How do you broaden your influence? How do you get exposure with local and national media? Where do you start? Betsy Helmuth joins this episode of the Wingnut Social podcast to share exactly how she broadened her reach—and how you can too. If you’re ready to 10x your influence, this is the episode for you. 

Betsy is the owner of Affordable Interior Design and a nationally celebrated interior designer. She can transform modest spaces into beautiful environments—on a budget. She’s appeared on The Today Show, HGTV, DIY Network, CBS, NBC and in dozens of magazines and newspapers. She heads up AID academy and wrote the book Affordable Interior Design. She also hosts an interior decorating podcast. 

• [2:53] All about Betsy Helmuth

• Affordable Interior Design

• Episode 194: How to Rewire your Mindset

Betsy has been on TV—almost from day one. She loves all things TV. It’s the language she speaks. If you want to get on tv, it helps to be in a place where there’s a ton of media. But if you’re in smaller towns, the bonus is that there’s less competition. News and media outlets constantly need content. They’re looking for stories. But most people approach them the wrong way.

Betsy emphasizes that you need to come to them with “A fresh slice of lemon pie.” When you bite into it, it needs to be refreshing and delicious yet creamy and decadent. You need to give the media something timely and fresh and you can’t make them do the work. You can easily get to anyone’s mailbox through a Google search. Show up in that mailbox with a baked pie. How do you do that? 

Here are a few tips to craft a pitch that your local media will want to gobble up: 

1. Become familiar with the outlet. They want to know you understand them.

Betsy cautions that you have to be prepared to spend hours on this and never get a response. Be prepared to pitch repeatedly. Be prepared to get the door slammed in your face many times. But when you finally hit it, it gives you legitimacy in your client’s eyes for years to come. How do you reach out? What do you say? Listen for all of Betsy’s tips!

Betsy cannot stress this enough: Don’t write a book hoping to make money. If you do make money, you are one of the rare few. She sees her book as the shiny version of a business card. It helps people get to know you. It lends credibility to your expertise in the space. Think of it as a key that can open some doors. It can introduce you in a new way. But now that self-publishing is so popular, writing a book isn’t so special anymore. 

She points out that there are so many other ways to be relevant—like hosting a podcast. You can start a podcast covering your core ten principles and you still get visibility. According to Betsy, you should “Choose what comes organically to you. I love to write and I love to present. Those things are things that fill me up whether or not I make money, whether or not they get me anywhere.” 

Give something fresh that’s you. Do you have anything new or innovative to share in the space? She states that life is too freaking short. Don’t do what other people say legitimizes you. Do what feels valuable to you and the people you want to reach. Are you still achieving what you want to achieve? Don’t run anyone else’s race. Betsy notes “The time and energy that it takes to make something good is not worth it if it’s not authentic.”

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