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Crafting Compelling Stories: Mickie Kennedy’s Media Insights | RR269
Episode 26930th July 2024 • Relationships Rule • Janice Porter
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Today, we're diving into the world of press releases and media relations with Mickie Kennedy, the founder and president of eReleases. Celebrating 25 years in the business, Mickie has witnessed the evolution of the press release industry firsthand.

Join us as we explore the differences between traditional newswires and article-based newswires, uncover the secrets behind creating newsworthy press releases, and learn why an amazing quote can make all the difference in captivating journalists. Mickie will share invaluable tips for small businesses on how to gain national media attention and build strong relationships with local media outlets. Plus, we’ll touch on the challenges of modern media landscapes and the importance of a unique selling proposition in your pitches.

Whether you’re a small business owner, entrepreneur, or coach, get ready to take notes—Mickie’s insights could transform how you approach media relations. And don't forget, Mickie’s rainbow glasses aren't just a style statement—they're a symbol of his colorful and impactful career.

Stay tuned for an enlightening conversation!

In this episode you will learn:


  • The differences between traditional newswires like Business Wire and PR Newswire, and article-based newswires such as the Associated Press and Reuters
  • How building relationships with local media is crucial for small businesses to gain visibility and credibility.
  • The importance of focusing on the story behind your data to make your press releases newsworthy and engaging for journalists.
  • Strategies for small businesses to build lasting relationships with local media by regularly reaching out with captivating pitches and maintaining persistence.
  • Mickie’s insights on book marketing, especially for self-published and smaller authors


You can reach Mickie at: eReleases2@gmail.com

Website: https://www.ereleases.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/publicity/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ereleases.press.release.distribution


A little about me: 

I began my career as a teacher, was a corporate trainer for many years, and then found my niche training & supporting business owners, entrepreneurs & sales professionals to network at a world-class level. My passion is working with motivated people, who are coachable and who want to build their businesses through relationship marketing and networking (online & offline). I help my clients create retention strategies, grow through referrals, and create loyal customers by staying connected. 


In appreciation for being here, I have a couple of items for you: 

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:  

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by taking the  

3 Card Sampler—you won’t regret it.   


Connect with me: 

http://JanicePorter.com 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/ 

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1 


Thanks for listening! 

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Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in the comment section below!


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Transcripts

Janice Porter:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's

Janice Porter:

episode of relationships rule. My guest this week is Mickey

Janice Porter:

Kennedy who's coming to us from Baltimore County. And he is the

Janice Porter:

founder and president of E releases this, the small

Janice Porter:

business leader for press release distribution, now

Janice Porter:

celebrating 25 years in business. Congratulations,

Janice Porter:

Mickey. Thank you. He is an expert at helping small business

Janice Porter:

increase their visibility and credibility. And he's here today

Janice Porter:

to share some valuable insights all around that. So welcome to

Janice Porter:

the show.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Thanks for having me.

Janice Porter:

My pleasure. And I have to start, and I know I'm

Janice Porter:

sure other people have done this with you before. But I have to

Janice Porter:

start with the glasses because I love them. So we have the

Janice Porter:

rainbow effect here. For those of us of course, my audience

Janice Porter:

can't see you. But they will see an image of you on the podcast

Janice Porter:

with the rainbow glasses. They're fantastic. But it made

Janice Porter:

me think, actually, before I go there, I found a picture of you

Janice Porter:

on your website. They're not there. No. It's an old picture.

Janice Porter:

You need to change it right? Yeah,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I started wearing them in pride three

MICKIE KENNEDY:

years ago. And then people gave me a hard time because they

MICKIE KENNEDY:

really liked them. And then I think that two years ago, I put

MICKIE KENNEDY:

them on for pride. And I just decided to keep them on. So

Janice Porter:

well. I wondered if it actually had anything to

Janice Porter:

do with your branding at all, or whether it was just a statement

Janice Porter:

about you know, about? lb? LB, I shouldn't say that it should

Janice Porter:

just say pride, because then I can't I can't remember them all.

Janice Porter:

But anyway. So

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I don't know, I think it started out as just

MICKIE KENNEDY:

wearing them for pride. And then it just became something that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people liked about me and something people looked forward

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to. And people would say, Do you have a headshot with the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

glasses? And I'm like, okay, so it was very obvious that people

MICKIE KENNEDY:

really liked the glasses. So it's like, this is going to be

MICKIE KENNEDY:

my thing. So

Janice Porter:

they're fun. They're, they're totally fine.

Janice Porter:

I've interviewed a guy from the Maritimes, in Canada, one of the

Janice Porter:

Maritime Provinces, I think he's from Nova Scotia, I can't

Janice Porter:

remember. And he is a marketer. And he talks about standing out

Janice Porter:

from the crowd, and he wears this yellow jacket with tulips

Janice Porter:

all over it with a red tulip on it. And then he's got one the

Janice Porter:

opposite. It's like, yeah, standing out from the crowd. And

Janice Porter:

you can definitely remember that for sure. So, okay. My audience

Janice Porter:

is small business owners, entrepreneurs, some like

Janice Porter:

Realtors nor mortgage brokers, that kind of thing. And coaches,

Janice Porter:

consultants, and we're all like small business owners. And so

Janice Porter:

I'm trying to get my head around. Do I need a peel a press

Janice Porter:

release? Do Why do I need one? What would I need one for?

Janice Porter:

Right?

MICKIE KENNEDY:

So potentially, you could? So

Janice Porter:

I'm open to it. I just want to know, why do I need

Janice Porter:

one? Right?

MICKIE KENNEDY:

So it depends if national media attention is

MICKIE KENNEDY:

important to you. And for some businesses, it's not like if

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you're a local mortgage broker or something like that, PR and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

media could be valuable for you. But you're probably looking at

MICKIE KENNEDY:

local media. And my service, e releases are big value is the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

national distribution. Okay, that's good. So, okay, so I do

MICKIE KENNEDY:

tell people that for local media, you are the best person

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to get it. The thing is, if you think about it, in most local

MICKIE KENNEDY:

markets, there's probably less than a dozen people that would

MICKIE KENNEDY:

cover you, you know, at your local paper, you know, find out

MICKIE KENNEDY:

who covers your industry, that reporter and reach out to them

MICKIE KENNEDY:

get their email address it, you know, have people say, Oh, can

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you do that, and I'm like, these are not celebrities, these are

MICKIE KENNEDY:

members of your community, they should be accessible for you to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

pitch them. And if you if their email addresses on their website

MICKIE KENNEDY:

or easily locatable, you can just call and say, Hey, I'm

MICKIE KENNEDY:

trying to get this person's email address, because I'd like

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to pitch them on a local story. And that's completely

MICKIE KENNEDY:

reasonable. They'll either give it to you or patch you through

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that person. But just start building your local Rolodex. If

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you happen to be lucky enough to have a business newspaper or

MICKIE KENNEDY:

business magazine, and in the Baltimore market, we're lucky

MICKIE KENNEDY:

enough to have both. Again, find out what writer would probably

MICKIE KENNEDY:

cover your industry or covers at most regularly get their email

MICKIE KENNEDY:

address. And and then you know, maybe consider TV and radio are

MICKIE KENNEDY:

their segments occasionally that spotlight local businesses. We

MICKIE KENNEDY:

say hey, they did that with a chiropractor, but I can envision

MICKIE KENNEDY:

be as a dry cleaner, or a mortgage broker in a different

MICKIE KENNEDY:

light. So call and ask for the booker or producer of that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

segment. And you do have to distinguish in some markets,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

whether you saw it on the morning news or the evening

MICKIE KENNEDY:

news, just be as specific as you can. And they'll, they'll

MICKIE KENNEDY:

usually put you in touch with that person, or give you that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

email address. And, you know, other things are, you know, are

MICKIE KENNEDY:

their specialty magazines or newspapers that might be

MICKIE KENNEDY:

appropriate. We have Baltimore magazine, which is, you know,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

mostly for consumers. So it's not appropriate for b2b. But,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you know, if you're a business, that's your clients are made

MICKIE KENNEDY:

above just regular people and not businesses, then perhaps

MICKIE KENNEDY:

some of those could be a good fit. And then, you know, look at

MICKIE KENNEDY:

like, neighborhood weekly papers that are given away, a lot of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people overlook those, and they are so focused on advertising,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that content is an afterthought. So if you approach them with a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

story, and even if you come up with a ready made article for

MICKIE KENNEDY:

them, they would really like that. And I've had many clients

MICKIE KENNEDY:

say, Hey, I took your recommendation, and pitch them a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

monthly column. And they really wanted a weekly column. Of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

course, they do, they want the free content, but I stood firm,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and they agreed to do give me a monthly column, I get to mention

MICKIE KENNEDY:

my business works really well, I've got a dentist who did this.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I've got a couple of people in fitness, they talk about

MICKIE KENNEDY:

nutrition, and exercise and things you can do around the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

house to stay fit. But you know, also people in therapy, you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

know, practices, where they provide mental health things

MICKIE KENNEDY:

they can do, like monthly check ins, you know, like how, you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

know, maybe as we get closer to June, they do a column about

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people who are planning for weddings and all the stress

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that's related with that same thing with end of the holidays.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And so, you know, these are opportunities for you. And all

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you have to do is, you know, build that Rolodex want, stay on

MICKIE KENNEDY:

top of it, you know, because people leave relationships,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

right. And then, and then just reach out to them and just

MICKIE KENNEDY:

introduce yourself, you know, that you're a member of the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

community, and what you feel that they might want to cover

MICKIE KENNEDY:

today. You know, it could be something that's trending in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

your industry. I'd mentioned dry cleaners before, and going green

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and getting away from chemicals and stuff like that you could

MICKIE KENNEDY:

talk about, hey, I'd love to share with you something that we

MICKIE KENNEDY:

did recently, it was a huge investment, but it's so much

MICKIE KENNEDY:

better for both the environment and individuals, you know, just

MICKIE KENNEDY:

sort of, you know, make your pitch. If you do have some

MICKIE KENNEDY:

candid photos, feel free to attach one or two of those. If

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you have a ready made, quote, you know, put that in there,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

because a journalist can build an article around an amazing

MICKIE KENNEDY:

quote. And, you know, the first thing people ask us, Well,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Vicki, what's an amazing quote, and it can be, you know, how

MICKIE KENNEDY:

beautiful it was that you wrote it, you know, like, I'm a poet,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

so maybe I'm a wordsmith, but it doesn't have to be, you know, a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

quote can also be amazing, just because how well you condensed

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and really made that sentence so tight, that if they were to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

paraphrase it, it would be a loss, you know, and so just

MICKIE KENNEDY:

really spent a little bit of time on a great quote, quotes

MICKIE KENNEDY:

are probably one of the most overlooked things in press

MICKIE KENNEDY:

releases. And here, you're not including a press release,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you're just writing a few sentences of a pitch, but put an

MICKIE KENNEDY:

amazing quote in there. And often, you may get the interest

MICKIE KENNEDY:

of local media, local media is a little hard to break into, but

MICKIE KENNEDY:

it pays off because generally, if you do this, say every other

MICKIE KENNEDY:

month, or at the minimum quarterly, you know, brainstorm,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

keep an eye on competitors and other cities. That's a great way

MICKIE KENNEDY:

because you see somebody in another city that is covered in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

your industry on a hot button item. You can, you know, don't

MICKIE KENNEDY:

tell them, Hey, I saw this in another city, or another

MICKIE KENNEDY:

journalist wrote about this person, but you say, Hey, I've

MICKIE KENNEDY:

noticed in my industry that people are really paying

MICKIE KENNEDY:

attention to whatever the focus of the story was it I would love

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to talk to you. That's why I, you know, a local business and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

your community would fit perfectly. Here's an amazing

MICKIE KENNEDY:

quote, here's my contact information. Here's a link to my

MICKIE KENNEDY:

website, whatever collateral you want to include, maybe a photo

MICKIE KENNEDY:

or two, and send it off. Now, I've had people who've done this

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and they've gone nine months and nothing's happened. And then all

MICKIE KENNEDY:

of a sudden, something happens within the year and often it's

MICKIE KENNEDY:

not what you pitched. But it's them reaching out to you under

MICKIE KENNEDY:

deadline saying, I'm working on a story on XY and Z, I thought

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that you would be a perfect example to put in there, could I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

get a quote from you, and you're like, Sure. And, and the reason

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that you came to their attention is, you've reached out to him a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

few times, you're on their radar, they weren't, you know,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

inspired by anything you'd sent to that point. But now they have

MICKIE KENNEDY:

a need for you. And as that happens, it happens more

MICKIE KENNEDY:

regularly in the Baltimore market, I see in the Baltimore

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Sun, the same company that gets plugged into articles two or

MICKIE KENNEDY:

three times a year one might be about HR, you know, talking

MICKIE KENNEDY:

about the trend of people doing hybrid and trying to, you know,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

establish a workplace culture, how difficult that is. So

MICKIE KENNEDY:

they're talking to the HR person at this ad agency. And then

MICKIE KENNEDY:

later, they talk about, you know, creative things that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people do to give back to the community. And they talk about

MICKIE KENNEDY:

their program, where people are allowed to do certain amount of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

days per year, where they work out in the community, and it's

MICKIE KENNEDY:

counted towards work inside there. And they just get plugged

MICKIE KENNEDY:

in, because they're a go to, and they know that the people will

MICKIE KENNEDY:

give an amazing quote, every time they'll do candid shots,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

they make it very easy to work with the media. And, you know,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

whenever the media is under deadline, they just reach out to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

them, because they know that they can get what they need very

MICKIE KENNEDY:

quickly. And it'll be of a quality content. And so those

MICKIE KENNEDY:

are the types of relationships you work on, I say the first

MICKIE KENNEDY:

year is the hardest. And usually after that, it gets a lot

MICKIE KENNEDY:

easier. The exception being those weekly neighborhood

MICKIE KENNEDY:

papers, those are usually very easy to, you know, get columns.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And if you have ready made articles, they love that as

MICKIE KENNEDY:

well. We call it as features, as opposed to a press release. They

MICKIE KENNEDY:

really are looking to copy and paste. It's just to have

MICKIE KENNEDY:

something to look like there's content with all the ads and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

those things. But the thing is people read them, there are

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people who look at the ads, they look at the offers the coupons,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

whatever it might be in those. And so it can be a great way to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

sort of get recognition in your neighborhood. If you have a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

vibrant neighborhood and you're part of it. So I you know, I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

tell people, local media, go out there, get it yourself. It

MICKIE KENNEDY:

really is one of those things. That seems like a lot of work.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

But it isn't, because like I said, once you break it down,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

it's not a lot of people.

Janice Porter:

Yeah, that's there are a lot of there were a

Janice Porter:

lot of nuggets in everything that you said there. And but

Janice Porter:

what I found, what I have found is I remember like years ago,

Janice Porter:

when I was getting started in working for myself, and I was a

Janice Porter:

professional organizer for about three years. And I was involved

Janice Porter:

with the Chamber of Commerce at the time, and the local

Janice Porter:

newspaper was more vibrant than it certainly is now today. And

Janice Porter:

it was easy to get articles in there. And they'd have pictures

Janice Porter:

of me and we talked about being organized in your office or your

Janice Porter:

home office. And that was that was just from knowing the people

Janice Porter:

in the community. Today, it feels so different. Because

Janice Porter:

number one, as I said, the newspaper the local newspapers

Janice Porter:

are ones gone and the other ones disgusting. Now, it's not really

Janice Porter:

much in it. But you know, to your point that they're looking

Janice Porter:

for things. And then the other thing is that everybody's

Janice Porter:

online. So does that fit? Well, your business is called E

Janice Porter:

releases, right? So you do things online, right? And that's

Janice Porter:

how you distribute things so many so much more easily today.

Janice Porter:

So I think that what you just said makes total sense for

Janice Porter:

entrepreneurs, solopreneurs. And people like that. I remember an

Janice Porter:

it I don't know why I got into their emails, but I did. But

Janice Porter:

there's an organization I think it's called Hero. Is it, harrow

MICKIE KENNEDY:

harrow

Janice Porter:

out? Is that still happening? It

MICKIE KENNEDY:

is. I think it's mostly paid though, I think

MICKIE KENNEDY:

there still might be a free, there still might be a free

MICKIE KENNEDY:

component. But what I have found is it doesn't work as well as it

MICKIE KENNEDY:

used to used to be a secret. And what happens is the journalist

MICKIE KENNEDY:

says, I'm working on a story. And I would love to speak to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

someone who is a, I don't know, a consultant and beauty or you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

pick something and all of a sudden you're like, ooh, and you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

write in and you tell them about you and why you'd be perfect for

MICKIE KENNEDY:

them to do and it used to work because it would be like you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

know, 4050 people competing for one spot. And you know, if you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

were media ready, and you could fire off a really well written

MICKIE KENNEDY:

pitch. You stood a good chance of being picked up. I hear of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

journalists today saying aye. Aye. To get to three 400 people

MICKIE KENNEDY:

competing for one spot, and that just makes it really, really

MICKIE KENNEDY:

unlikely that you're going to stand out enough. Now, if you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

believe that you have a strong, unique selling proposition, and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you are very distinct or unique, then maybe you could rise to the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

top more often than not, but for most people I'm finding, it just

MICKIE KENNEDY:

doesn't have the magic that it used to.

Janice Porter:

Like so many things. So that means that we

Janice Porter:

have to be more creative and do things in a different way.

Janice Porter:

Right. So what makes your company stand out in that

Janice Porter:

regard?

MICKIE KENNEDY:

So I think for us, the big thing is that,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

number one, every distribution that we do is a national

MICKIE KENNEDY:

distribution over PR Newswire. In the US, there's two news

MICKIE KENNEDY:

wires a press releases. Its PR Newswire and Business Wire. And

MICKIE KENNEDY:

so it's largely a duopoly, there was a third player who tried and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

tried to get market share. But here's the problem. Journalists

MICKIE KENNEDY:

are busy. And they're always under deadline. And they have

MICKIE KENNEDY:

the situation where they can go fish into ponds, and get like 90

MICKIE KENNEDY:

some percent of all the releases that are important. And so then

MICKIE KENNEDY:

this third player says, Hey, come Come here, too. And they're

MICKIE KENNEDY:

like, Ah, I don't have the time. I don't have the energy. I like

MICKIE KENNEDY:

it would just to be honest, I'd like it if there was one. So

MICKIE KENNEDY:

they they just haven't been able to make inroads with

MICKIE KENNEDY:

journalists, like Business Wire and PR Newswire. But what they

MICKIE KENNEDY:

did is a pivot, where they said, Hey, we meet all the SEC see

MICKIE KENNEDY:

disclosures, you know, getting you on MarketWatch getting you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

on Yahoo Finance, getting you on certain places. And so they've

MICKIE KENNEDY:

gone to these publicly traded companies, many of them smaller

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and saying, Hey, you don't even want to journalists looking

MICKIE KENNEDY:

through your numbers. Just use us. We're a lot cheaper than

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Business Wire and PR Newswire and so that that's their pivot.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

But outside of that, people probably know of other news

MICKIE KENNEDY:

wires, like the Associated Press, Reuters, Dow Jones, those

MICKIE KENNEDY:

are not wires of press releases, those are wires of articles

MICKIE KENNEDY:

they've written. So for example, the Baltimore Sun in my

MICKIE KENNEDY:

backyard, if there's breaking news at 6pm, like the Supreme

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Court came out with a late ruling, rather than the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

journalist who reports they're at the Baltimore Sun has already

MICKIE KENNEDY:

gone home for the day, they can just license that article that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

was written by the Associated Press, they know the Associated

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Press, you know, all these places produce really good

MICKIE KENNEDY:

content. So they can just use that article and not have to use

MICKIE KENNEDY:

the labor of someone or pull them out of their, their their

MICKIE KENNEDY:

home life and able to get something done. So a lot of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people do rely on those types of wires. They don't run press

MICKIE KENNEDY:

releases, but they do accept press releases. And again, if

MICKIE KENNEDY:

they're inspired enough, and you could possibly get them to turn

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that into an article that they've written. That is rare.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

But it's not impossible, it does happen. But that's pretty much

MICKIE KENNEDY:

the landscape. Despite that, if you go to Google and type in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

press release, you'll probably see another 30 companies with

MICKIE KENNEDY:

wire in their names. They're not real news wires. A lot of them

MICKIE KENNEDY:

are syndicators of press releases. And that's what it's

MICKIE KENNEDY:

called when the press release appears on Yahoo Finance and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

market watch and a bunch of these financial websites as well

MICKIE KENNEDY:

as other little websites. The thing to know is that's usually

MICKIE KENNEDY:

part of SEC compliance, meeting some disclosures and things like

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that. But very few people see that, you know, you're not going

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to no one's typing a stock ticker in for you, because

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you're a private company. So you know, the fact you're on one

MICKIE KENNEDY:

section of Yahoo Finance doesn't really mean anything. Very few

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people are going to read it, no journalists are going to see it.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And so that's not very important. So there is a lot of,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you know, mis communication in the industry. People come to us

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and say, Hey, why would I pay you guys four or $500 to move a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

release? When I can go to XYZ wire for $59? So I'm like, well

MICKIE KENNEDY:

with us, you go out through PR Newswire and they charge

MICKIE KENNEDY:

$1,600 600 Word Press release through us. It's about a third

MICKIE KENNEDY:

of the price of what you would pay directly with PR Newswire.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And with these other, you know, XYZ wire or whatever it is, you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

don't reach journalists at all. And so there's never the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

opportunity for an article to be written. That being said, I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

would say that the majority of people who use the $59 service

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and a $1,600 PR Newswire have a very similar result in that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

nothing happens. They might have the sense though, they will

MICKIE KENNEDY:

definitely have the syndicated releases that appear on those

MICKIE KENNEDY:

little websites, but they both probably will get no earned

MICKIE KENNEDY:

media. And that's because most press releases don't result in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

earned media. Most people look at press releases that everyone

MICKIE KENNEDY:

else is doing. And they write it and they send it out and nothing

MICKIE KENNEDY:

happens, you know, my, the most popular release we get an E

MICKIE KENNEDY:

releases is a new hire. And it's usually not an executive, you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

know, a new director or President or Vice President, you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

know, really important person. And it's also usually not an

MICKIE KENNEDY:

industry veteran that people know. And so for that reason,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that people who would be interested is very small. This

MICKIE KENNEDY:

is a case where you take that person's picture, you write a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

few lines about, you know, their story, you don't need a whole

MICKIE KENNEDY:

press release, send it to your local paper, maybe send it to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

the local business, magazine or newspaper, and then pick a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

couple of trade publications, often those that have like on

MICKIE KENNEDY:

the move section, and send it directly to them. Because

MICKIE KENNEDY:

outside of that, it's very unlikely anyone else is going to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

cover it. And it's not worth spending money to go on the wire

MICKIE KENNEDY:

for that. The second most popular release I get is a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

product launch, press release. And in theory, that could be

MICKIE KENNEDY:

newsworthy, but most of the time we get, here's our new product,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

here's the list of features, here's a page to learn more and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

buy it. And at the end of the day, journalists are

MICKIE KENNEDY:

storytellers, and they like a story arc. And they basically

MICKIE KENNEDY:

have to protect their biggest asset, which is their audience.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And so they have to decide is this important enough to that it

MICKIE KENNEDY:

will really educate or entertain, or ideally, both to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

their audience, and a list of features probably isn't gonna

MICKIE KENNEDY:

rise anywhere close enough to interest their audience. So you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

know, the thing that you can do is to inject the elements to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

make a great story, you have that for

Janice Porter:

a second, stop there for a second, because I

Janice Porter:

want to ask you, so if somebody has that need, they've created a

Janice Porter:

new product, or they have a new product launch, or whatever, and

Janice Porter:

they come to you. And they've got this laundry list, like you

Janice Porter:

just described, and you say, this isn't going to cut it, do

Janice Porter:

you guys then rewrite it for them. So

MICKIE KENNEDY:

we, if you come to our website, and upload a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

release and schedule it, and you've written it like that, we

MICKIE KENNEDY:

just distribute it, right, I used to go back to them and say,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Hey, I make this recommendation. And about a third of the time

MICKIE KENNEDY:

they cancel their order. And, and would write a bad review

MICKIE KENNEDY:

saying I'm trying to upsell them. So I don't unless they

MICKIE KENNEDY:

come to us and say you're not

Janice Porter:

creating, then you're just the, the vehicle for

Janice Porter:

them to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

for most clients, we do offer writing.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And if someone approaches us and ask us to take a look at their

MICKIE KENNEDY:

release, we'll do that. Whether you use us or not, you're always

MICKIE KENNEDY:

welcome to send a Release to us, and allow our editors one to two

MICKIE KENNEDY:

business days to review it and get back to you with some tips

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and advice. And it may be to completely rewrite it. And in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

which case, we'll check in generally give you some notes as

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to what to incorporate into it. But I find that just people who

MICKIE KENNEDY:

have already made press release, and that's often how people find

MICKIE KENNEDY:

us, they go online, they they do a search saying I've got a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

release, I'm looking at where to send it, they come to us they

MICKIE KENNEDY:

upload it they date, schedule it, and then again, not much

MICKIE KENNEDY:

happens. So after the sale, I then try to educate people

MICKIE KENNEDY:

because I find it doesn't work to educate them in the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

beginning. Because they just want to send that release out.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Well, and

Janice Porter:

yet that's kind of a license to print money.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Janice Porter:

I felt that you you're a heart centered person

Janice Porter:

and that, but you just answered the question. So you wait until

Janice Porter:

maybe they call and say hey, nothing happened or that you

Janice Porter:

found it interesting, that client interesting enough for

Janice Porter:

the presser that you knew you could help them. So you give

Janice Porter:

them that opportunity to work with you.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Right, we actually follow up by email, and

MICKIE KENNEDY:

we actually follow up with new customers with ideas for their

MICKIE KENNEDY:

next release that are a bit more newsworthy. Now

Janice Porter:

it's is that a team of people that does that,

Janice Porter:

or is that you know,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

is not me, it is a team of people. We have 65

MICKIE KENNEDY:

editors, one managing editor and assistant, some freelancers as

MICKIE KENNEDY:

well. And as a team, we work to get it done. And we do sort of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

help out each other and try to provide the customer service.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

The one thing I don't have in the business is salespeople. My

MICKIE KENNEDY:

customers don't want to talk to a salesperson. They want to talk

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to an editor and I just find that editors couldn't provide

MICKIE KENNEDY:

better ethical customer service than a salesperson and, and all

MICKIE KENNEDY:

my people are empowered to tell someone if they just don't feel

MICKIE KENNEDY:

like we're a good fit. Because I don't want to take money from a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

small business. If it doesn't look like we'd be able to help

MICKIE KENNEDY:

them. Wow.

Janice Porter:

Yes, that's that just sort of, I think I missed

Janice Porter:

the boat originally on that, that people just they use the

Janice Porter:

service, you're not necessarily creating the press release for

Janice Porter:

them. But you do have that opportunity when to work with

Janice Porter:

you that way.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Yeah. And another thing I have is a free

MICKIE KENNEDY:

masterclass where I try to teach anybody who will listen, people

MICKIE KENNEDY:

on podcast, as well as my clients, the types of releases

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that were because like I said, you know, 90, some percent

MICKIE KENNEDY:

don't, but the small numbers of people who do have releases that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

work, they are patterns and similarities. And so I put

MICKIE KENNEDY:

together, it's an hour long video masterclass, that goes

MICKIE KENNEDY:

through the types of releases that people should consider. And

MICKIE KENNEDY:

if anyone's interested to you, releases.com/plan, PLA n, I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

don't charge anything for it. Because I really just want

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people to do more meaningful press releases, because I know

MICKIE KENNEDY:

if they follow this, some of them are a little involved. But

MICKIE KENNEDY:

there's a great reward for those. But at the end of the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

day, if you follow these, you're going to have more hits than

MICKIE KENNEDY:

misses, because these are the types of releases that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

journalists are engaging with, and finding high value and being

MICKIE KENNEDY:

able to build good stories with. That's

Janice Porter:

very generous. That's great. So that's on your

Janice Porter:

website. I'll put that in the show notes as well. I want to

Janice Porter:

shift gears a little bit before we wrap up, because I know we've

Janice Porter:

got a few minutes yet but you said and I also saw in your in

Janice Porter:

your one sheet that you're a poet. Yeah. And did you study

Janice Porter:

poetry in university?

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I did. I actually pursued a Masters of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Fine Arts and Creative Writing with an emphasis in poetry. And

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I that's I graduated 27 years ago. And my career plan was to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

wait tables and write poetry. And I did that for a summer

MICKIE KENNEDY:

after I graduated. And I tell you, my my feet never stopped

MICKIE KENNEDY:

hurting, my back never stopped hurting. I felt so

MICKIE KENNEDY:

psychologically wiped after every eight to 10 hour shift. I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

didn't read or write anything. So at the end of that summer, I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

said, I need to pivot to a safe office job. But I didn't call it

MICKIE KENNEDY:

pivot, because that wasn't a word thing. But I do I need to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

define something. So a basketball player, I got hired

MICKIE KENNEDY:

to the telecom research firm in DC as employee number three. And

MICKIE KENNEDY:

because I had writing on my resume, even though it was

MICKIE KENNEDY:

creative, they said write press releases and figure that out.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And I sent out releases with our data in it, and nothing

MICKIE KENNEDY:

happened. And then I realized that the journalists are

MICKIE KENNEDY:

interested in the story behind the data. So I would look for

MICKIE KENNEDY:

anomalies in our data to find out why that was, report that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

story. And the first time I did that, it was like there was a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Caribbean country that had more inbound and outbound traffic to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

the United States than all the other Caribbean countries

MICKIE KENNEDY:

combined. And I was like, why is this I researched it. And I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

found it as because that was the call center for one 900 numbers,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

which were popular 27 years ago. And so I put that together as a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

story oriented press release. I started out that release got

MICKIE KENNEDY:

picked up by the Economist Financial Times, Washington

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Post, Wall Street Journal, and three telecom trade

MICKIE KENNEDY:

publications. And they just thought I was a god there at

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that little telecom research firm. And so I did that again

MICKIE KENNEDY:

and again. And I didn't get as many hits with the subsequent

MICKIE KENNEDY:

ones. But I consistently got hits, because I was finding the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

stories and getting them out there. And one that was

MICKIE KENNEDY:

meaningful was patterns where we'd see growth in certain non

MICKIE KENNEDY:

industrialized countries over a period of years, and then all of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

a sudden, you'd see huge swings and strong economic growth. And

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that one got picked up. And we got so many orders from hedge

MICKIE KENNEDY:

funds, investment firms, and before that every single order

MICKIE KENNEDY:

that we got for our research reports was from telecom

MICKIE KENNEDY:

companies. And so it just opened us up to a whole new customer

MICKIE KENNEDY:

base that we didn't even realize was there and we find value in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

it. Well, hopefully

Janice Porter:

you had it, you got a raise.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I did really well there. I loved it. When I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

started the company didn't know how to price their data and it

MICKIE KENNEDY:

was literally $600 a year, a ticket, a physical book. Now

MICKIE KENNEDY:

it's a license that starts at $30,000 a year per person. Yeah.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And so they really recognize the value today but It was a fun

MICKIE KENNEDY:

time to work and I learned a heck of a lot. I'm sure you

Janice Porter:

did. Okay, back to poetry for a second. So, tell

Janice Porter:

me who your favorite poet is.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Oh, there's so many of them that I just love.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

But I think right now, Diane Seuss. I just love everything

MICKIE KENNEDY:

she writes. And she wrote a book recently modern poetry that's

MICKIE KENNEDY:

just phenomenal. Okay,

Janice Porter:

what about the classics? Um,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

let's see. Sylvia Plath. And Elizabeth

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Bishop are two of my favorites.

Janice Porter:

I don't know Elizabeth Bishop, but Sylvia

Janice Porter:

Plath very dark. Very, very, yeah.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And Elizabeth Bishop is she she's very strong.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

She's got one, I think called the fish that I just really

MICKIE KENNEDY:

love. It's just a great poem.

Janice Porter:

Do you still write,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

so I quit. I didn't write. But I was running

MICKIE KENNEDY:

my own company and building out after the telecom startup. But I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

started writing about five or six years ago. And this past

MICKIE KENNEDY:

Friday, I signed a contract to have my first book published in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

February of 2026.

Janice Porter:

Fantastic, congratulations. Thank you. So

Janice Porter:

do you write short poems? Do you write long poems? Do you write

Janice Porter:

story type poems?

MICKIE KENNEDY:

So I've write very narrative poems. For the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

most part, I have written some that are kind of lyrical. But

MICKIE KENNEDY:

most of them are narrative. And they tend to be small. There's

MICKIE KENNEDY:

some that are two pages, but most all of them are under a

MICKIE KENNEDY:

page.

Janice Porter:

You know, it's funny, I know this is a complete

Janice Porter:

sidetrack from your business. But I was just fascinated and

Janice Porter:

curious about the poetry and then it reminded me that the

Janice Porter:

other day I was trying to entice my granddaughter who's going to

Janice Porter:

be five next week. Two, I told her, like, I have a lot of books

Janice Porter:

up in my cupboard here that were from my kids, right? And I saved

Janice Porter:

the ones I love. And there's two books there that I've that I'm

Janice Porter:

waiting to, you know, lure her into. One of them is a a Milne's

Janice Porter:

poems, when we were very young, and when we were five or

Janice Porter:

something, anyway, Emile, and the second one is Shel

Janice Porter:

Silverstein. And, and, of course, they're just so great in

Janice Porter:

terms of kids poems. And, but there's no real pictures in the

Janice Porter:

book or anything. So it's like, how are you going to get a kid

Janice Porter:

to? It's probably the rhyme or the, you know, finding one that

Janice Porter:

like I I could talk about James James Morrison, Morrison,

Janice Porter:

whether it be George Dupree, who love to go down to the city,

Janice Porter:

although he was only three and that's like, a Milan poem that I

Janice Porter:

remember when I was a kid, right? So it's interesting to

Janice Porter:

see how I'm gonna get her to find a love of of those

MICKIE KENNEDY:

are there is one that has sketches in it. That's

MICKIE KENNEDY:

just an adorable book called The Bat poet by Randall Jarrell. I

MICKIE KENNEDY:

don't know that one that that is illustrated by Maurice Sendak.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

But that's not typical Sendak. It's very just nature oriented

MICKIE KENNEDY:

for the most part, but it's a very adorable book that I think

MICKIE KENNEDY:

a young child would appreciate. Okay, I'll check it out. Thank

Janice Porter:

you. So before we wrap up, I want to just ask you

Janice Porter:

a question that I love to ask some of my guests. Not always,

Janice Porter:

but I feel like wanting to ask you this question. So my

Janice Porter:

favorite word is curiosity. And I want to know if you think that

Janice Porter:

curiosity is innate, or learned, and the second part of the

Janice Porter:

question is, what are you most curious about these days?

MICKIE KENNEDY:

So I'm not sure whether it's learned or innate,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I know that I have an insatiable curiosity. I you know, just go

MICKIE KENNEDY:

down rabbit holes and try to learn as much as I can. Right

MICKIE KENNEDY:

now, I have a you know, that book coming out a long time. But

MICKIE KENNEDY:

also I do press releases. So I wanted to learn about a lot

MICKIE KENNEDY:

about book marketing. So I bought 40, Kindle, book

MICKIE KENNEDY:

marketing books, I've, I've plowed through 11 of them in the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

past two weeks, and I'm just trying to learn as much as I can

MICKIE KENNEDY:

about book marketing and how, you know, different people

MICKIE KENNEDY:

approach it, and see whether I might be able to utilize it, you

MICKIE KENNEDY:

know, for myself. It's also you know, also whether I might be

MICKIE KENNEDY:

able to offer something of value to to people who come to us as

MICKIE KENNEDY:

authors, because we do get a lot of authors and E releases. And

MICKIE KENNEDY:

it used to always be self published until about 10 years

MICKIE KENNEDY:

ago. And then we started getting traditionally published authors.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

And it seems like even you know, the big companies are saying,

MICKIE KENNEDY:

hey, you know, we don't do marketing unless you're really

MICKIE KENNEDY:

big, and so you're on your own, and so I do see a need for

MICKIE KENNEDY:

people to have access to book marketing options that are out

MICKIE KENNEDY:

there. So that that's the big thing that I'm passionate about

MICKIE KENNEDY:

at the moment. That's

Janice Porter:

exciting. Thank you. Thank you for that. So one

Janice Porter:

last question. If you could give me your favorite or best piece

Janice Porter:

of advice around your business for my audience, and you've

Janice Porter:

given us a lot of actual, actually a lot of hit hints and

Janice Porter:

tips around what to do, but your your, your pet phrase, perhaps

Janice Porter:

your pet piece of advice.

MICKIE KENNEDY:

I think that you know, don't don't feel that

MICKIE KENNEDY:

you're too small to matter to the media. Journalists love to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

be seen as curators. And you'll often find that they put the

MICKIE KENNEDY:

spotlight on a small business, more likely than a larger

MICKIE KENNEDY:

company. Of course, they have to cover the big companies in

MICKIE KENNEDY:

particular industries. But they love to spotlight the small

MICKIE KENNEDY:

businesses because their audience gives the most love to

MICKIE KENNEDY:

journalist and accolades. When they profile a new tool or

MICKIE KENNEDY:

resource from someone they've never heard of before. So many

MICKIE KENNEDY:

times, being small and unknown is an advantage because

MICKIE KENNEDY:

journalists love to put the spotlight on those types of

MICKIE KENNEDY:

businesses.

Janice Porter:

That's great advice. Thank you. Thank you for

Janice Porter:

being here today. It was a lot of fun to talk to you. And I

Janice Porter:

learned a lot. And I wish you well with your book on your

Janice Porter:

poetry book. And, again, thank you to my audience for being

Janice Porter:

here. If you like what you heard, please, I will put

Janice Porter:

Mickey's information in the show notes please check out his

Janice Porter:

company and his services and in case you want a press release

Janice Porter:

and have it sent out to the National Blood Services, I guess

Janice Porter:

I would call it Yes. So thank you again and remember to stay

Janice Porter:

connected and be remembered

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