52 Comms Mixup video 7: Liz (Pope) Schmidt
Pitching is the most basic, and yet most important, discipline for a communicator to master. IMO, at least. Because people who know how to pitch and do it well know how what it takes to build relationships and tell stories. And if you strip off all the bells and whistles, isn’t that what we as communicators are really trying to do?
Ok, yes, make money too. But you can make money by building relationships and telling stories. That leads to third-advocacy — the most trusted form of marketing today according to Nielsen — I could go on. But I digress…pitching was one of the reasons I asked Liz Schmidt to come on 52 Comms Mixup. Because, if you didn’t know now you know, Liz can pitch. She understands how to research a target, tell a simple, yet effective story and make it easy the pitch recipient to participate.
Liz shared some valuable pitching best practices when we chatted last week. And she told me what it’s like working with Sarah Evans at Sevans Strategy, what her favorite TV show is (Law and Order — all of them), her favorite sport (outdoor activities) and why she’s got a passion for PRSA. Check it out below.
Questions
- You work at Sevans Strategy with Sarah Evans (#journchat founder and PR thought leader). What has that experience been like working for a startup agency and how did you get to know Sarah?
- You wrote one of the best PR pitches I’ve seen recently. Actually, you sent it to my #pr20chat co-moderator Heather Whaling, but she shared it with me. One of my favorite parts about it was how you provided sample tweets and Facebook posts making it easy for your audience to easily share the client’s story. Pitching is a hot topic – Can you give us your top 3 pitch tips?
- Ok, you can learn a lot from someone’s Facebook info page. I see we both are Law and Order fans. Your favorite L&O series? And your fave athlete is Greg Norman? Story there? And you live in Denver – I’m a huge Broncos fan even though I live in Kansas City. You?
- The last question is always reserved for you to tell us about a cause you care a lot about. What’s your passion?
Who am I?
I'm a business communications consultant at Fleishman-Hillard. I used to call myself a PR professional, but I don't use that term anymore because people hear PR and they think only media relations.We do a lot more than that at Fleishman-Hillard Kansas City (FHKC). I specialize in social media, but am trying hard to brush up on my measurement and analytics. Every strategic consulting conversation should start with your business goals and how communications can help you reach them. My motto: "Your brand is what your customers say it is." 
