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Leveraging media exposure is certainly a huge factor in attaining success, allowing a business to reach a bigger audience, gain credibility, and build a strong brand. But getting the support of even one media outlet can be a bit challenging. William Morales sits down with the Founder of Appleseed Communications, https://www.unknowntounforgettable.com/ (Ashley Crouch), to share her secrets on forging media connections and starting an effective marketing platform, even using the simplest strategies. Ashley talks about writing the most engaging headlines, tapping the audience's emotions to find a selling point, and how media attention can transcend the social media scene.

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Listen to the podcast here:https://open.acast.com/public/streams/5ac8f9e2783f43430d7d467c/episodes/5fe86d8efc9be8439170c83d.mp3

Show 167: Building Your Brand Using The Media With Ashley Crouchhttps://appleseedcommunications.co/ (Ashley), thank you for being on the show. How are you?

Thanks for having me. I'm doing well.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Were you always entrepreneurial? Is this something that you were born with?

[bctt tweet=”There is no ceiling in what you can create and build. The buck stops with you.” via=”no”]

I was born into it because my parents both grew up in poverty and my dad determined to build a better financial future for his life and his future family. He realized that when you're an entrepreneur, there is no ceiling. You can create and build as much as you want and as much as you can, and the buck stops with you. He loved that ability to control his financial future. I was born into a family where he was building an insurance company, and he would take me to the office with him. I would sit at my own desk and I would take while you're out messages. Little did I know, he was grooming me into that mindset of you can do anything you put your mind to.

I believe that when you do put your mind to it, be consistent and persistent, as I would say at the end of every show, “Keep your momentum going, good things will happen.” That's what you did. Seeing your dad and following in his footsteps. How did you get into the visibility side of a business? What was it about that drew your attention?

I fell into that by accident. My first company was on the founding team of a fashion magazine in New York City. We were a team of five women working around the clock, nights and weekends, going nowhere fast. After a few years, we realized we needed a change. We needed other people to know and hear about us, and believe in us. I raised my hand. I had no background in PR or in media. I did not know a soul but I said, “I would love to run the rollout for this launch.” I didn't know what works and how to get in touch with anybody. For anybody reading this, you probably feel like you're at ground zero. That was me.

[caption id="attachment_2854" align="aligncenter" width="600"]https://peer2peerrealestate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/167P2PCaption1.jpg () Media Exposure: If you don't have a platform of your own, you have to leverage another platform to propel your business.[/caption]

I only knew what would get results or I got fired. I had that hunger motivation. You don't want to get fired in New York City. I started reaching out to people and long story short, we got 180 media features in eight months. We went viral around the world. We built the readership to over a million within a year. At that point, I realized that the media was an accelerator. For anybody reading this, a lot of times we've been groomed to believe that if you can hustle harder, the red carpet will roll out for you eventually. That is an utter myth. I am here to tell you that it does not have to be that hard. It is about doing the right actions and not more action. Media is that accelerating agent that gets you in front of the