5 Tips to Help Clients Ace Interviews
Also, will I see your face at my gift guide event next week?
Joni Sweet is a seasoned writer, editor, and content strategist with 13+ years of media experience. In this newsletter, Joni reveals her current assignments and insider tips to help PR professionals sharpen their pitches, avoid rookie mistakes, land coverage for their clients, and build stronger relationships with writers. Get ready for candid advice, a touch of sass, and secret strategies to make your pitches stand out.
Hi friends!
To say September was busy is the understatement of the year.
I filed ~20 stories, interviewed 14 incredible experts, took 2 in-person meetings with long-time PR friends (such a treat!), signed several new clients (including a big-name glossy travel mag!), and had my calendar filled with Flash Consulting sessions almost every week.
I also managed to squeeze in a quick trip to Philly to immerse myself in art and see Sigur Ros play with the Wordless Orchestra. I love Philadelphia—this city is the good time girl of the East Coast.
So if you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from me, well, now you know. But I’m back, baby! And I’ve got a tip sheet you can share with all your clients to help them shine in their next media interview. Trust me when I say it’s good—when I shared these tips on LinkedIn, the post got more than 1,200 likes & 65 reposts in less than 2 days.
Oh, and a very special invitation for an upcoming event!
🎁 You’re invited: Holiday Gift Guide Pitching Workshop w/ Joni Sweet & Amanda Lauren
I’ve teamed up with another supremely talented writer, Amanda Lauren, to offer a holiday gift guide pitching workshop on Oct. 8 at noon ET (9am PT), and you’re invited!
The top publications are already decking their digital halls with gift guides—and we want to help you get your clients featured! We’ll be answering all your burning questions about what catches our eye at Forbes and other publications we write for, tips on how to make your pitch stand out in writers’ perpetually crowded inboxes, and insider advice on crafting the perfect submissions. And of course, we’ll let you know just how many follow-ups is too many.
You’ll have the chance to submit questions ahead of time and ask even more Qs on the spot during our ask-us-anything session.
Mark your calendar for Tuesday, Oct. 8 at noon ET (9am PT)!
This event is exclusively for paid subscribers to *both* of our Substack newsletters. Even a 1-month subscription is enough to get you a spot, so the most you’ll need to pay to attend is $17 total. We think we’re worth it—and we promise to make it worth your while.
Please sign up here. We can’t wait for a little face time with you all!
Need a little help upgrading your subscription? This guide can walk you through it.
Let me help you out
Feeling like you're pitching into a black hole? I get it. PR can be seriously frustrating when you’re not getting feedback from journalists.
Don’t just guess what might work—get the answers you need to make informed, impactful decisions in a Flash Consulting session.
Whether you need affiliate marketing advice, media strategy help, or just someone to tell you why your pitches are not landing, I’m here to give you the honest insights you’ve been missing. Book a Flash Consulting session today.
Lindsay Herr, account executive at the Fiske Group, recently booked a Flash Consulting with me. Here’s what she says about the experience:
After my flash consult with Joni, I walked away with key action steps that I could immediately implement. Joni didn't hold back any valuable insights, strategies, and feedback that could be productive and fruitful in supporting my clients. The guidance was tangible and action-oriented, which allowed me to pinpoint specific, quick strategies to improve client communication plans and strengthen connections between media and journalists. Joni is practical, warm, straightforward, goal-oriented, and truly wants to tailor the flash consulting experience to your needs, questions, and biggest pain points. I would 10 out of 10 suggest these sessions with Joni! —Lindsay Herr
(Psst… if you’re a paid subscriber, you get a discount on this! Email me for the code!)
Share these interview tips with all your clients
If you work in PR, you already know the effort that goes into media training. You work with your client to strategize their messaging, boost their confidence answering sensitive questions, and develop compelling soundbites the media can’t resist quoting in their stories.
But sometimes, it’s the most basic things that trip up even the best-trained experts. I’ve interviewed thousands of experts throughout my years as a journalist, and I’ve seen many make the same preventable mistakes over and over again. Mistakes that fail to earn an expert a spotlight in a story—or sometimes even a presence at all.
Let me help.