Shannon Burnett-Gronich has come a long way since her days as a single mother of two, struggling to make ends meet. Through hard work and a focus on helping others find success, Shannon has developed into a successful, multi-faceted executive. Her expertise has enabled her to help hundreds of people with business development and personal growth by training and coaching them in marketing, event production, networking, and much more. Shannon has spent ten years building an international conscious business community, focused on helping small businesses grow through education, marketing, and cooperation. Known as the owner of an exclusive "Million Dollar Rolodex," Shannon has successfully attained over $3 Million in F-R-E-E press, and has taught hundreds of people how to do the same. Shannon has appeared on television, radio, and in the press, and has co-authored the Amazon #1 best seller "Law of Business Attraction - The Secret of Cooperative Success" with T Harv Eker of the Millionaire Mind. Shannon Burnett-Gronich has produced over 300 events and conferences since 2001 with 100+ exhibitors and 100+ volunteers. She discovered that most sponsors, speakers, and exhibitors do not have the education or plan to be successful. In order for them to continue to come back year after year, Shannon developed a simple system to train businesses and their teams in the fine art of conference excellence - helping them get the results they want and make more money. She also has been an exhibitor of multiple booths that required planning, marketing, team training, sales, database building, and follow-up. She has the ability to systemize and implement a plan for follow-up so that all leads turn into cash. This is through investors, joint venture partners, product sales, and sponsors. Shannon's event production clients include Dr Linda Hole, Jim Self, Stewart Levine of Resolution Works, Dr. Gary Null - America's #1 Health Guru, and T Harv Eker. - Secret to the Millionaire Mind. Notes from the session:
Secrets for a Great Press Release
1. Tagline that sizzles (12 to 14 point) Think Like Magazine Editors (Checkout at grocery store)
2. Introduction - Invite people to talk about challenge or problem (Quote someone famous as substitute) Lean toward statistics
3. Body - Quote yourself as an expert (preferably from other publicity from known sources)
4. Solution - What the remedy is
5. Call to action to readers to use information, go back for more
6. Contact information
Media Kit Contents - Expert Power Bio, Press Release, Company Pieces, Action Photos, Sample Media Done, Articles or Clippings About You, Fancy Annual Report
www.shannongronich.com/powerbio
The Interview Transcript
Nonprofit Chat with Shannon Gronich
Hugh Ballou: Greetings, it’s Hugh Ballou. We are in this session of the Nonprofit Chat. We have had a series of really good interviews. Tonight is no exception. We have a special guest tonight, Shannon Gronich. Shannon is a dear friend, and we collaborate a lot together. Shannon has presented at my leadership empowerment symposiums multiple times, and each time, she adds more and more value to what I do. Shannon, welcome to the Nonprofit Chat.
Shannon Gronich: Thank you so much for having me. I love the work that you do and really appreciate all of the individuals that you have touched in my life with your skill of how to build a high-performance team and how to collaborate and all that you do. Thank you, Hugh.
Hugh: Great. Thank you. We are better when we work with good people, and I enjoy the collaboration that we share. I know things about you. You do a lot of things. You produce events and get sponsorships. Tonight, our channel is about creating the documents and the story to get picked up for free publicity. Tell us a little bit about your background in doing this and how you got to that level of expertise.
Shannon: Thank you. That is a great question. I have always been doing events and bringing people together, ever since I was in high school, when I would throw parties and bring people together. When I started doing events, I looked at the marketing budget and the expense of that and how to grow that because a lot of times, you can spend money on marketing and not get the results you want. We were doing a local conference here in Florida and getting about 500 attendees, which is an incredible amount of individuals. So we studied how do we get picked up by TV and radio and print? We cracked the code for developing a press release that anybody can do. You don’t have to be a great writer. You don’t have to be a nonprofit even, even though this is for nonprofits. You do have an edge because of your nonprofit status. We were able to use this system for our event, and in one press release, we went from 500 to 2,000 attendees. The article got picked up in multiple places. Since then, I have helped attain millions of dollars of free publicity, not only for multiple events, but for multiple projects and individuals and lots of variations in between.
Hugh: You have a book on this topic. What’s the book called?
Shannon: Media Magic: Instantly Get Radio, TV, Print, and Internet Press to Give You Limitless Publicity.
Hugh: Where can people find it? I guess you can find it on Amazon?
Shannon: Yes, you can find it on Amazon. If you get it there, Hugh, I always say to email me, which is in the back of the book, a receipt because I will give you a free copy of a training with Jay Abraham’s ghostwriter that is just powerful. If you get it from Amazon, send me the receipt. Or you can go to my website shannongronich.com and instantly get that recording, too.
Hugh: Great. That is a super offer. I know your content is stunning and absolutely works.
This publicity thing, in my first book, I had a chapter on publicity. When I worked in St. Pete, I developed personal relationships with all the media, so when I sent in my announcements, they knew who it was from. And I knew how to make it complete so they would be able to print it. They said that was very rare because people would give them in all kinds of forms, and there would be things missing, like what time the event was and where to go in the properties, where it was. I developed a template that had a checklist of important things. I also found that a lot of people, and this was in church music, I had open events that were accessible by everybody, so it was important for me to get the word out. I do find that for many years, publicity was an afterthought. If you wait until the week before, it is too late. I find that that is a common thread with people running a charity or some sort of church program. We are so busy producing the event that we forget about the publicity.
Let me run a paradigm by you. I encourage people to appoint someone in the organization to be in charge of communications, which would include event publicity, internal and external communications. There would be one person to develop the system, and that person needs to have certain qualifications. Do you find that that works in groups you have worked with? There is some person dedicated to sharing information?
Shannon: Absolutely. Whomever is dealing with the event, whether it be the marketing coordinator, the person in charge of marketing, or the event coordinator, they do need to look at that plan. You hit on a sore spot for a lot of people. I have had people call me ten days before their event. Now, we have worked miracles and have done in the daily. Ideally, if you are looking at a project, if you can be 120 days out, 90 days out, then you can start building those relationships with publications, trade magazines, bi-monthlies, monthlies, quarterlies. We have a beautiful magazine here in our area that comes out four times a year, so you have to plan way ahead to get into their calendar of events or articles or anything like that.
Hugh: Would you talk a little bit about that timeline? I encourage people to go backwards from the event. When you are thinking about all of these different types of publications, it’s a challenge because magazines have a different kind of lead time. It’s the publication day, but there are different kinds of lead time. There is a flow with this. Talk about working backwards from the event.
Shannon: Absolutely. Then I want to be certain to share the six essentials that go with it. Working backwards, I always invite people- One of our greatest assets is our media list. We hear our greatest asset is our contact list, which is absolutely true. Another huge asset is our media list. With the media list, I use a simple Excel sheet. I also have them in my CRM system. But I use a simple Excel sheet that has name, publication deadlines, key contacts, but also I target writers or contributors because they can sometimes get us in to publications easier or expedite that process.
At least, when you start creating that list, find out where you want to be. Locally seems to be the easiest. You do want to have on your vision board to target big publications and magazines. However, starting local and getting that media list together is key. Find out who does quarterly, monthly, weekly, daily. How about radio shows? You do this chat once a week, and you probably book it out a few months in advance. I even know radio hosts who are booked out six months in advance. The more lead time you can give with an event- I like to have at least 120 days so you can start building those relationships. As you have a relationship with media, it’s a lot easier. You can do exactly like you said, Hugh: “Hey, I have something that is coming in.” Let them know your timeline, and they can work within it. But especially as you are building that new relationship, you do need a little bit longer.
Hugh: Absolutely. I used to worry about bothering people with my stuff, but it is their job; they are looking for stuff! We are actually helping them do their job. Isn’t that right?
Shannon: Yes, there is thousands of dollars of free publicity with everybody’s who is watching this name on it right now. They are looking for stories. Now they are not looking for free advertising. This is that fine line. They are looking for good stories. I focus on these three primary things. We have all heard of negative news and things like that. You can buy in and tap into some of that. But the three things that I focus on are education; community outreach, which is where a lot of events tie in, community giveback; and human interest. They love human interest, overcoming adversity, challenges that somebody may have. You may ask what this has to do with a nonprofit. How does this benefit me? When people see Hugh Ballou has overcome—Hugh, I am sitting here trying to say something you have overcome, but I have never heard you overcome any challenges. But when they read that, they are going to go, “I need to know about Hugh. Let me connect with him. Who is this individual?”
Hugh: I am getting over being bashful. You have hit on a subject, which is so key. Russell David Dennis has joined us. Welcome, Russell. I like his three names; he doesn’t usually use them, but I think there is a rhythm to it.
I ran a pretty good music program in a major church in St. Pete, Florida, across Florida from where you are in Melbourne. I did really good events. There was a person- I had relationships with writers in music to critics. I had writers that did business. St. Pete Times was my customer, so St. Pete Times had different people who did different writing for different topics. I built a relationship with all of them.
There was one time I had Sir David Wilcox, the Queen’s Musician, coming from England. We were doing this big-deal concert. I sent in my announcement to the calendar listing, just modestly sending it. The person sent it back to me and said, “We can’t publicize this church event. It’s not of general interest.” So I went to the music critic, and they jumped on it and did an interview. I had a front-page picture of the rehearsal with Sir David and my choir, which was much better than a calendar listing. This guy being a music critic knew this was a nationally renowned conductor that we were bringing to St. Pete, Florida, and they jumped on it. It was to their advantage to run the story, which they did. It didn’t fit one person’s model, but it fit another person’s model. I could have gone back to her and gone “Nyah, nah, nah,” but I didn’t because it didn’t fit her model. It fit the other model.
Just because somebody said no, like you said, you have different people who have different slants, we can go to another place and it might be of interest to them. Do you have a story around- It’s not doing the run-around, but finding the fit, the proper thing to say.
Shannon: A lot of people say, “What do you say? You have the press kit together. What do you do?” That is where in the media list, I do identify multiple people. You know we have a bull’s eye and aim darts at it? I imagine having a handful or fistful of bull’s eyes and I send them out to multiple people. I say, “I’m not sure where this goes. Maybe you can direct me.” Most of the time, where it gets to where it’s going, they have heard about it from different locations, so it tends to have more impact or attention.
Hugh: The other thing I think is important to know is that you are sending it to the real person. You have checked to make sure it is the right person, and you spell their name correctly.
Shannon: I am old-school on picking up the phone as much as possible and getting their permission and letting them know to expect it. Also to follow up and expect multiple No’s, No I didn’t get it, No I didn’t read it, No it’s the wrong department, No we don’t want to print it. My biggest success was when I was rejected 13 times, and they ended up calling me when they were going to print. They said they had remnant space. Once they did the layout, they realized they had one space, and they did a full-profile picture and an entire article.
Hugh: Love it. That is amazing. You slid by something here that I want to come back to. The press kit. What is that?
Shannon: That’s a great question. That is the six things we have talked about. There are six things to be ready for the media. The first thing is your press release. Having what it is that you are doing. I have a simple system that is one page, double-spaced, title at the top. It’s very much story-focused as opposed to advertising. You even quote yourself as an expert. When you quote yourself as an expert, I wouldn’t say, “Shannon, author of Media Magic.” I would say, “Shannon, author and marketing strategist,” or something very general because when they look at it and if it looks like you want free press, there is a higher chance of it ending up in the trash. We keep it very simple. The press release is one thing that you want to have ready to go. When you call them or connect with them, they will say to send it over.
The other thing is I like people to have ready their expert power bio. An expert power bio- I say power because this is a story about you. If you are a nonprofit, this can be a story about your board or individuals who are involved. Having this ready tends to get people to pay attention and notice who you are, and you are not having to sell yourself.
The third thing is company pieces. Do you have brochures or business cards? Have those items ready to send out on a moment’s notice. Is there an event flyer you are working with?
Sample PR that you have been a part of. Have you been on radio or TV or articles? Sample PR that you have contributed is great. The next one is things that have been written about you, the third-party writing. Those are other items.
The last two is your order form. I don’t always send this in with the press release. But having that ready because a lot of times, individuals want to know what you offer. Tell me more about who you are and what you offer. Have that ready so they can get an overview is key.
The last thing is action photos. Action photos are you in action.
I know that we want to update our headshots and have those, but do not send those in with a press release. You are really wasting your time unless they ask specifically for a headshot.
You always want to do what they say to do as opposed to what I say to do. I am teaching you a format that has worked, but you want to follow what they say.
Hugh, can I share a little story about action photos?
Hugh: I love it. You know I had a photo career previously, and I see a lot of really stupid pictures. People standing around smiling is not credible. It’s not very interesting.
Shannon: Action photos. What happened with me is when I was first learning this formula, they asked if I had any photos. I said yes and sent in a headshot. All I got was a real small article and that was it. I started looking at what they were really looking for. The next time, when they asked if I had an action photo, I said yes and put together a picture of me and a woman standing in front of a booth or display. I am looking at a brochure pointing at it with her. This was our action photo. They gave us a quarter page for the photo and then a quarter page for the article, and it was huge. They really love things that make it stand out. So I send in a few things when we submit the press release so they can pick and choose and connect with an image.
Hugh: That’s a really good list. I want to make sure we get a numbered list and put it on the website.
If I heard you right, nonprofits stand a good chance of getting free publicity because of the kinds of work that we do. Did I hear that correctly?
Shannon: Absolutely. Everybody, yeah. But nonprofits have an advantage because many times, they hit all three of those things: the human interest, the community, and the education. If you can tie in all three, that can be more powerful, but it only takes one.
Hugh: And you talked about the bio. I guess there is a whole methodology around that, and you speak about that in your book. But why are the leader and team bios important for getting free publicity? Does that lead to more attendance, more donations? What is the net result? Why do we have those bios included?
Shannon: With the bio, and Hugh, I think I did get your permission, I am going to give them my 12-step system for free. If they go to shannongronich.com/powerbio, they can get the 12-step system that I take people through. There is actually a 13th step, which is listing your contacts or clients, even if it is a past company you have worked with. I found by adding that number 13, there has been gems, as I have talked to people, where Delta might have been a client for them. They sometimes forget key names they are able to share. So please get that.
Why it’s important is that one of the most challenging things for individuals to do is to talk about themselves or what people might consider bragging. It is the most powerful thing to stand out in the crowd and get people to pay attention and notice you. I found that in the bio process, it really speeds up that- if you are working with a door, and they want to know who you are and what you are doing and why they should entrust you with their money, they could see this is who you have worked with, this is what you have accomplished, this is what you stand for, it makes it easier for them to write a check. You are actually not having to talk as much. With the media, they want to know who this is. Why do I need to pay attention to this individual?
Hugh: Wow.
Shannon: With your board, especially with donations and grants, I know that is a separate topic, but it’s important. They want to know, even with media, who is on the board and who is running this organization and to be able to share and showcase it, you have some supportive, whether it be big names or their skillset, that this is not just a whim. Or if it is just getting started, you have really positioned it with some leaders.
Hugh: You want to position yourself as a professional. You are giving us professional tools. I know sometimes people have asked questions about bragging about what they have done. It is just a factual representation of what you stand for. That way, the person on the other end can choose what they want to extract if they want to print some of that. So those are really good points. I want to go back to the website of shannongronich.com/powerbio.
Russell, what do you think of all this? You spent a lot of time working in the nonprofit sector, and there are so many people who keep things they do a secret.
Russell Dennis: A lot of them don’t want to talk about themselves because they feel like it’s bragging, or they are a little bit apologetic about it. It’s important to talk about what you are doing. People want to know what it is that you’re doing. They are interested. A lot of times, some nonprofits you get social workers, and they are uncomfortable talking about value or bragging, it sounds salesy or markety. You are marketing. You want to present an image and you are telling people about what you are doing. Bob Proctor talks about it: What’s so great about that? You have to talk about what’s great and what people are getting out of it in the terms that mean something to them because it’s not about you.
Hugh: Bob Circosta. The Whizcat. You had the Bob part right. I know we know both of them.
So Russell, you pinged a couple ideas here. Shannon, we framed this, at least from my limited perspective, in promoting upcoming events. What about continuing to share the important things we are doing, the big successes, as a follow-up to an event or as an ongoing communication with the media? Is that any different than promoting an event or something coming up?
Shannon: Even an event, there are ways you want to craft it. What education piece can you contribute? What education piece is your nonprofit? They are always looking for that type of information. If there is something in the media that is happening now that you can piggyback on, that can really get you some traction and mileage. I am just going to use this example. We had one woman tie in Donald Trump in her article and media, and they picked it up and went wild with it. If you are in real estate and the real estate market, something is happening with that trend, see what is in the media and what people are talking about. If there is a way to craft around a story what is happening there, that is a great way to get some steam.
Hugh: Is that called newsjacking?
Shannon: Yes. I like that.
Hugh: Yeah. You can get some extra buzz, can’t you, if you piggyback on what is going on. It could backfire though, couldn’t it?
Shannon: Yeah. I am always real mindful of religion and politics. Don’t let that stop you. You just want to be careful. You’re right, Hugh. What I have noticed about marketing is that 100% of the time they are inaccurate about something. I just had to always be thankful for what I got. I have had them spell my last name wrong. There is 100% of the time something has been incorrect. I am grateful for it.
I have had bad press. I have also worked with people who have had bad press. There are different levels of bad, but there are also different ways of twisting that. One of my bad press stories, they took a picture of our event road sign, which had our website and our phone number and our company name, and it said, “Road signs are loitering our town.” It was negative news. But it was a half-page photo, so that was great.
I had another friend come to me with something that was horrible for her when it happened. She was in a lawsuit, and different things were coming up. She was nervous about her event. She wondered if she didn’t do her event, if that negative news would be really bad. They kept writing about her in the paper. They even mentioned her event, and her event sold out like a month in advance. But she was a woman making a difference in the world. Her event was around empowering women and leaving an impact and human trafficking. Despite her personal drama going on, she was a woman with purpose and passion, and she had to keep focused on her vision and mission through doing this. It turned out to be just incredible for her.
Hugh: So getting attention and getting to what the essential message is. If I’m hearing you also, we want to set ourselves apart and define what is so important about what we are doing. That is what Russ was talking about with the Whizcat. I have seen a lot, and written a lot, of bad press releases. Give us some of the worst practices and how you would change that. You have seen some bad ones, I’m sure.
Shannon: Yes. People spend thousands of dollars on publicists, and then they come to me and say, “Nothing got picked up.” So I look at their press release, and it’s an ad. All it is is selling. That is the number one mistake: taking a press release and selling yourself. If you are paying for advertising, that is something that would make sense. But a lot of times, they don’t pick it up. Don’t put your logo on the top. That is free advertising. I know people have that style, but I found that if you just put the tagline at the very top, add a number if you can- The one I said for my event, the tagline was “85 ways to improve your health in six hours or less.” We had 85 booths, it was a six-hour event, and it was around health. That was a very creative way. People are like, “What is this?” and it got picked up. Do as much as you can to not market yourself.
Also, keep it one page. Keep it simple. Double-spaced. Less is more. This concept of more is more is going out the window as a whole in life. I found that less is more because that gets them wanting to connect and ask questions.
I know this is off the press release, but you also have to remember that you are talking with them. When you are interviewing them or picking up the phone and they say, “Tell me about this story,” don’t talk at them for ten minutes. Just give them this snippet. “I want to share 85 ways to improve your health in six hours or less. It’s a great event. I think you guys want to know about it. We want our community to know.” Less is more in each aspect of this to where they are kind of pulling it out of you.
Hugh: And the less needs to be valuable. Think about what the essential message is. Back to what Russ said a minute ago, why they should care. We need to hit with the why piece of this. These elements are really good. This goes for social media posting as well: I see people hammering really hard and selling. Getting some coverage, whether you want people to retweet it or share the post or you want the media to pick it up in publications, you can’t be arrogant about what you’re doing and press it out there like you are selling them a used car. I find that very helpful.
Shannon: And the other key piece with the publicity is- Do you care if I go through and tell them what the key components are?
Hugh: Go for it.
Shannon: This is one of the ways I find it’s simple to get millions of dollars in free press. The tagline is at the top. Usually in 12-14 font, 5-7 words. Sometimes it can be a little more. Make that sizzle. The way I have learned to make things sizzle is an ongoing practice, not worrying about what the article is saying, but how to write a tagline. Next time you go into a grocery store, look at Oprah or Cosmo, these magazines that have spent billions of dollars in learning how to craft press releases. Take a picture and look at them and figure out how to use it in your business. “Three strategies, nine tools, how to,” those educational pieces are very easy. Use that to start training your brain to look at what works.
If you search “Hubspot blog generator,” you can actually put in three nouns and it will help you come up with catchy titles. It’s not perfect. You can play with it. But it will help you get that idea of what is going to get them to pay attention. That is the absolute number one most important thing.
Then you go into the introduction, which is the second most important thing. That is where most of the time I invite people to talk about the challenge or the problem. It’s best if it has stats, numbers, and references of where you find that information. That is really powerful. That is the number one thing I would select. If you cannot for some reason identify a problem, then you can quote somebody famous. Paul Pilzer is an economist I have used. Einstein, I have seen individuals use. You want it to be relevant. But try to lean toward the stats and talking about the challenge. Usually, 2-3 sentences at the most. Real short and sweet. Allow them to want to pay attention a little more.
The second paragraph, there are only three in this process. The second one is the body. In the body, you always start with quoting yourself as an expert. When you quote yourself, it’s a formula. You do beginning quote, states Hugh Ballou, transformational leadership expert. With Hugh, I would put Forbes-recognized because guess what? Forbes is a big name. That’s a little different than Media Magic. You want to put that big name, but otherwise, keep it general. Then end quote. You are quoting yourself as an expert. It’s a statement. It’s not a quote like you would put in social media. It’s more of a statement about what the problem is that you are a solution for or why it’s important to address that.
Then you give a few more sentences. It could be five or seven sentences because you want to keep it on one page, double-spaced. That is where you start talking about the solution and driving them toward- if it’s a solution for stress, you might give them one solution.
In the third paragraph, the call to action could be, “Go to my website to get this information.” Do not sell in the press release. It could be a call to action to the readers or the publisher. This press release is something that could help our community, or it can be a call to action to the readers. Take this information to make your nonprofit go to the next level.
At the very bottom, you put your contact information, phone number, and website.
Hugh: As tax-exempt organizations—Russ can weigh in on this with his experience in the IRS—we have to be very careful with a call to action because we are not selling, and we can be classified as unrelated business income if we are selling a program or a call to action. When you advertise or do an interview on public radio or TV, they are very restrictive. You can say, “For more information, go to,” and it’s typically the homepage of the organization. As charities, we have to craft those statements very carefully. Russ, do you have any more wisdom on that point?
Shannon: I just want to say it’s actually best to do that whether you’re a nonprofit or not. The more you can stay away from selling any type of thing, the better it is. Thank you for bringing that up as far as the rules of nonprofits.
Hugh: Russ, do you have some wisdom on that? Thank you, Shannon.
Russell: Sure. As far as the call to action for nonprofits is building a good story and telling people where they can get more information. You want to give more information. If you can hit them with facts about the problem you solve and why those facts are important, that is what matters. We ned to move forward on this and take action to solve this problem. Find out how you can get involved. You leave it at that. With a nonprofit, you really have to hammer the problem and why it’s important to the people you are trying to reach.
Hugh: Russ has noted the steps you just went through with the press release in the chat box. I encourage people to register at nonprofitchat.org to get the notes, which will then send you to the archives so you can get all the history of the nonprofit Exchange.
We used to do a separate chat and exchange, and the hashtag was #nonprofitexchange on Twitter, which still goes on simultaneously with this live interview. We found that we wanted to incorporate more energy into one event. So interviewing experts and providing worthy information brings a whole lot of value. We are targeting nonprofits, but this works for businesses, too. I don’t think there is anything I’ve heard that wouldn’t work for business publicity, right?
Shannon: Correct.
Hugh: Thinking about some of the things you have talked about before, the elements of the press kit, is there somewhere on your site that people can get that checklist for the press kit?
Shannon: It might be in one of my blogs, but I am not certain.
Hugh: I want to see if Russ can grab those five. Go ahead, Shannon. Give us those five. I think it’s worth repeating. Some people call it a media kit, a press kit. If I understood, you are doing a physical kit that is hard-copy.
Shannon: I have it on my website. I have a Media Access to different radio shows, things I have done in the past. When we talk about showcasing what you have done in the past, either things you have participated in or written about you, having those are great. I do like to have something. There are environments I go into, like CEO Space, to have something that is in a folder or include a disc of you. Most of it I put on the website or send in an email for that initial contact.
Hugh: Got it. So the things in the press kit are?
Shannon: The expert power bio. The press release. Company pieces.
Hugh: Company pieces like?
Shannon: A brochure, business cards, flyers about the events, anything regarding your company. Action photos.
Hugh: Action photos. People doing stuff.
Shannon: Yep. Sample media that you have done, anything you have participated in. And then articles or clippings about you.
Hugh: Love it. Was that too fast, Russ?
Shannon: As a nonprofit, if you have a fancy annual report, or things you have, I would consider the end report as a company piece that a nonprofit has that you can include in that. I would suggest it anyway.
Hugh: If you are sending an email, you could include a link to that website, if it is a lengthy report. Sometimes they are. The reporter could go and search that out.
Part of what you ran by before, I’d like you to say more about the title. I find that the title can make a huge amount of difference. You mentioned a way to come up with snazzy titles. I use the Google Keywords tool, and I put in what I think is a good title and it gives me other words around that. It helps me think about other words that maybe I didn’t think about. You mentioned using Hubspot, and they have a blog title generator.
Shannon: Yeah, that’s really great. As you are out looking around, see what’s out there. What I found that numbers are the most powerful. That gets people to know, “Okay, there is a system here. This is synchronized.” There is an ending. For some reason, if you can tie numbers into your taglines, that is the best. Looking at how to’s. My personal human interest was, I sent it smaller, but they printed, “Paralyzed woman heals with ancient Chinese exercise,” incorporating how you overcome adversity. If you are doing charity work and have an impact on a family or in your mission, you can tie that into the tagline.
Hugh: Speaking about-
Shannon: I don’t say any names. Some individuals will say- I wouldn’t say “Hugh Ballou is coming to Melbourne.” This is how a lot of people write press releases. I would say, “Forbes-recognized transformational leadership specialist coming to Melbourne.” I wouldn’t mention the name because the name won’t mean anything in the title. But the Forbes would.
Hugh: Got it. This is a gold mine of very useful information, Shannon. Let’s give the name of your book again.
Shannon: And then Robert Green has a question on Facebook that I want to answer if he is still with us because I love Robert and I know you do, too. I put you two together.
You can get the book at shannongronich.com or on Amazon. You can send in the receipt, or if you do it on my website you get it right away: I give you Jay Abraham’s ghostwriter’s training on copywriting. It is Copywriting Secrets. Shannongronich.com. Media Magic: Instantly Get Radio, TV, Print, and Internet Press to Give You Limitless Publicity.
Hugh: It was a while ago that you wrote it.
Shannon: That is a long one.
Hugh: That is a testimony. He is a well-read man.
Shannon: One of my favorite things in the book that a lot of individuals talk about is I have actually given power words. These power words are really groovy, especially around putting around your power bio. It gets you to think of things like “articulated, created, developed.” Those are verbs that are action/results oriented. There is hundreds of them. I alphabetize them. That right there, people say they look at it all the time. It is a great resource.
Hugh: Outstanding. Russell, of course you have read that book, right?
Russell: I have. I highlighted a few pieces. It’s always good to remind myself when I get stuck for action words in a blog post. This is right here in my office. I remember Shannon’s action words and flip it to the page. You can say the same thing with several different words.
One of the mistakes I see a lot of nonprofit leaders make is when they are writing things, particularly grants, they use passive language. That was a habit I had for a long time. When you are using that passive language, it doesn’t convey the message as quickly and succinctly, so you want to use these action words in grants. Especially when you are quantifying your results and how you are going to measure what you’re doing, you want action words. When you are talking about what you are going to accomplish, you want to use these action words. We have the number of people who are on food stamps, for example. You want to have these action words there so they are operative and available. In the press release, it has to be short, snappy, and get them to *audio cut*
Shannon: Russell, do you find that when you’re submitting a grant- And I want to make sure we get to Robert Green’s question. Do you find that when you’re submitting a grant that them knowing they have media exposure, do you ever submit where they have been in the media, with publicity, with grant proposals?
Russell: Depends on what the request for proposal asks for. If you have been highlighted or featured, that is always a piece to add to your credibility. In most bios for board members and that type of thing, the important things you put in there are these are the things we have done. If you have gotten those numbers or results for things you have done in the past with other projects that go into that, that is pretty powerful. It adds to the credibility. You have that in the press kit. I would add that into the nonprofit press kit. Who has funded you? Who have you worked with? What results have you managed to get with other or similar programs, especially if you are following up with something? Now let’s take it to the next level and have people come back to learn more about it.
Hugh: Really good advice. That whole thing, Russ, about passive language- Russ is a gifted writer, as you might guess, so he pays attention to those things. There is a huge difference in how people are going to receive it.
Shannon, what is this question that has been lingering out there?
Shannon: Robert Green, with Think Global Start Local, says, “I am on a mission to inspire people to do more planned giving to support nonprofits in general, and one in particular. This is a sophisticated proposition. This is really about shifting people from being considered donors to meaningful donors. Is this something I can craft into a well-written press release or a story?”
Absolutely, Robert. I can see a few angles with that. One is the education piece of letting people know the benefits of that, the impact they are having. There are other benefits, like tax benefits. Thinking about the education piece of the benefits. Also, if there are any meaningful stories that can be crafted around this of individuals who have done the meaningful donation, there is probably a number of angles you can take with that press release.
Hugh: Thank you, Robert, for that really good question. Sometimes the donations are like a sympathy card. What we want to do. That paradigm shift he is suggesting is so important. We want meaningful supporters who make meaningful donations. I think what people want to know is what is going to happen as a result of my donation? You referenced it when you said what is the impact of the work that you do? Russ talked about it when he said earlier on about the why piece. I keep going back to that. If you have a why piece, why do people need this? To couple it with the impact, and you quote yourself and others in your organization, then they know you have the leadership ability with you and your team to actually accomplish it. There is also a rhythm of getting information out, Shannon, isn’t there? You want to be covered on a regular basis so the cumulative impact is stronger than a one-time release.
Shannon: This is where if I could leave individuals with anything is scheduling this as part of your operations. It is a meaningful and worthwhile and impactful way. Especially fi you are a nonprofit where you are struggling and don’t have much of a marketing budget. I tell you that if you are spending anything on marketing, incorporate this free publicity piece because you can actually expand your marketing dollars even beyond that. Hopefully my story of taking an event from 500 to 2,000 people shows you the value of putting time and energy into this. I have had thousands of dollars in one particular project in publicity and am able to turn that into some great things. Please look at this as part of your operation and plan is getting that coverage on a regular basis. Sometimes you get it and they say, “This isn’t going to work,” so you have to tweak the tagline. Even with an expert who has done it a number of times, most of the time, I nail it now, but as you are learning how to do this, you are building relationships and moving things forward. Yes, you should be every week spending time getting yourself out there.
Hugh: I want to invite people to check out Nonprofit Performance Magazine at nonprofitperformance.org. We do useful articles. The next edition will be on boards.
Shannon, if we wanted to craft a press release on the new board member or the importance of the people on our board, would that seem to be newsworthy if we have high people in our organization doing good work? Speak a minute about that. It seems self-serving or kissing up to people, but in the other sense, it is celebrating a person who has a lot of connections and a lot of value to the community, and they are putting the value into the work we are doing as a charity. Is there a press release piece around new board members or new board initiatives to celebrate the power of the board that we have?
Shannon: Absolutely. I would try in your press release to keep it as singular-focused as possible. If you have six people on your board, look at doing some individually. But a new board member would be welcoming. Focusing on what their expertise is that they are bringing to the table. If they are somebody like Hugh Ballou who has been in Forbes, you can name drop.
Russell: Shamelessly, at that.
Hugh: I love it. I love it.
Shannon: It’s true. You are such a prime example of when you have had certain levels of accomplishment that are internationally recognized, those are opportunities to name drop and leverage that with your board. It’s telling the story where we are welcoming this new person. Here is what they are bringing to the table. Quoting them. This is a place to quote them on the impact they are going to be leaving here. Quotes are real short and sweet. It’s one sentence with you in the middle.
Hugh: Love it. Think about a parting thought. Maybe there is another tip or thought you want to leave us with. Shannon, you have given us some very useful stuff in this interview, thank you so much.
As we are winding down and wrapping up this hour, which has gone way too fast, what is a parting tip or thought you would like to leave people with?
Shannon: I just want to share one of the biggest transformations that I see in this media kit process. That is the power of the expert power bio. I did give you the 12-step power bio at shannongronich.com/powerbio. Going through this process and creating that, I have seen this for me personally be able to get wages like an attorney. I have seen individuals get speaking gigs that they didn’t necessarily get before. The expert power bio is usually one of the first places I start with people because it has the greatest impact on the results that we have in multiple areas of the nonprofit. When you are talking to donors or media, when you are looking at proposals or agreements, if you don’t have that, put energy and time on that because right now, there are thousands of dollars of publicity waiting for you. There are stages waiting for you. There are radio interviews waiting for you. They just need to know who you are and why they want to pay attention.
Hugh: Wise words. Russ, thank you as always for being so diligent in capturing the sound bites that matter. Shannon, thank you for sharing your wisdom with the nonprofit world.
Shannon: Awesome. Thank you, Hugh, for your work. I can’t say enough for how grateful I am and all the lives you have touched in my world at our events. Hugh is on our executive team, so he is just a rock star. Thank you, Hugh. And thank you, Russell. I love you, too.
Russell: Good to see you again. I love this. Like I said, this book is in my office. Shameless promotion. It is best to let your friends recognize you, Shannon.
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Six Essentials to Attract Limitless Publicity | The Nonprofit Exchange: Leadership Tools & Strategies podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
