Episode #7: Carl Anthony, Automoblog
“If the marketing and PR profession were to disappear, we would lose our foothold and our credibility with our readers.”
- Carl Anthony
We caught up with Carl Anthony, the Managing Editor of Automoblog, to learn more about his perspective on best practices for working with PRs and content marketers.
Carl is a longtime contact of Britt’s and, back when she had a client in the auto space, she would bounce ideas off of him often. You see, Carl is a genuine auto expert and he has a lot of passion and knowledge when it comes to the industry. Carl was such a great sounding board and, many times, their conversations even inspired new ideas that Britt could take to her client to see if they could make it happen.
Even if you don't work in the auto or tech industries, this one is full of useful pitching tips. Especially if you've ever been curious about (or have personally implemented) guest-posting and thought leadership content strategies. A perfect example of guest-posting is the contributor content that Richard Reina of CARiD.com writes for Automblog.
Carl also tells about one of his favorite collaborations with PR pro Katelyn Abel, Marketing Communications Manager at VSI Labs, who he worked with to tell write a story on behalf of VSI Labs called Automated Drive West. Not only was the campaign epic, but it is a beautiful example of what true collaboration looks like.
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Timestamps
01:02 -- Carl breaks down his role as managing editor at Automoblog and the publication’s overall mission.
04:17 -- Carl talks about his own career history and explains how he get into journalism and the auto industry, in particular.
05:47 -- We discuss a story Carl wrote about a campaign that VSI Labs put together last summer, which was pitched to him by Katelyn Abel, VSI’s Marketing Communications Manager, and Sara Sargent, who was VSI Lab’s Engineering Project Manager at the time. Here’s the story: Automated Drive West.
12:57 -- Carl explains how he met the VSI Labs team and how the story came to be.
16:05 -- Do people pitch Carl at the conferences he attends and/or hosts?
18:00 -- Carl explains why he believes that, within the auto industry, there’s a good story no matter what brand or make of car.
21:05 -- Jackie “throws shade” at an autonomous vehicle that she spotted in her hometown of Gainesville and Carl tells us more about how autonomous technology in general.
25:37 -- How often is Carl getting pitched? What makes Carl open an email?
27:40 -- Example emails that Carl would never respond to.
31:17 -- Carl’s breaks down exactly what he is looking for when someone pitches content to him and his team.
33:57 -- His feelings on buying links/coverage.
35:00 -- Guest posting - is it ever a good strategy?
38:00 -- If you want to pitch contributor content, how should you set up the ask?
44:00 -- Carl shares his biggest tip for PR pros and why it is so important to be a subject matter expert.
46:00 -- Carl recommends two books for PR professionals in the auto industry to read.
Connect with Carl
carl@automoblog.net
Connect with Jackie & Britt
podcast@weearnmedia.com
Books mentioned: American Icon and Car Guys vs Bean Counters
