Behind the Scenes of Authentic PR | Sarah Snyder

Moby: Hello? Hello. Hello. Welcome back to the B2B CEO show. As you might've guessed. I have had a lot of conversations on record and off record with CEOs, CMOs, and CEOs. One of the biggest problems that I've seen when it comes to talking to CEOs is how they look at activities like marketing NPR. I'm not saying they're not familiar with it, but what CEOs usually focus on when it comes to marketing? NPR is the execution of it, which is okay. How much are we going to be posting on LinkedIn? What social media platforms are we going on to? What kind of content are we pushing out? But what is missed is the strategy that goes on on the front end of the formulation and execution of those tactics. Questions like who are we trying to reach? What is the best platform? How are we going to position ourselves online? Whether it's in marketing or PR. To shed light on the world of PR specifically. In this episode, I am talking to Sarah Snyder, friend, and founder and CEO of connection enthusiast of strategic PR firms. Her clients have been included in numerous local national and international media outlets, including Forbes, Huff Post, Cheddar TV, Dr. Oz, and so on. There are two really unique things about Sarah. Number one, she focuses on the front-end strategy of PR. Who is the client? Who are they going to connect with? If they go out in public and have stories or TV shows about them? What's the goal of PR activities who are the best people to build relationships with between her client and journalists. Number two. She's very empathetic. I noticed this in a conversation that we had about five years ago in a coffee shop in Austin, Texas. And now that we connected, I realized that she's a licensed professional counselor. And in the past developed a nasty recognize $25 million-plus pilot program involving emergency crisis response teams. These traits, help driver empathy, understanding of the client, and creativity when it goes out to building relationships that help her clients get featured in publications. That will end up helping their business. Enjoy.

Moby: What's up everybody?. Welcome back to the B2B CE O show. As you just heard. I am joined today by Sarah Snyder. Sarah, how are you? Welcome to the show.

Sarah Snyder: I'm good. Thank you for having me.

Moby: Of course of course, before the recording button was pressed. We were talking about how different the weather is, where you are versus where I am. Where are you?

Sarah Snyder: It is, I am in Florida right now and I love it.

Sarah Snyder: I'm about a 10-minute drive from the beach. It's beautiful on, it's almost 80 degrees today,

Moby: what's your perfect temperature?

Sarah Snyder: Oh, the hotter, the better when I lived in Costa Rica and it was over a hundred degrees in the midday sun, and it's like near the equator and the sun shining down on you. And you can take a break in the middle of the day and go for a walk. And it's just like, I love that

Moby: you'd love a hundred degrees?

Sarah Snyder: I do. I love it. That's the thing. When I left Texas a year ago and started living abroad. People don't understand like how much I love the heat and how much I love the warm weather. And so actually being in Florida is great, but it's sometimes I'm like, it's, it's actually kind of cold here, guys. People look at me funny.

Sarah Snyder: They're like, what

Moby: have you ever been to the east coast in winter?

Sarah Snyder: Yeah, I grew up in Ohio, so I spent the first 18 years of my life living in Ohio.. As soon as I could, I was like, I'm done shoveling snow. I'm done getting the car out of the ditch. I'm done with all of it. I'm going to Texas. Cause that was about the warmest place I could find you know, at 18 to go to college. So then I landed in Texas for a long time. Now it's at gulf.

Moby: That is amazing that I found out, found that out about you a hundred degrees. You love it. So today we're going to talk a lot about, you know, kind of what you do, how you got started in PR and, I think PR a while the benefits of it are very clear to people. People are, people, don't know a lot about PR like how it works. Right. I think similar to marketing people are like, I want this thing, I know it will get mere results. And it's like I put in money and something comes out well.

Moby: Yeah. So what is PR to you?

Sarah Snyder: PR to me is a way to establish authority as a way to establish credibility and as a way for people to hear about you, whether that's an individual or whether that's a mass audience. Right. And so when you think about PR you think about, I think about relationships and I think about a way to expand your message to make it louder. So the more people hear it and more people have access to it.

Moby: And do you think of it in terms of like being on magazines? Like things like tech crunch, podcasts, like what does it encompass?

Sarah Snyder: All of the above. So I'm talking about online placements, written paper magazines, local TV, and national TV. Radio podcasts, YouTube shows. It really, for me, depends on my clients and where their ideal people are sitting and what their ideal people are watching or reading or doing. And that's what we go after because every client has a different ideal client. Right. And so my goal is to figure out where are your people spending their time getting information, and that's where we want to place you. And that's where we want to put, you so that you can be seen and heard by, by your ideal client. Right? If I go to somebody's website and they have an immediate logo that I'm not familiar with, even if it's a big name or that I don't care about, it's like, eh, okay, whatever. But if it's some, even if it's some small. And, you know, local am radio station that maybe is here in Florida and I'm super familiar with it. And I'm the ideal client, right? That's what matters because then I'm like, oh, they've been there. I know that show, I connect with that, right. And that gives them that authority and that credibility that I'm looking for, right.

Moby: A hundred percent. And I think that credibility and authority are really important in one of the ways that it's been standardized and works really well as like where have you been published? And usually, it's logos. Some people have an entire press section on their website.

Sarah Snyder: Yep. And that's what I love for my clients is to get to a point where they actually have a full media section on their website where people can go and actually read articles. They've been quoted in reading articles, they've written, see interviews. And then they have the whole thing right there. It's like, okay, this is, this person does actually know what they're talking about. And they've got that authority behind her name of the brand.

Moby: I love that. And I think since we last talked, I actually made. Change my LinkedIn and my LinkedIn banner and my website. Now it's like, instead of explaining what we do cause we're in the B2B lead gen I say, Hey, this is what we do. And then it's like, here's what we've connected our clients with. And then it's just logos. It's not PR, but like it adds credibility.

Sarah Snyder: Yep. Right of the bat And people are so go, go, go. Right. We live in a world was like tech and it's everybody's flying. And especially if you're a CEO or you're an entrepreneur where you've got a million things coming in, your phone's pinging all the time, you got to go all the time. And so it's nice when you can like, stop and catch some of this attention where it's like, oh, I recognize that. Right. And they're going to stop and look at that and see that and be like, oh, I do need to give this 10 more seconds on my time because there's something here.

Moby: Absolutely. And how'd you get started into this?

Sarah Snyder: So I actually started on my journey. I went to college have a master's degree in counseling. So I was a counselor for oh goodness, 10, 15 years. And I worked primarily with kids and adults that have experienced trauma and it was super fulfilling. It was a wonderful career path. But honestly, I got tired of insurance. I got tired of politics. I got tired of all the drama, right. That comes along. That has nothing to do with the clients I serve with everything to do with just kind of institutional stuff. And so I sent out a text message slash social media message slash email to about a hundred, 150 people. And I said this was about six years ago. And I said, Hey, this is my skill set This is what I'm really good at. This is why I admire you. And I would like your feedback. And then I said, what do you think basically, what do you think I should do for my next career? And I got back so many responses and some people were like, Hey, like do continue to do counseling, but you can do it in private practice. Right. And some people were like, Hey, go do sales. Like you're totally able to do sales. I go do car sales. And some people were like, Hey, go do real estate. And I got all of these ideas. And they were phenomenal and I really appreciated them, but one woman owned the gym that I worked at, and I really admired her because she was a female. She was an entrepreneur. She had multiple businesses. Right. And which is why I'd asked for her feedback. And she wrote me back and she said, Hey, I actually own a PR firm.. I don't even know if you know this, but I own a PR firm. And she said, you're smart. She said, you can write she's I can teach you and train you how to do PR. And she said, I think you'll do really well. And honest to goodness, she took a chance on me. Right. And I said, okay, let's, let's add them all my options. That really felt like the best option. So that's well, let's go for it. And six years later here I am. And so I am so grateful. I'm so grateful for her because she really, really gave me a chance. And so I did, I worked for her company about two years. And then I went to move to another PR firm, which was great and I also started doing behind the scenes as a publicist. You interact all the time with journalists, right? All the time, whether we're cold calling journalists about clients, whether we're emailing them, whether we're pitching them, whatever we're doing. And so I also took a gig for a little while where I worked behind the scenes for a journalist and I helped him. Get articles placed and get them help on the site and things like that. And that gave me a back end to some things I didn't understand. So I didn't understand that not all publicists are super friendly with journalists, right. And I didn't understand how go go go. The journalist life really is right. And how much they have going with the pressure from their editors and from their teams. And from there, this, that, and the other. And I didn't really understand. When you send a journalist, an article, it needs to be a hundred percent perfect in line with the message of the online magazine in like grammatically. Correct. Right. And I would get so many things from other publishers. Grammatically weren't right. Or didn't match the style of the publication. Right. And all these things. And so in that process, I was like, oh, I'm going to remove as many pain points for every list as I come across as I can. And so I got a lot of insight doing that as well, which I'm super thankful for now because now I almost have two clients. I have the clients that pay me. To get them into the news, but I also feel like the journalists are my clients, right. And I want to make their job as easy and as pain-free as possible. So it, kind of went on a tangent with that, but it's been a beautiful journey, right. To get, to see all angles and to get to use some of my psychology background and what I do and get to use some of the counseling and some of the, I dunno, some of those.

Sarah Snyder: Yeah,

Moby: Absolutely. No. And I think the last point that you brought up is that you have two sets of people that you cater to because you have to have good relationships with the people that are either serving you or you're serving them. And if you don't have good relationships with people who you're pitching your clients to your clients, won't be successful as well.

Sarah Snyder: Yep, because then the journalist either won't play some, or have them for interviews or B, they won't reuse like me and my company. Right. Because sometimes it's someone that I've never interacted with before and they know that my clients produce good work. Right. And so when I say, Hey, I've also got this other client that fits in there totally on it. Right. And they're like, yeah, let's do this. And that makes everybody's life better.

Moby: Yeah. It just builds that trust.

Sarah Snyder: Yep.

Moby: I think I can see why people were like sales and real estate. I don't know about car sales, but I feel like you've taken the time to build those relationships and build that trust and that's applicable in PR and that could also be applicable in sales or HR. All of the things. So, absolutely. It seems like you, you know, for lack of a better word, you give a shit.

Sarah Snyder: And I really like people too Right, which makes a difference. It helps it. I used to think I was an introvert and slowly I started to come out of my shell over the years and some of my friends are like, Sarah, you are not an introvert. Like you never have been. You've just been like a super shy, not confident extrovert. Right. So they're like, it's so much fun to see you actually, like you'll be in your. So it's been a cool journey in business and in personal life and in business to go through.

Moby: I hear that. when you have qualities that lend really well to success in a certain field that obviously helps

Moby: um,

Moby: shifting gears a little bit and asking things that a lot of people would be curious about.

Moby: How does. PR work. Like if I come to you and be like, Sarah, I want to be famous, make me famous. I'm kidding. But I'm like, Hey, like, I'm like, Hey, I've got this tech startup, which is, you know, it's a, it's a tech startup and I want some PR how do you work for people?

Sarah Snyder: So first we're going to sit down and we're going to kind of explore. What is the goal of the PR? What is your ultimate goal? Is it to find funders? Is it to find investors? Is it to find people to use the tech product? Like, what are, what's the angle? What are we doing? And then we will sit down and we'll write bios for. The company, right? For the people, for the company, for the products, whatever we need to write that information for and people don't understand. Media buyers are oftentimes a lot different than your typical bio, simply because it's got to, it's not to sell you. It's to establish you're essentially your authority and your credibility. We'll write out the bios for you. Then we'll figure out who is your ideal client. It's a lot easier when people know that come in and the door. But honestly, sometimes people don't know so fine. Like, let's sit down and explore that there are also clients I'll sit down with who sell packages. Right? If you happen to sell certain types of packages and let's sit down and talk about your packages and are they selling and are they at the price points they need to be. Right. So we'll kind of explore all that. And then we look for the applicable places where your people are. And on my end, right on our end is the firm we'll actually draft up essentially cold emails based on news angles that you approve story ideas that you approved questions that you approve, that you really want to be asked in conversation. So we draft all of that up for you. And then we hit the ground running and we essentially send emails to journalists and media people that we are connected with and make phone calls to them. But then we also essentially cold email journalists, right. And we say, We've got this really cool tech startup. We've got this really cool person. We've got this right. Here's how it ties into the daily news cycle. Here's why it matters. We look at editorial calendars cause magazines, will put an editorial calendars for the year, right? So sometimes we're looking at a placement six months out and you may not even know it, but I know it's on success. Magazine's editorial calendar for six months out. So I'm already thinking about, I need to pitch you in about three months to that editor to say, Hey, I know you've got this story in line and I've got this person that fits right. Other times it's like, Ooh, like the BBC just came out with something yesterday and you tie into that. Let me get that out today to say, this is my expert, or this is my tech firm. They can talk about this. This is why it applies like right now. Lightning speed. . So that you can focus on whatever you need to focus on within your business and not worry about it. And once you get from me is an email or for my team as an email saying, Hey, this journalist wants to interview you. They want to interview about this particular storyline or this particular angle. Here, we came up with it from this, right. And then honestly, how my clients know you're allowed to accept or decline any interview. I get you. That is your right. And so then we'll actually say in the email, Hey, this is why we think it's a good placement for you. This is why we think it's a good interview for you. Or sometimes, Hey, you got awkward this interview, but it might not actually be worth your time. Here's why you did right. And then we walk you through the decision-making process. And then you decide, and then if you feel like you need media training or coaching I'll do that with any of my clients. Right. Let's let's get you set up so that you can hit your, points. Right. Or the article, the same as the article. I have an in-house editor, right. She'll edit all my client's articles just to make sure they're top, you know, exactly as they need to be. And then we get your place. And then obviously the result of that right. Is the actual interview. And then the backlink. And then you have it to share on social media. If you want to share on social media, you have it for your website. If you want to share it on your website. Whoever the audience of the publication also gets to hear about you as well. So we try to make it as easy as we can for everybody and as beneficial for everybody as we can.

Moby: I hear that. And and like a few minutes ago, you said Oh, you're reaching out to people that you already have connections with, or you're reaching out to cold people. Do you ever get clients, whose stories might not be interesting to journalists? And you're like, what do you do with people who are like, is there such a thing as like, this is not press-worthy

Sarah Snyder: Okay. So there are two things on that. One is if I feel like I can't do the best service possible to a client, I will not work with them. I've actually turned down business. It had nothing to do with them and everything to do with me and me feeling like I wasn't the best person to serve them. I will refer them out over to their other wonderful PR firms. I have no problem saying that who hate or is a better fit for you. Let me connect you. And we'll go from there. But one of the specialties that I really love is the strategy piece. And it is people coming to me saying, Hey, I want to be in the news, but I'm not really sure what makes me special or, Hey, like, I'm not really sure what makes this, this angle of my business or the story of my business special, but I really feel like it needs to be talked about, I love coming into that and being like, Hey, let's tie it together. Right. Here we go. Here's here's what makes you different? I had. I had a life coach coming to me and she wanted me to help with her business and we talked it through and I was like, look, the term life coach is like, so overused. Like it's just, everybody's a life coach these days. And I said, what your, your, your niche, your specialty, really? What you're phenomenal at? What you're telling me about the people you work with is that you really do well with people who have experienced trauma. So let's call you a trauma specialist, right? Because. That's what your worth is, who you're working with. That's who you're helping us with. Your testimonials are about that went a hundred times better to the news and the journalists that I send it to then the life coach right. Would have. And so it was knowing those little nuances and getting them worked in right. Those little differentiators.

Moby: Yes. It's just being more specific

Sarah Snyder: well that's part of what takes the time though, right is I want to know my clients and their books and their articles and their goals and their dreams. Like, I really want to know them because that allows me to be like, this is essentially what makes you different. Right. And why the news is going to care about you. Right. And so sometimes it's things that people don't realize and I'm like, no, but this is really what, what separates you from the rest of the pack? And let's talk about this.

Moby: That's great. Fantastic. Boom, boom, boom. Okay. No, absolutely. And I think it feels like you've got a lot of the things which help you be successful, which is the relationships with the clients. Good relationships with the clients, like a red velvet rope policy, where you let certain people in based on whether you can help them or not. Good relationships with customers. And with journalists and then the process through which you reach out to people, and then you work with clients to ship their story. What are client's expectations? Like? Because let's say we're going PR people think about the outcome, like, oh, I'll be in this and this and this. And do you have clients who come in expecting to be in the news in like week three? And how do you manage those line expectations?

Sarah Snyder: The client expectations are hard. Cause I, I, I do, I have people who are like, Oprah magazine or whatever. Right. And I'm like, okay, let's talk this through. It's a process I've had to learn over the years is how to set client expectations. And so it helps when I'm able to sell it, tell people, Hey, it takes two weeks to get your media kit together. This is why this is all the thoroughness that we need. Right. And we need your feedback right. The other thing that I explained to people is sometimes it's like a tiered process. So in other words, it might be a local radio show for a college station that I have you do, because then I'm going to take that clip and I'm going to use it to pitch , the radio station where were for the state. Right. and then I'm going to use that clip to pitch the local TV station and another market, right? Or I'm going to send you to a YouTube show to take that clip, to pitch it, to show that you can interview well. And so sometimes every once in a while, you get really lucky and you get a real, huge hit essentially right off the bat. Most of the time it's a tiered process. And what people don't realize is during that tiered process, you're getting still, right. The backlinks are still hitting most of your audience. You're still getting the credibility and authority. And the other thing that I'm really. I feel like it makes us different, right? Is that I am super hyper-focused on. Yes. Yes to the big name yes. Of the big exposure. Yes to all that. But there's also a lot of value in the relationships that my clients develop with the media hosts. And I think that is so different for us and so important for us because I will go research the host of a podcast, or I would go research the host of a YouTube show or I'll go research the host of a radio show. And I'll tell my client, Hey, I think you guys could be really good referral partners, right? They serve this population. You serve this population. I think there's a potential for some overlap here. Right? There's a potential for some business to be them. And I actually encourage that. Most publicists will never ever share their journalists, email lead, whatever, right. With, with the client or vice versa, partly because this is how we get paid. Right. When I give up that journalist information to you as my client, like you essentially can go be on their show again, 800 more times and I'll have nothing to do with it. And then it's this fear, this scarcity of like, well, then what's the point of you paying me right. But in my mind, if it's the right connection and there's a way for you guys to actually refer business and do business back and forth together, I want that for you. I want that for my client. And it's a part of how. And sometimes we're able to prove our ROI. Well, a lot of times the big pain point in PR is like, where's my client. I'll say where's the ROI. Where's the return on my investment. Right. And I'm like, this, this is how right. Because you went on, you did the podcast and the podcast host loved you because of that. They invited you to speak at some seminar. Right. That's coming up in three months and to be their keynote speaker. Right. And it just goes and goes and goes. And that's where that piece, where you talked about earlier with me, like the connection piece comes in. I really love that. I find joy in connecting people. Right. And saying, I think this is a way you guys can work together, you to figure it out. But here you go. And then letting people run with that.

Moby: Yes. And The way that you're not dating certain things like the contact information for the journalist. I think it's also a freeing for the service professional because they don't have to worry about what if they find the email of the person that I'm talking to is like, it gives you the space to focus on it, frees you to focus on the things that you can actually do better than any other.

Moby: Professional in your space, which is just the depth of that relationship and how much, you're serving the journalist. Yeah, especially these days where you can find information for example, for me, Right? People can find the information that in the email addresses for the ideal clients and reach out to them. And hopefully, it works. If it doesn't, they'll reach out to me, seeing with you, which like people can find out the emails for journalists and reach out to them, but that's, you know, there's a bar of execution that they have to meet and freeing up ungating information really helps you focus on that.

Sarah Snyder: Yep. That there's part of it too. It's getting the right journalists at the right time at the right publication. People don't understand too. Sometimes you can go to, like, I don't know, like the Washington Post, I think has it where you can find the journalist's email directly on their right. And you can email them. But you're right. There is a bar of like, how are you explaining what you do and how are you establishing your authority in that email? But there's a lot of publications these days where they actually hide journalist emails and don't give you access. So we actually pay for software to find the specific journalists. And then two, if you're reaching out to the local TV show, right. Do you know, do you need to reach out to the producer of the show? So there's a lot of finesse, right. Is what, as far as that goes too, and just learning different roles, different stations, different people. So yeah,

Moby: I hear that. How can people set themselves up for success when it comes to working with the PR professionals in the future?

Sarah Snyder: How can I say that is a brilliant question. I think knowing what your goal is, For the company for the campaign, having realistic, like we talked about earlier, having realistic expectations, right? Knowing that it is a process that takes him. I had, I've had journalists call me a year and a half after they received an email from me about a client who was no longer a client, because whatever, it's been a year and a half. Right. And the journalist is like, can I, can I still interview this person? And I'm like, what? And they're like, well, this topic just came through and I was searching through my emails and I found it in there. perfect and I'm like yes, A hundred percent, you can let me get you connected with them. Right. But that they, you know, that too makes me different. Right. But I'm still like, yeah, you can totally talk to them. But knowing that some of this, not every lead takes a year and a half. Right. But some of the leads take some of these hits take time. And so having some patience, which I think people get excited and they want to be in the news and they want to be in the press. And that's great, but there's still a piece of patience and being open to feedback. Sometimes it's really hard when immediate training people, because. We're all, we're all sensitive, right? Like you're being vulnerable. You're you're going on a TV show. You're going on a YouTube show or you're going on a podcast and you're talking about something you love, which is your business. And then somebody is coming around on the back end and being like, Hey, next time, maybe don't say so much or Hey, next time, make sure your background looks a little nicer. Hey, next time and it's hard for me to give that feedback, but I want people to continue to see success. So I do. And knowing as a client, like non of that, being open to that feedback. Right. And knowing none of it's personal, it's really all in your best interest at the end of the day.

Moby: I think anytime you're. Hiring a service professional it's yes. You're looking for execution, but you're also looking for coaching because they know how to make something better. If you go and find a trainer at a gym, they'll tell you what to do, but they'll tell you how to do it better. And I was talking to an accountant on the show and he's like, I, you know, my team gets calls and says, Hey, my cousin did.

Moby: Tax strategy. We should do it too. And he trains his team to be like, be like, you're the expert in the team that they've hired, be the expert, help them when they don't know what to do and help them improve when they're kind of doing something but need to improve. So I can see that as a service professional.

Sarah Snyder: Yeah. Yeah. There's a reason you're paying me. Right. So let me do my job.

Moby: I wish it was as easy as that sometimes complex.

Sarah Snyder: I am thankful though, I have a lot of really, all my clients are now are super cool, which we're well, the whole team is super thankful for. And one of the other things I love is I get to meet really cool people on some of the sales calls or the discovery calls. Even if they don't immediately become clients just knowing that they're out in the world or being able to connect with them and you, don't kind of, sort of be like social media, friends or whatever is so awesome for me. Cause I'm like, man, these people are like really cool. And there's really people in this world who we don't hear about all the time, but they're really doing good, whether it's in sales and they care about humanistic sales, right. Or whether it's in but do you know, trauma specialists and helping people heal or whether it's in tech. Right. And they've got some really cool tech stuff coming up, that's going to make our lives a lot easier or more efficient or more X, right. Knowing that there's that stuff happening in the world and developing the world. Just that, that makes me so excited .Right, be here and, and be a part

Moby: That'd be the part is I think one of the perks of running that business, I just have a call. I've got to call off somebody. I don't know if I'm going to work with them. But it's just cool to hear what people are working on and how much they care.

Moby: It makes you feel life.

Sarah Snyder: Yup. For sure

Moby: Where can people find more about you and connect with you?

Sarah Snyder: So I have Lee connection, marketing.com, and then I am in the process of, of, it will eventually forward to connection enthusiast.com, which is. Super excited about we're literally in the middle of building it out and I built it out for two reasons.

Sarah Snyder: One, because I needed something a little bit brighter and a little bit bolder. So connects an enthusiast.com. We'll have that. And then also you will get to see which I love has a list of my current clients and a couple of the former clients. And I made a page on their specific for journalists to make it super easy, where they can go when they need clients, headshots client.

Sarah Snyder: Client interview questions, the jerky note, click on it and download everything they need about a client. So I'm super excited for the website. For two reasons. For one, you get into kind of step out of my shell and be a little bit bolder and a little bit brighter. And then two for the ease of access for the journalist, I think is going to make their lives a lot easier.

Sarah Snyder: So people can email me. Sarah S A R A H @eliteconnectionmarketing.com too. I love connecting with people.

Moby: That's perfect.

Moby: Yes. And early in the conversation, you said media bios are different. So I'm just going to go to your website and copy yours for this podcast.

Sarah Snyder: I don't know if I need to fit. I was like, I don't know if mine's even up.

Sarah Snyder: I have, I've been working to step out and to be the face of my business and be comfortable with it. And, and I prefer to be in the background, right. Promoting other people and connecting with other people, but I'll get you a bio.

Moby: Perfect. Well, I really appreciate your time today

Sarah Snyder-1: also. Thanks,