my kids. We were at the puppy trainer last night at eight o'clock and I'm looking on the ring camera on my phone. And I I'm seeing my cat walking around in the side yard where he's not allowed to be. And we were like probably half an hour from our house then my son, oh, am I still here? Can you guys still see me? Cause uh, Google just logged me out of my computer.
Um, and then I'm screaming at my kids like, oh my God, you let the cat out. And then my son was running around with the dog and he skimmed his knee. Um, it was a whole thing anyway, very stressful last night. And then of course this morning, my son wouldn't take him outside and he okay, good. And he pooped. She pooped, well, my son's dog pooped on the ground. Oh my God. I'm rambling. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Um, Chloe, it is a rescue. Okay, good. Thanks Daria. Um, she, her name is Lola and she is a Husky lab mix. We're told we don't know for sure, but they call it a Husky door, which sounds so like fancy she's fancy. She's very cute. She's a very cute rescue Husky door. So yeah, my little girl. Um, okay, so this is kind of a fun topic because you know, I see, uh, thanks Daria.
Yeah. I'm sharing pictures of her on Instagram and stuff. She's, she's a cute little puppy, but we got to get her train. Um, yeah, she's super cute little Husky door. So, um, and if she like she's napping now, so I can actually get my thing done eventually. But um, if she, if she wakes up and comes over, I'll pick her up. But um, okay. So you guys know that I was an attorney and if you don't know, I was a lawyer that was my career, went to law school, you know, took the bar, became a litigator. And I practiced for many, many years and I did this pivot and started my own PR firm basically out of thin air. And it's um, sorry. I realized my mic gets a little wonky. Um, and you know, so I kind of come into this field talking about how you don't need a ton of training or contacts.
You don't have to work at a big firm. And I say that from experience, I'm not trying to, um, minimize anybody's experience the puppy's great with the kid. She's very great and chill. Um, they love her. She loves them. It's it's great. Um, thanks for asking. She's she's really cool dog, like very good energy. Um, but I know sometimes people feel like if you don't like pay your dues or come from, um, like a background where you have this extensive training and work under someone there's this like old school mentality that you have to work at an agency, pay your dues and things have changed. And I've been practicing. I've been running my PR agency for almost 17 years and I'm here actually it's been 17 years. So I'm here to say that there is another path. And if you already have PR experience or you've worked at an agency or you freelanced or whatever, you're already better off than I was when I started my business because I had no experience.
I was figuring it all out as I went along and just, you know, went for it and realized that I loved it so much. So I'm here to tell you and to show through proof of my example, that you can have, there are many different paths to a career in PR and whatever your path is, it's super legit and that's okay if you didn't go a traditional route. I mean, going from a lot of PR, certainly isn't traditional. I just had a new business call with a perspective client and they loved my background. They were like, that's really cool. You know, we love that you did this kind of 180 pivot and that's so interesting. Um, you know, and they weren't like, you're a lawyer and you're doing PR obviously I've been doing it a long time now, but they thought it was a really cool, interesting transition.
And I'm here to say that no matter your path, it's legit and you can get it all figured out. So if you're getting ready to choose, um, a career in PR or you're switching up your current career, I know that PR is a really great field to jump into for a lot of different reasons. And I'm going to get into the steps that I think you should be considering, or the things you should have in mind when you're making this, this change or really leaning into your PR career. But I'm sharing all of this. And I share everything that I do in these free trainings, our Facebook group, and all of my paid programs, because PR has really changed my life for the better, for a million reasons. I've talked about them all the time. I'm a Chloe. That's a great question. She says, PR service, good to add on to existing service or better to be the main focus.
Tell me more about your existing service. And I'll try to work in my response. That's a very good question. And there's a lot of margin in PR for us. It's the, um, kind of main focus and we have other services that are complimentary, but because there's really good margin in PR on the retainer model, which is what I teach, um, it's our primary service, but if you're already running like a digital marketing agency, PR is a really good retainer service to increase your monthly recurring revenue. That's my answer for that. It just depends also what you're doing. If they're totally different fields, it's not going to have synergy, SEO, content creation. Um, Herro, support's not really a great service. That's not going to get you there. I can teach you how to do PR media outreach, um, through the pitch lab. If you're not in the pitch lab, especially with your content creation service, um, you should jump in the pitch lab because we give you content ideas every single month.
It's really good. It's very comprehensive. Um, yeah, so that's my answer to that. But, um, PR has changed my life for the better you guys know. I have a son on the spectrum. It's allowed me, you're welcome to focus on him and what he needs and big changes in his education that I have been able to stay on top of and provide to him. Um, I'm able to train my new puppy. I'm able to take Fridays off, which is what I do like this business. And this industry has completely changed my life. And I know that it can do the same for anybody else who decides that this is the path they want to be on. So even if you're brand new, you have no experience, you can do this. And I'm going to tell you six steps that you need to be thinking about as you make this transition.
Okay. So step number one is know your, why, what does that even mean as you are thinking about getting into PR, um, if you have no experience or even if you do, but the biggest thing you need to know is your, why, you know, why did you do this? Like I said, when I took the leap from law to PR with no training contacts experience or anything, I realized that my definition of success was different than what it initially was. When I started my career as an attorney back then it was money, a prestigious career, all of that working at a big prestigious law firm in Los Angeles. Um, but then I realized that I was going to become a mom and my priorities changed. And my main definition of success was having flexibility and freedom over my time so that I could grow a business that provided for my family while also being the kind of mom that I wanted to be, that to me was success.
It was like, can I have it all? And can I have it all on my terms? So that's why I made the pivot. And when things are hard, I always think back to that. And I say, I know my why I know why I'm working late hours or really pounding the pavement to bring in some new business or working hard to create great content for our clients or even for our programs, because I know my why that inspires me every day, every single day, it's knowing that my kids are gonna come home and I'm going to be here to hear about their day when their energy is highest, when their memory is the best and say, what did you do today? What did you learn? Who did you play with? Um, all of those kinds of things that we get bummed out as parents that we miss them.
That was important for me to experience in my kids' life lives, um, and to be able to make great income and be there for my family. And also since then, I've helped my husband transition out of his corporate job. The last six and a half years, he's been working for, um, an M and a advisory essentially on his own, but really not running his own shop. Um, and most recently, like I'm talking in the past two weeks, I was like, you need to do it. You need to go out on your own. And he's like, but it's scary. And what if I don't make the kind of money I was? And I was like, you, well, I'm not worried do it. And we have never, when he left corporate law until now never once said, oh my God, what are we going to do? If you don't, if we don't have your salary, because my business allows him to figure things out and he's doing, he's doing great.
Um, but how awesome, you know, he allowed me the confidence to, or helped me with the confidence to, um, leave law and say, you'll be successful no matter what. And I am paying it back by giving him that same confidence and flexibility and freedom. That's my why. And I know that change is really scary, but that will help you get inspired. Seeing how other people have found success is really, really helpful. When you see Daria on her saying, Jen, I love my freedom and flexibility as a PR CEO, that should inspire you to see that that's possible for yourself. And I'm always sharing hi, Lola. I'm always sharing what my path has been as a way to hopefully show you that it's possible for you to, or that it's not always what you imagine it's going to be. It doesn't always have a linear path that doesn't always follow the prescribed model that everyone else talks about.
So find your why. That's a huge reason why I host my PR pro spotlight on the website and on the pitching powerhouse podcast. I love, love, love, getting to interview successful members of our community, about their why and the how that got them here today. We must embrace change and yeah. Excellent. For my husband, he is sending out his huge announcement, email to his network. It's super cute. It has a family. It has a picture of us as a family cheersing with lemonade. It's really cute. Um, and you know, we're all excited and, and I love that my kids get to grow up and their parents are home and we're running our own businesses and we're teaching them about entrepreneurship. It's everything to me. So, um, I love sharing those stories. I want you to think about your why, because things get tough. So what is it for me?
Success is flexibility, freedom on my terms so I can be there for my kids. So that's number one, get to know your, why write it down. Remember it, look at it often so that you are using it almost as a north star when you're growing your business. And step number two is you have to get high, Melissa. Yeah. Freedom. You got, you know, freedom is what it's all about. Um, get up to date on what and know what's happening and trending and PR that's really important, especially as you're just starting out, but then always, um, always being in the know and one step ahead, it's like, I look at PR like it's a game and there's rules. And sometimes, um, no, Melissa, she's like, I applied for some agency jobs. She's been a freelancer. She's awesome at what she does. And I'm trying to help her with the she's in our programs.
I'm trying to help her with the agency side, Melissa, you got this double-edged sword. Um, whatever you end up doing, you're awesome at what you do. And as long as you love it and you're making good money doing what you love and you have some flexibility if that's what you want. But yeah. Um, we know that you have to stay on top of what's trending in PR. It's kind of like the rules of the game. How do you play the game? And things have changed since I started. And you can either, you know, w you know, look, be chicken little and say, the sky is falling. Media's dying, everything's dying. Or you can say, okay, things are evolving. And I can either become irrelevant by not leaning into that. Or I can help my clients navigate this and be essential to them because I know the rules of the game, and I'm going to teach them how to play.
So do you know what's new now next in PR, if not, you need to get current and monitor the pulse of the PR industry like your clients, um, like you do for your clients or your own kind of, um, social media feeds. So you have to jump into different relevant industry, um, news and what's shifting. Sometimes industries are a little bit different. Um, you know, something might be come a huge trend in one industry, but other industries haven't caught up yet. Maybe you can kind of see those trends coming and guide your clients through that. Um, you know, there's just this important aspect of being a PR pro it's really staying on top of the news, the trends industry shifts, obviously, that's what we're doing. Um, as PR pros, we're helping to shape the news. So if you don't really know what's going on, how can you be creating relevant, timely, important, um, compelling stories.
It shows your clients that you're really informed, and you're an expert in what you do. And this is also why I talk about niching down. That's because if you are working in too many different fields, it's impossible to stay on top of everything. But if you have an expertise in like two or three industries, yeah. Refresher course, awesome. Gail, Gail shows up all the time. She is always here. She's always participating. Um, you know, that's part of what I see, you know, Nelson has like a seasoned pro. He was on our coaching call yesterday of a seasoned pro getting on a coaching call for the pitch lab. You know what, he's there, he's sharing his expertise. He is giving back to the community and he is kind of putting an exclamation point on his, know how, by confirming that he's current by sharing what works with the newer members of the community.
Like there's this kind of two way, um, benefit is that, you know, people that have been doing this a long time are helping others. And they're also confirming that they're doing things the current and the right way by contributing and by staying current. So join, um, the you're welcome Nelson know, our members love, um, getting support from Nelson. He is so open and sharing, especially for somebody who's, you know, been working in PR for so long. The kind of old guard used to be very close to the vest, very private. These are my secrets and our community. This profitable PR pros community is a free way to get connected with other PR pros. Of course, what I'm talking about with the coaching calls is one of our paid programs. That's the pitch lab. You get a monthly coaching call. Um, but those calls are awesome.
People come on, we problem solve. It's a collaborative effort. Yesterday's call. I got like three texts from people saying that that was awesome. I so needed this I'm energized. I feel pumped. It's, you know, really, really helpful, but, um, we have tons of trainings and tips. We have access to resources even in our free community. And we even have a free PR trend report that you can download. Hi, Megan. Um, I don't know, but you can find, she said, I just joined. Uh, you will see in the group when you get added Megan, um, we have all of our calls listed for the quarter. Hi. Um, and I saw your email. You bought the database too, but you didn't get a link to get into it. We saw that, um, I put it in the customer service folders, so they will, we'll get that to you today.
Okay. I just want you to know I saw it so welcome. I'm so honored that you're here. Yes ma'am. Um, so just know there are resources for you in our community and other places. And if you ask we don't, how do you stay on top of things? We also did a training on how to stay current with PR trends. There is, um, a training on that in the Facebook group, profitable PR pros. And I realized I did not share this video from generation PR over to profitable PR pros. If you guys wonder why I share on the generation PR page and not the group, it's because we run ads to my lives. Um, and I can't do that from the group, but we usually share it in there. So I think I'll do that after, cause they missed it. This go around, but that's number two, stay on top of trends, spend an hour a week, spend an hour every two weeks, just reading, calling through newsletters, signing up for, for a few.
Um, we just had a bunch of, um, we just signed up for, um, sub stack for a bunch of different. This was what was shared on the call yesterday, a bunch of different editors and we subscribed to their sub stacks. And I just got a bunch of emails today with a bunch of leads, none that are totally a fit for me and my clients, but like really interesting to see the trends they're focusing on and the fact that they are also requiring affiliate revenue opportunities through those products that they're featuring that they're asking a feature. So we did an affiliate marketing masterclass that was free for our members in the pitch lab. Um, and it was really good. And if you represent products, you absolutely 100% need to know about affiliate marketing. And like I said, the rules of the game change. You need to know them. That is like the number one rule right now that you have to play with it's affiliate opportunities for products. Okay. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to be in the pitch lab and get access to that masterclass. And then step number three is find a good mentor. So next you're going to want to find a great mentor who you can build a relationship with find, this is the key.
This is the key. You want to find mentors who have similar values and have the kind of business and life that you're looking to have. Okay. Um, this is what I said here. The mentors that I invest with have balance in their lives, their priorities are in check. It's not just about money instead. It's about building a business that absolutely lights you up every single day. Those are the people that I look to as my mentors. And I'm going to be really honest right now and say that it's so funny because if you guys know Tyler McCall, um, he is an Instagram expert. He's wonderful. He's a great friend of mine. Yeah. Kelly saying, yes, I love the mentors I've found here. It's not just me. It's our whole community is so open and giving and supportive. But Tyler and I were in a mastermind together, like a multiple five figure, very hard to get into mastermind.
That was like an aspirational. Like if I'm in this mastermind, you know, everything's going to be just right in my life. And I just got his newsletter today. And he was saying that he had to exit this mastermind in early 2020, because it was a toxic environment that, um, toxic positivity and that was focused on money. And the founder is a COVID denier and refuse to speak in support of black lives matter. He said, well, I've had black people on my podcast. I thought black people on my podcast. I'm not a racist. And it's like, you're a leader. You're a thought leader. And you have completely been silent right now in this important time. People are looking to you for leadership anyway. So he shared that. Um, thanks area. You're so sweet. So he shared that and it reminded me that I left that mastermind also when I realized that the founder and I did not align anymore in our values.
Um, in that time period, when COVID hit, he was a COVID denier. He was pro Q1 on and was like going down that rabbit hole on one of our mastermind calls, he told us to get generators and a gun. This was what he told us. Just so you know, it's the, what did he call it? The big awakening. Oh, the big awakening. That's Q non talk. Right. Um, and you all need generators so that when the big awakening happens, you are prepared and you all need a gun. Cool. I was like, uh, what the Frick is happening right now. And also in that time, he ended up getting divorced from his very wonderful, lovely wife. Yeah. Chloe, same reaction. I was like, whoa, this is not, so this was all new. This was not how it was when we were in the group. But as soon as that ha yeah, it was wild.
I was like, um, I'm out, peace out. Um, I'm not so moved on. Um, yeah. Dario was saying, Jen is a very proud African-American human being and a very wonderful human being I might add. I really appreciate you bringing this very important topic up. Yeah. I mean, how can we be allies? How can you stay silent when you have a, you know, a soapbox to stand on and you can support people. We were just like, Ooh, that's yucky. And then all of the other stuff came out and we were like, oh, this is just no good. So we moved on since then, but um, I write about it in Tyler's newsletter today. I was like, whoa, like, this is not good. Anyway. So just ensure that, you know, mentors that you look to have balance in their lives. That's very important to me. Like for me to share that that is a focus for me.
I will walk away from money if it means that it will disrupt the feeling, the vibe, the energy that I have in my life and my business. Oh my God, this dog is snoring. He might be able to hear her. Oh, that's so cute. Um, so I have said, no, I fired clients that were abusive to my team. Even though they paid their bills on time, we did great work for them. They did not appreciate my team. They were abusive to my team. They were abusive to me. No, like no hard pass don't care, something better will come along. And so find a mentor, you know, if my vision and my values and my like goals and my business aligned with yours, then I'm so glad you're here. And I'm happy to continue to share with you how I've done it. Not all money is good money.
Yes, man. Um, wow. Megan, tell me more. Megan said, that's what happened with my first client. It's a learning process. And now we know how to sniff them out. In my programs. I have lessons on red flags. Those lessons are invaluable because it will save you so much time, so much heartache. You can sniff them out in the sales process. And I knew, I knew that they were a little weird, but I was like, we can do a great job for them. We'll just deal with it. But our original contacts left and they brought in someone new who was just the worst. Literally my team was like, I will never speak to that woman. Again. She is on monster in my entire career in PR spending 17 years. I've never dealt with somebody that is horrible and abusive. I will never talk to her again.
And I'm like, well, if my team can't talk to the client, we can't do the work. And I have to protect my team. I have to protect my team. So, um, yeah, I know it was awful. I've talked about it before. Um, and I share all of this. So Megan, you don't feel like you're the crazy one. That's your first client. And that's how things are you. You may or may think that that's how it always is going to be. And no, it doesn't have to be that way. You get to set the tone for your business. And that's why I share my experience. So you could be like, oh, it's not just me. I'm not the crazy one. They're crazy. It's not me. Right. So no, it doesn't have to be like that. And we will help you figure out how to bring in the ideal clients and the ones that are great.
So, um, oh Megan, I am sorry. Do you, are you a freelancer? Do you have an agency? Oh, that's the worst. Okay. They were sexist. That's terrible. What industry may end tummy. Um, so when you become a publicist, when you make this choice, you are here, you become a publicist and you build your own PR business. You're green, like Megan, or you're seasoned like Nelson or somewhere in between. You have. Okay, good. Megan, you need to get into our agency accelerator. Um, I have a hard and fast rule not to work with toxic people. I can handle grumpy, but not I'm way out there. Hateful, no way. Um, small cap healthcare stock, um, there's someone in our agency accelerator that if you join, I would connect you with her. Um, she works in a similar field and has wonderful clients and I feel like she would happily talk to you about that niche.
Um, yeah, the agency accelerator is awesome. Anyone here in it who's here. I don't even know. Um, Darianna are you in it? Kelly's in it. Um, I'm just scrolling back. Um, Melissa, did you join it? I know you're in the pitch lab. Anyone else? So, um, yeah. Megan, tell her about, I mean, uh, not Megan Kelly, tell her about the agency accelerator and if she needs to be in it. Um, yes. Okay. Dairy's in it too. Yeah. Yes. It's good. Um, yeah, so we'll help you figure all this stuff out. Just reach out to us if you're interested in learning more. Um, so back to finding a mentor, hi, I'm here for you. Our community's here for you. Um, you have to have a vision for how you want your career and your life to interact. You know, you have to focus on the qualities on those qualities, your values.
Does this client align with your values? Yes. Join worth every penny I have learned so much. Thank you, Jen is awesome. Period with that at the end of the period. Well, you guys are awesome too. I love you both so much. Um, yes. Okay. Yeah. It's it's I wish I had it when I started my business. We want to keep you from crying. We want to keep you from getting more abusive, sexist clients. I had that in law, never again. Um, my clients are not like that. You know, we, we can sniff them out, but, um, yeah. So figure out your values. We have a really good, um, uh, vision code lesson inside the agency accelerator. And, um, we just went through like a 20, 22 masterclass planning session. And actually Kelly was one of the ones that kind of sent a message, letting us know that she really felt energized by the content we were sharing there.
So it's really good. It's great to go into a new year with like a fresh perspective and kind of a recap of what was working and what didn't in 2021 and how you want to go into the new year. What's a puppy she's sleeping. Um, so vision and values. And if your clients don't align, if your mentors don't align, move on. And it's also important for you to have a mentor that understands the of business you're trying to run and your specific niche. So that's really important. I had a mentor who knew specifically about, um, cosmetics, and that was really powerful for me to kick off my, uh, she wasn't teaching me how to run an agency, but was more, um, open about how beauty media works. And that was very helpful for me. So focus on finding a good mentor. We got you. Um, I linked out a free resource here, this free PR insider secret guide.
We are also running a really good black Friday promotion, which we kind of teased out a little bit. Um, it's really good. We're gonna release it next week. Be on the lookout for it. If you want first dibs, you can sign up to get notified at the link in the description of the video. Um, you know, it's something that's going to be very cost-effective that will help you kind of jump into PR if you're not really sure where to start or how to get started. Okay. So, um, that's step number three, find a good mentor and for build your skills, obviously being a great PR pro it takes practice. The main skill that you need to work on is mastering the art of the pitch sounds really easy. Um, it's pretty simple in the sense that it really goes back to timely relevant pitches and that'll help you score high quality top tier press features for your clients.
It's a numbers game, but it's also, don't, that's not a spray and pray like don't spray and pray, meaning like send. And if Jane is here, Jane always joins our lives. She sent me an email today about somebody pitching her beauty industry trade newsletter. What she was, they were pitching diversity dolls like Barbie dolls, but diverse knockoff kind of dolls. Um, and she's like sprained pretty much like totally off topic. And the person that pitched it as an agency that claims to know the toy industry. So I'm sorry if you know the toy industry, you should have a curated list of toy, relevant toy media outlets and not a beauty trade publication. That's literally never written about a toy that is lazy. Don't be lazy. You need to hone your skills. So your pitching skills are the foundation of everything you'll do once you become a publicist.
So you need to focus on those skills early and then continually work to develop them. You should always be learning and practicing to make your business more successful. The results you get more successful. Um, this is why we develop the pitch lab. It's a very cost-effective affordable membership program where you really learn how to become a pitching powerhouse. I knew my podcast pitching powerhouse because we really want to give you solid fundamentals. We have a roadmap that's like eight or nine weeks of content, perfectly laid out to show you the step-by-step process of how you create a strategy, write a pitch, you know, build out your list, pitch the media, follow up, what goes into pitching. And then we give you these monthly execution plans. And this allows you to learn exactly how to write compelling pitches that will actually convert to help you secure press features.
And you know, these monthly execution plans are also really powerful in helping you build out your strategy, your, um, proposals. We have shared like we name drop the different media outlets and their editorial calendars like, oh, you know, we're looking at a six month horizon. We know Allura is working on their best of beauty issue in August. And, um, back to school issue for people magazine hits this, you know, this month or this, you know, specific issue, we have all of that in there for you wherever we can pull it. So that's a huge time saver and it's a huge help to help you plan ahead. Um, Kelly's in there, uh, and Nelson's in there. Nelson's a very seasoned PR pro noses industries. He's in the pitch lab. Um, there's really good resources in there for you, so that will help you hone your skills.
And if you are brand brand, brand new, find a contact that you can support for free, get experience, get results, find a contact in the niche where you want to ultimately work. I want you to view everything you're doing in your business as stepping stones so that you're headed down the right path. You're always headed down the right path. You know, don't take something for free or for like a paid, you know, fee like a small fee. If it's not what you want to ultimately be doing, or maybe you do it cause you don't know. And then you're like, Ugh, I don't want to do that anymore. For me, that was fashion. I was like fashion. I love fashion. I'll do fashion PR fashion PR sucks. It's really hard. Um, you have to manage the sizes and seasons and track your samples. And we would get one set of samples.
And if we sent one out and we didn't get it back, we couldn't pitch that one anymore. And you had to time it right with the seasons and pricing always changed. So you were always fact checking. Um, and fashion PR did not pay very well, especially the up and coming brands. And they don't get paid by their retailers. Like the terms are awful. It's like net one 20 net 90 in some instances. So they didn't make a lot of money and the fees weren't great. So I didn't love fashion. And I was like, this isn't for me. So when new fashion things came along, I was like, that's not a path I want to go down because I don't want to do that anymore. So dialed it back. Um, but you know, if you start to take on work that isn't the, um, the kind of work you want to be doing, you're going to head down a path and have experience that isn't relevant for what you want to be doing and building your business around.
So think about step number five, find work experience. Um, you know, when you're first starting out, you can choose either between building your own PR business may be. Um, and we do talk about that. Gail is saying editorial calendars usually run three months in advance for major publications. I'm starting to pitch now for black history month. That is February. So, um, uh, we talk about that in the pitch lab and we give you long lead and short lead angles when you need to be thinking about them. So we get you into the mindset of editors and when they're thinking about certain topics, so that you're planning ahead of time and you have what you need, so you know what to be pitching and when, okay. So yes, she's right. Sometimes more than three months in advance, we planned for four of these days, actually for long leads.
Um, so thinking about working at another person's agency, starting your own agency, or even starting out as a freelancer, you know, or adding PR to the services you're already offering. So think about these things. So working for someone else's agency will give you the stability you want when you start out and we'll give you valuable experience, low risk, you're going to get paid. Um, probably not as much as you would if you ran your own agency, but it is a little bit more stable and maybe less stressful because, well, it's stressful. Um, we have short leads. Are you in Gail? Are you in the pitch lab? Um, it's really good. And we give you all of that in there so that you know what to focus on for short leads. They're like 45 pages long and they're packed with stuff and we're only improving them every month.
We're like, how can we make these better? How can we make them more targeted and more diverse? And so, yeah. Um, we have like also somebody that helps with DEI in, um, pitch angles. So somebody that's specifically focused on DEI. Um, yeah, so, um, that's all in there, but anyway, uh, so work for someone else probably won't make as much money, but great experience or another great way to get experience and build your skills while creating really good relationships is to offer your ha Megan, okay. Megan joined last night, my right last night or yesterday, she said, I saw those. I feel like that was worth the membership alone. That is what everybody tells us. Nope, not yet hoping soon. Yeah. It's, it's great. And we're here for you when you want, you can join any time and leave any time. It's like no risk.
You get access to everything as long as you're a current paying member, but then when you cancel, you just don't get to log in anymore. Um, it's not like the agency accelerator, you buy it, you own it. Um, that's like a resource library you have forever. This is like kind of like a gym membership you pay as you go. But Megan, people tell us that all the time. That makes me so happy to hear you say that those guides are worth the price of the membership alone. That's the goal. We want to exceed your expectations. And, um, there are also like awesome masterclasses and, oh my God, there's so much in there. And just the roadmap for learning how to do PR we used to sell that program in and of itself for $3,000. So if you're in the membership for two months, which is under $200, you get access to that entire, you know, training.
It's really good. Okay. I just try to like, make it a no brainer or something that you just have in your business as an expense. Plus we do coaching calls and they're really good. So I keep saying really good, but honestly, they're, they're great. And it's, it's not because I'm great. It's because the community is incredible and we all come together. Um, and people fill in the gaps and I tend to know everyone's businesses. So I will call on people and be like, oh, Natasha, you just did that. Can you share your experience? Or I happen to know that, uh, Kelly just did that. Can you, um, you know, give some resources to this person. So it's really good. Um, okay. Offer your services for free. So if you're brand new, this is what I did. Somebody that you love, or, you know, a company that, um, you love or something that is maybe local to you.
So this is what I did in order to gain experience in PR I had no idea at the time what PR even was, or that you could be paid for it. I honestly thought it was like celebrities doing bad stuff, getting into trouble. And they're like PR person was their mouthpiece and had to be like you grant so sorry that he picked up a, you know, a prostitute while these dating Elizabeth Hurley. We're so sorry. And then that publicist like gets them on the tonight show to do his apology tour. And everybody loves him again. Right? I did not know that brands had publicists. I knew about advertising. I knew about marketing social media didn't exist, but I did not know that brands had PR here. I am reading my magazines and I'm like, oh, the editors have been style of this skin cream. I'm totally getting it.
Now. I know that there's someone like me pitching this new skin cream. Um, you know, so that's what I figured out. I offered my services to a company that I found that I really loved. I did it for free. And that honestly changed my life. Figuring out that that was something that I loved so much, that I could get paid for. It, it would be my dream job. So that's where you may want to consider getting started. But I will tell you if you're offering free services, make sure you put a cap on it like a time period. So you don't want to be working for free forever. Maybe it's a trial period, or maybe you offer a discount for three months and then you reevaluate three months is a good amount of time for them to see what it's like to work with. You.
You can let them know that results are going to be starting, starting, but the real impact is going to be in six months, but you don't want to freak them out with this like long commitment. But you say in six months, this is what I said for my first paying client industry standard for this industry is five grand a month. I will come in at 2,500, let's go three months. I will crush it for you. I'm going to hustle my butt off. And at that point, you're going to know what it's like working with me, how responsive I am, the quality of the contacts I'm making for you. And then we'll reevaluate. So you want to set a limit, set a timeline, let people know upfront that you are working to develop your PR skills. You want to help out. Maybe that's where you're working for free.
Or you can tell people that you have experience doing this in house or at an agency, or you have similar skills that will transfer over, but you're looking to get started in your own business and you want to use them. Okay. Good. Yay. Thanks clay for being here. Um, have a great day. You're so welcome. Glad you're on our list. So that's one way to do it. That's how I got my first client free. And then my first paying client, then I ended up working with for 11 years, helped establish our niche, our expertise, our reputation, and the baby and kids space. So we go from there, um, but set a cap. Okay. You can do this with like a family business or friend of a family. We have somebody in our, our, in our community who just started her agency and her first client was like her best friend's parents' business.
And they're taking a chance on her and she's really excited and we're holding her hand all along the way. Um, so that's step five. Find work experience. Even if you have to work for free, step six is hone in on your niche. I will pound you over the head with this because I cannot stress to you how important it is for so many things. Um, this will allow you to scale your business, your expertise in a way that brings in more money for you without more time. Okay. And that's honing in on your niche. Niching down. I know is scary for a lot of people because they feel like they're not going to get enough work or they're going to have to turn work down, um, or they're limiting themselves in some way, but it's really essential in building a successful PR business. You can niche into what types of clients you want to serve, like experts or brands.
What types of brands, nonprofits, um, tech companies like whatever niches you enjoy, it's even better if there's synergy and the crossover like we do baby and kids, beauty and cosmetics, health, and wellness. There are a lot of crossovers in the media contacts and the publications in those niches. So for us, there's leverage between them also. I just really liked them. Um, but you can also niche in the types of services that you offer, because the more things you offer, the more you will drive yourself, crazy. You are going to have to manage so much, everybody's doing different stuff. They're moving in different directions. It's crazy. So what do you want to be known for niching down is how you offer maximum value and you command higher rates. So it allows you to become known as like a go-to expert authority in a specific area. And if you don't do this, you are going to be like a generalist and nobody will think of you for something very specific.
You're going to get low quality opportunities because it's like, uh, the, you know, my cousins, friends, friends, coworker works or has a, you know, a candle shop on Etsy and they have a $750 budget. And you're like, you know, okay, because you're not specializing in anything. And so you don't come to mind as like the go-to pro that they're willing to pay a premium for. Um, if you don't need shut down, you won't be known as the expert authority in any specific area. Instead niche down, leverage your successes. So that clients in that niche know that you're the best and you know, what's going on the industry and what you specifically do can serve them and support them in the way that they're looking for it. Like, you'll use your case studies, your existing client. Let me just give you an example, real life example.
You guys know, I always share what's going on with me. So, um, that client that was awful that we had to fire. We did great work for them, and it was a very specific type of beauty product company. And yesterday I had a call with their main competitor basically. Um, and they're [email protected] and they want to really blow out this product line. They just rebranded. And they specifically said, we are here because of the work you did for that client. Are you still working with them? And I'm like, funny enough, we are no longer working with them. And there's this giant hole in our roster with all of these opportunities. Like literally they are both, um, hair loss, hair, thickening, hair care, mass market, not super expensive, total competitors for that exact same type of product. So all of the leads that we've built for this other company that I let go were like, here you go.
Here is media on a silver platter that is looking for a product just like yours. They know to come to us for a product like that. And we can just pivot you right into that space. So they said to us, give us a proposal and we want it to lead with a case study on the specific results you got for that brand. Our CEO will love that they will absolutely love that. And they also liked another company I did because of the retailers they were in, um, the price point and the fact that they're like, uh, uh, organic, clean beauty brand. And they said, go with that also. So, because those were so niche, they asked for case studies to show what the results were so they can see what we can do for them. And that's a high retainer client because they are coming to us specifically for that expertise.
And without niching, you'll have 10 clients at a thousand dollars a month, rather than two clients on five or six figure retainers per year. Right. Um, it's always better to go deep than to go wide. And when you know, um, what to focus on, you'll be able to score really premium clients, your dream clients in your niches. That's also one of the things we do is have you work on, um, your dream clients and back into the steps that you need to take in order to, you know, stepping stones to get there. Okay. So that's what I have for you today. Let me recap the six kind of, uh, things that you need to think of the steps. Number one, know your, why always go back to your north star, your guiding principles, know your vision and your values. Why are you doing this? Why are you getting into this, um, to stay on top of trends, get up to date on what's happening.
What's trending in PR being in this community is a great way to do that. Um, dial into your niches and know what's happening there. Three, find a good mentor. I'm here for you. If you need me, there are other members of this community that are incredible. Number four, build your skills. We can, you know, you're here learning for free. Um, we have a lot of people that do that. We also have paid programs. I promise you, they are worth every penny and then some, so, um, build your skills. We have the pitch lab. That'll help you figure out how to become a pitching powerhouse with timely relevant pitches for media. And as Megan said, who just joined yesterday? I feel like the membership alone is worth it for our, um, thanks. Steria for our execution plans that you get every single month, um, five find some work experience, work for free, do it on a limited basis, gain your skills and also start to develop contacts and experience and case studies and results in the niches.
You want to work in, um, put a time cap on it. Okay. So the clients are like, we have a free publicist for the rest of our, for the rest of our lives. Like, no, that's not what it's going to be. Um, step six for anyone, whether you are brand new seasoned, whatever, hone in on your niche, who do you serve and how do you serve them? And the more you niche down, the more you can charge, okay, that's what I have for you. So if you are ready to begin a wildly successful career in PR, we have this free little resource, we put together a PR insider secrets, um, that just, you know, grab that download. And, um, we asked members of our community, all of the questions that they wanted to know answers to. And then we asked our most successful members of our programs to share their responses.
And we have multiple responses. It's very good resource. Grab that today. That's what I have for you guys. I'll stay on for another minute. If anybody has any questions about our programs or any other cues about getting into PR or what does it take to break in all of this? Um, tell me, let me know. And who else is still here? Actually, a few people still here. Thank you guys so much for being here. Um, I think while the puppy sleeping, I'm going to try to record a podcast because I'm so far behind because of the dog. So I'm going to try to record a podcast, but, um, let me know if you have any questions, hearts to you to Daria. I so appreciate you always being here. Um, thank you guys so much. I realized I looked super tired. It's the dog. I was up at 3 45 again and five 30 again today. I swear. It's like having a baby. Um, anyway guys, thank you so much. If you have any questions as you're kicking off your career or, um, you know, there's so much stuff here for you, there is so much stuff. I mean, go down the rabbit hole. Yeah, here, uh, Gale,
Um, that is so email the team that's Miranda [email protected], whatever questions you have. We have things to point. Sorry about the mic. We have things to point you to, so yes, please email our team. We'll get right back to you guys. Thank you so much for being here. I will see you again next week. Actually it's Thanksgiving. I'm hosting Thanksgiving. So I think no live next week. Um, but we'll be back soon. I'm here all the time. Every Thursday, usually at 11 Pacific. Um, yeah. Thank you. Thanks so much. We'll see you soon. Have a great day and I appreciate you guys being here.
