KO Your Brand

Katrina Owens (00:01.48)
What's up guys. Welcome back to another episode of KO Your Brand, the personal branding podcast for fame ready entrepreneurs. I'm your host Katrina Owens, top personal branding and public relations expert. And I am so glad you're listening to this because that means you likely listened to the rough audio on last week's episodes when I was traveling in Hawaii and like did my podcast episodes from my mini microphone.

really was not super proud of myself for the audio results on that one. But honestly, we did our best. And I feel like, like I just had to post those episodes anyways and share them A to stay on schedule B, because if you've been listening for a long time, you know that we're releasing perfectionism and C, because the content, the content in those episodes was actually so good.

And I just had to like let go of all the audio files out there that are going to be like, my God, I can't believe there's another like, you know, another, you know, podcaster wannabe recording on, mini microphones, delivering a terrible audio experience. And I'm just saying this all to get it out there to release it. So if you did listen to those episodes and you were like, yeah, Katrina, not your best.

Awareness, I know, but I do hope you love the content because I do think that the content in those episodes is actually like quite important. So thanks for sticking with me. I am back in my home studio today at home. The last couple of days since I'd been back from Hawaii were actually pretty rough. I had been quite sick for about a three day period. Constant headache.

threw up every single thing that entered my body, exhausted, and I got through it. But yeah, it was a bit rough. And now I feel like I'm back. feel like my battery is almost at 100 % in terms of my health. I definitely still feel like I'm getting a bit winded fast. I was vacuuming yesterday, not like the whole house, but we have one of those little green machines.

Katrina Owens (02:25.368)
where you can like kind of steam clean like your couch and your carpet. And since we have dogs, our couch gets a bit gross. So I was doing that and wow, took a lot out of me. But I guess that was the sign that I wasn't quite 100 % yet. you know, I feel like I'm ready to be back energetically and really excited to be on today's episode. I'm wearing a full denim jumpsuit if you're watching on YouTube.

I know the last couple episodes I've been like sweats, comfies, makeup minimal, and I think that's okay. I think that's okay because I wanted how I look to not be a barrier to this podcast because a lot of the time I'm recording this podcast on a weekend or I tend to do the episodes when I don't have a lot of like social stuff happening in a day because that means I can really bring my all to the episode.

But what that means is I'm not usually getting dressed up and doing my makeup and hair every single day. So that's kind of the trade off. But you know what? Tonight, Gabriel and I, my partner, we are going to a fancy dinner at Montana's, if you're familiar. It's like a chain barbecue restaurant here in Canada. I got a gift card from Shoppers Drug Mart for spending a certain amount of money. And I was like, hey, babe.

gonna take you out on a nice date. So Montana's it is. So I'm in a full denim jumpsuit. I did my hair and makeup because I basically said, okay, if we're gonna leave the house, then I will, you know, look, I'll look the part and then I will record my podcast episodes at the same time. So can like bring a little bit more like glamour to this thing. I actually like really envy some of my friends like Lexi who has her

Rich as a Mother podcast, Britney, Rich Girl Cult, all these women that like look so good in their podcast clips. And then there's me like sweatshirt hair up or hair down and looking a bit rough. So hoping that I can regain myself here. So let me know what you think in the comments. Like I do have I hope that you can't actually like see it. You can probably notice on my hands the like

Katrina Owens (04:52.638)
remaining spray tan that needs to just be exfoliated off my body, but I'm holding on to it for like one more day and just like using body makeup wherever I can. These are the behind the scenes things of a personal brand you guys I know like, if you really came for the content, this is probably not what you were expecting. But hey, this is the personal side of the personal brand. We talked about this last week, right? Our personal life is not our personal brand. But if you use it strategically,

You use these little anecdotes strategically, that's where the magic happens. And so just like giving you a little peek behind the curtain, know, love a comfy sweatsuit situation, love a spray tan, absolutely love. And now that it's springtime, this is when I get into my every two week routine when it comes to the spray tan, because you will not catch me with a pale leg.

and a short over the summer. So it's still quite rainy and cold here in Vancouver, actually. So the shorts probably won't be coming out for a while, but I do have an event tomorrow. It's actually a very special event. I have to give it a shout out. It is a fashion show for Heather. My dear friend and marketing coordinator who edits this podcast is having her very first, her very own fashion show that she's hosting. And I'm so excited to go. like.

I've had to strategically pick out my outfit to make sure that where my spray tan is like the worst right now isn't exposed. So the outfit looks good in my mind. I'm hoping when I go to try it on, it's the same vibe. So wish me luck with that one. But so proud of Heather, really cannot wait for her fashion show tomorrow. I know I'm going to get misty eyed at some point. I'll do a recap episode. I think that would be very cool. Maybe we should have Heather like on here and

and talking about the fashion show. I don't really do guess, but that one feels like it could be a really cool conversation because Heather and I are obviously so close. anyways, let me work on that in the background. Heather, tell me what you think about that when you go to edit this and let's get into today's episode, which are the top three public relations opportunities you need to be securing if you want to grow a profitable personal brand. So you might say,

Katrina Owens (07:12.888)
There's only three. There's only three. There are three types of opportunities that I really believe work together. And so this episode is going to be diving into all three, why you need them, how to find them and how to leverage them and really how they all work together as a beautiful ecosystem, which allows you to open up new revenue streams, charge more for your services and really grow the profitable personal brand that I know you want to have since, I mean, you are listening to this podcast. So let's get into it.

Okay, so let's first start by defining public relations opportunities. So to me, a PR opportunity is anything that will give you brand awareness and brand authority. So I'm going to talk about the three ones that I think are so important, which are media features, speaking gigs, and podcasting. But that's not to say that there aren't so many more. So we're gonna dive into the top three that I have, but...

A public relations opportunity could also be like a collaboration. maybe it's somebody that you decide to like do a blog swap with or a brand partnership with, like you run a joint event or, you know, things like that. like PR really goes so broad. If you listened to one of the earlier episodes that I did, my God, Dexter just.

freaking barged his way into the studio right now. I actually was about to yell, because I thought it was going to be Gabriel coming in here, but it's Daxter. You heard that we were recording, right? And so you had to come. OK, let me just get re-situated here. OK, OK, I know. Wow, special guest. Can't do a podcast episode without him. Let's give him a sec to get comfy.

Katrina Owens (09:03.534)
Okay, here we go. I gotta shut this door one sec.

Katrina Owens (09:15.584)
Okay, so where were we? Okay, so I was telling you all about public relations opportunities and PR opportunities really are anything where there is a relationship at the center of it. So it could be, you know, a community partnership, you doing some not-for-profit work, charitable initiatives, it could be the relationships you have with your clients.

you know, media relations is something we're going to get into, but influencer relations. are there influencers or people with a certain level of stature or clout in your industry or community that you can partner with? So it really goes so deep. And I think all public relations opportunities are great, but when I'm putting together a strategy for my clients or when I'm advising my clients on the opportunities they should be going after,

I really focus on the top three and then everything else is gravy.

I'm going to say that one more time just so we can cut out that calendar noise. When I'm advising clients on building a profitable personal brand, using public relations to really increase their brand awareness and brand authority, I focus on the top three. Media features, podcast interviews, and speaking gigs. And everything else, it's all gravy. But if you really want to grow a profitable personal brand, we've got to start with the three.

So let's get into each one and why they are so important.

Katrina Owens (10:58.926)
And we're just going to close the tab that has the calendar open in it.

Katrina Owens (11:09.656)
for here. Okay, you're here. Okay, we're not gonna lick though. Okay. I know. Okay, we're recording and you're not gonna lick me either.

Here, how's that? Is that comfy?

No, we're not. OK.

Katrina Owens (11:35.918)
Okay, you ready? Okay, so let's dive into it. So let's start with media features. So a media feature to me is any feature in a traditional publication. So this could be a radio interview, a TV segment or feature, could also be a feature in a print or online publication. And yes, to me, industry publications do count here too, because as B2B business owners,

there's not always the opportunity to highlight your personal brand in a traditional media publication. So I'd love to use the example of myself here. TV is something that I think is so important to every single personal brand. But the content that I cover as Katrina, public relations for personal brands expert, that doesn't really translate into a television segment because.

When you want to go on TV, you really need to be able to have a topic that speaks to a broad audience, is widely applicable, is interesting and relevant to that audience because TV is generally hyper local. So as Katrina Owens out here in Vancouver, PR for personal brands expert, my expertise doesn't really translate to a television audience. That's not to say there aren't different industry shows or

you know, even online. I'm thinking about like YouTube shows or more like niche, niche publications or outlets that might cover a more business audience. Obviously there is BNN, the Business News Network, but even still, Business News Network usually appeals to a more corporate audience, a more executive high level audience. So,

When it comes to TV in particular, I love getting people on TV, but it's just not always an applicable format, depending on where you're at in your business. So that's what I mean when I talk about media features. It really is broad, but it's really anything that includes a traditional or industry publication or outlet.

Katrina Owens (13:51.582)
The traditional thought is that media features like this are meant to build your brand awareness. So I think I've mentioned this on a previous episode, but a lot of the time people think, hey, if I get a feature in Vogue magazine, most of the time that's now Vogue online. That means my product based business is going to see an increase in sales. I'm going to get so many hits to my website. I'm going to see so much success is going to transform.

my business because of this feature. And that's because we still think that media features are for brand awareness. But that's just not how it works anymore. And this is why I think a lot of publicists and PR agencies actually lead people in the wrong direction. And that's why I think a lot of the time business owners are unhappy with the results that they've received from the agency or publicist that they've worked with. Because they've been sold this idea that

hey, if I get featured in a media publication, that means I'm going to see all of these tangible results. For me, and especially for personal brands generally, media features are actually for generating brand authority. So when you are featured in a traditional or industry publication, you are not using that feature to generate new leads.

you are using it to reinforce to your current audience why you are the expert that you are and showing them that, I'm an expert. Look, I've just been featured in this publication, which designates me as such. These media features are the external validation that you need to show your audience why you are the expert that you are and why you're worth the higher price or premium price point that you want to charge. That's why they're important.

If you're that product based business owner and your product is featured in Vogue, the goal of that feature is not to generate brand awareness. It really is to say to your current audience, the ones that you're hoping will pull the trigger and buy from you. You're saying to them, my product has just been featured in Vogue magazine. I've got the Vogue stamp of approval go by. And once you can understand that that's the purpose,

Katrina Owens (16:15.092)
of media features, it's really going to change how you use them and how you view them. And this is why I feel so strongly that personal brands are not a strong fit for traditional agencies and publicists is because especially when you're growing a personal brand, it's actually really easy to get quoted in traditional media. But to see the results that you want to see, whether that's thousands of dollars in sales, thousands of hits to your website, thousands of new followers,

media features are not going to drive those results like that anymore. So the more that you can like come to terms with that, the more you're going to see success using traditional media features because you know how to use them. So a really great example of this actually is last week I received an email from a company called Zoom Sphere. So Zoom Sphere is a social media management tool and they have a blog in which

They obviously write a ton of different content that pertains to branding, social media, all of that. The audience that they're targeting through that content is like chief marketing officers, agency owners, that type of audience. They were doing an article for their website on brand voice development. So they reached out to me to provide a quote. Provided one, the article went live. I'm not expecting that people are going to see my quote.

on that article and feel so curious to like go investigate my website and me and then reach out and work with me. I mean, that would be fucking best case scenario. And to me, that would be bonus. That would be like the cherry on top. But the point of that article is that I'm now going to share that piece of content with my audience and say, hey guys, I was recently featured chatting about brand voice development with Zoom sphere. This is why I believe brand voice development is so important.

Look, I've got this external validation from this very credible software and company that's positioning me as the expert. So that really is the purpose of those opportunities. I mean, the same goes for TV, right? Like how many of us are turning on our local news and watching all of the television segments each and every morning? I'll wait for your response. How many of you? Please give me a show of hands.

Katrina Owens (18:38.614)
No, all you can hear in the background is Dexter snoring because that is really like the reality of TV these days. So going on TV is still not going to be that magic maker for your business. Now, this isn't to say that nobody watches TV anymore. It's just a very certain type of audience. And one of my clients goes on TV quite frequently, a couple of times a month to chat about her area of expertise. And she

always sees a lift of about 100 to 200 300 followers every time she does a TV interview, which is so awesome. That helps lift her brand authority as a personal brand because now she gets to show all these different clips of her speaking on TV. She wants to speak at more events. Well, she has all of these television segments showing her speaking authoritatively on a topic, but there's also this external validation of her.

as a personal brand and the type of content and insights that she delivers. We think someone's being interviewed on TV for their area of expertise, they must be an expert at what they do. So media features are all for your brand positioning. And when you really understand that that's what they're for, it's gonna change everything for you. So some different places that you can find media features or opportunities.

Pretty much any publication website will have a way that you can either contribute or submit a piece. You can do it the old fashioned way too and look up all the journalists who are actively writing for that publication and you can pitch them directly. But there is an easier way. And I'm gonna disclose this information here because if you're listening to this, you are a podcast listener and I freaking love you for this.

This is information that I typically only share with my direct clients because, know, industry secrets. I don't want to give it all away. What's the... Why would you buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? I try to avoid doing that, but because you're listening to this and you've made it 20 minutes into this episode, you deserve to have this information. So if you're looking for traditional media features,

Katrina Owens (21:02.104)
There are couple online platforms that will allow you to get featured in major publications as an expert contributor or by offering a quote. And these are places like Quoted, QWOTED. There's another website called Featured. And then there's another one called HARO. H-A-R-O stands for Help a Reporter Out. So in each of these circumstances, different outlets...

have articles that they are looking to put together and they're looking for an expert to contribute a quote to that piece. My clients have been featured in places like the New York Times, Forbes, Women's Health Magazine, Yoga Journal, a slew of different publications all because they've started to pitch using these platforms. I recommend creating pla...

at least on featured and quoted, Harrow is like much more simplified. You actually just sign up with your email address and they send you all of the opportunities every single day, multiple times a day, I believe. And you get to root through it yourself to see if there are keywords. I recommend just doing like a Control-F and seeing if there's any personal branding, public relations. I mean, that's me. If you're a yoga teacher, I would do Control-F, Yoga Journal, or sorry.

If I was a yoga teacher, I would just do control F for yoga or wellness and see what articles are looking for experts in those spaces. So how it works on featured and quoted is a bit more simplified. You can actually set up a profile where you then associate keywords with yourself. So for me, obviously it's personal branding and public relations. And every time a journalist is looking for an expert to contribute to an article on personal branding or PR,

they put out a mass request and I have the opportunity to submit to that. That's how I've secured features in places like business.com, under 30 CEO, sites like that. And these are also really great for growing your backlinks and SEO to your website. So obviously like I've chatted, you know, here and there about the importance of having a personal brand website. And this is one of those pieces. So,

Katrina Owens (23:19.608)
having something that you can actually grow online real estate with. Backlinks are super valuable, especially when they're coming from places like, you know, business.com, MSN.com, New York times.com. These are websites that have amazing domain authority, which means that you're going to have your own website rank even higher, which is so important. We'll talk about SEO on another web or another episode as well. But SEO and PR really do go hand in hand. I mean, as

PR really goes hand in hand with every single marketing tactic. But that's another reason why you really want to grow the amount of times that you're quoted in different places. It just lifts and elevates all of your brand assets and makes your entire personal brand that much more powerful. So for most of my clients, I actually recommend not cold pitching journalists, just like Nilly Willy looking for their email address.

spending $500 a month on an email platform like Prowly, which gives you access to journalists contact information. I don't believe that the average personal brand needs that. I think you can find more than enough opportunities to get published and featured in articles by just using these platforms that are available to you for free, by the way. So Quoted, Featured, and Harrow, that's where I would really suggest you start looking if you're looking to find more traditional media features.

When it comes to TV, I think I should do a whole other episode on TV too, but when it comes to TV, it's about building the relationship with the local journalist as it is for radio. These are opportunities where you really need to have a contact and you can start to pitch and nurture that way. One of my clients that was on TV recently, she had just come out with a book. So there was a journalist or a TV anchor that she had found.

That was a really great fit for the content that she talks about in her book that aligns with her personal brand. So she pitched that anchor directly. She actually offered a copy of the book in return for an interview. And that's how that type of opportunity unfolds. So as you can see, it's all relationship building. It really is. It's not just like, hey, can I be on your show? It's making sure the interests align. It's making sure that

Katrina Owens (25:41.294)
the host or the anchor that you want to spotlight you is also interested in the content and has buy-in to the content and perspectives that you share. So that's how TV interviews really come about. Radio is kind of the same way. Radio is obviously, you know, kind of a dying breed. It's not something that I suggest a lot of my clients go on. Although one of my clients right now is lining up a radio interview with a station in New York City.

And so obviously that's an amazing brand authority building initiative. So radio is kind of case by case basis for me. I think radio can also be powerful if you're doing in-person events. So having like a street team, something to come out to your event and hype it up and share it with the audience that way. I really love radio for local reach, but to me really focusing on online publications, whether that's traditional media or industry features, that is how.

you are going to build your brand authority. And that's really the very first thing I suggest all personal brands looking to grow their brand using PR start looking at. In tandem with media features is podcasting. It's so funny because like people always feel like one of two ways. They think I really want to start going on more podcasts or I don't want to go on podcasts at all. Just put me on stage.

And I think we've talked about this briefly before, but if you want to start speaking on stages, you must start speaking on podcasts first. Unlike traditional media though, podcasts are really amazing way to build brand awareness. Because more often than not, when you go on a podcast, there is a social media application included with that. So what I mean by that is most podcasters that are really using their podcasts as a tool,

have an Instagram account or some sort of way of sharing those episodes with their audience, which allows you to be shared with the audience too. So for me, I've actually never done an in-person guest podcast before, although I would really love to. If you're someone that's listening to this episode and you're like, hey, I do all my podcast interviews in person, I would love to have you, call me, because that's an experience that I want to have.

Katrina Owens (28:03.092)
Most of the time, if you're guesting on a podcast, it's over Zoom and you get to do it from the comfort of your own home. And it's a really great way to get content of you speaking authoritatively into a microphone, being interviewed on your expertise. And that content is not only shared with your audience, but it's shared with the podcast host audience. And it's been a really cool journey for me actually, because...

I have found that a lot of the podcasts that I guessed on, I do end up pulling over some of their followers or their listeners to my platform, which is so awesome. And anytime I get a message from someone that's like, Hey Katrina, I found you on X, Y, and Z podcast. I'm like, yes, that means that I had an impact on that audience. And that is me growing my brand awareness.

What's also been really fascinating too are the relationships I've been able to build with podcast hosts. So a lot of the time people think that podcasting is kind of this one and done thing, but for me, the relationship gal, I really see podcast hosts as a way for me to form deeper relationships with people in my industry. So a lot of the times a podcast will actually lead to me speaking at an event.

or hosting an online event or master class or an Instagram Live. There's so many opportunities. Actually, you know what, this is happening in real time. Sorry, just gonna get my other slip.

Katrina Owens (29:37.878)
So last summer I was actually on a podcast. It was called the Accidental CEO Podcast. If you want to go listen, I actually have a Spotify playlist that has all of the podcast episodes I've ever done. You can go listen to all of them. And that's something I'm going to talk a little bit more about in a sec. Let me just get Dexter tucked in here so this blanket isn't looking so weird. Reposition myself now that there's two of us on this couch.

Is he gonna hate this? Guess we'll find out. So last summer I was on this podcast called the Accidental CEO podcast. Shout out to Nadia Salvatore. Heather, we're gonna look at that. I'm gonna look up that name so I can get it right.

Katrina Owens (30:30.784)
Natta Salvatore, okay. So last summer I was actually on a podcast called the Accidental CEO Podcast. So shout out to the host Natta Salvatore for having me on. After that podcast, about a week or two later, she had reached back out to me to say that she was putting together an online workshop with a couple different experts that she had interviewed on her podcast. So she wanted to include me. So I got to participate in an online masterclass that featured me,

and then two other experts in the marketing space. And we each had our own area of expertise and we each got to obviously benefit from building that email list together. We had about a hundred attendees come out to that event. So it was really, really fun to participate in and a great way to continue to build my personal brand in front of a new audience. I'm up here in Vancouver, Canada, obviously, a lot of the other...

experts that were on this panel with me were from different parts of the US. So that was really in the early stages of me growing this international personal brand. So I like to really give credit to that particular opportunity because it was one of the early things I did to start really expanding my brand awareness. And quite a few people in my audience today actually found me from that online panel. Now, it's been like a year later.

And Nada actually just reached back out to me to ask if I wanted to participate in like a resource bundle. So that's going to be coming out in a couple of weeks. I'll release more information on it when the time comes, but I essentially have the opportunity to contribute a resource to this bundle, which will be a ton of different resources from different experts. People have the opportunity to opt into that bundle, which brings people into my sales funnel.

So that's what I mean when I say podcasts are great for building brand awareness, especially when you as the personal brand get to build that relationship with a host. And that's why I don't believe in having a PR agency or publicist middle man the relationship. When I used to coordinate podcast interviews for my clients, when I used to offer done free public relations, I would organize the whole thing. So my client would actually...

Katrina Owens (32:49.704)
never have access to like the email conversations apart from like scheduling and that sort of thing, which really did not allow my clients to build their own relationships with the podcast hosts, right? It was me having the relationship, me being the gatekeeper, I would coordinate the opportunity, but there was no opportunity for like follow up collaboration, relationship building and all of that. So podcasting is so like, it's such a deep,

tool and that's what we forget. Some of us kind of scoff at it because we're like, what I'm going to like go record an interview on zoom and that's going to transform the trajectory of my business. Yes, yes, it really is the fastest way to start practice sharing your expertise out loud. We underestimate how challenging it actually is to answer questions about our expertise in real time. There are still some

questions that I'll receive on a podcast interview where I'm like, let me think about that for a second. Because when you're recording something live and in person, like there's no like, hey, let me Google that or like, hey, let me like throw that into chat GPT. So in a world that's becoming so driven by AI, you know, people are writing their captions, their email funnels, their website copy. It's all written at least in part with the support of AI.

Podcast interviews are really one of the very few ways you can show yourself to your audience as an expert and they can actually see you talking. That's why it's so powerful. The more that you can just get comfortable showing up on video, speaking out loud your expertise, the more you're gonna show your audience why you really are the highly paid expert that you want them to see you as. So that's why I feel so passionate about this tactic.

And that's why it really is such an important piece of building a profitable personal brand to me.

Katrina Owens (34:57.738)
No. Dexter, no. No.

Katrina Owens (35:09.422)
bundled up. There you go, you're bundled. You're a bundle. Dexter's a bundle.

Katrina Owens (35:22.478)
Okay, so let's talk about where to find podcast opportunities because this is one of the pieces that people are actually like, surprisingly, because to me, podcast opportunities are freaking everywhere. But I guess, you know, that's why I'm the expert on this stuff because I see them literally everywhere, you guys. So I wanna say number one for me right now is actually threads.

There are people posting, looking for podcast guests on threads all the time. And I didn't actually mention this earlier, but the same goes for media features. So I've actually had clients get on TV, get featured in Forbes, get speaking gigs, all by using threads and finding opportunities over there. Traditional agencies and publicists do not use threads to find opportunities. They don't know how, and they're not nimble enough.

That's why personal brands have the power to start to secure more and more opportunities for themselves because you can just dedicate like a 15 minute window every single day for you to scroll on threads, find a couple opportunities and you're off to the races. And actually, if you want to make your life even easier, shameless plug, my fame ready entrepreneur program, I do this for you. Every time I come across an opportunity on threads, I actually screenshot it.

and paste it in the community with all of the links. So if you didn't want to spend time looking on threads and you wanted the opportunities to just come to you, that's what the Fame Ready Entrepreneur program does. I have a section called Booked and Busy, where I literally every single week post new opportunities and give you access to the opportunities to go on podcasts and on stages and be featured in the media. So you don't have to do that work for you. So threads is a big one.

There are also a couple podcast specific platforms you can use matchmaker.fm and podchaser or not podchaser pod match Matchmaker.fm and pod match are two platforms. I believe that you have to pay to use both of them. But what I would do is Spend a little bit of time like using each one to its fullest

Katrina Owens (37:39.574)
and then end a subscription and go to the next one just to make sure you're not carrying on these subscriptions forever. Some of my clients have actually used PodMatch for a while and have seen really great success with that. So that's not a platform that I've actually personally ever used, but I do know a couple of my clients who are quite successful in their efforts find a lot of opportunities on that platform. that's a platform you can use as well.

There's also a ton of Facebook groups. So you can literally go onto Facebook and type in podcast guest, and it'll pull up a ton, like a literal boatload of groups dedicated to looking for face or for podcast guests on Facebook. And that's actually a tactic that I used early on in my business. When you are first getting started with podcasting, you really need to be realistic in the opportunities that you pitch yourself to.

If you're just starting out and you've never really been on a podcast before, or you've only been on a handful of them, or like you've only been on like your friends podcast, you really want to make the opportunities feel as like safe and the least intimidating as possible. So that means looking for shows that maybe don't have a super big audience. The hosts maybe are new to podcasting themselves. So the stakes are a bit lower because they're still figuring some things out.

And I find that Facebook groups are actually a really great way to find opportunities like that. So I recommend starting there if that is sounding like you and sounds like the starting place that you should be at. yeah, podcasting really is like a game changer. I have been on over 20 podcasts now and I would say I started my podcasting journey. I really started investing time into my podcasting journey as a guest.

last January. And so since then, I've recorded over 20 episodes on different podcasts. And I actually have a Spotify playlist. I'm going to link it in the show notes. I have my own Spotify playlist that has all of my guest features that I've ever done. And why I do this is because before I had my own podcast, people would actually frequently ask me if I had a podcast or where they could like listen to me talk about some of the topics I loved talking about.

Katrina Owens (40:04.972)
And so there was a handful of times when I would actually send out a link to the Spotify playlist and was like, here's a link of all the episodes I've ever done, know, choose your own adventure. I've done, you know, mindset podcasts. I've done podcasts focused in the beauty industry. I've done podcasts talking about how social media and PR go together. So I'm always talking about my very clear focus and expertise, but how it applies to all of these different

topics and industries. And that's what's really cool about podcasting too. It allows you to like be at the intersection of your expertise, right? So that's something I suggest you do as well. And that's a great segue into our very last PR opportunity, which is speaking gigs. Because if you're just getting started speaking, you need to have some sort of proof of you as a speaker.

And that's why podcasting is so important because it gives you that proof. I've seen a lot of speaking applications or summit applications that will actually say, if you don't have video of you speaking on a stage, please show us some videos of you talking like on a podcast. And that's where that playlist can come in handy because it becomes an archive of all of the experience that you have. So.

I know we talked at length about speaking gigs, where to find them, how to go after them a couple of weeks ago. So I don't want to spend a lot of time here today. You can go back and listen to that episode. It's called Speaking as a Marketing Tactic versus Keynote Career. So go back and listen to that if you want to know where to find them, how to get them. But speaking gigs really are that third piece of the pie when it comes to the top three opportunities that I believe personal brands need to invest in.

to see profitable personal brand growth. And that's because speaking does both things. It increases your brand awareness and your brand authority. Brand awareness, because every time you get on stage, especially when the audience is bigger and bigger, you're getting in front of different people who now will follow you, will listen to you, will form a connection with you. And that's such a powerful thing that really doesn't happen anywhere else. Some of the most

Katrina Owens (42:24.75)
powerful public speakers I've ever seen. Like, you know, they probably don't even know that they've had such an impact on me and how I view them. But I listened to them religiously. There were a couple speakers that I saw over when I was at the Rich Girl Cult Conference in Orlando in March. I followed them. I listened to their podcasts. I like intently watch all of the content that they put out because they really had an impact on

my perspective, my thoughts, and they really left their mark on me. And I think that that just goes to show how speaking can be such a powerful tool for brand awareness, really helps you grow your audience. The benefit too, you get to like hit a bunch of people at once. So for me, I'm speaking at larger and larger events this summer, both of the events that I have secured right now, the public events I should say, because your girl's got some private corporate events coming up, which is really cool.

I need to dedicate, again, I gotta like start keeping a list of all these like different topics I need to dive into, but I need to dedicate an entire episode to like corporate speaking gigs now that that's starting to become something I do more and more of. It's definitely less sexy than like getting on a great big stage in front of hundreds of people, but holy shit, is it a moneymaker and a game changer for you as a personal brand.

Like I said, this summer I'm going to get on some bigger and bigger stages, both of the events that I'm confirmed to speak at so far, and I just know that there's more in the pipeline, so we're not even going to count them all right now, it's only May. There are two audiences of 150 business owners. So I get to share my message with an engaged audience of 150 people. There are not many.

other tactics that do that. Sure, maybe you have a podcast that you released that has 150 downloads. We don't actually know that each and every one of those downloads was listened to in full, that the person wasn't doing like another thing like driving or working while they were listening to it. We just don't know all of that. But when you're at an event, you can pretty much guarantee that the majority of the people in that room are going to be engaged with you and actively listening, which is

Katrina Owens (44:45.534)
what a powerful position to be in. And then obviously speaking is great for building brand authority as well. As soon as you start showing up as a speaker, you are showing people that you're an expert in your field because event hosts and coordinators aren't just putting anyone up on that stage. They're really putting the experts in their field up there and really want to deliver value to an audience. And that's actually why

media features play such a big role in growing the profitability of your personal brand, because the more media features you can secure, the more it backs up and validates your presence as a personal brand. So that's just something I really want to to explain the crossover to. And that's why I focus on all three of these things, because as you can see, podcasting supports speaking, media features support speaking.

Podcast and media features go together as well. they all, it's an ecosystem. They all have an impact and an effect on how successful your personal brand is growing altogether. So if I ever have a client that only wants to focus on one thing, unfortunately not my ideal client, right? Because really I believe to make an impact, we've got to focus on a holistic approach to PR opportunities, which is this focus on all three. So.

How to find speaking gigs, obviously threads is a great one as I've mentioned. Also going to events in real life allows you to form relationships with event coordinators and hosts. Another way to do this is by starting to speak in online communities. So this is something I do a lot of too. About once a month right now, I'm doing my Mastering PR for Personal Brands presentation in other online communities.

which allows me to share my expertise from the virtual stage. And that's allowed me to really grow my own brand awareness as well. And I've actually had some people that I've spoken to in these communities become clients of mine because again, it's an ecosystem, they all work together. another thing, another way to find speaking gigs just because it's top of mind for me right now is a lot of events, not all of them.

Katrina Owens (47:04.514)
But the ones that are actively looking for speakers to fill their roster, they will have an application that you can fill out. If you go to their website, you can type in like speaking and see if they have some information on how you can become a speaker. Again, the Fame Ready Entrepreneur Program, which is my 12 month group coaching container, is a great way to find more and more of these opportunities because I collect them for you. So with that, that about wraps up today's episode all about the top

three types of PR opportunities you need to grow a profitable personal brand. Again, this is what I teach. This is what my clients see success with. I wanted to do a podcast episode on this just so you had a starting place. And if you do want to join my group coaching container and community, now you know exactly what that looks like. You know exactly how I will be helping you grow your personal brand. It's by giving you access to all three of these opportunities.

and providing you the coaching that you need to successfully secure them and how to leverage them to continue to grow your business. Because we all know we're all smart, rational business owners here, right? I've said that once or twice, but we are. And we know that one opportunity does not change the entire trajectory of our business. We must secure multiple opportunities time and time again that continue to compound and really grow our profitable personal brand over time. So.

If you're interested in doing that work alongside me, please head to the show notes to find out more information about the fame ready entrepreneur program. You'll find the link to get all of the details and you can just jump inside whenever you're ready. I will be here waiting for you. Please make sure you're following me on Instagram at Katrina Owens PR. You can also find me in LinkedIn. If that's what you're into, I'm Katrina Owens over there. Follow the podcast on Instagram at KO your brand. And I will see you all next week. Bye guys.