Five things to achieve more press
This week I’ve been updating the media page of past and present press I’ve received for Vanjo and for Van Jonsson Design, so thought it might be a good opportunity to take you through of how I achieve the press I did.
If you are pressed for the time (pun intended) then scroll down to see the five things to take away from this article.
Back when I ran Vanjo, I never paid for any press and although times have changed since I the late Noughties, and there are more avenues of social media, therefore more opportunities to showcase your own work - I’ll take you through what worked for me. From lingerie magazines to appearing on the BBC and to now being interviewed for an article for the Daily Mail and talking on pod casts.
Let’s start with Vanjo first - it launched back in 2005, and whilst I was in the planning stage I attended a business course with Glenwood business centre in Belfast. Then they made contact 3 months afterwards to check how it was going, and asked if I would like to do some press for them, the article would mention Vanjo and also promote that I went through the business course.
I believe there are two different types of press releases you need to make, one is aimed at the consumer and the other at the industry, targeting magazines that say shop owner would read rather than customers.
Making contacts
So my first article in the Belfast Telegraph involved me being asked a questions related to the course I did, stood next to a guy who had also been on the course but had started his business selling Hurley sticks (for those who don’t know Hurling is a game a bit like hockey only rougher and helluva lot faster). In the end the photographer shot us separately, I think his turning point was when I said “how about we hang a bra of the Hurley stick”.
After this article was printed, which to be fair wasn’t the most ideal piece about lingerie however it was my starting point. I contacted the writer, to thank him for the article and then, since I had made the contact I was then able to email again with updates, and asked him if he was able to either forward my email onto the right dept or provide me with an email. This is turn let me make a press contact which would help in the future.
I still do this now with every contact I make - I keep in touch say just to say thanks.
Press for industry
My first industry press was with Underlines, a lingerie specialised magazine. When I first started my brand I had only a holding page on my website, and got the brand into shops by ringing buyers and making appointments. Once I had my website up and running I releases a press release to lingerie magazines (a list of theses can be found in the “how to be a lingerie designer book” ) At the time of releasing I didn’t have a budget or contacts for a lingerie model, so I put the lingerie on myself, with strategic lens flare lightening, with the thought that in five years times I wouldn’t care that that I’ve been shot in my undies. !
This then led to other lingerie magazines getting in contact to write about Vanjo.
From completing the business course I did, I was able to claim free hours to help me out in an industry. I chose PR and worked with Cathy Martin PR company whereby she wrote a new press release, organised a photoshoot and photographer - who I would go onto to work with again for future campaigns. She also sent the press releases papers. This is turn led led to future articles.
Looking back, the thing I would change would be to remove the word ‘funky’ (that was written to describe Vanjo) from the release, I didn’t realise that journalists often lift previous press articles and re-write the copy or their article. So the word ‘funky’ was used to describe Vanjo for years.
List of lingerie magazines
The biggest help that press has been for the brand, was when knickers.blog got in contact to ask whether they could do a fit review. From this review a shop in the US got in contact and asked if they could stock Vanjo. Then from there the brand got stocked in two other places.
From having UK stockists and international stockists, when the BBC were looking at different designers in Northern Ireland to do design interviews I matched what they were looking for and I was approached to cover the lingerie design section.
I think that once you get rolling on one part of the press, another piece rolls on from there, like a snowball effect.
Press for business now
After closing down Vanjo, I began to write ‘How to become a lingerie designer” and I was also then sponsored to go work in Australia as a lingerie designer. I kept working on the book and released it first as a kindle version, and from that Lingerietalk.com got in touch asking if they could review it - at the time I had a blog as well, just blogging about lingerie (you couldn’t buy the book off there to start with) and again I kept in contact with lingerietalk.com and asked if I could write some lingerie articles for them, this in turn got my name out there to link to writing and my articles on a much more read blog than mine at the time.
Building relationships has gotten easier with Instagram and it was there I formed a friendship with sewheidi who is a wizard at Illustrator and now gives advice on freelancing and she approached me to talk on her podcast about lingerie design.
With writing a weekly (now fortnightly) blog about lingerie that has led to most of the website traffic leading to my website and enquiries from journalists requesting information for their articles including being asked for my opinion about bralettes in a Daily mail article.
What I also do is make a journalist’s life easier. I give them all the information they need and more. I make links back to my website and give them permission to lift images and text. Also links to any social media profiles I have. If you make it easy for them you are more likely going to get them to write about you, as they don’t ned the time to get further information from you.
Pressed for time Five things to take away
Build relationships/keep in contact with journalists
Keep producing work - you will get noticed eventually
Send out press releases, it’s quicker to get noticed when you talk about your brand.
Have a clear brand identity it’s easier for journalists to write about you.
Every magazine has a Editorial Calendar, which is (usually) a year’s worth of themes or what they are writing about. Some have this information on their website - other magazines you can ring up and request it, this is helpful to time your press releases and tailor them to what they are printing about.
For more information and to get the list of lingerie magazines (and fashion magazines) in one place. Please click below.
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