EP 2 - Brooke Le Poer Trench FINAL
===
Liz Nable: [00:00:00] You're about to hear a conversation with my longtime friend and award-winning journalist, editor, and content strategist Brooke Le Poer Trench. Brooke has spent years inside some of the world's biggest magazine brands in New York and London, and has watched firsthand as the media landscape has shifted from traditional print to digital, social, and influencer led content.
Across this episode, Brooke shares the real behind the scenes story of what has changed in magazines and publishing, and why so many traditional titles have closed, as well as what that means for how audiences discover information and make buying decisions. Today she talks about how brands started behaving like media companies, how retailers began building their own content platforms, and why storytelling is still the strongest way to connect with people, even when the channels keep changing.
If you're a founder, small business owner or expert who's trying to get more visible, sell more of your offers and build genuine authority, this conversation will [00:01:00] give you a very different way of thinking about your content. You'll hear Brooke unpack how to borrow the best of big media in your own marketing, how to think about your audience like an editor rather than just a salesperson, and how to create stories that both serve your community and support conversion.
Brooke also reflects on what it looks like for journalists to monetize their skills in this new landscape and how that mirrors the challenges many business owners feel when they're trying to find their place online. There are plenty of practical insights you can apply immediately, especially if you've ever felt stuck between doing what the algorithm wants and telling the kinds of deeper stories that actually build trust.
Settle in, maybe grab a coffee and enjoy this deep dive into media storytelling and content that sells with Brooke Le Poer Trench. Let's jump into the interview.
Hello and welcome to Medium Magnet, the podcast for [00:02:00] female founders and women owned businesses, startups, and side hustlers who want to learn how to grow their business, leveraging the media and free pr. I am Liz Nable, and I'm your host, personal publicist, PR strategist, and dedicated hype woman. My goal with this show is to give you a behind the scenes tour of how the media works to break down the barriers between your business and the big master heads.
So you can see how easy it is to get featured simply by giving journalists what they want at Media Magnet. You'll also get access to the top journals, editors, writers, and PR people in your industry and beyond sharing their secrets and expertise on the how, why, what and when of pitching and getting featured in the media consistently.
I will share with you how to build your reputation as an industry expert so successfully. The media will be knocking down your door. When I first started in small business 12 years ago. I had no idea what I [00:03:00] was getting into. I had spent 15 years as a television news reporter working at several major networks in Australia, and then as a freelancer in the US and around the world.
I spent years dividing my time between working long shifts on a news desk and traveling the world chasing stories. It was unpredictable and exciting until it wasn't anymore. I decided I wanted a life where I was in charge of what happened next and where I was working to build my own empire, not someone else's.
There was a lot I had to learn about running my own business, but getting media and great free PR was not one of them. I already knew what the media wanted. I knew the secret formula for what made news, and I knew how to leverage those media outlets to build my business, get more exposure, and ultimately make more sales.
I was featured in every major media outlet in the country, and I never spent a single cent on pr. [00:04:00] I took that knowledge for granted until it dawned on me one day that I could teach what I knew to other businesses. Let them in on the secret, and they too could build their brands with organic media and pr.
Let me help you take your brand from Best Kept Secret to household name. This is Media Magnet, the podcast, and I'm pretty pumped to have you here.
Hey, Brooke. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Hi. So good to be here. So good.
Liz Nable: I know Brooke is my, um, a very old friend from our New York days, and she's done amazing things as a journalist in, um, magazines and in beauty and so many different various areas of the industry. Brooke, can you tell us a little bit about your career to this point, just to give people some context about your experience and, and your, and your [00:05:00] time in this industry?
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah, I mean, you and I met when, um, I was a young magazine editor in New York, so that was like a fun time when magazines like print was the channel. Yeah. There was no omnichannel, there was just print. So I think at the time I might have sort of infamously said to someone who'd wanna be a digital editor, so maybe you shouldn't listen to anything that, because I think they've all, that's er
Liz Nable: before we start.
Yeah,
Brooke Le Poer Trench: yeah, yeah. They've all had the last laugh. But yeah, so a couple of years in New York. Um, I'm a, I guess a journalist by trade and I think I've always been really attracted to storytelling and definitely like worked in the women's lifestyle space my whole career. And then, um, so five years in New York, 10 years, oh gosh, 13 years in London where I sort of did a lot of freelance writing.
Still working for magazines, writing for a lot of magazines. And then also that's where I kind of really cut my teeth in content and started to understand the way [00:06:00] multi-brand retailers were now starting to get into content in a way that was really entertaining and they were treating it almost like they were treating their own audiences.
Um, like we, like we had readers traditionally in magazines and I think that was the beginning as well of influencer content taking off. And I think people, brands starting to say, hold on. Like, I can actually entertain and engage people in my own channel. I don't need someone to be, I don't need readers or audience to be pushed to me.
So that was really interesting. And then I'm really, this is the whistle stop tour of my whole adult life. And then, um, I think it's about three years ago now, landed back in Australia where, um. I dove back into actually, uh, magazine roles. Uh, I was beauty director and lifestyle director across a few titles, um, some of which have closed.
And I think that sort of inevitably brings us to the point [00:07:00] where, um, yeah, many, many journalists now are having to make a decision about how to kind of monetize their skillset and where their home is in this sort of new landscape. And the new landscape, I guess is that traditional media is really kind of changing or, um, is going.
And I think a lot of people get most of their information from sort of social and digital channels. Yeah. And then brands more and more are investing in content because it's engaging, it's a conversion piece. It allows you, if you connect with customers, you sell more products. If you. Dive into the mindset of sort of why customers are in your, at your site and you speak to them with all this great storytelling, then you not only hold them there, but you can sort of convince them to make thoughtful and smart purchases.
Um, you don't wa you don't wait for the rest of the world to convince them to [00:08:00] make the purchase. You sort of have that argument going yourself. So really,
Liz Nable: so you had, that's a really long career, um, in Yeah, I'm pretty tired. I'm pretty tired. I think we're about the same age from a memory. I need a
Brooke Le Poer Trench: coffee. I need a million copies.
Yeah. I'm still learning. But I, um, I think that, I think it's, I think storytelling still matters. It's just, you know, who's doing it, how we shaping it, you know, how quickly do we, do we tell stories? Now that's all changing and obviously video is, yeah. Motion video is just a massive, massive part of how we communicate now.
Liz Nable: It, it's changed, the landscape has changed so much, um, obviously since we were in New York back in like 2006, 2007. But I feel like, um, and this is what I see through, you know, teaching clients and that sort of thing, you know, there, there was this massive push. Obviously traditional media was the only thing for such a long [00:09:00] time, and then social media has dominated, um, especially for small businesses, the way they communicate.
But there's, I, I see, and I'm interested if you agree or not, like there's value in both of those things like InterApp in your marketing strategy. Would you agree?
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Oh yeah. I absolutely think that, um, for a. For a brand or content to really resonate. You want, I guess you've got, um, your very elevated content and then you've got right at the other end.
You've got that sort of compelling anecdotes that influences and that word of mouth, that peer to peer. I think many, many years ago there was us and then there was really aspirational content in the form of like glossy magazines and now that's all changed. I think we look to our social channels to hear our peers tell us what's working and what they love, and that does include influencers.
And then there's still like so much to be said for deeper storytelling articles. And then of course [00:10:00] we know consumers like collect data points in different places. Like you hear an influencer talking about something, then you might see it in a magazine or then you might see it, um, it might appear in advertising or you might come across it in a shop or you might read it.
You know, in an article. Mm. Or an EDM. So I think that you still need to hit people or sort of make sure you are getting those touch points in different places. Yeah. Obviously, you know, influences is some of the, the authenticity in that messaging also comes under scrutiny because there hasn't been a lot of regulation and now there is.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: To me, it's always been really clear, the kind of transaction with influencers. Like I'm not under any kind of, um, misconception that they all, they necessarily like really love everything. Like I, I, I consume and I'm like, well, there's a bit of a transaction happening. But I think it is true that not everyone consumes that [00:11:00] content like that, so a hundred percent.
Liz Nable: Um, so you, you've worked at places like Marie Claire, Harpers Bazaar, El Australian Women's Weekly, um, and then obviously overseas, which is like, you know, a huge industry. And then Australia is probably a little bit different when you talk about content, um, speaking, you know, to our audience of small business owners.
Tell me a little bit more about what you mean by content.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: I think I'm talking about, um, all the different ways you can tell your story in the channels that people are consuming. So, um, a really, um. Sort of simple example of that would be sort of in your ecosystem of all the different ways you talk to people.
Um, there's content on social, so there's to camera reels, there's that sort of more low touch in the moment. Um, sort of talking about, you know, reactive content, just sort of storytelling really. Then there's [00:12:00] more strategic articles, product placement that you've pitched where your product is alongside other products.
So that would be allowing consumers to see that you're at this sort of level, you're at this certain level. 'cause you are on the same, you know, you've got a lip balm and it's in the same article is like a, as like a, a long home sort of balm. And so people sort of can see that you kind of, you've earned your spa, your, your place there.
So it's all about, um, so that would be more curated content. So someone else, you know, outside of. Sort of, and that's where I guess journalistic led content helps because people have so much choice and there's a lot of power in curation, there's a lot of power in editors, digital editors doing that for brands like, you know, Marie Claire online or any of the other lifestyle sites that we all consume, consume, um, and then podcasts is another type of content that is really compelling and like super [00:13:00] engaging.
And I think we all consume that, you know, for our, often actually for more of a, I guess, self-improvement or entertainment, but. You know, that's a really compelling type of content. Um, so all the different ways you can tell stories.
Liz Nable: Yeah. And, and storytelling is such an important way to connect with your audience, you know, whether it's directly through advertising or through, um, content.
Like you say, how you've been on the receiving end of like, hundreds of pictures. You said you still, you know, you're not necessarily working as a journalist right now, but you still get, you know, tons of pictures all the time. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about, and, and a lot of them, I guess for, for beauty products, um, in a lot of product, product based businesses as well as well services and that sort of thing.
What, what, can you sort of share with me sort of the range of the different types of pitches and what makes you open an email to give that pitch a chance?
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah. [00:14:00] I mean, as a journalist I always like, let's say a beauty director, you are in an. I'm gonna say ecosystem or you're in this, we, you need all the brands and the PR people who are sending you information.
'cause that's what lets you do your job. So if you send an email to a, to a journalist whose job it is to write about lifestyle and you've got a lifestyle product, you are helping them, like you're not intruding on their space. So I'd say like that's the first thing. Yeah. Um, but you have to sort of understand.
Yes. You know? Yes. My inbox was hundreds of emails a day and not just that, you know, samples being sent in, in beautiful boxes with um, you know, like beautifully kind of really well considered collections of like a basket of lemons and this and that and a towel with your name embroidered in it. And there is so much, um.
It's never just a product that's sent to you. It's, it's sort of like the kind of, the sizzle is in all the, kind of the, [00:15:00] I know obviously that is also driven by the fact that they want influence influences to unbox it, you know, and that sort of thing, which is another easy content win, I guess for bigger brands who have huge budgets.
So basically, yeah, your inbox is full. Um, you open it up and it's like they usually, hi, I've got this product, this is why it's good. You know, you wanna have a really kind of quick email explaining it. You might, um, be looking, if it's a, if it's a PR person, they probably have like 10 brands they wanna talk about, in which case having a coffee and a catchup is good.
Um, because you often might get a few leads that you don't know, but if you've got a, if you are representing your brand in that context, yeah. Then you know, you get the email and there's a press release and sometimes an invitation to call in product. Um. Which to be honest, when you're working for a big title, um, there's so much coming that you usually won't ask for more.
Um,
Liz Nable: [00:16:00] so
Brooke Le Poer Trench: they say
Liz Nable: to you in
Brooke Le Poer Trench: the
Liz Nable: email, if you wanna sample the product, let me know. Is that what you mean? Some
Brooke Le Poer Trench: people will say that, yeah, if you're a smaller brand, you're better off just deciding who you wanna put your product in front of and sending it in. Send it or don't send it. Yeah, send it or don't send it.
If it's clothing you might ask for sizes, you know, so there's a lot of that. And then, um, the other really important thing, I guess, is to understand, you know, the job, the editor your sending your, your product into or your information is that you've gotta really understand what their section of the magazine or the, the paper or the website is like.
What do they write about? What are they, what are the angles tend to be? What are the types of stories they write? And does your product or service even fit? Is it even gonna help them do their job? That's a really good way of figuring out if it's even worth your time. If you've got a great online yoga service and this website or this editor regularly reviews that sort of, [00:17:00] it's perfect.
Or maybe they don't review services, but maybe they quote experts and therefore you are in, is to offer expertise. So you've really gotta think about what you've got and what will then make their job easier. If they can't cover it, it's a delete
Liz Nable: and they won't return you. They won't get back to you, will they?
They just delete it.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah, it's, it's unlikely you'll get an email back. And the reason is that resourcing in media is, it's really, it's very thin on the ground. I mean, there used to be huge teams and now it's just No, everyone's doing a million jobs. Yeah. So don't be offended, I guess. Like lower your expectations.
Yeah. About maybe what you'll, when you'll hear back. But in saying that, that's why it's really important sometimes with that first email has a link to a Dropbox of imagery. It has, um, your press release, it has any other brand imagery that you are happy for them to run. Because I, I've been, [00:18:00] been in plenty of situations where suddenly it's like, oh my God, that we don't have an image for that product and here's another, here's another product that was sent into me, and here's a still life or a cutout of the product.
And, um, or here's a link and it just, it just sort of get in there, you know, and you, you might not even know till you see it. Mm. And you
Liz Nable: might be on the o opposite end of that where you don't get featured because you haven't included that stuff that, that image That's
Brooke Le Poer Trench: right. Because you, you are just like that much, you just haven't put everything in there.
And it's basically you, you make someone's job easy or you don't have everything and there's no time to chase. And then, and, and. It's not the job of the editor to tell you that your product's in either, you know, it's just like, it goes in and then that's gone. You know? And then you, that's why you sort of need to then monitor the, the site or the, you know, whatever the, whatever the title is, because you just won't know.
A friend of mine just saw that she had coverage in a major, um, publication after years of sending things out and [00:19:00] trying different strategies, and she, they hadn't even told her. And she's like, I, why didn't they tell me? And I was just like, it's not their job. No. Yeah. That was a story they filed last Tuesday.
Like, that's over.
Liz Nable: Yeah. No, they don't have time to brief everyone who's in the magazine that they're appearing any, any on subject lines to get opened or is that really case by case kind of situation? I think that's
Brooke Le Poer Trench: a really, really good question. Um, definitely say what it is for, in say what the hook is.
What is the hook of what like is if it's a new launch, um, you know. Australian made mineral SPF 50 from boutique brand. Like try and put it in there so that they'll know straight away, um, kind of exactly what it is. Like, I think straight talk is quite good just because you are in like, you know, what everyone's inbox looks like.
It's insane. And then, um, [00:20:00] and also really think about whether you have anything for them to talk about. Mm. If you can't think of the subject line, you don't have a story and a hook. It's not time to do pr, it's time to talk, it's time to focus on, I don't know, product development or the, the many, many other hungry mouths in your small business.
Like, I think, um, and, and map out. Maybe look ahead and think about what the PR moments are. Sometimes though you might realize that there's something happening in the zeitgeist that makes what you have on offer a lot more interesting to journalists. So. If there's some big, some big thing that's happened or like, let's take the pandemic and you have had this sort of subscription Pilates model for a year and suddenly that's like the most important type of business to have then, then you know, you're sending out your press releases.
So you do have to kind of think about like, you don't wanna miss those moments.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Be,
Liz Nable: yeah. [00:21:00] Sometimes
Brooke Le Poer Trench: you have to, you have to kind of keep an eye. Yeah. Yeah.
Liz Nable: Can you, um, to, to the untrained eye, like if you were to have a look at, you know, if you, if you don't read, say for example, like Harper's and El and, and Marie, Claire and Allura or whatever, intimately, um, to the untrained eye, I guess a lot of people will be like, well, they're all in the same group of beauty magazines, but each magazine has a format.
Right? Can you explain a little bit about, not each one, but like how those formats might differ and how easy is it to pick up? Because I try and teach this and I think a lot of small business owners are like, I don't have time. But it's quite easy, isn't it? If you read a few episode, a few episodes, a few issues of a magazine to work out the style.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: I think the sweet spot is. You know, as a business, you know your audience. So you know, your audience is, um, moms with, um, time poor mothers with primary school age children, for instance. Right. So who shares your audience? 'cause that is, [00:22:00] that is the, the title or the site or whatever it is that is going to be interested in what you've got.
'cause you already know that. 'cause you, you're talking to that community and audience all the time. So for instance, um, Marie, Claire Demographic probably, oh, I'd say 20 to 35 year olds touching on like new moms, but doesn't talk about parenting or anything. Anything disgusting like that. You say anything gross.
You just aged me outta Marie Claire. Yeah, I know. It's so depressing, isn't it? I'm like, this is not the demographic, but they're like, yeah, it um. I mean, I'm just like, it's probably not entirely accurate, but so, so therefore, if that's your audience too, then that's who you are gonna be, that's who you would focus on.
VP and that's pretty intuitive. Like, I think, I think base who you approach. And then of course, um, you know, Vogue is gonna be less about an age group and more about a socioeconomic [00:23:00] group. So if you know you are targeting this, I don't know, AB demographic, um, uh, then, and you've got a product that is resonating with that demographic because you know you are already selling it within this sort of community or audience, then, then that's your, that's your target.
Um, uh, like of audience, soul is gonna have a much wider reach. So then you might, um, and you might, you might have a really broad audience. You might have a kind of more of a, um. Kind of touching many different age points you might have, like, um, a supplement targeted to menopausal women. And so then you're gonna be like, okay, it's the weekly, it's body and soul.
It's a few smaller sites that are, that are on your radar, um, which you might get more traction with actually. Um, so it's all, it's all that kind of thing. But I think if you start with your audience, [00:24:00]
Liz Nable: yeah, it's good. That's good. That's good.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Then you are a lot of it's intuitive. Like you are not gonna be launching the menopause supplement and be like, yeah, America's perfect.
Like, you just know, you know. That's
Liz Nable: right.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: You can look at it and you don't see your audience reflected back in the pages or the imagery on the site, or the messaging on the, on the, on their Instagram channel. Then you know, it is not for you. Like you definitely have. Um, like where is your, where are you gonna grow your audience?
Mm. And like, where is that like pure pr moment gonna give you the most bang for your buck or really help? And will it help? Is it worth it for you? Like, are you better off focused on micro influencers or, you know, like holding people in your own channel and then putting paid media behind that.
Liz Nable: Yeah. When is, um, I know we've talked obviously specifically 'cause of a lot of your experience has been in, in, in products, in beauty.
When is your story as the [00:25:00] founder or the story of the business relevant in a pitch? 'cause I would imagine it's not always relevant to be like telling your life story when you pitch, right?
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah, that's right. So it's interesting, isn't it? 'cause founder stories are really compelling for brands like on their sites or, um, but yeah, it doesn't always play out.
In media because not everyone's gonna wanna tell that story. So I think the first thing to do is when you've decided that you've got this audience crossover with a, with a, with a channel of some sort, a title, um, or a publication, you need to think about how they talk about brands and products. If they regularly tell, um, like Australian Homegrown a beauty or anything that's made here and created here, um, I think that there is always an interest in that.
But it's usually at certain types of year. Like maybe it's around Australia, they, that Jan Fed content where they're talking about homegrown brands. Um, yeah, [00:26:00] you've gotta see if they ever do founder interviews, if they ever, and if they don't do founder interviews, but they do tend to, um, quote experts. And you also happen to be one of those, then that's your angle, that's your hook.
Um. And then where you might get more traction with your kind of backstory or your founder story are the kind of retail channels that sell your product or your service. Mm-hmm. Because they're often quite compelled. They wanna tell the stories behind the brands that they, that they sell. Um, so maybe you get content that way with your founder story, but actually when it comes to being included in a roundup of services in a publication, whether that's online, print, or however it, however it is shared, um, maybe that's just product focus.
Maybe that's a simple transaction of like high res imagery, brand imagery, information, price, um, and [00:27:00] your latest launch. Mm-hmm. Like new products are really important, new service, new.
Liz Nable: Newness. So obviously if you do have a product or a service and you, and you're pitching it, you can pitch that same product or service to different outlets, but you have to change Oh yeah.
Pitch, right. Depending on, um, depending on that, that media organizational outlet, it's a similar pitch, but you're tweaking it depending on whether it's based on your story or based on the product or based on the time of year. It might be Christmas angle or Right. Halloween or
Brooke Le Poer Trench: gifting. Yep. So we've just, um, sorry for anyone who missed it, but all the Christmas gifting content is created and out.
Everyone has done everything or the publications or the trade media or the custom publishing. So that's a, um. September moment for everyone to, so you've really gotta have your calendar as, as well about when the media need all the information. So August, September is when you need your gifting PR [00:28:00] story out.
Mother's Day, if you've got anything that has anything to do with Mother's Day, that's right now, those press releases need to go out the product offering. So, and even, even though obviously digital media a any kind of publications that are on digital, it's closer. They're all getting that pitch to them right now.
So you sort of have to really, really long lead times. Um, and then, sorry, what was the question? What were we saying? Oh yeah. So you, you do need to tailor it. You do need to tailor it. It's not to say you have to, like, you can send the same thing to five different places, but for instance, let's go with a, um, a yoga subscription service.
And, uh, maybe there's an e-comm element to it. You might offer five journalists a three month trial, because really what you need is to connect a journalist or a, an editor to your products. Mm. [00:29:00] Because sometimes really it's actually their job to come up with how they talk about you. Yeah, absolutely. So it's not really your job to like write the story for them or come up with their head.
It is your job to point out what's new. It is your job to point out what sets you apart. And it is your job to say why this product resonates with your audience. And, you know, um, you can even include some compelling stats because you wanna. You are sort of saying this is of interest to the people you talk to.
And I know this because I talk to them too. So you can, that can be an element of it, but then you just need to think about what you really wanna get out of it. Sometimes you're playing the long game. Sometimes it is like, um, sending some people, you know, people some product and letting them get to know it, know the product.
Sometimes it's, um, it is just making sure it's on their desk or in their cupboard or in the file that says, because what I used to do is I would have a million emails, [00:30:00] um, and I would have, um, new launches, so things that I wanna write about now, and then I would see things that didn't have a home, but that I think could really work in future stories.
So then I might have a wellness folder, I might have a, um. Uh, like cultural trends folder. I might have a, um, like I have all sorts of different folders that were relevant to what I was writing about. And then when I came to plan my issue, I go through those folders and I look at all the, the emails and the products and the press releases that were sent to me.
So, and then I start filing them in. So, um, don't think that your information doesn't belong in that list, because essentially you get popped in a folder and then when that person comes out to planning the next sprint of content or the next issue, then they'll go through that. Hmm. So you are in the mix.
It might feel like it's going into a void, but I think if you lower expectations around [00:31:00] it being an interaction and a relationship and make it more about a transaction of information, it might make it a bit easier and a bit less disheartening. Yeah. Um, because you are helping people do their jobs.
Liz Nable: Would your advice be to reach out, I guess, like you say, to, to start to develop a re a relationship, so to speak, before you actually need it?
So to start to, even if you, you know, you know, there's a pretty good chance that, you know, no one's gonna get back to you, but we do have this new product, um, to start to sow those seeds ahead of time so that over time, you know, you, you do have somewhat of a, of like a communication channel with those, that journalist or that organization,
Brooke Le Poer Trench: you really only would want to take up someone's time if you've got something to talk about.
Yeah. So even though, even though what journalists don't need more friends? No, no. And it's sort of like, [00:32:00] I think what you wanna do is, um. It really depends on what your product is. But I think you've gotta really make sure you are providing everything that they need in that one point of contact. And it also depends on the hook.
Like if it's really timely, if you've got a mental health app and there's a huge for teens, right? And there's a huge focus on um, and you know that, uh, blue, you know, red Nose day or are you okay day coming up? Like if you feel like the stars are aligning a bit with your product and what's happening culturally, that's one.
Like you also have to be across what people are writing about and when. Mm-hmm. Then you are like, this is a really important bit of information to get to the journalist. 'cause you'll get added into a box or you'll get, you might get called up and interviewed or you might be, you know. So, um, timing is important.
Having something to say is important. [00:33:00] Um. Really seeing it more as a of a, as a transaction of information. Yeah. Um, and, and investing in your imagery, investing in sampling, deciding like how much you want to invest. Like it's hard to write about something you haven't seen or touched or experienced a lot of the time.
You know, you have to do that because there's pages to fill and there's stories to publish and upload and, you know, it's, it's this beast, you know, it's constantly hungry for information, but what's the easiest way to connect with something? You've got it in your hands, like it's still, um, and then, you know, that's the product connecting with that journalist.
It doesn't have to be you. Yeah. That's a really nice thing to have. Um, and a lot of the time, like there's, you know, there's a lot of kind of really great PR agencies who would do founder days and you'd go and you'd meet all the founder and they'd set up coffees. So if you really, really want that.
[00:34:00] Relationship part, that's where it can be worth investing in those, you know, those, I know that they can be expensive, but retainers with agencies that will put you in front of the journalists that you want to get to know. Um, but you'd only do that if your founder story was really compelling or if, um, for instance, like we know there's a massive appetite for sustainability stories.
So if you've got a really compelling element to your narrative that's around sustainability, like you've got, you know, yoga mats that are made without a type of rubber that, like if you've got some specific part, then you could not only send your release, but you could follow up with a call, um, you know, ask for 10 minutes.
Yeah. Um, so, you know, I think that there's, there's different ways to do it, but I, I can imagine like it's a pretty. It's, it's tough to send something out there and not get a response. Yeah. Yeah. [00:35:00] You gotta have a thick skin
Liz Nable: for sure. Talk to me a little bit about, um, you mentioned before, earlier in the conversation, like a PR toolkit for small businesses.
How important is a PR toolkit and what should be in it, in your opinion?
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah, so this is, this is sort of, yeah. When I'm thinking about all the things I would need to do to write and publish a story like online or print or whatever the, um, channel is, you need imagery. So you need your, you probably need your brand imagery.
Um, and look if you can editorialize it a little bit, if you can figure out how to make your brand imagery look like something, any of these publications or online, um, sites. That you are going after for some sort of coverage. If you can create imagery that would also work for them, then a a lot of the time they'll, they'll run the image that that could be the thing that moves the needle.
I think there's apps that do that.
Liz Nable: There's apps these days where you can get that kind of quality.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah, I think it's quality, but [00:36:00] also looking at the sort of imagery they run. It's sort of like, um, there's a certain type of candidness to it. They're quite paired back. There's usually a kind of, it's not on white.
It doesn't look like e-comm imagery. Yeah, yeah. Like that's what I'm talking about. So you've got a few different levels of imagery. So you, you wanna, in your toolkit, I guess when you're going after coverage, you wanna sort of consider investing in what I would probably be call your brand campaign imagery.
So there might be some, you ring fence for your site and your socials, but there might be two or three shots that you set aside that you share with the media. Yeah. You know, so that. They love the shots, they look on the site. Oh, it's not all the same. These could be good to use. So that's like one up from e-comm.
And then you've got e-comm images, um, probably the patched images of the product and also potentially if it's relevant, um, on talent. So you might provide a Dropbox of those. Um, you'll have a one page press release, [00:37:00] um, that's attached as a PDF, but of which the top line is in the email. Right.
Liz Nable: And then do they need, like, their founder story or like their headshot?
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Or you probably want one paragraph on the founder story at the bottom of the press release. Um, unless part of your story is that you've collaborated with, you know, unless you are gonna be sort of like an interesting interview because you're willing to share really personal information about, you know, um.
The fact that you were led to this because, you know, you watched a family member suffer like a lot of the time. There is a lot of human, there's a lot of humanity in founder stories. There's a, there's always a story that's really compelling. Yeah. So you can offer that like available, you know, for interview or I'd love to share, you know, the story, my story with you, but only if you've seen those sorts of stories published [00:38:00] before.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Um, in that demographic touching on those issues, you know, then it's worth saying otherwise, it just, it'll just fall flat to the person receiving it. 'cause it's like they don't, you know, this isn't relevant, it's just not relevant. Um, so you want your, you want your, your one page press release. You want your different levels of brand imagery depending on how much you want to, um, uh.
How much you wanna spend, how much you wanna invest. Um, and then I think you probably need your hit list of peoples, 'cause you really wanna personalize the emails. Yeah. Um, you wanna make sure you've got the right person. Some really easy ways to do that. You can always, you might not be able to get them on the phone, but you can call the coordinator or an assistant, you can get some sort of number.
Yeah. And you can confirm things over, you know, think a bit like a journalist, like confirm names, confirm spelling correct. Yeah. Um, a lot of the time you really kind of also [00:39:00] need to figure out, are you talking to, are you trying to get through to a freelancer or are you talking to someone who's actually an editor who's there?
Um, like you really need to understand how the place you are targeting really works. 'cause a lot of it is smoke and mirrors. Like you have to be a bit of a detective, like who's the person actually employed full-time by the site? Because maybe the byline you keep seeing is not really the person you need to be speaking to.
Yeah. Um, you can also. Much harder is to figure out the freelance journalists who are writing for lots of different titles. Yeah. You really need to go after that. So you, you really need to, and make sure there's obviously turnover and change, so make sure that you're getting the right person
Liz Nable: with something.
Um, with within, with the magazine, like the Australian Women's Weekly, which you were the, the lifestyle director for that. Is that a really different kind of pitch than pitching like a, you know, beauty magazine? Like, uh, uh, like Allure or something? Because that's a really, in [00:40:00] my mind as a consumer, a bit more human and a bit more storytelling based.
Tell Yeah. So yeah. How about if
Brooke Le Poer Trench: I, yeah, like if you have, um, launched a, you know, let's, let's call it a small skincare line. The first thing you would know looking at the weekly and say something like, Marie Claire, if, if you're going up to that print moment, or even in that, you know, these are all omnichannel brands, so they also have.
Digital as well. Um, you're gonna see that the weekly does sort of eight pages of beauty. Marie Claire does 25 pages of beauty. So already you know that, um, you've got these really different, and then you really wanna look at what they're writing about because, um, you need to figure out if it's pay for play or if there is pure PR opportunity in there.
A lot of place, a lot of, a lot of sites you look at, a lot of, um, magazines, uh, and different publications. You, your product being mentioned is added [00:41:00] value because you're part of a big brand that's already advertised. So look and see if little brands are being talked about before you even bother. Is it easy to see if it's pay for play?
Yeah, I mean, if the whole, if the whole magazine is L'Oreal and, um, you know, comb then, and you don't see any little kind of, you know, you're usually across your competitors and you're across like boutique brands, you might be like, Hmm, now that could be because, you know, they're well represented and they're underpinned by really big sort of, um, PR and media and sort of all of this support.
Um, but it could be because publications are becoming increasingly hard to monetize and commercialize. So editorial has become a way for the title to make more money.
Liz Nable: Mm. It's not purely objective anymore. Not always anyway.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: No. And there's always been [00:42:00] added value, like if you're an editor, you always support your advertisers because you know that they make the whole thing possible.
Um, and they usually are complimentary. It's rare that you would have an advertiser that doesn't make sense for editorial coverage. You know, everyone's often done their research. You know, they're, and that's the audience thing. They're there because this is their audience. Their product works because, you know, um, so they are different, but you are right.
You know, the weekly, there might be more of an opportunity for a founder story, for instance. Um, whereas Marie Claire, it might be more of a skin skincare trends story. Maybe you have a cleansing balm that's a really cool kind of product to talk about in the winter months. So that's a trend based pitch versus, or like a product type pitch versus, you know, selling your founder story to the weekly because it's a family business and it's three generations of women and X, y, and z.
Mm. Um. It's like it's very [00:43:00] competitive, um, to get coverage, but I just think you have to have it in your kind of arsenal of ways in which you are going to try and grow your audience. Yeah. 'cause a lot of the time the imagery you're creating, you need anyway for your brand channels. Exactly. Yeah. So a lot of the time it's, it's an easy win.
You're sort of maybe not having to go that far away from all the things you're doing anyway. You already know your founder story, you already know what your new products are. You already need brand imagery. You are packaging it up and sending it to some publications who might be able to use it, and then it's a win for you.
You know? So it takes time. I know it takes time, but I don't think it requires more than what you have. It's just how do you package it up?
Liz Nable: Mm. Any any tips? I'm, I'm not gonna keep you too much longer. I know I could talk to you about this bit. I know, I know. There's so much to know. Any tips on like, no-nos in pitching?
Like have you ever just gotten a pitch and just gone, oh my [00:44:00] God, delete. Like, is there, and do you burn your bridges by doing that?
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah, I think you probably, um, you have to figure out what it mean, what is meaningful to you versus what is gonna resonate with someone else. Like your product is important to you.
Your brand story is important to you because it's been this long, long journey. But to a journalist who's trying to create engaging stories on a public for a publication, um. Is your, are the highs and lows of getting your business off the ground? Interesting. No. Are the some of the wins you've had in your business to get you there, interesting.
Probably not. You know, like, um, and Will, will kind of like sharing your story of how you've sort of climbed this mountain, which is what entrepreneurial pursuits feel like they are. You are just like in this, you work [00:45:00] so hard and it's such a labor of love. Um, and ultimately though, what will make it succeed that might resonate with your community and with your audience, but do you have what people need?
Yeah. Have you created something people need? Have you answered a problem? Have you, like what is the problem you've solved for people? Or what is the, like, I think you need to, so yeah, I'd say like making it too personal when. You haven't thought about all those other elements, like does this journalist even write about this?
Yeah. Is there even space for this? Is this even like relevant at this point in the year or the kind of economic cycle? Um, for instance, right now there is a lot of, um, focus on best and cheapest, right? Our economy is going through a downturn. People are under pressure. So if part of your product offering is this amazing research in this affordable product that is gonna be, you know, like, yeah, you've [00:46:00] really gotta think about what's happening, read the room, um, but also probably ditch 80% of the backstory.
Like, you know, like it's probably the last 20%, the bit with the most success that ended up in the product being made. That was good. I think if you are a category disruptor, if you are doing something where you don't have a huge set of competitors where you really feel like. You are in some ownable space.
Um, 'cause you know, if you are doing something that's been done before, better mm. You know, if you're joining, if you're joining a, a category of products or if you are doing something that's um, more disruptive. Yeah. Then I think. It becomes more important, the backstory, because if it hasn't been seen before, if you are making something without using any water and everything that's followed has always included, people won't necessarily see that that's what you've done.
So you have to sort of hit them over the head with it. Um, [00:47:00] and in which case, that's your subject line. That's the first paragraph. And here's a Dropbox, everything you need. And I would love to talk to you, but if not, um, would love to share my message. Mm
Liz Nable: mm
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Make the journalist job easy, I guess, and talk about why people will want to know about it.
Yeah. Yeah. Talk about why, because that's the first question anyone's gonna ask. Like, why are people interested in it? And that's why talking about some of your metrics like. Selling 20,000 units in the first six months, or having a wait list or, um, you know, like some of the things about the kind of arc of your product that imply or that tell the journalist, this is actually really resonating with people, so now I wanna get on board with it.
Yeah. So you can include some of your success markers. Um, if it helps back up the fact that this is worth talking about.
Liz Nable: Yeah, yeah. But
Brooke Le Poer Trench: what, what got you there and all the challenges [00:48:00] really, only if it's a really disruptive product or service.
Liz Nable: Yeah. I think, or you get well enough known, I guess, and the, the brand grows to a point where they're asking you for your story.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah. Then it becomes, yeah. I mean, that's the dream, isn't it? That actually you sort of get to a point where so many people are into the product, they're kind of intrigued by the person behind the brand. Um, and then it's all just like. You know, it's all just good feels warm and fuzzy feelings about your brand and, you know, you become, and I guess it also depends how big a part of the brand are you.
Like a lot of brand founders don't wanna be in the front. And then a lot of people, maybe their whole sort of Instagram or their whole sort of, um, brand voice is around their irreverent chat about the thing that led them to invent or create the best kids lunchbox on the market. You know, like what is the, what has un, what is, what is your brand voice and what's underpinned it?
And so does that [00:49:00] sort of matter? Mm-hmm. Um, is it relevant? It, it's really tricky. I, I think, I think that pure PR is worth having a. Worth having and worth pursuing because you have all the assets that you need. Yeah. It's just having the confidence to package it up and send it off. Mm-hmm. Um, but, and, and, and do it because everyone else is doing it.
Like, just get in there with your message, um, and do it a few times and there's lots of different publications and try different people. Yeah. If it's a, if it's a huge, you know, if it's a, um, a big online publication and there's a product manager and a digital lead and someone else, try one person. If you get nowhere, try another.
Like, it's fine. It's absolutely fine. All people do is like, file it like, like me, file it into a folder for when it's that time to plan, plan the stories or, you know, the worst thing that happens, I guess is they delete [00:50:00] it. But, you know, the other thing is you can do the work and send it out to lots of different people.
It's not like it has to be. Over and over again. And I just think, but also think about, um, then how, you know, you are able to tell all these stories within your own channel as well. Yeah, yeah,
Liz Nable: absolutely. And you can repurpose that, right? You can repurpose those media mentions or, um, you know, you've got all that imagery.
Like you say, you've got this toolkit already that can all be repurposed for other marketing.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: And remember that, um, jour, the journalists will likely check out your Instagram feed to figure out what's going on. Like, are you an actual, like is this legit something to, are you legit? So, so have lots of content on there that backs up the message you're putting out there in the market.
Like focus on that part of it as well.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Um, because those two things need to align.
Liz Nable: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And it's all like stepping stones, I guess, in your overall marketing media and marketing strategy to create this brand that aligns [00:51:00] with.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Those values, like they might look at, you know, the brand page and the followers or kind of what you're talking about just to get know a little bit more about the product.
It's like a research tool. Yeah. So, um, just make sure you've answered those questions with some of the content you're producing for your own channel, your own, like if it's Instagram or if it's a site.
Liz Nable: Any, um, just to sort of wrap up any, I guess for some business owners who are listening, this like, sounds like a lot, like is it, is it this beast that people need to be kind of intimidated by or like what's your top tips for someone going, I just want the basics.
I just wanna like, dip my toe in the water and start like, putting myself out there anywhere where they should start or like kind of top tips to get them started.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Um, I think if you want to start rolling out. Kind of an early days PR strategy for your business or for your product. And you [00:52:00] have decided that you don't wanna invest in a PR agency.
Um, which by the way, you can, you can have meetings with them and ask them what they think. You can get short retainers, you could get a two month, you could decide you only wanna pay for PR for two months of the year, like you are actually a client. So also like, don't be afraid to go and have some meetings with some PR agencies and ask them what they would do for you.
Because you know, in the food chain you are a potential client. So yeah, don't be intimidated by that. I would say, first of all, there's a lot of people, again, like if you put your journalist hat on, like you're kind of interviewing people and asking them what they think, you might get some really good feedback.
And feedback is really important because you could be selling something that's you message could be a bit off or it might not be clear enough. Yeah. But at, at. It's most basic. Come up with a single page with what you want people to [00:53:00] know about the launch or the product or the service. Um, with a hook, think about what the hook is.
And then you've got, you've got something to send someone, right? As soon as you've got that, you've already got something to send someone, then it's a matter of deciding, am I backing this up with product? Am I investing more? Am I gonna give everyone a product? Am I going to, is, is it a send in? Am I gonna send it in in a nice box with a, I don't know, a cute little seasonal sort of situation that you've come up with?
Personalized towel, I don't know, whatever your, like, whatever you decide you know, you wanna do, or is it an email? Um, and then it's a polite email saying, this is, this is what my product is. I think it would really resonate with your audience for X, Y, and Z attached to the press release. Um, the other thing you can do is send in a sample and follow it up with that email and ask for feedback.
Would love to know your thoughts.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: If you've had a chance to try the [00:54:00] product service subscription, um, would love to hear what you think. Mm-hmm. So at its most basic, it's, it's a page and it's an email. Um, and to the feedback that you get too. Yeah. And talk to people. Like if you've got a business, a product, a service, you've pitched it, you've got your elevator pitch down, um, you know, is it a new brand?
In which case that's the hook. The hook is, it's a new brand, it's homegrown, um, it's X, Y, and Z, and you already know. Mm-hmm. You've already got all the reasons why you've built the business in the first place. You already truly believe that there's a demand. Mm. So sometimes you have to sell that a little bit.
So I would say probably the biggest challenge for any of us is to articulate ourselves clearly. Yeah. And concisely. It's so hard. Um, and we just live in a world where unfortunately there's not a lot of airtime. Like, I don't know, people apparently don't even watch videos for longer than like, seven seconds now.
I don't even know. I'm [00:55:00] like so distracted. We're so distracted. So we've just got so much, um, going on. Yeah. But, but yeah, start small. Um, you know, you've got, if you've built a business, you already have everything you need for a PR strategy, what you or a pr or messaging to send out to journalists. You just need to pick and choose what you put on that page.
Um, be pretty brutal about it. Um, and then try and be reactive. Yeah. Get your list of contacts and then think about when your product or brand or service is gonna resonate the most with people. And then plan it like, you don't have to be in PR mode. 24 7 every business week of the year, you need to choose your moments.
'cause you've obviously got opportunity costs. When you're focused on pr, there's things in your business you're neglecting. So yeah, it's not all the time. So don't let it be something you think about constantly. [00:56:00] 'cause I don't, I don't even know if it is the promised land that used to be like, you know, if you've got a channel and you've got an audience, you can grow that.
Yeah. It's just not now you could decide. It's just a part of it. It's just a part of it that, um, allow, helps you legitimize your brand, I guess in a way. 'cause you are curated with these other products and um, yeah, it's really tricky. But like I said, you know, media need, we need products to write about. We need hooks, we need stories, we need personal stories.
We need what you've got. Yeah. Um. The challenge for businesses is just packaging it up. Yeah. So don't, don't let, you're not intruding on anyone. Like the journalists are sitting there being like, what am I gonna write about today? It's a transaction, plain and simple. It's a, an ecosystem. It's a food chain where however you wanna look at it, it's not, um, you need them, but they need you potentially more.
Yeah. Um, [00:57:00] yeah, and look, the little, the little guys, the businesses that are smaller, that have less smaller distribution, if you, if, if it's hard for, for, um, the readers of the, or consumers or the audience of the publication you're talking to, to get the product, that could be a deal breaker. Yeah. So you do need to think about distribution.
You do need to think about, are you available? A click that's Australia wide. Like who, you know, who can get to your product.
Liz Nable: Yeah. Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Because that's also a thing, a wealth of knowledge. I hope people won't be weeping. Hopefully they'll be like, yes, I do. My
Liz Nable: Thank you so much, Brooke, for your time. That is, um, it is such a niche thing, particularly pitching to women's magazines or, or magazines, print in general because of the nature of how that market is evolving.
So it's really important to be able to put that in perspective and to understand that it's part of your overall marketing and, and media strategy these days and, and can work really well if you [00:58:00] get really good at it. Um, but it, you can just start out small.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Yeah. And you can pitch to journalists, but you can also pitch to influencers you like and you can pitch to like, think about everyone who's doing storytellers with an audience, storytelling with an audience that you like and send your press release up.
Send it into places that might not seem as obvious. And the other thing is that writers move around. So you might send it to a little, kind of your local, I don't know, newspaper. Like start small, start, start within your community. You might even get a coffee and a, you know, start and then, you know, when you get a little bit, feel a little bit bolder with your kind of comms.
Yeah. Then go a little bit further out,
Liz Nable: a few little quick wins with the local media is always good for the confidence too.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: So good.
Liz Nable: So
Brooke Le Poer Trench: good. It's a con it is a confidence.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Game. A lot of what, um, holds us back is that sometimes we feel like we don't [00:59:00] deserve a seat at the table or we're not, you know, we can't compete with all the, um, but, but there is a really, you know, it's really important that small brands, homegrown brands, you know, journalists and.
And whoever else is creating the content, they do wanna cover those stories. So, um, yeah. It's worth it. You've got nothing to lose. Yeah. You've gotta do it. Just do it. Thanks, Brooke. You're a legend. You've got much knowledge to share. Well, I hope, I hope so. Well, I hope it, I hope it helps. It absolutely. I so respect anyone who can sort of build a brand, build a business.
It's just, it's such a feat and it's so much hard work.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Brooke Le Poer Trench: Um, I really respect it.
Liz Nable: Yeah. Oh, thank you so much for your time. Right. This episode of Media Magnet was brought to you by my signature group coaching program, the Media Masters Academy. The Media Masters [01:00:00] Academy is a live online six week course taught by me and designed to teach you how to become your own publicist and give you exclusive access to pitch the country's top journalists and editors doors open just three times a year.
Check it out at liznable.com along with a ton of free resources to help you get started taking your business from best kept secret to household name right now. If you love this episode of Media Magnet, please share it with your business buddies or on social media and tag me at at Liz Nable. And if there's a specific guest you wanna hear from on the show or a topic or question you want to know more about, please tell me so I can make sure the show stays dedicated, especially for you.
