Unlocking Media Exposure - Insider Secrets to Landing High-Impact - Kimanzi Constable - Freelance Journalist

Beyond The Story is the podcast everyone's talking about. Founded and hosted by Sebastian Rusk, this amazing podcast goes beyond the story to explore different aspects of life, business and creativity. As an entrepreneur, Sebastian is an expert in leveraging PR and has published pieces in some of the world’s biggest publications.

In his interview with special guest Kimanzi Constable, Sebastian emphasizes how real editorial is not for sale and one should always run if approached with a payment opportunity. He also explains how one can become a contributor to Forbes as long as they understand their noncompeting agreement. Moreover, personnel can look for editors through the hashtag #JournalRequest, emails, and other sources. Finally, Sebastian suggests for people to be aware of their online presence since having a common name can get them in trouble.

In agreement with Sebastian, Kimanzi emphasizes the need to pursue these opportunities. He states that these can be earned through hard work and dedication and it's something that one can do on their own. Additionally, he recommends PR pitches dot com as another source of information.

Be sure to tune in to Beyond The Story to hear these insights and more. Host Sebastian Rusk has some wonderful guests lined up and every week he unravels their stories and experiences to give listeners valuable information. Subscribe today to get exclusive access to this amazing podcast.

Blog Post

able to start early and kind of capitalize on this new marketing world of digital marketing, because it was emerging 8 to 10 years ago, they're not even a thing. So, I started creating content on websites, providing back broke services and things like that, and then discovered that actually, my real passion was journalism.

Blog Post One

Kimani Constable has taken his impressive journey from entrepreneur to becoming a recognised journalist and PR expert to amazing heights. After the success of his business at 19, Kimani discovered the online marketing world of digital media and he has never looked back since. Speaking to host Sebastian Rusk, Kimani shares his top tips on how to leverage the world of PR and make your mark in the industry.

Here are a few of Kimani's best tips on becoming a PR expert:

1. Develop a successful online presence by creating content for websites and creating back links.

2. Take advantage of new digital marketing opportunities when they arise.

3. Connect with the successful leaders in the industry and learn from them.

Don't miss this episode of Beyond The Story featuring guest Kimani Constable to further your understanding of how to succeed in PR. As Kimanzi said, “In 2011, as I between things, I was able to start early and kind of capitalize on this new marketing world of digital marketing, because it was emerging 8 to 10 years ago, they're not even a thing.”

Blog Post Two

In a recent episode of Beyond The Story featuring guest Kimanzi Constable and host Sebastian Rusk, Kimanzi provides invaluable insight into the world of PR and the steps to build a career in the industry. Kimanzi shares his inspiring story from an early business in 2011 to becoming a successful journalist and PR expert. Drawing from his professional experience, Kimanzi provides three key tips to increasing your likelihood of success in PR.

Here are 3 tips on breaking into the world of PR from Kimanzi Constable:

1. Increase your network by talking to the successful PR people in the industry.

2. Create content that is informative and well-researched.

3. Utilize digital marketing platforms/importance of being active on social media.

After hearing Kimanzi’s story and advice, it is no surprise that he became successful in his field. As Kimanzi put it, “I started creating content on websites, providing back broke services and things like that, and then discovered that actually, my real passion was journalism.”

Listen to this episode of Beyond The Story to hear more of Kimanzi's story and how to unlock the potential of PR.

Best Quotes

[00:00:28] "It's been too long. Way too long, man."

[00:01:39] "I started as an entrepreneur. More than a journalist. My first business was at 19."

[00:02:56] "The simplest way to build your audience is to leverage somebody else's audience who already has 1, leveraging other people's audiences."

[00:07:47] "Real editorial is never for sale. You cannot buy your way to be written about or having columns in a large publication."

All Quotes

[00:00:28] "It's been too long. Way too long, man."

[00:00:59] "That was the fastest interview I've ever done in my life. I was like, that was awesome. I need to learn how to do fast interviews like that."

[00:01:39] "I started as an entrepreneur. More than a journalist. My first business was at 19."

[00:02:01] "Why can't I make money, like, with my mind, like, this podoculture guy is talking about?"

[00:02:22] "I paid a formatter and an editor, I paid somebody to build a website, I put the book out there, and nobody bought it. Like, I sold 5 copies in 6 months."

[00:02:43] "I had no audience. I can't sell anything if I don't have an audience."

[00:02:56] "The simplest way to build your audience is to leverage somebody else's audience who already has 1, leveraging other people's audiences."

[00:03:07] "I started guest posting on big blogs like Michael Hyatt and Dan Miller and John Acuff and Jeff coined some of the big people at the time."

[00:04:08] "And I love cold pitching. So, I'm like, you know what? I just pitched him. And I pitched entrepreneurs. I became 1 of the first 30 contributors at entrepreneur dot com when they started their contributor program in 20 14."

[00:04:43] "I have weekly columns where I'm writing for, you know, Business Insider and Fast Company, unfortunately, some of the largest publications in the world. And I wake up and I love what I get to do."

[00:05:14] "That's what the most important part is. And you're currently working on a software that launches in just a couple weeks?"

[00:05:44] "But The 1 thing that I always wanted was the ability to help somebody do this without needing my direct involvement."

[00:07:47] "Real editorial is never for sale. You cannot buy your way to be written about or having columns in a large publication."

[00:06:33] "It does all of the heavy lifting. PR pitches do all have me lifting for you."

[00:06:17] "We have a database of over 3000000 media professionals and podcasters, and it's 1 click, and you're sending out the pitches, follow ups built in, metrics are built in so that you can see, oh, the pictures open. You got a response. The links were clicked."

[00:06:37] "And so I'm pretty excited about that. Amazing. And that drops in a couple weeks. It drops. Should be dropping it in a couple weeks. Yeah. Love it."

[00:07:56] "If somebody is trying to sell you that, run the other way, that is not real."

[00:08:27] "Editor is never for sale. Now are their things that happen behind the scenes? Absolutely."

[00:08:52] "That is an FTC disclosure violation because that's advertising. And if you pay to be written about your paid for advertising, that has to be disclosed by law."

[00:09:18] "The Forbes Council is probably, you know, the most confusing out of all of them because it's not part of Forbes dot com. The council is a coaching. It started as a coaching platform, but it's grown beyond that. It's a third-party platform started by 2 entrepreneurs. That licensed the Forbes name on their platform."

[00:09:56] "When you pay to join the console, you're paying to join the console, not Forbes. Your articles are not published on Forbes dot com. They're not indexed on Forbes. We can't look you up on Forbes. They're not indexed in Google."

[00:10:28] "There's a noncompete agreement so you can never be a regular Forbes contributor. And here's the thing. Regular Forbes contributors are paid by Forbes. Orbes pays them to write articles on forbes dot com. They don't pay to be on some platform."

[00:11:16] "Had I not known you, I would have never gotten published on the article that you went and read. I know I was an entrepreneur magazine back in 20 15 randomly. A journalist called and said, hey. We're doing an article on the business of books. We saw you wrote a book. Can you contribute to this here?"

[00:11:15] "It is all about relationships. Had I not known you, I would have never gotten published on the article that you went and read."

[00:11:52] "If you want media, earned media is by far the most respected number of media out there. That means the outlet reached out to you and said, hey, we like what you're up to. We've got to get you an interesting angle here, and we want to talk about that."

[00:12:40] "You can also pitch it too. I love it. Absolutely. I did not know about that. I'll be saving the journal hashtag journal request now."

[00:12:48] "I have heard of, like, being able to reach out to journalists or, you know, local news, you know, individuals that are looking for stories, etcetera. And be able to pitch them that way through Twitter."

[00:13:20] "If someone's listening to this right now, they're like, hey, I got a really cool angel story product service, whatever it may be. And I know it'd be a great contribution to this XYZ platform. What's the process that someone takes? To be able to pitch themselves to a media?"

[00:13:38] "You can search the hashtag journal request and then also request with an s. You can search calls for submissions on Twitter, the hashtags."

[00:14:03] "If you have a specific hook, you can simply go to the publication of your choice."

[00:14:40] "You look for the editor for which your topic would fit leadership, marketing, personal development, whatever. You look for that vertical editor. And again, through email, you pitch them in 1 paragraph, you tell them what the hook is going to be."

[00:15:14] "If you're in business, you're an entrepreneur, sold entrepreneur, you're in business and you're not seeking out ways to figure out PR while then you're totally missing the beat."

[00:15:37] "If you're approaching these opportunities with your ego hanging out and, in an effort, to sell someone on how cool you think that you are, probably not the best approach."

[00:15:46] "If you think it's, you know, it's like media 01:01, what's in it for the viewer, what's in it for the reader, that's all they really give a rip about there."

[00:16:05] "My business is always going to have 3 approaches or 3 different levels where I'm always going to write for publications because that's my first love."

[00:16:47] "Getting earned PR is not hard. It's just figuring out your whole angle, getting that very clear, getting it very concise, and actively pitching. There are so many opportunities. There's you you really don't have to pay, you know, some kind of a get featured service or, you know, pay for the skinny you know, we'll get you in the classified section or whatever. You don't have to pay for that standing stuff. You can really earn it on your own."

[00:17:14] "I love what you're doing here because this is not the typical journalist protocol if you will. Usually, it's just head down right and that's just there. It's not but you let that entrepreneur spirit of yours go wild, which is fantastic, which has led to launching a software, having a mastermind, teaching people."

[00:18:42] "My question to you is what pops up when they Google you? And if you have a common name, you're gonna be screwed. So, you really have to differentiate yourself from all the John Smiths or whatever. And if people Google you and they see Forbes, entrepreneur, business insider, and they click through and they see, you know, you're sharing wisdom, you're sharing your story, that's when you start to build that credibility."

[00:18:02] "Technology makes life, you know, just that much easier."

[00:18:31] "PR is incredible brand credibility if you're an entrepreneur or if you are somebody that wants to get your message out to the world. When people want to know who you are, the first thing they do is Google you."

[00:19:21] "It's not the best product or service. It's the best-known product or service that wins the market."

[00:19:28] "That's where PR can help you, you know, and you get featured or written about PR in a publication like Business Insider, for example, that has 240000000 unique visitors every month. That's going to do something for you, your business, your message."

[00:19:42] "So this is a worthy pursuit. It can be earned. There are many opportunities out there. This is something you should spend your time pursuing, and you could do it all on your own."

[00:20:05] "If you're looking to build more PR relationships out there, you need to figure out, you know, who those individuals are that you need to develop that relationship with and and make it happen."

Topics

Entrepreneurship and Leveraging PR with Sebastien Amanzi of Beyond The Story

The Benefits of Contributing to Popular Blogs in 2014

The Dangers of Paying for Editorial Coverage

The Benefits of Being a Regular Forbes Contributor

Pitching a Journal Article to an Editor

How to Manage Your Online Presence with Common Names

The Value of Self-Growth and Personal Development.

Episode Links

Connect with Sebastian Rusk:

• Beyond The Story Podcast
• Instagram
• Facebook

Connect with Kimanzi Constable

• LinkedIn

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