In this talk, I share behind the scenes juicy screenshots and tips revealing exactly how to pitch to the most daunting national journalists no matter your brand, budget or experience. I also cover the methods that are most successful, who you should be targeting, what your subject title should include and how your email, press release or content should look to stand out amongst the 600 emails they receive DAILY!

1. How to create a sexy AF PR
pitch to land sexy AF links
Carrie Rose, Rise at Seven
@CarrieRosePR

2. Top-tier journalists get 600 emails from PR’s a day
@CarrieRosePR

3. So how do we get the cut through?
@CarrieRosePR

4. VIRGIN

5. BRIGHTON SEO
SPEAKER
VIRGIN

6. But when it comes to building links…
@CarrieRosePR

7. §
I’ve done this for years!

8. Building links for any brand is not easy
@CarrieRosePR

9. In fact it is getting harder

10. Journalists vs Digital PR
83,000 Digital PRs/PR vs
64,000 journalists in the UK
in 2016.
In 2018, even more cuts.
So its much more
competitive to get the cut
through
@DanSaunders86
@CarrieRosePR

11. But one thing is clear, we need to start thinking a
little more creatively
@CarrieRosePR

14. In my years in SEO I’ve built THOUSANDS of links

15. On sites like this…

16. For clients like this...

17. As well as this…
@CarrieRosePR

18. “Cleaning of the London Underground will be
stepped up each night over the summer
period across 50 stations and five tunnels.”
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON
I’ve created content
that caught the
attention of people
like this…
@CarrieRosePR

19. CAMPAIGN GO LIVE DATE
And helped produced graphs that go like this...
@CarrieRosePR

20. I’ve won awards for my work

21. I’ve won awards for my work
And even made a client cry (with happiness)

22. 18,000interactions
I once landed a link on HSBC site to
a gambling client
@CarrieRosePR

23. Yet, some have this CRAZYYYY idea that you
cant get BIG links with a small budget
@CarrieRosePR

24. Most people also think you need a big brand name
@CarrieRosePR

25. And some even think its down to building
relationships and being best pals with journos
@CarrieRosePR

27. And I proved this…

28. Confidential
I did a bit of an experiment…
@CarrieRosePR

29. Confidential
@CarrieRosePR

30. Confidential@CarrieRosePR

31. THINK like a PR, but ACT like an SEO

32. This means I don’t forum spam…
@CarrieRosePR

33. I don’t guest post
@CarrieRosePR

34. I don’t use bloggers for links because they have
VERY little SEO value
@CarrieRosePR

35. I don’t create infographics and upload them to 100
infographic sites
@CarrieRosePR

36. In 5 years of working in digital PR I've met 2
journalists
@CarrieRosePR

37. So it’s not about kissing arse or building
relationships to get links
@CarrieRosePR

38. I create stories
@CarrieRosePR

39. Stories that that journalists and users naturally want
to talk about and link to, because it’s that
awesome, resourceful, useful or different.
@CarrieRosePR

40. So, before I go into the sexy AF outreach emails
@CarrieRosePR

41. Lets talk about what journalists want and need

42. I met up with journalists from The Sun, House
Beautiful and Cosmopolitan magazine. And
they ALL said the same thing…
@CarrieRosePR

43. They have on average an hour to write up a
story…
@CarrieRosePR

44. And produce 6-8 articles a day
@CarrieRosePR

45. They must have an international angle or
global interest
@CarrieRosePR

46. They’re KPI’d on traffic…
@CarrieRosePR

47. Social shares…
@CarrieRosePR

48. And time on site
@CarrieRosePR

49. Every article needs imagery – whether that’s
their own or yours
@CarrieRosePR

50. Editors are forcing all articles now to
include a video – whether that’s their own
or yours
@CarrieRosePR

51. Videos must be around 60 seconds but
they start making money at 30 seconds
@CarrieRosePR

52. But you’re much more likely to land a
placement if you can provide all of that at
once
@CarrieRosePR

53. Here’s an example of where stock video footage which
cost £300 and a blog post got 169 links from nearly every
national publication
169
Links

55. @CarrieRosePR

57. The type of people that engaged with the campaign were the perfect audience for
SpaSeekers: the inspirational travelers

58. 169
Links and
Coverage
7,966
Organic Visits
693,324
Reach on
Social
3,897
Applications
In 2 weeks…
@CarrieRosePR

59. 594
Followers
1,137
Followers
117
Twitter
The campaign naturally increased SpaSeekers following across these
platforms:
@CarrieRosePR

60. @CarrieRosePR

61. @CarrieRosePR
6
Clips
£300
Total

62. @CarrieRosePR
Free

63. Because this worked, I thought I’d try it
again with the intention of getting links to a
product page
@CarrieRosePR

66. But it’s not all about video…
@CarrieRosePR

67. Building links to a health and safety training site –
low budget

68. In June, these hit the
headlines

69. Gathered ONS data
surrounding choking deaths

70. Created a report
on-site

71. And shared expert
tips of how to save
a child

72. Gathered ONS data
surrounding choking deaths

73. We created a resource

74. So much that if you Google ‘choking deaths data
UK’ – we rank 2nd above RoSPA and NSC

75. 83
Links
Featured on
The Mirror,
Daily Star, Sun
and more

76. THINKING like a PR, but ACTING like an SEO

77. So what did my outreach look like for
these?
@CarrieRosePR

78. Before I show you, here’s one of the first
emails I sent for a campaign in 2015…
@CarrieRosePR

80. Here’s some tips (the right way)…
@CarrieRosePR

81. Every person has a different way of
outreaching
@CarrieRosePR

82. In fact, its quite personal sharing your
outreach emails so publically
@CarrieRosePR

83. But in general – we need to remember that
these are normal people
@CarrieRosePR

84. With a busy AF inbox
@CarrieRosePR

85. So all we’ve got to do is make sure they
open ours. And cover it too!
@CarrieRosePR

86. @CarrieRosePR

87. I try my hardest NOT to write a press release
@CarrieRosePR

88. Meaning everything is always in the body of
the email
@CarrieRosePR

89. Short, simple and to the point
@CarrieRosePR

90. And I never attach anything (prevent
blocking up inbox’s and going to junk)
@CarrieRosePR

91. I ALWAYS include an image (embedded
usually at the top of the email to capture their
attention)
@CarrieRosePR

92. And ALWAYS very clearly link to the
page/asset I've created in the email
@CarrieRosePR

93. I always provide extra data, images (even if
it’s unsplash stock photos), video content or
spreadsheets via a Dropbox link (don’t
wetransfer)
@CarrieRosePR

94. Always try to make it relevant to now in my intro
sentence
@CarrieRosePR

95. And to find out what’s happening now relevant to
your story
@CarrieRosePR

96. Go to the Daily Mail.
@CarrieRosePR

97. Some may call it a trash publication.
@CarrieRosePR

98. But when speaking to journalists I asked them,
where do you look for story inspiration.
@CarrieRosePR

99. They said every morning they are tasked with
looking at the Daily Mail to see what they are
covering. If that’s what they’re doing then so should
you.
@CarrieRosePR

100. Subject lines

101. Write your subject title how they would write
the headline
@CarrieRosePR

102. @CarrieRosePR

103. @CarrieRosePR

104. @CarrieRosePR

105. DREAM JOB: Get paid to test out hot tubs and
infinity pools this summer (video)

106. VIDEO: The Dream summer job exists – you could
be paid to test out hot tubs and infinity pools

109. The body of the email

118. When is the best time to push a story out?

119. Follow your gut

120. Credit: Shannon @Aira

121. In my own experience…
Tuesday AM’s

122. But there’s one thing more important than the
day

123. And that’s the time

124. A normal morning for a PR…
Day starts at 9
Make a brew
Chat shit with colleagues about the weekend
Read emails
Start pushing a campaign around 10

125. However most journos open their laptop at
8.30am

126. Meaning I am up at 7:30 sending my emails so
that they were at the top of their inbox by 8.30

127. Or scheduling them to go out for 8.30 in
Buzzstream (obvs)

128. That’s for those who are wanting to be SUPER
competitive with their link acquisition

129. But ive built links at 8pm before – so it usually
depends on what’s happening in the press

130. You can follow me at
@CarrieRosePR

131. Be inspired
@ShannonMcGuirk_
@lauralhampton
@iamrofe
@BrockbankJames
@epicgraphic
@DigitalPREx
@markcporter
@OliverBrett

132. The creative SEO agency for people
who want more
Thank You
Sharp as a tack. Enthusiastic as hell. Experts in our
field