How to Be a Journalist’s BFF & Substack with Writer & Editor Jill Schildhouse – Podcast Transcript

 

Speakers: Lexie Smith, Jill Schildhouse

 

Lexie Smith 

Jill, welcome to the show. I know it’s taken a while for us to be able to finally be sitting here recording today. But I know this episode is going to be beyond worth the way I’m so excited to dive into career tips, freelancing, all the things. But first, where is home base? And what do you like to do outside of work for fun?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

Hello, thanks for having me. So my home base is Phoenix, Arizona. I have lived here for 19 and a half years, so almost 20 years now. I love the desert the desert life. I was actually born here in Phoenix but grew up in the Midwest. So it’s kind of come fun to come back to my roots, even though I don’t really remember them because I we left when I was like two years old. So my favorite thing to do outside of work kind of crosses into work. And it is travel. Travel is my like biggest passion in life. I’ve been to, I think 36 countries and 30 Something states. And so it’s really my passion, but also part of what I do for a living. So I’m pretty lucky that I get to do something I love so much for pleasure and for business.

 

Lexie Smith 

This is the part in this podcast whenever someone brings up travel that I have to restrain myself from not turning this into an hour long podcast about travel. So here’s my one question that I am self refraining. Top three places favorite places and maybe okay, because that might be hard since you’ve done so much about top three outside of the US and then maybe a favorite place or two in us.

 

Jill Schildhouse 

Absolutely. So I would have to start off with Norway was absolutely one of the most spectacular places I’ve ever been. It is so beautiful there and the people are so friendly. If you haven’t been up to Scandinavia and Norway in particular, definitely add that one to your list. Fiji was a really magical place a beautiful culture and beautiful scenery and amazing food you know fresh delicious food everywhere you turn. And my absolute favorite place on the planet is Italy. I can talk about Italy all day long. I’ve been there four times and that’s not nearly enough times.

 

Lexie Smith 

Okay, well wait before I dive in us.

 

Jill Schildhouse 

Us. I just got back from my second trip to Alaska and it is just you know, magnificently beautiful there. It’s so huge and so spread out and everywhere you turn is something beautiful to look at. So I really love Alaska, Arizona, I have to give a shout out to my home state you know, we have such diverse climates. You know people always think Arizona is just like tumbling, you know, weeds through the desert landscape. And while we do have that we also have mountains and snow and lakes and you know so many great things here.

 

Lexie Smith 

Okay, so my first comment again, self refrain here. I have a client in Norway and I wasn’t very aware of it and Till she became my client and her story like her Instagram stories and all the photos she has shared has made that be added to the top of my bucket list. So definitely want to go speaking of bucket list you nail the big one, which is Fiji. So fingers crossed, and then I lived in Italy for six months. So that’s a big shared shared passion have not done Alaska love Arizona.

 

Jill Schildhouse 

I’m jealous of you living in Italy. That is a dream of mine someday.

 

Lexie Smith 

It was pretty phenomenal. I was in school. So I did. I studied abroad over there. And I was the only American in the Art University. So I studied art in wine and pour me it was pretty, pretty rough time of life. So okay, so you did mention though, that this is part of your career, there’s crossover. So let’s dive into that. So rewind bactine a little bit, talk us through your career, maybe some of the highlights and then walk us up to today.

 

Jill Schildhouse 

Absolutely. So I always knew I was going to be a writer. I wrote my first book in fourth grade. I should mention my only book but

 

Lexie Smith 

I’m choosing we quick ties what on what what was the plow?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

It was about twins who moved to a new school and they were adjusting to their new life. So it was called Twin adjustments, obviously. And I had to, like illustrate it and everything. You know, it was ridiculous little book, but I actually won. I don’t know some type of award from my school. And I ended up being invited to attend this young authors convention where I got to meet a, like pretty famous children’s author at the time, this was back in the 80s. And yeah, that was kind of the moment that I sort of realized writing could be my thing. And all throughout school, you know, I sought out opportunities to write in college, I majored in corporate communications with a emphasis in journalism. I worked at the school newspaper, you know, did all that fun stuff. And then when I started my career, I actually started in public relations. Oh, hey. And one year into that, I realized it was not for me, I really only enjoyed writing the press releases. I mean, this was back when you had to, like, you know, pick up the phone and pitch, you know, busy journalists and newsrooms all day long. And that was not for me. So I immediately switched over to a magazine. I got hired by a Food Science Magazine, that was a b2b publication for research chefs and food scientists. So not like fun recipes, but more like, how do they keep the cookie dough soft inside of ice cream, you know, in a freezer for a year?

 

Lexie Smith  

I’ve literally never thought of that. Right? There’s a

 

Jill Schildhouse 

lot that goes into the the science behind packaged foods. Yeah. And so that was my first on staff magazine role. And I remember during my interview for that job, they said, you know, if you could work for any magazine, what would it be? And I said travel and leisure, we’ll fast forward 20 years, and I’m, you know, now freelancing for them. So that’s been an exciting, full circle moment in my career. But yeah, I worked for the food magazine. And then I worked for a number of different b2b publications, before moving over to the consumer side of things. And the role that was really pivotal in my career was I became the editor in chief of a triple A travel publication, and that I had always loved traveling, but that was the moment that really, you know, married my love for travel with my job and opened up, you know, a world of opportunities to me, including press trips, which I, you know, didn’t know was a thing before that job. And then it was like, you know, the angels were singing it. You know, I’d found I’d found my career fast forwarding from there. So I worked for the AAA publication, I worked for a number of other publications. And a little over five years ago, I decided to go full time freelance. I was done working on staff at publications and ready to branch out on my own. So I took that leap of faith. very cliche. It was my 40th birthday. I had been reading a like self empowerment book on the beach in Hawaii, and I just said you know what, it’s time to To do this, it’s time to take the scary leap. You know, and see what happens. And if it pans out great. And if it doesn’t, I’ll get another corporate job. So five and a half years later, it’s turned out pretty great.

 

Lexie Smith 

Congratulations, whatever beautiful career and to your point of view started in PR, and you went over to the the journalism side, I feel like that’s such a from both both ways. I’ve seen journalists go over to the PR side, and PR people go over to the journalist side. And it’s a really, this is a terrible word to use, but it’s what’s ancestries industry? Yes, it is, it is, which is just really fascinating. So today, you’re freelancing, I also know you do a bit of consulting, is that

 

Jill Schildhouse 

right? That is correct. So I launched a business with a fellow journalist of mine, Nicole pager, it’s called top tier consulting. And we work directly with publicists to help them land even more coverage. So we offer consulting sessions, to perfect the pitches that they’re sending out to media, we help teach them how to be a journalists BFF. We help them you know, with setting up press, trip invitations and trips, press packages, all sorts of things. And so you know, what I’ve found over the years, and especially like you mentioned, with people who have flipped back and forth between journalism and PR, it really all comes down to us having an understanding of each other’s jobs and roles, and there’s so much potential for amazing collaborations, and wins when we work together effectively. But if you haven’t been on the other side of the aisle, you don’t necessarily know how to work together as effectively as possible. And so that’s something that we really tried to help. You know, teach publicists the importance of building and maintaining these long term relationships with media.

 

Lexie Smith 

Hey, guys, it’s Lexie here. If you enjoy this show, then I’m guessing you’re someone who loves knowledge, resources learning. And you could appreciate a good punter too. If I am nailing it right now, then I also know that you would absolutely love the PR weekly round up, sent out every Tuesday, I give the members of my community, a roundup of resources, tips, event invites, knowledge, nuggets, freebies, and so much more. It’s really simple to jump on the list, all you got to do is head to the PR bar inc.com/newsworthy to sign up, we’ll put that link in the show notes of course. Okay, back to the show. So is that the you said a line how to be a journalist BFF is that the key just really understanding both sides of the coin, are there other kind of high level quick tips that you could share?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

Um, there’s a lot of things that go into becoming a journalist BFF. And, you know, I think it comes down to sometimes it’s just being in the right place at the right time. But it’s really fostering more of a long term relationship and getting to know the the journalist, not only their beats and the things that they cover, but even things about them personally, and building a relationship that isn’t purely transactional, because those are the publicists that will go back to again and again, when we need something because we know that we have a relationship with established a rapport, they’ve proven that they you know, deliver what they say they’re going to deliver when they say they’re going to deliver it and, and those are really the things that keep us you know, we get so I get more than 500 emails a day unsolicited pitches from publicists, and this time of year, around the holidays, I get closer to 1000 a day. And so there’s so much noise in my inbox, that when I see the name of a publicist pop up who I’ve had a great experience working with in the past, it makes me more excited to dive into their email over the hundreds of others I’m staring at because I you know, feel pretty confidently that they’re going to help me with something.

 

Lexie Smith 

Okay, so we’re going to pin that and come back to that at the end of the show, because I have so many more questions, but we typically Okay, so here’s what we’re gonna do first guys, don’t worry, we’ll get to that. I know you also have so many questions. Just bear with me here. I before I get into that side of the coin, I do want to talk a little bit about freelance journalism. And this is a topic I’ve had some other guests chat about before, but the industry is obviously ever evolving and everyone’s experience is unique. So I would love to know from someone who’s interested and getting into this line of work, how do you go about finding or pitching or securing paid freelance pieces

 

Jill Schildhouse 

it’s a hustle It’s absolutely a hustle. A lot of this industry is who you know. And so, you know, it gets easier over the years because you develop these relationships with editors, you develop relationships with other freelancers. And those other freelancers can pass you work or tell you about opportunities. You know, when editors move from one publication to another, you know, if you have a great relationship with them, they’ll bring you along to the new publication, and hopefully, you retain your work at the old publication. So that’s how the business, you know, builds and grows. When you’re just breaking in, you know, it’s a hustle both ways, but it’s, you know, a big hustle when you’re first breaking in, there’s a lot more resources now than there used to be though. You know, Twitter is a goldmine of editorial opportunities, a lot of editors in there will post, you know, calls for pitches or that they’re looking for new writers. There are resources out there that people create, where they aggregate all of those pitch requests and writer requests into a, you know, weekly newsletter that you can pay to have access to, it’s very affordable, like a few dollars a month. And, you know, if you don’t have time to go and do that exhaustive search, you know, every day or week, that’s how you can find out about some things. And then there’s, you know, there’s different Facebook groups and you know, different social media avenues where you can find out about work as well.

 

Lexie Smith 

So you teed up perfectly to a platform I wanted to talk about today, and admittedly, I do not remember how I landed on your substack list, Gil. But okay, guys, this is a platform we have not talked about, on the show substack, in my opinion, is becoming a really pivotal tool and resource for the media world at large. And I think really from all sides for businesses, publicists, journalists, the works and let me I pulled up like what is substack from Wikipedia. So real quick for everyone listening. substack is an online platform that provides publishing payment analytics and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters. It allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to subscribers. So I bring this up again, because that’s how I somehow landed on your substack. That’s how I knew you’d be great for the show. I’d love to hear your experience or your perspective on this platform and how you utilize it within your career.

 

Jill Schildhouse 

I’m so glad we’re talking about this, because substack is literally my favorite topic. So I launched my substack late last year. So it’s been about a year that it’s been out. And it has proven to be the most amazing marketing tool that I’ve ever created for myself. It does so many things for me. So first of all, I send out a substack newsletter each week with my calls for pitches. So I will let my subscribers know that I’m working on this article for travel and leisure. This article for women’s health, you know, this article for brides magazine, whatever it is, and I will give them very specific instructions as to what I’m looking for in that pitch and what I’m not looking for, and how to pitch me. I have a subscriber base right now of 3400 publicists. And it’s really amazing because we’re I used to have to go out and try to find sources and use websites like Haro Help a Reporter Out and wouldn’t get a lot of quality responses in return, I am now getting highly targeted responses to my substack requests. So I’ll send out a sub stack and I will get hundreds of emails within the first hour or two. You know, they’re not always all on point, but much more so than any of the other platforms that I’ve used over the years. And then within that sub stack, I can also you know, include links to all of my recently published articles. So that helps cut down on you know, some of the emails, you know, what is this article gonna publish, which is every publicists favorite question, and one that freelancers often don’t have an answer to because we aren’t privy to the production schedules, at the outlets that we freelance for. So you know, all of that information is included right there. And then it’s also a great marketing tool, you know, I’m able to market the one on one sessions that I do my top tier consulting, business, you know, and any other cool things that I’m working on, and it’s been a great way to establish, you know, a rapport with some of my subscribers and the publicists that I work with. I share tidbits about my life. You know what’s going on? And then I also share a lot of industry insights in there as well. You know, talking about, you know, trends that I’m seeing or, you know, giving different tips and tricks to how to work with media and how to get more coverage.

 

Lexie Smith 

And I have to share. So we’re recording this later, guys, just for those listening for context, then I recorded the rest of this season. And actually, I’m really glad we are. And this is feeling like it’s meant to be because if you’re reading current headlines, Twitter right now is this big mystery of what’s going to happen with the platform. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just go Google what’s what’s going on. And that’s relevant because Twitter traditionally has been such a great resource. And one way that publicists can maybe connect to journalists and start to get to know them. Well, we don’t know what what is going to happen to Twitter. So I think more than ever, I’m really, really grateful that substack exists to all the points you just pointed out, and it’s kind of it’s fun. I’m on a few different journalists, sub stacks. And to your point, I feel like I get this inside peek about their life. There’s this other guy, this other gal I follow who has gave birth within like two weeks of me. So obviously, that’s a great connection. I’ve never even pitched her. But I opened her emails, because I feel very anyways, I digress. So where I’m going with this is you mentioned, you got hundreds of responses, right, and here’s where that pin I put in earlier, we’re going to bring back that pin, hundreds of responses is very overwhelming, at least in my opinion. So who gets opened, who gets read who makes it through the clutter from all those hundreds of responses. So if it’s a

 

Jill Schildhouse 

response to my direct call for pitches, so not unsolicited, you know, emails. So one of the things that I do is I tell my subscribers what subject line to use. And that’s not so I can like be a control freak, it’s because when I go to write that article, which might be the next day, and it might be three weeks from now, I literally typed that subject line into my own inbox and my email and everything that populates is what I choose from. So if you didn’t use the right subject line, you’re not going to get included, you know, and when I review those pitches, from there, I start going through the pitches from the earliest ones that were sent. And I always try to encourage publicists, you know, I’ll give a deadline. And it might be, you know, a week from now, but I always try to encourage publicists to pitch as early as they can. Because as I receive pitches, I’m starting to pull information. So whether it’s a source that I need to quote somebody, or whether I’m doing a product, you know, gift guide, or product roundup or I need, you know, 20 pairs of leggings or whatever. You know, I’m pulling from what was submitted first, and once I find my expert, or reach my limit of products that I’m including, I’m done, I’m done looking through the emails, so you will always really want to pitch as soon as possible.

 

Lexie Smith 

Really great tip. I, you brought up another kind of question. You had talked earlier about some some of the importance of cultivating a relationship with a journalist. My question is that, how do you go about breaking into that relationship? So with someone like you, is it sending you said unsolicited email? Is it you know, following your substack and responding there? Is it stalking you and showing up at your house note? That’s a joke terrible? Don’t do that? What are some ways that people in this world where there’s a lot of noise? And you know, how can they make that first? Introduction? Standout? Yeah, I

 

Jill Schildhouse 

think I think there’s any number of ways and what’s going to resonate with any particular journalist is kind of a guess, right? I mean, we’re all individual people and have different preferences. Emails are always a great option. You know, I can’t speak for every journalist, but I pretty much read all of the emails that come in, you know, to me, and then I make a decision if I’m going to use it, if I’m going to save it for later or if it’s not, you know, relevant, and I delete it. If you’re not making any headway with email, sub stacks are an amazing tool. And so as social media, I have a lot of publicists who follow me on Instagram, and you know, they’ll comment when I’m, you know, on a trip, you know, that looks amazing, or I’d love to stay there or, you know, share your itinerary when you get home. And I start to recognize their names, you know, when they’re engaging with me on social or on my sub stack, there’s a way for them to comment on substack. And so I start to recognize names and when I see those names pop up in my inbox, I’m more more likely to go, Oh, I know this name and I have a positive association with it. And let’s see what they have to say today. So I think there’s a number of ways to get on a journalist’s radar, you just might have to try a few different ways until you get a response.

 

Lexie Smith 

And to your point, you’re, you’re you have no idea how perfectly you’ve teed up every single like where I want to edit this interview, you’re like, everyone has an individual preference, right? As a journalist. Yes, guys, everyone has an individual preference. And if you are a longtime listener of the show, you know, I like to ask members of the media this this question. And so what we’re going to transition now into Gil is a little bit of rapid fire about your personal preferences. So no, right or wrong answer just short. Yes. No, maybe. So this that, whatever. So, are you ready?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

I’m ready. Let’s do it.

 

Lexie Smith 

Okay, so do you accept low pitches? Yes. Do you prefer to be pitched by publicists, businesses, or doesn’t matter?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

I prefer to be pitched by publicists. But I do get pitches from businesses directly, I just find that they are sometimes more difficult to work with because they don’t understand all the nuances.

 

Lexie Smith 

Is there a day of the week? Do you prefer to be pitched? Nope, I don’t care. Okay. Social media pitching yea or nay?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

Don’t pitch me via social media. If you for some reason cannot find my email address somewhere and want to DM me on social, I’ll respond and give it to you. But save the pitches for emails?

 

Lexie Smith 

Do brands or products need to have affiliate links set up to be featured?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

About 95% of the case? Yes.

 

Lexie Smith 

Okay, super helpful. So last question, before we kind of transition into our classic close out is I want to make sure we take a minute to reiterate the different ways that people can work with you as a consultant. So again, high level, what are some of those services that you offer?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

So in terms of the journalism side of my business, I’m always open to pitches, you know, you can check MK RAC, or you can sign up for my substack to see who I’m writing for these days, and what type of assignments I’m writing so that you can you know, really zero in on the right niche for me in the right angles. As far as working with me on a consulting basis. Top tier consulting is accepting new clients. We have a ton of different sessions, we have sessions that will do with the entire agency. That is all your questions answered. And it’s literally like what we just did a rapid fire. The whole agency is sitting there just asking us questions on everything from personal preferences to outlet information to affiliate, you know, Link questions. So those are really fun to do. But we also offer customized sessions that are more focused on specific topics. So we offer a pitch perfecting strategy session where we will workshop the pitches that you’re sending out and help improve the success rate of your landing landing coverage with them. We have our very popular become a journalist’s BFF session where we help with networking and relationship management will help with press packages, press trip invites, and also guide you on hosting the perfect virtual or in person media event.

 

Lexie Smith 

Lots of lots of fun options, where can people go to to connect with you and learn more about these these options?

 

Jill Schildhouse 

So you can learn more about that at top tier consulting.net. And you can also find our substack on substack. Just type in top tier consulting in the search bar.

 

Lexie Smith 

Perfect out now before I let you go, Joe, we talked a whole bunch about pitching today, but we haven’t gotten to what we can find you sipping so what is your favorite beverage alcoholic or non alcoholic? Of course, um,

 

Jill Schildhouse 

I am a sucker for a dirty martini. Especially if I’m like having a steak. It’s just the perfect pairing for me.

 

Lexie Smith 

Okay, this I don’t know if this is something I should admit, because it probably makes me not cool. I don’t think I’ve ever had a dirty martini.

 

Jill Schildhouse 

You need to have one they’re delicious. It needs to be vodka martini not gin. And if you’re into blue cheese, blue cheese stuffed olives are like a game changer.

 

Lexie Smith 

Okay, it always it seems so I have like a sexiness city. sophisticated image when you say say a dirty martini. Maybe I’ll add that to my I need to not maybe I need to I need to check that one off

 

Jill Schildhouse 

of like Life is like do you like salty savory type drinks. Yeah, I think you’d enjoy it. Okay, okay.

 

Lexie Smith 

Oh, All right. Oh, and I’m laughing I’m gonna call this out our producer of the show. Kaylee, who’s always guys on the back end here just said she hasn’t either. So oh, well after like have a virtual Martini date.

 

Jill Schildhouse 

Sign me up. I’ll be there.

 

Lexie Smith 

There we go. I love it. Okay, well, Joe, thank you so much, you guys, you’ve just got just a taste of the brilliance that Jill is I highly encourage you to reach out to her and explore how you can work with her. But until next time, we’ll see you on the pigeon and sipping podcast. Hey guys, if you are enjoying the pigeon and sipping podcast, please do me a huge favor and leave a review wherever you are listening. If you want to connect with me to learn more about the PR bar Inc. You can do so on Instagram at the PR bar underscore Inc. Or you can check out my website at the PR bar inc.com Cheers