Episode #43: Pitch a Finance Publication with Catey Hill
“If there’s a great data set, the company has really done its homework and we can work on something unique, that’s even more important to me than being pitched under embargo.”
-Catey Hill, on what she looks for in a pitch
Today we have a personal finance and commerce editor on the show. We’ll analyze a data-driven story that stemmed from a PR pitch, however, the story that was pitched was different from the story that came out! From it, we’ll hear the tale of a time when a publicist was able to pivot effectively and give the editor what they needed. We also go into tips for pitching CEO interviews!
In this episode you’ll learn…
What kinds of stories a commerce editor for a top tier publication covers
How to stick out in an inbox that receives 100s of emails a day
Which assets to have on-hand for the type of story you pitch
Our guest is:
Catey Hill is a personal finance journalist, author and frequent TV and radio commentator. For more than 10 years, she has written and edited personal finance stories for publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Seventeen, Worth, SmartMoney, Forbes, Real Simple and MarketWatch, among other magazines and websites. She has appeared on dozens of television programs, including “The Today Show,” “FOX & Friends,” “The Huckabee Show” on FOX and “CBS This Morning.”
Stories we talked about:
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Show Notes:
:00 — Jackie introduces our guest.
1:10 — Jackie asks Catey for a brief overview of the story we’ll discuss in this episode.
3:35 — Britt clarifies whether the story was pitched as an exclusive.
4:09 — Catey shares a tip about what she values when a PR reaches out with data.
5:19 — Britt asks Catey about her average turnaround time on similar articles.
6:53 — Jackie asks Catey what the product tie-in is for this story.
9:31 — Jackie asks Catey what topics she is interested in exploring and the types of pitches she’d like to see more of in her inbox.
10:22 — Britt asks Catey to share more details on her team’s brainstorming process.
12:28 — Britt asks Catey what she looks for in a pitch and the characteristics of a compelling subject line.
14:57 — Britt asks if Catey uses the graphics or visuals provided by PRs in a pitch.
17:08 — Catey shares a quality she values in a CEO for an interview.
17:34 — Jackie asks if there are any other ways that publicists can be helpful when pitching a story.
19:38 — Britt asks Catey how she organizes her PR contacts.
20:46 — Jackie asks Catey for tips on how to best build a relationship with her.
21:22 — Jackie asks if follow-ups are helpful to Catey.
22:02 — Jackie asks Catey if there is anything that she wishes publicists would NOT do when reaching out to her.
22:51 — Shoutouts! Catey gives a shout out to Sharron Silvers from Burson-Marsteller and Jacalyn Lee at Gopuff.
Connect with Catey Hill
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