Mickie Kennedy shares his journey from a creative writer to the founder of eReleases, underscoring the unconventional paths leadership can take. He emphasizes the importance of storytelling in leadership, particularly how presenting data with a compelling narrative can captivate attention and drive significant media coverage and business growth.
Key leadership qualities such as adaptability, vision, and an empathetic approach to team management are discussed. These elements are portrayed as crucial in navigating the complexities of modern business environments and achieving long-term success.
Want to learn more about Mickie's work? Check out their website at https://www.ereleases.com.
Connect with Mickie on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/publicity/.
Key Points with Timestamps
- [00:00:00] Craig shares his story of leadership while incapacitated, highlighting team resilience.
- [00:01:06] Introduction to Mickie Kennedy and his role at eReleases.
- [00:10:19] Discussion on the impact of storytelling in press releases and media engagement.
- [00:20:00] Insights on adapting leadership styles to enhance team autonomy and creativity.
- [00:30:00] Strategies for leaders to foster innovation within their organizations.
Transcript
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;30;20
Craig Andrews
I was in a coma for six weeks while the doctors told my wife I was going to die. When I woke up, she told me the most fantastic story. My team kept running the business without me. Freelancers reached out to my team and said, we will do whatever it takes. As long as Craig's in the hospital. I consider that the greatest accomplishment of my career.
00;00;30;23 - 00;00;51;10
Craig Andrews
My name is Craig Andrews and this is the Leaders and Legacies podcast where we talk to leaders creating an impact beyond themselves. At the end of today's interview, I'll tell you how you can be the next leader featured on the show.
00;00;51;10 - 00;01;06;00
Craig Andrews
Today I will welcome Mickie Kennedy with eReleases. I'm really looking forward to this podcast because Mickie's going to clarify some things that have been confusing for me and my business regarding,
00;01;06;00 - 00;01;06;28
Craig Andrews
PR
00;01;06;28 - 00;01;11;03
Craig Andrews
he started EA releases 25 years ago to help small businesses,
00;01;11;03 - 00;01;20;23
Craig Andrews
authors, and startups increase their visibility and credit. credibility through tier one press release, distribution and a couple things are really interesting.
00;01;20;29 - 00;01;26;27
Craig Andrews
Mickie lives in the Baltimore area, not far from some of my family. And,
00;01;26;27 - 00;01;29;17
Craig Andrews
turns out I used to live down on the,
00;01;29;17 - 00;01;33;08
Craig Andrews
North Carolina coast, very close to where he grew up. And,
00;01;33;08 - 00;01;40;09
Craig Andrews
it's as we've talked, we realize it, you know, it's really small world. And,
00;01;40;09 - 00;01;51;19
Craig Andrews
so my recommendation is, if you're a business, you want to listen to this because I think there's going to be some shockers there have been for me in my conversations with making about,
00;01;51;19 - 00;01;58;17
Craig Andrews
what's out there for getting press for your business and some misunderstandings.
00;01;58;19 - 00;01;59;14
Craig Andrews
So,
00;01;59;14 - 00;02;03;04
Craig Andrews
listen up. This is going to be good. Mickie. Welcome.
00;02;03;06 - 00;02;05;00
Mickie Kennedy
Thanks for having me.
00;02;05;03 - 00;02;06;12
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So,
00;02;06;12 - 00;02;09;14
Craig Andrews
so, anyway, the,
00;02;09;14 - 00;02;11;02
Craig Andrews
I ain't going back to,
00;02;11;02 - 00;02;19;12
Craig Andrews
you grew up on, you know, North Carolina. Curse those in North Carolina called the area down east.
00;02;19;12 - 00;02;22;05
Craig Andrews
but basically close to Emerald Isle.
00;02;22;05 - 00;02;26;05
Craig Andrews
a little bit north of Jacksonville. I used to live in Havelock, which,
00;02;26;05 - 00;02;30;27
Craig Andrews
if you're on the coast, you know, that's, you know, where Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station is.
00;02;31;00 - 00;02;31;26
Craig Andrews
And,
00;02;31;26 - 00;02;33;12
Craig Andrews
and I,
00;02;33;12 - 00;02;50;00
Craig Andrews
I was like a really crappy student in high school. I had 2.54 GPA. That's why I went in the Marines and I went ended up going to Craven Community College to get my GPA up so I could eventually be accepted. NC state now you went to George Mason, which is just an amazing university.
00;02;50;00 - 00;02;52;16
Craig Andrews
What would you go there to study?
00;02;52;19 - 00;02;53;00
Mickie Kennedy
So,
00;02;53;00 - 00;02;53;15
Mickie Kennedy
I,
00;02;53;15 - 00;02;59;08
Mickie Kennedy
had finished a bachelors degree at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and
00;02;59;08 - 00;03;02;18
Mickie Kennedy
was really bit by the writing bug and
00;03;02;18 - 00;03;03;25
Mickie Kennedy
had always written,
00;03;03;25 - 00;03;05;15
Mickie Kennedy
creatively growing up.
00;03;05;15 - 00;03;06;23
Mickie Kennedy
but I really fell in love with,
00;03;06;23 - 00;03;13;28
Mickie Kennedy
poetry. So I did a master's of fine arts and creative writing with an emphasis in poetry at George Mason University.
00;03;14;01 - 00;03;18;09
Mickie Kennedy
And so, you know that I basically spent,
00;03;18;09 - 00;03;19;21
Mickie Kennedy
3 to 4 years,
00;03;19;21 - 00;03;22;19
Mickie Kennedy
writing poetry, reading poetry,
00;03;22;19 - 00;03;26;00
Mickie Kennedy
you know, learning the craft and just getting to,
00;03;26;00 - 00;03;27;24
Mickie Kennedy
explore and love literature.
00;03;27;24 - 00;03;28;10
Mickie Kennedy
so,
00;03;28;10 - 00;03;37;19
Mickie Kennedy
I had no regrets about that, but career wise, I wasn't sure what I was going to end up doing. I think my game plan was to, you know, after I graduate, wait tables and,
00;03;37;19 - 00;03;38;17
Mickie Kennedy
write poetry.
00;03;38;17 - 00;03;38;29
Mickie Kennedy
And,
00;03;38;29 - 00;03;55;22
Mickie Kennedy
I did that for a summer after graduating and realized that, the serving life is not for me. My back hurt my my ankles and these hurt, and I just felt so psychologically wiped at the end of every shift that I wasn't getting any reading or writing done. Wow.
00;03;55;24 - 00;03;59;11
Craig Andrews
Now you have a book of poetry that's coming out in a couple of years, right?
00;03;59;14 - 00;03;59;27
Mickie Kennedy
Yeah.
00;03;59;27 - 00;04;00;11
Mickie Kennedy
I have,
00;04;00;11 - 00;04;02;14
Mickie Kennedy
a book of poetry called Worth Burning that,
00;04;02;14 - 00;04;03;00
Mickie Kennedy
just,
00;04;03;00 - 00;04;04;02
Mickie Kennedy
settled on the,
00;04;04;02 - 00;04;09;18
Mickie Kennedy
contract, and it'll be coming out in February of 2026. So,
00;04;09;18 - 00;04;13;28
Mickie Kennedy
long lead time. But small presses tend to take a long time for production.
00;04;14;00 - 00;04;16;11
Craig Andrews
Yeah. Very interesting.
00;04;16;11 - 00;04;19;24
Craig Andrews
well, fortunately, I think, you know, somebody that's good at promoting it. Getting the word.
00;04;19;24 - 00;04;22;25
Mickie Kennedy
Out. Yeah, absolutely.
00;04;22;27 - 00;04;25;13
Craig Andrews
So before we jump into that, I'm just curious,
00;04;25;13 - 00;04;30;02
Craig Andrews
what type of poetry do you write? What type of poetry do you read?
00;04;30;05 - 00;04;30;19
Mickie Kennedy
So,
00;04;30;19 - 00;04;34;13
Mickie Kennedy
I read very similar poetry to what I write. It's usually,
00;04;34;13 - 00;04;36;14
Mickie Kennedy
first person narrative.
00;04;36;14 - 00;04;37;11
Mickie Kennedy
you know, it's,
00;04;37;11 - 00;04;38;12
Mickie Kennedy
free verse,
00;04;38;12 - 00;04;40;15
Mickie Kennedy
non rhyming, but, you know, there is,
00;04;40;15 - 00;04;43;26
Mickie Kennedy
a strong attention to the music at the lines in the words.
00;04;43;26 - 00;04;46;21
Mickie Kennedy
and it's mostly just about my life and,
00;04;46;21 - 00;04;48;20
Mickie Kennedy
you know, my experiences and,
00;04;48;20 - 00;04;50;29
Mickie Kennedy
you know, things along those lines I've had.
00;04;50;29 - 00;04;53;15
Mickie Kennedy
They're a very colorful and,
00;04;53;15 - 00;04;54;20
Mickie Kennedy
different little path,
00;04;54;20 - 00;04;55;11
Mickie Kennedy
through life.
00;04;55;11 - 00;04;56;10
Mickie Kennedy
never,
00;04;56;10 - 00;04;56;28
Mickie Kennedy
studied,
00;04;56;28 - 00;05;03;04
Mickie Kennedy
you know, business or marketing. And then all of a sudden, I'm in charge of a, a press release business,
00;05;03;04 - 00;05;06;01
Mickie Kennedy
you know, starting in October of 1998. So,
00;05;06;01 - 00;05;10;12
Mickie Kennedy
it's it's it's been a lot of fun, and there's been a lot of little ups and downs,
00;05;10;12 - 00;05;12;29
Mickie Kennedy
personally, as well as professionally along the way.
00;05;13;01 - 00;05;18;26
Craig Andrews
You know, so this is going to seem out of left field, but I'll connect the dots here.
00;05;18;26 - 00;05;24;16
Craig Andrews
have you ever watched Johnny Cochran's closing statements in the O.J. Simpson trial?
00;05;24;18 - 00;05;26;14
Mickie Kennedy
I recall having watched it.
00;05;26;14 - 00;05;29;08
Mickie Kennedy
but it's been a long time. Of course.
00;05;29;10 - 00;05;47;07
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So most people. I mean, I think the perception of a lot of people as closing arguments is like this. All five minute statement. And, you know, the reality in that trial, the closing statements went on for hours given by multiple attorneys. And I watched it.
00;05;47;07 - 00;05;55;01
Craig Andrews
it's my recommended that I watch it. And now I did. And what struck me was a lot of his,
00;05;55;01 - 00;05;57;13
Craig Andrews
lot of his, closing arguments.
00;05;57;15 - 00;06;33;01
Craig Andrews
He put in meter. And, you know, everybody knows if it doesn't fit, you must acquit. And that was memorable. But when you go back and look at it, you will see, I mean, he put an enormous amount of effort in it. Basically he was doing poetry. And it hit me that the things I wanted the jury to remember, he put meter some of the stuff that I, I guess he had to put in there just to have an argument for, you know, appeal or whatever, you know, he would just kind of read it out, like, you know, you're reading a,
00;06;33;01 - 00;06;36;20
Craig Andrews
you know, earnings report from a, you know, company.
00;06;36;22 - 00;06;42;26
Craig Andrews
And I just found that really, really fascinating. And so when you talked about having, you know, I'm rhymed,
00;06;42;26 - 00;06;54;25
Craig Andrews
poetry, it immediately my mind went to Johnnie Cochran. And the power of communication that comes when you put things in meter.
00;06;54;27 - 00;07;06;18
Mickie Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, poetry is one of those things that people can still recite lines from decades ago. And, I think it's because of the, the flow and rhythm and the meter,
00;07;06;18 - 00;07;08;04
Mickie Kennedy
all those things that makes,
00;07;08;04 - 00;07;08;20
Mickie Kennedy
you know,
00;07;08;20 - 00;07;12;09
Mickie Kennedy
poetry so beautiful. And one of the reasons that,
00;07;12;09 - 00;07;13;06
Mickie Kennedy
you know, people,
00;07;13;06 - 00;07;15;27
Mickie Kennedy
still read it and read it.
00;07;15;29 - 00;07;21;13
Craig Andrews
You know. Well, very cool. So obviously you're going to be using releases to promote,
00;07;21;13 - 00;07;28;27
Craig Andrews
promote your book. Tell us what is it releases and you know, just kind of setting the stage.
00;07;28;29 - 00;07;31;02
Mickie Kennedy
Sure. So, I,
00;07;31;02 - 00;07;35;13
Mickie Kennedy
I mentioned that I waited tables at the end of that summer,
00;07;35;13 - 00;07;39;21
Mickie Kennedy
after graduating, I realized I needed a safe office job, so I,
00;07;39;21 - 00;07;46;02
Mickie Kennedy
applied and was immediately hired by a telecom research startup as employee number three. And,
00;07;46;02 - 00;07;48;05
Mickie Kennedy
you know, I thought that was exciting. And it was,
00;07;48;05 - 00;07;49;23
Mickie Kennedy
and you wear a lot of hats,
00;07;49;23 - 00;07;52;10
Mickie Kennedy
when you're, you know, a three person company.
00;07;52;13 - 00;07;59;01
Mickie Kennedy
And so, were there things that they had me do since I had a writing background was to write press releases and send them out?
00;07;59;01 - 00;08;00;02
Mickie Kennedy
at the time we,
00;08;00;02 - 00;08;01;10
Mickie Kennedy
we faxed and,
00;08;01;10 - 00;08;07;07
Mickie Kennedy
the owner of the company was really proud. He had just bought this very expensive fax machine that held 100,
00;08;07;07 - 00;08;09;17
Mickie Kennedy
telephone numbers. And unfortunately,
00;08;09;17 - 00;08;12;14
Mickie Kennedy
our list of journalists was like 150.
00;08;12;14 - 00;08;15;25
Mickie Kennedy
So I would program 100 numbers and and,
00;08;15;25 - 00;08;32;15
Mickie Kennedy
send the release and then delete all those numbers and put, 50. and, and I really appealed to the boss to let's buy a second fax machine so we can keep the 100 number stored and 50 and the other. And he's just like, it was too expensive. I think it was like 3 or $4000,
00;08;32;15 - 00;08;33;07
Mickie Kennedy
at the time.
00;08;33;07 - 00;08;37;27
Mickie Kennedy
And this was, you know, like mid, 90s. And so,
00;08;37;27 - 00;08;38;06
Mickie Kennedy
yeah,
00;08;38;06 - 00;08;38;27
Mickie Kennedy
I would,
00;08;38;27 - 00;08;42;16
Mickie Kennedy
write these releases, send them out, and I'll be honest with you, nothing happened.
00;08;42;16 - 00;08;47;03
Mickie Kennedy
and I really made it my mission to figure out what I was doing wrong.
00;08;47;03 - 00;08;50;00
Mickie Kennedy
and, you know, I'm naturally curious in life, and it's,
00;08;50;00 - 00;08;51;03
Mickie Kennedy
But one of the things that,
00;08;51;03 - 00;08;57;23
Mickie Kennedy
I guess makes me me, I know a lot about a lot of different subjects because I get really curious and I do deep dives into things.
00;08;57;25 - 00;09;01;05
Mickie Kennedy
And so I started studying articles,
00;09;01;05 - 00;09;17;12
Mickie Kennedy
that journalists were writing. And what I noticed back then is that a lot of the stories, you know, they're very small articles. I still like to follow a story arc, and I just felt like I'm just sending data to these journalist, and I'm not really giving them,
00;09;17;12 - 00;09;19;18
Mickie Kennedy
any materials to build a story.
00;09;19;21 - 00;09;20;20
Mickie Kennedy
And so,
00;09;20;20 - 00;09;26;29
Mickie Kennedy
I know that we had done a press release on the telecom traffic to and from the United States to,
00;09;26;29 - 00;09;30;19
Mickie Kennedy
various Caribbean countries. We had just finished that area, and,
00;09;30;19 - 00;09;32;26
Mickie Kennedy
you know, so I looked at that and said,
00;09;32;26 - 00;09;38;13
Mickie Kennedy
you know, it's a story here. And I noticed that one country stood out. I could recall what country it was.
00;09;38;13 - 00;09;39;17
Mickie Kennedy
But at the time,
00;09;39;17 - 00;09;49;19
Mickie Kennedy
the reason that the telecom traffic to and from the United States was so robust in that country is it was the call center for one 900 numbers. It turns out at the time,
00;09;49;19 - 00;09;52;03
Mickie Kennedy
one 900 numbers were really popular.
00;09;52;03 - 00;10;03;08
Mickie Kennedy
you could call in for $0.75 a minute, get your horoscope. You could call for two bucks a minute and get advice on your pets or, you know, dating advice, all different kinds of things.
00;10;03;11 - 00;10;04;13
Mickie Kennedy
and so,
00;10;04;13 - 00;10;19;24
Mickie Kennedy
it turns out that was where a lot of that was taking place. And so I wrote a press release about that, sent that out, and it immediately got picked up in the Financial Times. The economist, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and three telecom trade publications. And,
00;10;19;24 - 00;10;24;28
Mickie Kennedy
I was like, wow. the phones just continued to ring for days.
00;10;25;01 - 00;10;27;27
Mickie Kennedy
we got lots of orders from people and,
00;10;27;27 - 00;10;33;18
Mickie Kennedy
you know, it just really boosted us considerably. I continued to look for stories,
00;10;33;18 - 00;10;38;01
Mickie Kennedy
rather than, you know, just publishing the data. And,
00;10;38;01 - 00;10;42;09
Mickie Kennedy
the media was still kind to us. We still got lots of media pick up.
00;10;42;09 - 00;10;44;09
Mickie Kennedy
I remember that we noticed that,
00;10;44;09 - 00;10;46;04
Mickie Kennedy
when there was an increase in,
00;10;46;04 - 00;10;48;05
Mickie Kennedy
telecom volume in,
00;10;48;05 - 00;10;48;18
Mickie Kennedy
you know,
00;10;48;18 - 00;10;50;14
Mickie Kennedy
countries that weren't quite,
00;10;50;14 - 00;10;52;13
Mickie Kennedy
industrialized as much as, like,
00;10;52;13 - 00;10;53;02
Mickie Kennedy
first world,
00;10;53;02 - 00;10;54;01
Mickie Kennedy
countries,
00;10;54;01 - 00;10;58;11
Mickie Kennedy
it was often followed two, three, four years later with huge economic growth.
00;10;58;13 - 00;11;01;14
Mickie Kennedy
So if you see a 7% spike in internet,
00;11;01;14 - 00;11;02;25
Mickie Kennedy
internet or telecom tech,
00;11;02;25 - 00;11;03;23
Mickie Kennedy
activity,
00;11;03;23 - 00;11;06;24
Mickie Kennedy
for a few years, it usually precedes a huge,
00;11;06;24 - 00;11;08;00
Mickie Kennedy
bump in,
00;11;08;00 - 00;11;09;01
Mickie Kennedy
that country's,
00;11;09;01 - 00;11;10;03
Mickie Kennedy
financial
00;11;10;03 - 00;11;13;03
Mickie Kennedy
success. And, you know, that led to a lot of,
00;11;13;03 - 00;11;25;27
Mickie Kennedy
investment firms and hedge funds all of a sudden buying our data and reports. And it was just really great to be able to turn on all of these avenues for leads and customers and to get this recognition.
00;11;25;29 - 00;11;31;02
Mickie Kennedy
we were just really killing it. We were really recognized in the telecom world,
00;11;31;02 - 00;11;32;20
Mickie Kennedy
as being like, you know,
00;11;32;20 - 00;11;34;07
Mickie Kennedy
the gold standard of,
00;11;34;07 - 00;11;43;15
Mickie Kennedy
telecom data. And I just felt to myself that, wow, if you know, this, this could, you know, really help a lot of small businesses. but I didn't do anything with it at first.
00;11;43;15 - 00;11;51;01
Mickie Kennedy
And then all of a sudden, we started getting calls and calls from journalists after every fax and saying, hey,
00;11;51;01 - 00;11;54;20
Mickie Kennedy
could you in the future email us instead of faxing?
00;11;54;20 - 00;11;55;17
Mickie Kennedy
email was,
00;11;55;17 - 00;11;57;00
Mickie Kennedy
fairly new at the time.
00;11;57;00 - 00;12;00;14
Mickie Kennedy
and people were getting very comfortable with it. And so that was my
00;12;00;14 - 00;12;06;29
Mickie Kennedy
moment where I mentioned to my bosses like, hey, you could build a really robust database of journalists and just email them releases.
00;12;06;29 - 00;12;12;04
Mickie Kennedy
And he goes, hey, maybe there's a business there. So I spent about a year reaching out to journalists that,
00;12;12;04 - 00;12;20;23
Mickie Kennedy
they were everywhere on message boards, bulletin boards, which were really popular. They were very accessible. And I would reach out to them and just to say, hey, I'm working on this,
00;12;20;23 - 00;12;21;21
Mickie Kennedy
project.
00;12;21;21 - 00;12;24;04
Mickie Kennedy
it wasn't even releases at the time.
00;12;24;07 - 00;12;24;21
Mickie Kennedy
but,
00;12;24;21 - 00;12;26;03
Mickie Kennedy
I told them that,
00;12;26;03 - 00;12;28;19
Mickie Kennedy
I would like to send them releases and,
00;12;28;19 - 00;12;41;00
Mickie Kennedy
could I sign them up? And at first I was going to keep it technology. And as I speak to these people, they're like, oh, I don't really do technology now. Now, of all things, I found, you know, something completely random, like restaurants or,
00;12;41;00 - 00;12;42;22
Mickie Kennedy
sports or fashion.
00;12;42;24 - 00;12;56;07
Mickie Kennedy
And I was just like, wow, people really move around a lot. And so I just started, you know, building out all different types of industries and adding people. And so a little over a year later, I had 10,000 journalists in my database, and I,
00;12;56;07 - 00;12;56;26
Mickie Kennedy
launched,
00;12;56;26 - 00;12;57;21
Mickie Kennedy
the business.
00;12;57;21 - 00;12;58;14
Mickie Kennedy
and I,
00;12;58;14 - 00;12;59;18
Mickie Kennedy
as people,
00;12;59;18 - 00;13;01;20
Mickie Kennedy
you know, would have a release,
00;13;01;20 - 00;13;03;21
Mickie Kennedy
or want me to write a release.
00;13;03;21 - 00;13;10;22
Mickie Kennedy
I'd write one and then send it out. And I was doing this on the side, mostly in the evenings and early mornings and,
00;13;10;22 - 00;13;16;27
Mickie Kennedy
eventually it reached a point that I felt like there's a business here. And so I left the telecom,
00;13;16;27 - 00;13;18;03
Mickie Kennedy
world, and,
00;13;18;03 - 00;13;20;07
Mickie Kennedy
sort of never looked back.
00;13;20;10 - 00;13;28;12
Craig Andrews
Wow. It's cool. You know, there was let me drill in on one thing. You know, you talked about the difference between,
00;13;28;12 - 00;13;40;13
Craig Andrews
putting out data and telling a story, you know, and just as a kind of an anchor point for everybody's mind. Two anchor points. One, Steve Jobs famously said, the most powerful person in the world is a storyteller.
00;13;40;15 - 00;13;41;07
Craig Andrews
And,
00;13;41;07 - 00;14;09;28
Craig Andrews
the the newsmagazine 60 minutes. You know, probably the most successful news show of all time. You know, the guy who founded it, his his directive to his staff was, tell me a story. Every 60 minutes episode is telling a story. So that makes sense. But here's here's where I get a little bit lost. What's the difference between putting out a press release for data?
00;14;09;28 - 00;14;22;18
Craig Andrews
So let's talk about this telecom data that you had. What's the difference between putting out data and telling a story. What's the data press release look like? Was the story press release look like.
00;14;22;20 - 00;14;28;11
Mickie Kennedy
So the data one looked like have had a table in it, and it just showcased the telecom,
00;14;28;11 - 00;14;33;11
Mickie Kennedy
inbound and outbound traffic for each of these Caribbean countries. So for a talked about,
00;14;33;11 - 00;14;35;07
Mickie Kennedy
the landscape of the telecom,
00;14;35;07 - 00;14;38;00
Mickie Kennedy
the telecom market in that area,
00;14;38;00 - 00;14;44;08
Mickie Kennedy
you know, and it really did have anything that was really story specific.
00;14;44;11 - 00;14;53;03
Mickie Kennedy
We hadn't drilled down and determined why one country stood out more than all the others. As far as traffic, we just talked about how robust it was.
00;14;53;03 - 00;15;03;03
Mickie Kennedy
and to be honest, we we we knew the data, but we didn't know why the data, why there were anomalies in the data, why one country was so much more robust,
00;15;03;03 - 00;15;04;21
Mickie Kennedy
you know, and it wasn't hard to find out.
00;15;04;21 - 00;15;08;04
Mickie Kennedy
You know, I just, looked at that data and,
00;15;08;04 - 00;15;10;16
Mickie Kennedy
I called around and,
00;15;10;16 - 00;15;13;01
Mickie Kennedy
found out. Oh, there's a lot of one 900,
00;15;13;01 - 00;15;15;18
Mickie Kennedy
call centers there in that country. And,
00;15;15;18 - 00;15;22;15
Mickie Kennedy
I was like, oh, that's really interesting. That certainly explains why there's so much traffic there. And so just sharing those, sharing,
00;15;22;15 - 00;15;25;04
Mickie Kennedy
that, that kind of information, it's more story based.
00;15;25;04 - 00;15;25;25
Mickie Kennedy
So,
00;15;25;25 - 00;15;27;29
Mickie Kennedy
you know, we we've mentioned the data,
00;15;27;29 - 00;15;29;00
Mickie Kennedy
when we talked about,
00;15;29;00 - 00;15;30;06
Mickie Kennedy
the story based one,
00;15;30;06 - 00;15;32;18
Mickie Kennedy
but we just sort of talked about,
00;15;32;18 - 00;15;41;03
Mickie Kennedy
you know, how much larger it was than the other markets and what specifically the inbound and outbound traffic was in millions of minutes. And so,
00;15;41;03 - 00;15;42;24
Mickie Kennedy
you know, it was an a table of data.
00;15;43;00 - 00;15;43;24
Mickie Kennedy
It was just,
00;15;43;24 - 00;15;47;22
Mickie Kennedy
you know, incorporated in the body of the release for we talked about,
00;15;47;22 - 00;15;51;23
Mickie Kennedy
you know, the call centers and we talked about how call centers had,
00;15;51;23 - 00;15;55;04
Mickie Kennedy
you know, grown over the years and all the different ways in which,
00;15;55;04 - 00;15;55;25
Mickie Kennedy
people,
00;15;55;25 - 00;15;59;22
Mickie Kennedy
were utilizing it and all the different facets of things that were available.
00;15;59;25 - 00;16;00;12
Mickie Kennedy
And,
00;16;00;12 - 00;16;06;17
Mickie Kennedy
it just really, you know, captured people like, oh, I know one 900 numbers, but I never really thought about,
00;16;06;17 - 00;16;07;13
Mickie Kennedy
you know, there's,
00;16;07;13 - 00;16;11;16
Mickie Kennedy
corporations and businesses and infrastructure behind that. And,
00;16;11;16 - 00;16;12;22
Mickie Kennedy
it's just interesting that,
00;16;12;22 - 00;16;16;24
Mickie Kennedy
it was sort of one of the earliest things that, was offshored,
00;16;16;24 - 00;16;19;18
Mickie Kennedy
to sort of save cost and keep costs down.
00;16;19;20 - 00;16;33;13
Craig Andrews
Well, you know, and I think there's so many things in life that have a story and, and I think you can really captivate the imagination. I remember one,
00;16;33;13 - 00;16;46;28
Craig Andrews
one time I was visiting Phoenix, and, you know, I was up on one of the hills. I forget what mountain it was. And I'm looking down the city and I'm looking at this massive city in the desert.
00;16;47;00 - 00;17;16;01
Craig Andrews
And I still don't know the answer to this, but I was like, why did people settle here? Why is this one of the largest, most significant cities in the country? In the middle of the desert desert, there's a small river going through it, but not a major waterway. And what I'm hearing you say is in your press releases, the ones that really get traction are the ones that connect, meaning to to the data.
00;17;16;01 - 00;17;25;09
Craig Andrews
It's not just data, but it's having meaning, and it's meaning in a, a, a narrative form.
00;17;25;11 - 00;17;27;05
Mickie Kennedy
yeah. I mean, I think that,
00;17;27;05 - 00;17;29;07
Mickie Kennedy
stories are one of the things that,
00;17;29;07 - 00;17;31;09
Mickie Kennedy
naturally, we're comfortable with,
00;17;31;09 - 00;17;32;26
Mickie Kennedy
you know, we, we grow up,
00;17;32;26 - 00;17;44;13
Mickie Kennedy
you know, hearing stories, being told stories at night, and they all, you know, sort of follow a story arc that we're comfortable with. And I think it's a natural place that for us to go to.
00;17;44;19 - 00;17;47;04
Mickie Kennedy
And I think also, you know, there's something about,
00;17;47;04 - 00;17;48;18
Mickie Kennedy
you know, sharing,
00;17;48;18 - 00;17;52;19
Mickie Kennedy
you know, a human interest element at times that people resonate with.
00;17;52;19 - 00;18;02;07
Mickie Kennedy
I know that a lot of small businesses that I've worked with over the years like to appear very corporate and professional, as if they're a large company. And I find that,
00;18;02;07 - 00;18;03;21
Mickie Kennedy
a lot of the startups,
00;18;03;21 - 00;18;05;00
Mickie Kennedy
that come through,
00;18;05;00 - 00;18;09;05
Mickie Kennedy
they do really well with PR and I think the difference with them is,
00;18;09;05 - 00;18;12;07
Mickie Kennedy
they embrace their they're bootstrapping,
00;18;12;07 - 00;18;14;19
Mickie Kennedy
they're very comfortable talking about, you know,
00;18;14;19 - 00;18;18;23
Mickie Kennedy
building it out of their garage or workshop or,
00;18;18;23 - 00;18;21;27
Mickie Kennedy
you know, a leased warehouse in a rough part of town.
00;18;22;00 - 00;18;22;14
Mickie Kennedy
And,
00;18;22;14 - 00;18;29;11
Mickie Kennedy
so they also have their elevator pitch down. Really solid, which are they can say in just a few sentences,
00;18;29;11 - 00;18;33;23
Mickie Kennedy
you know, what what they're about and how they're different than everybody else in the market.
00;18;33;23 - 00;18;37;17
Mickie Kennedy
that unique selling proposition that really defines them as,
00;18;37;17 - 00;18;40;08
Mickie Kennedy
unique in the marketplace. And I think that,
00;18;40;08 - 00;18;49;01
Mickie Kennedy
you know, but one of the things that they love to do, you can even look at Shark Tank and see how people come out and they first start, they hit you with their story.
00;18;49;01 - 00;18;50;10
Mickie Kennedy
You know, how,
00;18;50;10 - 00;18;54;22
Mickie Kennedy
this business came to be or the circumstances in their life that led to,
00;18;54;22 - 00;18;57;21
Mickie Kennedy
them starting this business? They were laid off or they lost,
00;18;57;21 - 00;18;59;29
Mickie Kennedy
a spouse or a loved one.
00;18;59;29 - 00;19;06;08
Mickie Kennedy
you know, maybe they had a hobby and they're, you know, trying to figure out if they can start a business after being laid off.
00;19;06;10 - 00;19;19;13
Mickie Kennedy
And so, you know, I think one of the reasons that people do that is it really gives that immediate empathy where you see not just a business, but you see a person. And I think that that along with story goes really far,
00;19;19;13 - 00;19;20;22
Mickie Kennedy
in capturing,
00;19;20;22 - 00;19;38;11
Mickie Kennedy
our attention and wanting us to feel and move throughout an article. And I think that's one of the reasons that, you know, if you are a small business owner, it, you know, I have people who will make up media contacts because the person answering the phone is them and they're the only employee at the business.
00;19;38;17 - 00;19;41;06
Mickie Kennedy
And I'm just like, you really don't have to do that. You know,
00;19;41;06 - 00;19;46;03
Mickie Kennedy
journalists are completely comfortable dealing with, you know, solo practitioners and,
00;19;46;03 - 00;19;53;03
Mickie Kennedy
they actually like it when they call that they're speaking to someone who knows what they're talking about because it's, you know, you're running the business. And so,
00;19;53;03 - 00;19;55;03
Mickie Kennedy
but yet I there's some I get it.
00;19;55;06 - 00;19;55;19
Mickie Kennedy
Yeah. Yeah.
00;19;55;19 - 00;20;00;11
Craig Andrews
There's something really key there. You know, there's something really key there. Thing about the,
00;20;00;11 - 00;20;25;08
Craig Andrews
when they call and they talk to the owner of the business, they are talking to the expert who can answer all of their questions when they're talking to a media contact. I mean, how many times does the media contact have kind of a watered down understanding or even a misunderstand that's going to need to be corrected or, you know, or or they won't be able to answer all the journalist's questions.
00;20;25;11 - 00;20;35;29
Mickie Kennedy
Yeah, it happens more times than not where they're like, let me take this your information down and circle back with you. Once I've talked to the person involved in this and,
00;20;35;29 - 00;20;36;20
Mickie Kennedy
it is
00;20;36;20 - 00;20;41;14
Mickie Kennedy
it can be frustrating if you're on deadline to not be able to get the answer that you need.
00;20;41;16 - 00;20;47;26
Craig Andrews
Yeah, but it's fine. When you said circle back, it reminded me of a particular press secretary, you know, that they were,
00;20;47;28 - 00;20;49;05
Mickie Kennedy
And became like.
00;20;49;07 - 00;21;00;18
Craig Andrews
Circle back and became so bad that, you know, you know, it became memes and, you know, and things like that. But for journalists, they don't want to circle back. They want to write their story, get published.
00;21;00;21 - 00;21;03;10
Mickie Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely.
00;21;03;12 - 00;21;04;13
Craig Andrews
Very cool. So,
00;21;04;13 - 00;21;25;17
Craig Andrews
one of the things as you were talking, you know, I, I know a lot of copywriters have kind of like frameworks, you know, like pastor is a frame, you know, different frameworks that help them guide the writing of whatever they're writing live. It's, you know, especially in direct response. Is there a framework that you would recommend for writing a press release?
00;21;25;20 - 00;21;26;04
Mickie Kennedy
yes.
00;21;26;04 - 00;21;28;10
Mickie Kennedy
it's, you know, pretty straightforward.
00;21;28;10 - 00;21;31;22
Mickie Kennedy
the, the format and style of a press release.
00;21;31;22 - 00;21;36;06
Mickie Kennedy
we have lots of samples on our website at E releases.com.
00;21;36;06 - 00;21;40;14
Mickie Kennedy
I think if you look in the footer, there's links to probably samples or templates and,
00;21;40;14 - 00;21;44;07
Mickie Kennedy
they're, they're, they're not very complicated.
00;21;44;07 - 00;21;45;12
Mickie Kennedy
pieces of
00;21;45;12 - 00;21;49;02
Mickie Kennedy
writing. They are usually between 400 and 600 words.
00;21;49;02 - 00;21;53;26
Mickie Kennedy
It's just an announcement to the media. You're not writing the article, you're giving them the,
00;21;53;26 - 00;22;01;19
Mickie Kennedy
the the, the, the information in which they can write an article. And the goal is to get that article written. And so,
00;22;01;19 - 00;22;02;27
Mickie Kennedy
you're looking for,
00;22;02;27 - 00;22;05;26
Mickie Kennedy
you know, a strong headline, a strong opening,
00;22;05;26 - 00;22;07;22
Mickie Kennedy
sentence and paragraph to really grab them.
00;22;07;22 - 00;22;08;14
Mickie Kennedy
And,
00;22;08;14 - 00;22;12;09
Mickie Kennedy
I recommend an amazing quote in the press release, because one of the things,
00;22;12;09 - 00;22;15;01
Mickie Kennedy
to realize is that if they write an article,
00;22;15;01 - 00;22;26;05
Mickie Kennedy
you know, based on what your press releases and they've got that quote by you, you're 100% going to stay in that article, as it gets edited by like a managing editor. And,
00;22;26;05 - 00;22;32;21
Mickie Kennedy
if the quote is weak, the managing editor may cross it out and just say, you know, why are we mentioning this company?
00;22;32;24 - 00;22;42;10
Mickie Kennedy
The quotes not even that strong. And by strong quotes, you know, it can be various different things. It can be like, you know, how you creatively said something, it's just beautiful.
00;22;42;10 - 00;22;55;29
Mickie Kennedy
but, you know, for the average person, just saying something. So condensed and paraphrase so strongly that if they were, then to take it out of the quote and paraphrase it themselves, there be a loss.
00;22;56;01 - 00;23;06;04
Mickie Kennedy
an ache of, oh, it was said so much better. It's a safely in that quote, and as a result, they're much more likely to keep that quote intact.
00;23;06;04 - 00;23;08;21
Mickie Kennedy
it is unfortunate, but I've had a few times where,
00;23;08;21 - 00;23;18;21
Mickie Kennedy
a journalist inspires the article, the article gets written and the company is never mentioned. And if the quote had been stronger, it probably would have preserved their mention in there.
00;23;18;23 - 00;23;26;12
Mickie Kennedy
the journalists didn't do that out of a slight or anything. Likely the company was there and the managing editor just crossed it out.
00;23;26;12 - 00;23;27;24
Mickie Kennedy
you know, just felt that,
00;23;27;24 - 00;23;30;10
Mickie Kennedy
what was said there wasn't important enough to,
00;23;30;10 - 00;23;31;09
Mickie Kennedy
to merit,
00;23;31;09 - 00;23;38;08
Mickie Kennedy
inclusion and, that that's really disappointing. What? You know. Hey, I am the reason you wrote that article.
00;23;38;14 - 00;23;41;22
Mickie Kennedy
I didn't get any credit or mention in the article. So,
00;23;41;22 - 00;23;43;28
Mickie Kennedy
a great quote is a way to to be there.
00;23;43;28 - 00;23;45;11
Mickie Kennedy
these things are usually written,
00;23;45;11 - 00;23;46;12
Mickie Kennedy
top down,
00;23;46;12 - 00;23;48;12
Mickie Kennedy
inverted pyramid. They call it where,
00;23;48;12 - 00;23;51;14
Mickie Kennedy
you answer the who, what, when, where, how and why.
00;23;51;14 - 00;23;53;04
Mickie Kennedy
really the most important,
00;23;53;04 - 00;24;01;01
Mickie Kennedy
elements first. And and that's where, people will succeed or fail with a press release is what they're announcing.
00;24;01;04 - 00;24;01;22
Mickie Kennedy
And,
00;24;01;22 - 00;24;05;16
Mickie Kennedy
also, you know, what they include in the announcement. And so,
00;24;05;16 - 00;24;14;05
Mickie Kennedy
you really want to make sure that the press release you're writing is strategic and important to the journalist and will the journalists will feel,
00;24;14;05 - 00;24;16;21
Mickie Kennedy
a desire to share it with their audience.
00;24;16;21 - 00;24;24;02
Mickie Kennedy
they are gatekeepers deciding what will entertain or educate or even, you know, ideally both.
00;24;24;05 - 00;24;25;20
Mickie Kennedy
you know, their audience and,
00;24;25;20 - 00;24;32;00
Mickie Kennedy
you want to make sure that you're including elements in your press release that are more likely to do that.
00;24;32;02 - 00;24;49;27
Craig Andrews
You know, as you were talking, there was something that hit me. As a marketer, I always think about how can we make things easier for our customer, you know, and Amazon is dominant because they wake up every morning trying to figure out how to take the friction out of their customers lives. As you were talking, it hit me.
00;24;49;27 - 00;25;10;05
Craig Andrews
I was like, you know, when you're writing a press release, your customer is the journalist. You know, you won't make it easy. I mean, get it from my from what I understand, these are busy people that live under deadlines. And if you want to get more press coverage, make their job easier to write about. You.
00;25;10;08 - 00;25;12;11
Mickie Kennedy
Yeah, absolutely.
00;25;12;13 - 00;25;16;06
Craig Andrews
Wow. So let's talk a little bit about,
00;25;16;06 - 00;25;18;23
Craig Andrews
you know, it releases one
00;25;18;23 - 00;25;37;10
Craig Andrews
one misperception. And I suspect a lot of people that are listening have, you know, let's say you're running a business that's, you know, doing, you know, 5 million, 10 million in revenue. You're probably I could see people saying, oh, press releases. That's what the you know, the big C corp still,
00;25;37;10 - 00;25;39;28
Craig Andrews
that's not for me.
00;25;40;01 - 00;25;42;05
Craig Andrews
What would you say to them?
00;25;42;07 - 00;25;43;20
Mickie Kennedy
I would say that,
00;25;43;20 - 00;25;46;14
Mickie Kennedy
you know, press releases are a huge opportunity.
00;25;46;14 - 00;25;50;17
Mickie Kennedy
it is true that a large, a lot of large companies use press releases, and,
00;25;50;17 - 00;25;51;26
Mickie Kennedy
they used the wire.
00;25;51;26 - 00;25;55;13
Mickie Kennedy
in the United States, there's largely a duopoly of,
00;25;55;13 - 00;25;57;09
Mickie Kennedy
news wires that reach,
00;25;57;09 - 00;25;58;00
Mickie Kennedy
journalist.
00;25;58;00 - 00;26;01;15
Mickie Kennedy
and that is, PR Newswire, which is the oldest and largest.
00;26;01;18 - 00;26;02;09
Mickie Kennedy
And,
00;26;02;09 - 00;26;03;06
Mickie Kennedy
we work with them.
00;26;03;06 - 00;26;19;09
Mickie Kennedy
they approached us, I think, 15 years ago and liked what we were doing and wanted to support us. And they said, you know, our salespeople would never go after people with budgets so small and, and, you know, do 3 or 4 releases a year, they're chasing people who are doing the,
00;26;19;09 - 00;26;28;05
Mickie Kennedy
you know, let's have a multimedia newsroom for 25, $30,000 and let's do an Asian distribution with translations for $30,000.
00;26;28;07 - 00;26;28;27
Mickie Kennedy
And so,
00;26;28;27 - 00;26;29;10
Mickie Kennedy
but,
00;26;29;10 - 00;26;32;23
Mickie Kennedy
you know, they had suggested that we get a local or state distribution,
00;26;32;23 - 00;26;37;11
Mickie Kennedy
for each of our clients, and I, I really push back and said, hey, you know, these are,
00;26;37;11 - 00;26;38;14
Mickie Kennedy
people looking,
00;26;38;14 - 00;26;50;06
Mickie Kennedy
at national markets. They really deserve a national distribution. And I knew at the time that they charged $1,600 for a national press release of, say, 600 words.
00;26;50;09 - 00;26;51;01
Mickie Kennedy
And so,
00;26;51;01 - 00;26;53;07
Mickie Kennedy
I do is a huge ask. and,
00;26;53;07 - 00;27;01;08
Mickie Kennedy
you know, they didn't run away, but it was very apparent that they weren't thrilled about offering a national distribution at any price point that we could,
00;27;01;08 - 00;27;02;24
Mickie Kennedy
offer to our customers.
00;27;02;24 - 00;27;04;27
Mickie Kennedy
but I went and met them.
00;27;04;27 - 00;27;07;27
Mickie Kennedy
I discovered that they have an overnight editorial team.
00;27;07;29 - 00;27;08;29
Mickie Kennedy
that's small,
00;27;08;29 - 00;27;13;12
Mickie Kennedy
but they don't do much. They have to be there in case there's breaking news or recall,
00;27;13;12 - 00;27;13;29
Mickie Kennedy
you know,
00;27;13;29 - 00;27;15;19
Mickie Kennedy
yeah. World news.
00;27;15;19 - 00;27;18;15
Mickie Kennedy
and also, if people wanted to like, say, reach,
00;27;18;15 - 00;27;20;02
Mickie Kennedy
the Asian markets and,
00;27;20;02 - 00;27;22;16
Mickie Kennedy
you know, wanted to be able to move a release,
00;27;22;16 - 00;27;24;16
Mickie Kennedy
so they could coordinate with their bureaus,
00;27;24;16 - 00;27;26;18
Mickie Kennedy
in the Asian, countries.
00;27;26;20 - 00;27;27;10
Mickie Kennedy
And so,
00;27;27;10 - 00;27;35;15
Mickie Kennedy
I suggested that I start scheduling my press releases for next business day. And what that would do is we would send the releases over to them and they could,
00;27;35;15 - 00;27;43;26
Mickie Kennedy
set them up in their systems overnight and it wouldn't cost them additional labor. And so finally after that, they agreed,
00;27;43;26 - 00;27;47;25
Mickie Kennedy
to come up with a price point that was affordable for me to be able to offer,
00;27;47;25 - 00;27;48;29
Mickie Kennedy
to all of my customers.
00;27;48;29 - 00;27;50;01
Mickie Kennedy
So today,
00;27;50;01 - 00;27;58;14
Mickie Kennedy
and since then, all of our press releases, they go over it releases go out nationally through PR Newswire, and you don't have to pay anything close to $1,600. It's usually like,
00;27;58;14 - 00;28;06;06
Mickie Kennedy
30 or 40% of what the, retail price would be if you went to the wire. And and, you know, that's a really,
00;28;06;06 - 00;28;07;07
Mickie Kennedy
you know, valuable,
00;28;07;07 - 00;28;10;16
Mickie Kennedy
component that, that, you get by using releases.
00;28;10;16 - 00;28;18;02
Mickie Kennedy
And one of our differentiating points is where the only service out there that offers a national distribution over the wire at such a,
00;28;18;02 - 00;28;19;19
Mickie Kennedy
you know, reduced price.
00;28;19;19 - 00;28;21;15
Mickie Kennedy
I mentioned the duopoly. The other,
00;28;21;15 - 00;28;24;08
Mickie Kennedy
company, that's out there as business wire.
00;28;24;08 - 00;28;27;27
Mickie Kennedy
there was a third company that tried to enter the market, and,
00;28;27;27 - 00;28;29;02
Mickie Kennedy
it's globenewswire.
00;28;29;09 - 00;28;33;21
Mickie Kennedy
And the problem with them is journalists are fishing and two oceans,
00;28;33;21 - 00;28;46;23
Mickie Kennedy
two ponds, let's say business wire and, PR Newswire. And now they're being asked to go look into a third pond. And what's happened is during that time, journalists are, you know, not doing very well.
00;28;46;23 - 00;28;48;06
Mickie Kennedy
the industry is,
00;28;48;06 - 00;28;48;28
Mickie Kennedy
dealing with,
00;28;48;28 - 00;28;50;25
Mickie Kennedy
an evolving media market where,
00;28;50;25 - 00;28;53;01
Mickie Kennedy
a lot of businesses are scaling back.
00;28;53;04 - 00;29;08;08
Mickie Kennedy
And so journalists who used to be asked to rate 2 to 3 articles a week are now being asked to write 2 or 3 articles a day. And so the expectation of them to have to then go fish in a third pond, they weren't going to have it. And so globenewswire was never able to really get,
00;29;08;08 - 00;29;12;12
Mickie Kennedy
the relationships with journalists and get to meet get journalists to go over there.
00;29;12;12 - 00;29;30;05
Mickie Kennedy
So they pivoted and they said, look, we meet all the SEC disclosures in our distribution. And to be honest, do you really want journalists looking over your numbers and peeling back what's there? And there's a lot of publicly traded companies to go, hey, I like that argument. We really don't need journalists to look at our stuff.
00;29;30;05 - 00;29;35;23
Mickie Kennedy
we just want to meet disclosure, appear under Yahoo Finance and Market Watch when people will type in our stock ticker.
00;29;35;23 - 00;29;57;09
Mickie Kennedy
So that's sort of been what their focus has been on. Despite that, the marketplace is riddled with probably 4050 companies with wire in their names. And they're not actual wires. they don't really have relationships with journalists. A lot of them are involved in syndication, where they take your press release and they replicate it on a bunch of websites.
00;29;57;11 - 00;30;04;29
Mickie Kennedy
In theory, that sounds good, but the location they are on these websites are not places where a lot of people see it.
00;30;04;29 - 00;30;08;04
Mickie Kennedy
they often don't appear in Google News or Google Web.
00;30;08;04 - 00;30;09;24
Mickie Kennedy
and in addition to that,
00;30;09;24 - 00;30;20;04
Mickie Kennedy
you know, if you went to that news outlet and did a search for something that was in your press release, you don't show up because you're not really in their CMS content management system, like an article.
00;30;20;11 - 00;30;25;13
Mickie Kennedy
You're just stuck, usually on a subdomain where there's a feed of press releases,
00;30;25;13 - 00;30;27;07
Mickie Kennedy
by headlines. And so,
00;30;27;07 - 00;30;30;12
Mickie Kennedy
you know, those are distraction. Those aren't earned media.
00;30;30;12 - 00;30;34;27
Mickie Kennedy
you know, a journalist didn't write an article about you. And so that's where I feel like,
00;30;34;27 - 00;30;49;06
Mickie Kennedy
there's a lot of need for education in the marketplace. And to get people to realize that, you know, you're not going to get articles written about you using these services that are, you know, 59, $8,920.
00;30;49;06 - 00;31;05;10
Mickie Kennedy
And, but, you know, the one thing that's common is that 97% of the people that use the real wires, like PR Newswire and business Wire, will probably have the same outcome as everybody uses these lesser wire services, and that's nothing happens. And so,
00;31;05;10 - 00;31;13;23
Mickie Kennedy
you know, it's competitive. And a lot of people look at what other people do for press releases and they sort of copy them.
00;31;13;25 - 00;31;15;14
Mickie Kennedy
And there's all of these,
00;31;15;14 - 00;31;24;02
Mickie Kennedy
personnel change announcements, a new hire, an H.R. And people just send them out and nothing really happens from them. And so,
00;31;24;02 - 00;31;43;02
Mickie Kennedy
you know, what I do is I get people to focus on the 3% of press releases to do good picked up. And I provide that education back to my customers in hopes that they will do more strategic types of releases and the types of releases that the media is really looking for and responding to.
00;31;43;04 - 00;31;43;28
Craig Andrews
Yeah. So,
00;31;43;28 - 00;31;46;25
Craig Andrews
yeah, kind of our last question. What?
00;31;46;25 - 00;31;52;26
Craig Andrews
what type of releases what do fall under those 3%? And because,
00;31;52;26 - 00;32;07;09
Craig Andrews
you know, if I'm going to spend eight, $900 sending out a press release, I mean, I want hopefully, hopefully I make a little bit more than 800 back off of that. What should be my focus?
00;32;07;11 - 00;32;07;29
Mickie Kennedy
So,
00;32;07;29 - 00;32;17;15
Mickie Kennedy
I, I have a video masterclass where I go into more depth on this, but it's very short. It's like an hour long, it's a great place for anybody who's curious,
00;32;17;15 - 00;32;19;18
Mickie Kennedy
to check it out. It's completely free.
00;32;19;18 - 00;32;23;29
Mickie Kennedy
it's a yearly Cisco comp plan plan.
00;32;23;29 - 00;32;31;08
Mickie Kennedy
and you know, if you're new to PR, it's a great place to start because you can start building a PR campaign of strategic releases.
00;32;31;08 - 00;32;31;24
Mickie Kennedy
And,
00;32;31;24 - 00;32;38;14
Mickie Kennedy
I guarantee it, if you do a campaign of 6 to 8 press releases for the it takes for a year or a year and a half to do all of those,
00;32;38;14 - 00;32;50;07
Mickie Kennedy
if you sort of follow that, you'll be doing the types of releases that are more likely to get picked up and you should have at least 2 or 3 press releases in, in that campaign that do really well and get your earned media,
00;32;50;07 - 00;32;51;25
Mickie Kennedy
the type of releases are,
00;32;51;25 - 00;33;00;10
Mickie Kennedy
you know, really honing in on your unique selling proposition and talking about what you do that's different from everybody else.
00;33;00;12 - 00;33;02;21
Mickie Kennedy
maybe that's incorporating your story,
00;33;02;21 - 00;33;04;27
Mickie Kennedy
your journey, being authentic,
00;33;04;27 - 00;33;10;15
Mickie Kennedy
you know, could be inspirational obstacles that you overcame, vulnerabilities like, you know,
00;33;10;15 - 00;33;10;29
Mickie Kennedy
yes.
00;33;10;29 - 00;33;11;17
Mickie Kennedy
something,
00;33;11;17 - 00;33;14;18
Mickie Kennedy
where you, suffered a setback or a loss or,
00;33;14;18 - 00;33;16;12
Mickie Kennedy
something along those lines.
00;33;16;12 - 00;33;24;27
Mickie Kennedy
I mentioned the Shark tank. It's something that's very common with people that go on there that they talk about, you know, they're there setbacks and challenges.
00;33;24;29 - 00;33;25;20
Mickie Kennedy
and sometimes,
00;33;25;20 - 00;33;31;07
Mickie Kennedy
that could be the lead, especially if you're announcing the company. But if it's an existing company, you know, maybe it's something,
00;33;31;07 - 00;33;40;11
Mickie Kennedy
where you have to bury that story and start with something else. Like maybe you had a major milestone. You celebrated, you know, your first five years, and then you can share your story and things like that.
00;33;40;11 - 00;33;43;00
Mickie Kennedy
So contextually, it makes sense.
00;33;43;00 - 00;33;45;17
Mickie Kennedy
other things are, you know, using data.
00;33;45;17 - 00;33;46;19
Mickie Kennedy
for example,
00;33;46;19 - 00;33;59;26
Mickie Kennedy
you know, we get product launch press releases every day and they follow this style. Here's a new product. Here's the list of features. Here's a page to learn more. There's nothing there for journalists to really work with.
00;33;59;26 - 00;34;00;26
Mickie Kennedy
you know, if they,
00;34;00;26 - 00;34;02;25
Mickie Kennedy
were wanted to be more effective,
00;34;02;25 - 00;34;13;10
Mickie Kennedy
maybe put a data point in there that's just publicly available, you know, like, hey, 67% of people in this industry fail within the first five years, often because they can't get their,
00;34;13;10 - 00;34;15;17
Mickie Kennedy
logistics cost under control.
00;34;15;19 - 00;34;23;10
Mickie Kennedy
we offer our logistics software solution and then, you know, talk about that. So it shows the stakes of why your solution is so important.
00;34;23;10 - 00;34;30;02
Mickie Kennedy
that should better capture people's attention. But even more importantly, where, you know, there's an opportunity to put a story there.
00;34;30;02 - 00;34;31;22
Mickie Kennedy
you know, what is a company that,
00;34;31;22 - 00;34;37;14
Mickie Kennedy
beta tested or used the software and had a transformative experience,
00;34;37;14 - 00;34;38;19
Mickie Kennedy
you know, share,
00;34;38;19 - 00;34;45;00
Mickie Kennedy
you know what that company situation was when they started using the software and then at the end of it,
00;34;45;00 - 00;34;46;14
Mickie Kennedy
you know, what the outcome was.
00;34;46;16 - 00;35;08;24
Mickie Kennedy
And I have a quote by them talking about, hey, you know this, we were early shocked that, you know, just by using this solution, we were able to become more efficient, reduce hours and, you know, get cost savings. And as a result, where, you know, just really pleased. But then again, you know, sometimes you can take that quote and make it a little bit stronger and then send it over for approval.
00;35;08;28 - 00;35;10;18
Mickie Kennedy
And they go, thumbs up. So,
00;35;10;18 - 00;35;13;02
Mickie Kennedy
you know, again, trying to make the quote a little bit stronger,
00;35;13;02 - 00;35;13;25
Mickie Kennedy
especially,
00;35;13;25 - 00;35;15;13
Mickie Kennedy
when it's a third person,
00;35;15;13 - 00;35;17;26
Mickie Kennedy
you know, also going back to data,
00;35;17;26 - 00;35;25;11
Mickie Kennedy
here's a press release that has never failed for anybody that's followed my model, and that is to do a survey within your industry.
00;35;25;11 - 00;35;27;28
Mickie Kennedy
you know, what are some questions they could ask?
00;35;27;28 - 00;35;31;14
Mickie Kennedy
Right now, today that people would want to know the answer to,
00;35;31;14 - 00;35;36;05
Mickie Kennedy
you know, is it, you know, about work culture post-pandemic? Is it about, you know,
00;35;36;05 - 00;35;37;17
Mickie Kennedy
you know, people,
00;35;37;17 - 00;35;44;14
Mickie Kennedy
you know, difficulties hiring or, you know, facing layoffs is, you know, if you were going to a conference or,
00;35;44;14 - 00;35;45;04
Mickie Kennedy
a,
00;35;45;04 - 00;35;46;02
Mickie Kennedy
an event,
00;35;46;02 - 00;35;47;17
Mickie Kennedy
with other people in your,
00;35;47;17 - 00;35;58;06
Mickie Kennedy
industry, whether the questions you'd want to ask them, you know, the things that you don't see being addressed in your trade publications, like, hey, have you noticed that, you know, net 30 is turning in a net 90?
00;35;58;06 - 00;36;00;07
Mickie Kennedy
Everybody's slow page,
00;36;00;07 - 00;36;06;22
Mickie Kennedy
if they go, yeah, you know, that could be like, hey, that money is tightening either within your industry or,
00;36;06;22 - 00;36;08;14
Mickie Kennedy
you know, could be nationally.
00;36;08;14 - 00;36;08;29
Mickie Kennedy
so,
00;36;08;29 - 00;36;13;24
Mickie Kennedy
you know, really think about meaningful questions that are timely today.
00;36;13;24 - 00;36;16;09
Mickie Kennedy
they can be really specific to your industry.
00;36;16;09 - 00;36;18;27
Mickie Kennedy
you know, I is really big. So, you know,
00;36;18;27 - 00;36;27;24
Mickie Kennedy
you know, if I was doing a, a questionnaire or a PR professional, I would say, you know, do you feel that AI is going to replace your, your job,
00;36;27;24 - 00;36;28;23
Mickie Kennedy
or, you know,
00;36;28;23 - 00;36;32;11
Mickie Kennedy
a fundamental part of your job in the next five years?
00;36;32;14 - 00;36;34;24
Mickie Kennedy
you know, this could be interesting questions. So,
00;36;34;24 - 00;36;40;04
Mickie Kennedy
this is you, you survey monkey to put those questions in, like, four questions per page, like,
00;36;40;04 - 00;36;45;26
Mickie Kennedy
three pages, 12 questions or fourth page, 16 questions. Take that link. Go to a trade.
00;36;45;26 - 00;36;46;04
Mickie Kennedy
trade.
00;36;46;04 - 00;36;47;28
Mickie Kennedy
what is a trade association?
00;36;47;28 - 00;36;53;27
Mickie Kennedy
pick a smaller independent one. Stay away from the large trade associations, the ones everyone knows.
00;36;53;29 - 00;36;59;07
Mickie Kennedy
but look for one that has a membership that is similar to your business.
00;36;59;07 - 00;37;11;09
Mickie Kennedy
I. And they're out there. I had a PR professional tell me. Well, maybe that wouldn't work in our industry, because there's only a public relations society of America, and it's like, well, there's 470 other PR firm,
00;37;11;09 - 00;37;14;04
Mickie Kennedy
trade associations in the United States, and this person didn't know it.
00;37;14;09 - 00;37;22;10
Mickie Kennedy
And I said, hey, the reason you don't know it is nobody talks about them. They don't get media attention. So if you find one that is aligned with,
00;37;22;10 - 00;37;25;03
Mickie Kennedy
your, your market and you reach out to them,
00;37;25;03 - 00;37;32;15
Mickie Kennedy
you just say, hey, could you send this link to your members? We're looking to get at least 100 responses. And, in exchange for that,
00;37;32;15 - 00;37;33;25
Mickie Kennedy
I'll put you in a press release.
00;37;33;25 - 00;37;38;28
Mickie Kennedy
We'll be issuing a PR newswire announcing the results of the survey. And,
00;37;38;28 - 00;37;43;08
Mickie Kennedy
about two thirds of the time, the first association, your approach will say, yes,
00;37;43;08 - 00;37;48;03
Mickie Kennedy
just based off of that, because they don't get media attention and they'll see it as a win win for them.
00;37;48;03 - 00;37;54;28
Mickie Kennedy
you know, you get the results you pour over and really focus on what question had the biggest surprise.
00;37;54;28 - 00;37;56;23
Mickie Kennedy
You know, what will shock,
00;37;56;23 - 00;38;05;02
Mickie Kennedy
people when they read that press release that you know, that one question, focus the press release on that potentially could talk about a second question.
00;38;05;02 - 00;38;09;07
Mickie Kennedy
put all the questions and answers on a page on your website, build it out.
00;38;09;07 - 00;38;12;17
Mickie Kennedy
you know, maybe put some responses of some analysis for each,
00;38;12;17 - 00;38;17;20
Mickie Kennedy
or for certain questions and link to it in the press release.
00;38;17;23 - 00;38;22;25
Mickie Kennedy
journalists may write about what you focus the press release on, but a really, you know,
00;38;22;25 - 00;38;27;00
Mickie Kennedy
great journalists will go and look at the other articles or the other,
00;38;27;00 - 00;38;29;05
Mickie Kennedy
questions, and they might be able to pull out a different,
00;38;29;05 - 00;38;33;18
Mickie Kennedy
article. And then that could be another opportunity where you go, yeah, that was really good.
00;38;33;24 - 00;38;41;02
Mickie Kennedy
I can't believe I overlooked the importance of that. You could then do a second press release on that. But generally when people follow this model,
00;38;41;02 - 00;38;41;22
Mickie Kennedy
they get
00;38;41;22 - 00;38;52;14
Mickie Kennedy
usually between 8 and 14 articles written about them. And, you know, that's a huge, huge win. the least I've ever had. Yeah, the least I ever had is for articles.
00;38;52;17 - 00;39;02;04
Craig Andrews
Wow. That. Well, that's that is just that is so powerful. I wish we could keep going. There's obviously there's a lot more to tap into here.
00;39;02;04 - 00;39;03;07
Craig Andrews
and,
00;39;03;07 - 00;39;05;17
Craig Andrews
I know I have more questions for you.
00;39;05;17 - 00;39;08;15
Craig Andrews
I'm sure the listeners do. How did people reach you?
00;39;08;17 - 00;39;09;01
Mickie Kennedy
So,
00;39;09;01 - 00;39;11;06
Mickie Kennedy
the website releases.com,
00;39;11;06 - 00;39;15;14
Mickie Kennedy
that free masterclasses he releases.com/plan plan and,
00;39;15;14 - 00;39;18;07
Mickie Kennedy
and, all of our social media is on the lower right.
00;39;18;07 - 00;39;19;18
Mickie Kennedy
of our website,
00;39;19;18 - 00;39;22;27
Mickie Kennedy
you know, and feel free to call chat,
00;39;22;27 - 00;39;24;06
Mickie Kennedy
or email us,
00;39;24;06 - 00;39;28;10
Mickie Kennedy
you'll only talk to editors. We have no salespeople and there's no commissions, no,
00;39;28;10 - 00;39;29;28
Mickie Kennedy
no quotas or anything like that.
00;39;29;28 - 00;39;31;14
Mickie Kennedy
And we're pretty honest that,
00;39;31;14 - 00;39;32;12
Mickie Kennedy
if we feel that,
00;39;32;12 - 00;39;41;01
Mickie Kennedy
what you're working on or anything like that isn't a good fit for PR or, you know, whatever, straight shooters. And we'll let you know. And if you do have a press release that you've written,
00;39;41;01 - 00;39;44;04
Mickie Kennedy
and you just want another set of eyeballs on it, we'll do that free of charge.
00;39;44;04 - 00;39;49;20
Mickie Kennedy
Whether you use this or not. Just allow a couple of business days for us to get back to you when you email that over.
00;39;49;22 - 00;39;53;13
Craig Andrews
All right. Well, hey, Mickie, thanks for sharing all that on leaders and legacies.
00;39;53;15 - 00;39;55;02
Mickie Kennedy
if you're very welcome. Thank you.
00;39;55;02 - 00;40;21;26
Craig Andrews
This is Craig Andrews. I want to thank you for listening to the Leaders and Legacies podcast. We're looking for leaders to share how they're making the impact beyond themselves. If that's you, please go to Alize for me.com/guest and sign up there. If you got something out of this interview, we would love you to share this
00;40;21;26 - 00;40;23;21
Craig Andrews
episode on social media.
00;40;23;23 - 00;40;47;03
Craig Andrews
Just do a quick screenshot with your phone and text it to a friend, or posted on the socials. If you know someone who would be a great guest, tag them on social media and let them know about the show, including the hashtag leaders and legacies. I love seeing your posts and suggestions. We are regularly putting out new episodes and content to make sure you don't miss anything.
00;40;47;05 - 00;40;55;10
Craig Andrews
Please go ahead and subscribe your thumbs up! Ratings and reviews go a long way to help promote the show. It means a lot to me.
00;40;55;10 - 00;42;57;15
Craig Andrews
It means a lot to my team. If you want to know more, please go to Alize for me.com. or follow me on LinkedIn. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.
