Creating an Annual News Cycle & Lookbook for Your Brand with PR Pro Carolyn Sutton

Episode 35 – Pitchin’ and Sippin’ – Creating an Annual News Cycle & Lookbook for Your Brand

Today we’re talking with PR Pro Carolyn Sutton, Founding President of Carolyn Sutton PR, a boutique public relations firm specializing in local and national lifestyle clients, and Brand Your Brand™, a content creation company that creates meaningful, styled content for clients and brands across the country. With more than 18 years of public relations experience, Carolyn and her team go beyond the typical newsroom for stories by utilizing social media, bloggers, brand partnerships, relationships, and both online and traditional media to ensure each client’s story is told on multiple levels. Her clients have appeared in outlets such as Good Morning America, Bon Appetit, Family Circle, InStyle,The Oprah Magazine, Parenting, Real Simple, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, and many more.

In today’s episode Carolyn walks us through annual news cycles, specifically how they work, and how you can create one of your own, what general lead times are in the world of lifestyle PR, she schools us on lookbooks, how she personally generates relationships with the media, and reminds us to never discount the power of local press.

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Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How Carolyn got her start at The Container Store in Dallas, which ignited her interest in organizing, targeting specific consumers, and opening stores, and then launching her own PR firm 12 years ago. Today she is the CEO of Carolyn Sutton PR and Brand Your Brand™.
• Tips on how to identify the proper media contacts and build long-lasting media relationships.
• How to cold pitch the media and land placement –  Carolyn herself got one of her clients into the New York Times recently through a cold pitch.
• What a news cycle is and how to create an annual news cycle for your company, brand, or client.
• She discusses lead times for print and digital within the lifestyle space. 
• She talk about her own firm’s pitching lead time and strategies – she explains what a lookbook is, how to create one, and how to use it with the media.
• Why you shouldn’t neglect your local press and media.