Episode 309: Maximizing your influence with Mickie Kennedy

Links:
erleases.com
erleases.com/plan

Summary
Mickie Kennedy, founder of Erleases, shares his expertise in using press releases to increase visibility and credibility for small businesses. He emphasizes the importance of telling an intriguing story with human interest elements, using data and numbers, and approaching small trade associations for surveys. Mickie also offers a free video masterclass on winning press release strategies.

Key Points

• Samuel introduces Mickey Kennedy, founder and president of Erleases, who has been in the industry for 24 years and is an expert in helping small businesses increase their visibility and credibility using press releases (4:59)
• Mickey shares how he started Erleases by matching press releases with journalists and eventually worked with newswire Press Releases to provide a win-win solution for his clients and their editorial team (6:32)

• Mickey emphasizes the importance of sharing what types of releases are working for clients and letting others know what's available in the industry (8:40)

• Samuel asks Mickie for two or three elements of a good story that can be pulled out of any data or circumstance (18:25)

• Mickie suggests looking for anomalies and asking questions around them, as well as telling an intriguing story with human interest elements to connect with readers and journalists (18:50)

• Sometimes it's necessary to step back and look at the industry to find gaps or opportunities that aren't being talked about, and taking a contrarian viewpoint can be successful in getting media coverage (21:52)

• Mickie explains the value of press releases for journalists who are under deadline and looking for stories to share with their audience (36:49)

• Mickie discusses how having great photos can increase the chances of getting picked up by online communities (41:38)

• Mickie suggests using data and numbers to elevate a story, including conducting surveys or studies in your industry (42:05)

• Mickie explains how to approach small and independent trade associations to send out surveys and how to use the results to create a press release that yields articles in your industry (43:00)

• Mickie emphasizes the importance of getting media coverage and how sharing articles with leads can increase their likelihood of doing business with you (45:45)

• Mickie shares an example of using an open field in a survey to gather interesting responses and turn it into a successful press release (51:26)

• Mickie suggests brainstorming questions around a topic, such as pancakes, to find a heartwarming story that could be turned into a press release aligned with a holiday (52:11)

• Mickie shares his website and free video masterclass on winning strategies for press releases, and emphasizes the power of positive news stories in society. (54:33)