On Wednesday 20th April, I hosted the SOLD OUT event, ‘How to Get into the Press’ with author, commentator and journalist Helen Croydon at the fabulous luxury venue, The Century Club in central London. Oona Johannessen was the excellent event photographer.
In the first half I went over ‘how to find your press hook’ and the Do’s and Don’ts of pitching to journalists. Everyone was extremely attentive to this part as in the middle section of the 3 hour event, the 30 delegates were invited to stand up and to do a 2 minute pitch to Helen!
HOT OFF THE PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT!
HELEN IS JOINING MY VIP GROUP TO OFFER HER TIPS AND PITCHING ADVICE…AND WILL BE SURE TO FIND STORIES FOR THE PUBLICATIONS SHE WRITES FOR – DAILY MAIL, SUN, METRO, TIMES, TELEGRAPH, SUNDAY TIMES, THE MIRROR…]
[Amanda and Helen taking the chance for a photo op whilst everyone was filling out their ‘golden nuggets’ sheets]
The pitch timings were very strict as we not only had a full room of attendees who all wanted to hear Helen’s opinion on their pitch but also, from personal experience, that is how many minutes a typical pitch to a journalist call takes – in fact, you must try to get over the 30 second barrier before they cut you off. It was a friendly and ‘safe place’ to pitch and all the delegates really enjoyed doing this, plus the whole room got to learn about every one else’s business so there was lots and lots of networking going on and friendships being struck in the coffee breaks as people got very comfortable with self-promoting and becoming #VISIBLE.
The final hour was dedicated to going digging for ‘golden nuggets’ that the press will love. It is essential when you are pitching to the press you can articulate what it is about you the entrepreneur makes you stand out from the crowd and why this nugget will be of interest to the journalist and finally the readers when you get published.
There was a very diverse and interesting range of business owners as well as a few PR interns from London PR agencies who were keen to have some hands on training. I think there must have been 10 different nationalities in the room – from Guatemala, Russia, Pakistan, France, India, USA, Italy, Germany, Nigeria to name a few, so I got to practise my language skills!
Stylist to the celebrities, Natalie Robinson of Style Icon looking very..well, stylish indeed!
A full house!
Stress and anxiety coach Monika Kloeckner walking the talk and looking relaxed with Katy Love of The USA Landscape Photographer of the Year and Ruqayya Daville, Diva Biz Mentor
Emma Hammet founder of First Aid for Life and First Aid for Pets with colleague Yvonne Line in pre-pitch chat!
Now it’s time for the pitch Emma!
Patty Cruz-Fouchard of Organised and Simple getting some excellent feedback from Helen
Natalie mid pitch…
Geraldine Grandidier from TidyBooks telling us about her hugely innovative invention of bookshelves designed so the children can see the front cover of the books
Handbag designer, Shona Easton sharing her story about her ethically made leather accessories, produced in a workshop in rural India
Yvonne sitting next to business psychologist Anjana Nathwani who has survived cancer twice. She holds retreats for cancer survivors where they can get reinvigorated and find their zest for life again through yoga, meditation and lots of good fun at the retreats
Left, Ruth Hayes who runs a Kent based mindfulness, yoga and pole retreat and fitness studio called Challock Health and Fitness, middle, make-up expert Nat Van Zee (celeb clients include Cara Delevingne) and Monika, right
Jenni Russel the expert and author of Pelvic Floor Secrets enjoying her cookie and coffee!
Ruth getting feedback on her idea of inviting foster children to her mindfulness retreats – that got the thumbs up!
Ilario Di Bon who runs a pilates studio in Wimbledon inviting fitness and trends spotter Helen to have a go!
Ruth Oshikanlu telling her compelling story of her 5 month stay in hospital whilst pregnant (she’s an ex-midwife) which lead her on to write ‘Tune into your Baby because babies don’t come with an instruction manual‘. She is now a pregnancy mentor and speaker
Helen looking glammy during her pitching session!
Former fitness trainer, Julie Dennis, the Menopause Coach telling how her work really does change lives
The Century Club really is a fabulous venue!
Philip Carey who has a new e-book for the tourist market plus a location finder and adviser for where to go during the London Marathon
Alexandra Zlatinova from Unilink Group telling us all about their innovative and award winning software for the criminal and justice sector
The lovely Ruth – her pregnant clients are very lucky ladies – she REALLY knows her stuff!
Josh Mora of SwishPick telling us about the app that helps you shop with emojis. He started off the pitch by telling us the stats about how the percentages clothes are ordered online and then returned. Their app is aiming to reduce the returns.
A few video testimonials on the day:
“Absolutely brilliant!”
“Amanda was worth cancelling a client for!”
“I’ve had such a great morning, I have learnt so much from Amanda and Helen”
“Very professionally run and engaging”
“I found it really interactive and informative. I particularly liked the ‘golden nuggets’ part”.
“Great practical insights”
“It has been fantastic”
