The Path to PR Success with Cindy Rodriguez

Episode Introduction

Welcome to another exciting episode of "GET SEEN with Leilani Wells"! In this episode, we have a special guest, Cindy Rodriguez, a media strategist who will be sharing valuable insights on how to use large publications to grow your business. We also discuss the upcoming Holiday Entrepreneur Summit and why it's a must-attend event for entrepreneurs looking to expand their reach. Leilani and Cindy dive into the misconceptions around PR and why many people are hesitant to explore opportunities beyond social media. They emphasize the importance of providing value and positioning yourself as an authority through contributing articles to major outlets. So, if you're ready to take your visibility to the next level and learn how to captivate a broader audience, then this episode is for you. Stay tuned and get ready to GET SEEN with Leilani Wells and Cindy Rodriguez!

About Our Guest

Welcome to another exciting episode of "GET SEEN with Leilani Wells"! In this episode, we have a special guest, Cindy Rodriguez, a media strategist who will be sharing valuable insights on how to use large publications to grow your business. We also discuss the upcoming Holiday Entrepreneur Summit and why it's a must-attend event for entrepreneurs looking to expand their reach. Leilani and Cindy dive into the misconceptions around PR and why many people are hesitant to explore opportunities beyond social media. They emphasize the importance of providing value and positioning yourself as an authority through contributing articles to major outlets. So, if you're ready to take your visibility to the next level and learn how to captivate a broader audience, then this episode is for you. Stay tuned and get ready to GET SEEN with Leilani Wells and Cindy Rodriguez!

"Understanding PR: So a lot of PR is very much ego based. You're chasing logos. You want to be able to splash logos on your website so they're for press releases or some of those PickMe opportunities where someone's guaranteed to get you in 300 outlets for $500 whatever they're doing out there."

— Cindy Rodriguez

Timestamped Overview

01:55 Legacy building: global visibility for your work.

05:56 Find readership angle, lead conversation, add value.

07:35 Valuable tickets for Holiday Entrepreneur Summit speakers.

Main Topics

1. Importance of Utilizing Large Publications for Business Growth

- Positioning large publications in overall marketing mix

- Building a larger audience beyond social media

- Legacy building through exposure in mainstream media

- Differentiating oneself as an authority through contributor pieces

2. Common Barriers to PR and Media Exposure

- Misunderstanding how PR works

- Ego-based approach to media

- Focusing on logos and press releases instead of editorial coverage

- Need for proof and validation in income claims

- Longer process compared to quick social media gratification

3. Strategies for Effective PR and Media Pitching

- Understanding the target audience of the publication

- Leading and contributing to conversations in one's area of expertise

- Providing value, education, entertainment, or contrarian perspectives

- Crafting media pitches that focus on the topic, not oneself

4. Invitation to the Holiday Entrepreneur Summit

- Encouragement to attend the Summit

- Highlights of the lineup of speakers

- Emphasis on the valuable information shared

- Reminder that media opportunities are available to all, regardless of current level of fame or success

4. Conclusion and Call to Action

- Urging listeners to get their tickets early

- Promoting the GET SEEN platform

- Invitation to become a GET SEEN member for regular access to expert knowledge

- Link to click for ticket purchase

---

Connect with your Host, Leilani⬇️

Leilani is a Visibility and Marketing Strategist specializing in social media marketing, video content experiences, and getting you SEEN (both online + offline).

Using her signature visibility process (GET SEEN), she helps Innovators and Entrepreneurs amplify their visibility and become known as the go-to expert so that they can grow their impact + income.

https://leilaniwells.com/

https://www.holidayentrepreneursummit.com/

Small Biz Saturday Promo Code: HESSBS 75% OFF 😱

Cyber Monday Promo Code: HESCM 75% OFF

https://www.holidayentrepreneursummit.com/

https://leilaniwells.com/podcast/

https://getseenmembership.com

Hey. Hey. Welcome to get seen with

Leilani Wells. And today with Cindy

Rodriguez. Hey, Cindy.

Hey, girl. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to have you back. You

know, it was great having you the first time you were on. Now they

get to listen to you two times if they want to binge or if

they've listened to you before. If you're just getting to know

this podcast, get seen here, we talk about getting

you seen. This was straightforward, like, just going to let you know. It's marketing,

it's visibility. It's all the things with Getting you Seen. But I want to

jump right in because we are doing a quick little promo

of the Holiday Entrepreneur Summit we want you to attend. We want you to be

there at the Holiday Entrepreneur Summit this year. So I want you

to get to know Cindy right off the bat so you can

hear more from her by buying your ticket for the Holiday Entrepreneur Summit.

So, Cindy, take it away. Tell them a little bit about yourself. Yay. I

am excited and I'm looking forward to the Holiday Entrepreneur Summit this

year. The lineup of speakers is just tremendous. So

I am honored to be counted among them this

year. And for me, I'm Cindy Rodriguez, media

strategist, and I'm going to be talking about how to use large

publications to grow your business at the Summit this year.

And large publications are places like major media outlets fast

Company, Business Insider, Forbes, Entrepreneur, places like that,

and how you can position those

in your overall marketing mix to grow

your audience bigger, faster,

and really get outside the fishbowl of social media

because there's so much focus on social. But I don't want your claim

to fame to be as seen in the Facebook newsfeed. I

want you to be able to say, Google me. And

your articles and your work show up in multiple

places around the world. So we're focused on legacy building around

here. And with all the brilliance that your audience

possesses and your speakers possess, they should be getting

that work out beyond the social media

fishbowl and into a broader the mainstream

audience so that they can build their email lists, they

can sell their books, products, services,

get more clients, get themselves out to new

people who are needing them without

feeding the beast. Constantly on social media. Here today, gone tomorrow,

trying to keep up with the Twitter feed, the staying

power, the SEO. There are just so many

things that come with utilizing large publications in

your overall marketing mix. And for me specifically, we always want to

talk about the contributor piece versus just being

mentioned or featured. I want you to be the one

whose name appears on that article, who is giving that

expert commentary, giving that information,

because that, to me, sets you apart as an authority

differently than quoted, mentioned. Featured is all

great part of the mix, but it's totally different when you can send the article

that you penned for Fast Company on that particular topic.

So why not set yourself apart from the rest of the pack

in the process? Yes. So why do you think people are held back

from going down the path of PR and doing

all these things to being able to say Google me, and they are just stuck

on social media, social media, social media all the time? Not that, you know, I'm

a proponent for social media, but I also believe in

being well rounded, well versed in all of the things. I believe that you

get to be everywhere in all the ways, right? But I talk about

social media the most because that's what people are like. There's that gap, right?

That's my jam. But what's holding people off?

Why are they scared of it? I would say what holds people off is, one,

they don't really understand how PR works. Right. They're thinking that they have

to be a big social media sensation, millions of

followers, in order for a major outlet to pick them up. And that's just not

true. And their approach to

media is flawed. They're looking at it like social

media. They want to talk about their product or service. They want to talk

about all about themselves or about their clients. And that's

not leading with value. That's ego based. So a lot

of PR is very much ego based. You're chasing logos. You want to be able

to splash logos on your website so they're for

press releases or some of those PickMe opportunities

where someone's guaranteed to get you in 300 outlets for

$500 whatever they're doing out there. So

instead of looking at editorial coverage,

which is journalistic coverage with

integrity, you have to prove your income claim. So if you're saying you're a seven

figure, eight figure this, you got to come with the receipts, the tax

returns, back it up. And it

is a longer process, right?

It's not quick, it's not an ego hit. Like you could post something on

Facebook and 2 seconds later have everybody fawning over you and

hundreds of comments and you're like, oh my God.

Whereas that article may not do that, right. But over the long

haul, you are collecting email subscribers. If you're using a book

widget, you're selling copies of your book. So I think

folks just don't understand how to position what they

do for the mainstream media audience because

you're not going to be talking about six figures in six months or

some they don't want to hear about that. You make

money teaching people how to make money. That's not a story. And the rags

are riches. Well, everybody has a rags riches story. So that's not the story.

It's what is that angle, that hook that

readership of that publication? What are they looking for and

where can you step into that conversation and lead the conversation? So I

think that's what they're missing. They're just not viewing it

as how do I enter the conversation in my

area of expertise to educate, add

value, entertain, or do I have a

contrary contrarian view? Why is something

not working? Or what should we be doing differently? So

you have to take the focus off of you and put the focus on

the thing that you're an expert at and craft

your media pitches to be related to. How do you

lend to the conversation about the topic. I

think that was, like, so good. All of it.

And they get to get to the Holiday Entrepreneur Summit to

hear tons more because you are just going to lay it

all out, leave it all on the floor at the Holiday Entrepreneur

Summit. So share one last thing

and then let's let them know where to find you all the good

things. Yes. So tune in to the Holiday

Entrepreneur summit in December. Get your tickets early, make sure

that you are there to hear all the amazing speakers. And the last thing is,

I just want to remind you that you don't have to be a journalist, you

don't have to be a prolific writer, and you do not need to have millions

of followers or have made any money in your business yet to

be paid to write for some of the largest outlets

in the industry. It's available to you today

that was so valuable. You don't have to be known

all over the place to really take advantage of this. I love that so

much. Okay, so thank you so much. Go ahead and

get your tickets. You all, so we can see you there at the Holiday Entrepreneur

Summit where you can hear from all of these amazing Get Seen

speakers. This year, like I shared on the last podcast, we

do just have our Get Seen speakers

only, so you get to get a real feel and a real vibe for what

it would be like if you wanted to become a Get Seen member. If

you are joining us and learn from all of their

expertise on a regular basis. So we'd love to see you there, go

ahead and click the link and we'll we'll catch you on the other side. Bye,

y'all. Bye.