Episode 138: On Managing PR and Starting a Software Business as A Female Founder, An Interview with Gaby Howard of Flaunter
In this small business interview, Fiona chats with Gaby Howard, the founder of software company - Flaunter. They discuss how PR is being managed by small business owners today - from gaining media coverage, getting onto podcasts, organising the mountains of files and images that content requires today and so many other business elements relating to PR. Gaby also shares her experience being a female founder of a tech company (a rare thing even in 2021). Listen now to learn more about how Flaunter started and the inspiring journey Gaby has had with her startup, Flaunter.
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Episode transcript:
I am learning something new all the time. And in that first few years, that feeling can be exhausting and terrifying. But actually, what I've come to realize now is that I really love, I feel really comfortable now in the discomfort of not knowing and the challenge of learning and growing. And that sounds so saccharine. I know as I say it, but every day, there's something new that I need to learn, and I love that about my job.
Hello, and welcome to Episode 138 of the My Daily Business Coach podcast. My name is Fiona Killackey, I'm your host, I am also an author. And if you do not know about my book, Passion, Purpose Profit, it is, it's kind of first birthday month. So it is a year old. And I've just heard from so many people around the world about how this book has helped them. And I just know that it really does help as much as I might feel awkward saying that. I am Aussie After all, it's not in our DNA to boast about things, but it's definitely a great book. And if you're looking for something to help you kind of get through the rest of this year and beyond, definitely check out Passion, Purpose, Profit, How To Sidestep The Hustle and Build A Business You Love. And if you're like I am saving my pennies right now, then just go into your local library or contact them and ask them to get a copy even if they don't already. And if you do have the funds, please go out and support a small business. There are so many gift shops, bookstores, independent stores that are stocking passion, purpose, profit. And if you have the funds, it's great to support a fellow small business owner as well.
So today, it is a small business interview podcast episode. And this is where I curate a list of really amazing, interesting, creative small business owners. And I have to say that probably 90% of the people that are interviewed on this podcast, come through us understanding their story, us knowing about their business, or somehow getting in touch very rarely do we put somebody on who has contacted us to be on. That's not to say that we don't at all. But I guess we get a lot of requests from people that have never listened to the podcast. And it's really obvious, or they're just not the right fit. And today's podcast was the exact opposite of that. So we get a lot of podcast requests, like I said, and one in particular came through a while ago, and I read it. So my assistant sends them on to me, she puts them together in a spreadsheet, actually. And I read it and I thought this we have to have like I am really curious about this actual software business, and about this person's career journey. And I think she would have so much to offer the small business owners that I know listened to this podcast.
So we quickly said yes, and organize the podcast interview and it was done a couple of months ago now. But yeah, the woman who is on today's podcast as my guest is Gaby Howard, and she is the founder of the startup, Flaunter. Now if you don't know Flaunter, you can check it out at flaunter.com and that is a content management software for PR and marketing teams. And I guess I should give some context as to why I thought this was such an interesting idea and interesting business that she has. It's not just an idea it's a it's a fully fledged business and global business as well. But the reason is because my background as many of you will know is in journalism. I started my career as an editor of fashion magazines and art magazines and custom publishing titles and all that sort of stuff and I can tell you and I've worked in marketing ever since. So for 20 years, I have been on the receiving end of lots of different JPEGs that were the wrong size, I have interviewed people and followed up and followed up to get a photo, and the photo comes through and it's not print ready, or the photo comes through, it's the wrong dimensions. Or I am literally going back through a trail of 30 emails to find one .jpg.
Now in the fashion industry and in retail as well, when you are trying to get media to cover something. So when I was head of marketing in a major accessories company here in Australia, you have all your images, you spend so much money and so much time creating these beautiful campaign images. And sometimes the system of actually getting those images out to media can be extremely tedious, and extremely exhausting, and frustrating and tear-inducing. And if you are a fashion business, or retail business, or any kind of business, and you're listening to this and thinking, "Oh, we have a similar problem", we are constantly trying to go through our email inbox to find the right image and then the image is incorrect or it hasn't been sized or we don't have the information about the photographer, we can't put the right credit on it, then listen to this interview. Because Flaunter and what Gaby, how it has created will be huge relief for you. I'm laughing because I'm glad I'm not in that space anymore. But I do remember countless times being very late in offices trying to find an image that I was certain had come in through email hadn't been saved correctly or had been saved but the title was not correct. So it was very, very hard to find.
And I'm laughing because I wish that I wish that we had something like Flaunter back in those days. So in this podcast episode, I asked Gaby all about Flaunter, why she launched it, how she launched it. But I also go into what is PR today? What does PR public relations look like today for small business owners? And also what sort of tips would she give to people who are looking to gain media, you know, get onto podcasts, all of those things that PR covers nowadays, and has always covered in some regard. And you know, what advice would she give and before starting this business, and as she talks about, she worked in the PR space for a long time. And I think often we find the best solutions when we have been the ones with the problems. So I think Flaunter is an example of that. We also talk about what it's like to start a tech business, a software business, as a woman as someone who identifies as a woman, because I know again, from working in the tech space and at Digital agencies. So often the people at the top are men and people who identify as men. So what was it like for Flaunter to come out as a tech company founded by a woman, Gaby is so full of ideas and insights and generous tips and it was my absolute pleasure to talk to her on the podcast. So I know whether you have never dabbled in PR, whether you are constantly sending things out to the media, or you're somewhere in between that you'll get so much out of today's interview. So here it is my interview with Gaby Howard, founder of the startup Flaunter.
Welcome Gaby! Welcome to the podcast. How are you feeling about life right now?
Gaby
I've been an honor Thank you for having me. That's an interesting time isn't it? It's Sydney lockdown. I don't know what version we're at at the moment and what week we're in even actually but it's a little bit hectic I won't I won't lie there's a couple of kids at home some homeschooling two adults working from home business to run a dog who's you know on his last legs so it's all it's all going on? But you know I'm feeling generally pretty good about a lot of things going on at the moment so many exciting things in the pipeline as well so yeah, it's a crazy mix of emotions.
Fiona
Yeah, I'm right there with you on the whole roller coaster it's probably a good thing that you said I don't know which lockdown we're in because hopefully we don't but you know by the time this podcast comes out with another one
Gaby
My biggest fear is actually we won't have left to like we'll just be like a never ending lockdown. That's very dark. No I'm sure we'll you know yeah, we'll be enjoying sunny skies and
Fiona
Yeah, well, I heard someone talking about Christmas the other day and they said oh well, only three lockdowns till Christmas and I was like, things like that, please. How has COVID and 2020 and the ongoing pandemic issues, how has that impacted your life and also the business Flaunter, which we will talk about in a second?
Gaby
Yeah. So in terms of my life, I think it's you know that there's a lot of the kind of the, I guess the nice stuff the silver linings to having spent more time with family, you know, I started Flaunter, taught a couple of years before my firstborn was born. So in building the business, I've also created two tiny humans and not spent as much time with them, possibly, as I would have liked at some stages. So you know, last year was actually a really nice way to see more of my kids and my husband to be more present at home, obviously, all the challenges that surround that, and then being more distant from other family kind of like and friends in the community. But in terms of work in the business, actually is funny story at the beginning of March last year, we were about to launch Flaunter into the US market with a big event in New York, we were had planned that for months, and then all of a sudden, you know that, you know, COVID started creeping into the conversation. And I think it was kind of mid February, where things started to get pretty serious and, and I decided that I needed to kind of escalate, move into the US market and this event and get myself to New York and San Francisco and LA. And so I jumped on a plane, on the eighth of March 2020 got to San Francisco, really creepy airport experience and that there was no one around like it was the fastest I've ever been through an airport, arrived in the country. And you know, most most people are kind of like COVID what I want no, that's nothing nothing's going to happen. And literally as with every passing, like 24 hour period, things just got more real more serious. And then instead of making it to New York, I actually had to really quickly try and get myself a flight home and get back home to Australia. And my flights was actually one of the first to land and, and we were home quarantining for 14 days. And that was one of the first flights where where that happened. And so COVID became very real very quickly, in terms of the business that we didn't get to do our launch event, we had to pause our plans for a lot of the face to face like activations that we had planned to do overseas to launch the business over there, formally. And here we we, I guess landed in an economy and a market where, you know, a lot of brands and a lot of agencies were struggling and in trouble and really scared, people are getting stood down, laid off, budgets are being slashed, and, and thought out, you know, as in the PR and marketing kind of budget and spend a lot of people turn that off for a while opposed it from big to small companies. And so that was our reality for the first few months of COVID. And obviously that that kind of quickly, or not quickly, but you know, towards the middle of the year started to unwind itself and people started to kind of get active again, and, and switch everything back on and start spending again. But it was a pretty Yeah, it was a pretty hectic time for us and for our customers. And we wanted to be really supportive of our community, because we knew that we weren't the only ones going through it, obviously. And we wanted to make sure that we could help all of the brands and agencies that us fall into and had to pause even though they didn't want to be able to kind of recover as quickly as possible. And also just feel really comfortable and confident that we had their back in terms of, you know, a product and a tool that they were using day to day.
Fiona
Wow. So with that flight back from still stuck. Yeah.
Gaby
That was a big long story was like yeah,
Fiona
so like, luckily, you got back because actually, Scott, who is the podcast editor, I listen, he'll be listening to this. Because he's literally, I wouldn't say stuck in Canada, but he's been there for a long time. And every time because of our schedules, the podcast, he's like, Oh, yeah, we've got to fly to Australia or not, they're canceled again. Luckily, he got back, because you know, so many people are still stranded.
Gaby
It was crazy. Because my friends and like, you know, people working for me in Australia were like, you need to come home now. And I was like, No, and then I was talking to people in New York, and they're like, everything's fine, we're still going to events, everything still happening, we should be able to do it. And then people in San Francisco, like go home now. So those are very mixed kind of bag, you know, like of advice simultaneously. And I, I had, you know, like the banal experience of being on the phone for a total of 12 hours with cuantas on hold and being hung up on every time I got through to somebody and not being able to change any tickets, just having to leave all of my tickets, not turn up to any of the flights internal or back to Australia and literally try and buy myself a new flight back home. So just in terms of like, the logistics of getting home already at that stage was kind of really pretty frantic. Yeah, it was hard to get home.
Fiona
Well, and you've you've kind of hinted at what Flaunter is people would have heard in the intro, but I'd love to hear from you. Can you kind of talk us through what It is and kind of why you began this startup in the first time.
Gaby
Yes, yes, definitely. So Flaunter is SAS tool. So that software as a service, which I'm sure everybody knows the acronym today, no, they may not know a lot. Yeah, they may not no assumptions. Yeah, no assumptions made, actually. So Software as a Service tool, and we service PR professionals. So we are in the PR and marketing space. And what we do is we help brands streamline the flow of assets, sharing, tracking and tracking as well. So we basically help brands and PR agencies, store, share, distribute, and track all of their digital and physical content with media and I say media, and that's a really broad term these days. So media can be like your traditional print media, it can be obviously digital media influences, also retail networks and retail publishers as well.
Fiona
Well, and for anyone who's listening, who has not worked in retail, or fashion, particularly or anything, really, sample tracking has to be one of the most tedious and horrible and blame game, things that any company will have. I have been in so many teams where there's been a PR team. And they'll be like, no, who said that black bag wasn't that out of you know, this wasn't here. Oh, good at the sample track up, no one's updated the sample tracker. And it's just this huge mess of like, Oh my God, we need that black bag because this influencer said she's gonna do it, but no one knows where the babies. So you know, hats off to you for creating systems.
Gaby
You explain that so well, that yes, that's what it is. And then the poor mediary in the cupboard thinking, Oh, my God, the fashion closet with all of the million and one samples in there for him. You know, God knows how many pairs of brands and they're like, Oh, my God, I don't know where all of this goes back to and you know who it came from. And I'm staring down the barrel of 100 line sheets to try and figure out you know, askew, and where it belongs.
Fiona
So what are rp? And what's it in New Zealand? Because we have to have it? So yes, it's really, really hard situation. And why did you come up with it? It's your background in PR before these or with ups argument.
Gaby
Yeah, so my background is PR. And so I'd been working for a long time and kind of various roles. And I had done fashion I'd done lifestyle I'd done you know, a lot of kind of like personality work. And then I had transitioned into actually some not for profit work, but found my way back into fashion and lifestyle, because that was my you know what my heart was. And I had started my own consultancy, and about six to 12 months into that journey, it was just me building a business and I had I think six or seven clients at the time. And it was right at that moment where image assets were just becoming, you know, the the volumes that people were producing and sharing were just becoming bigger and bigger and bigger exponentially. And we were still doing things like sending out USB sticks when you launched a collection or CDs or you know, filing them like on a hard drive or on a desktop and just having all of those images and assets really kind of in a really unmanageable filing system or storage sharing kind of system was just really starting to suck a lot of my time. And so to give a story, it'd be like, I'd get an email from a journalist saying, Hey, I'm doing a, you know, a shopping page on, you know, green, send me all of the images you have of great things that will be available in the next, you know, in two months time to purchase. And so I'd be scrambling through all of my files, and I'd be trying to find things and then trying to like just as similar to the sample tracking story, like, you know, trying to find the RFP, when will it be available? Is this a high resolution image, do I have the high resolution image, so I'm doing that, you know, 250 other of their contacts that have received the same email as me doing that in their PR kind of image libraries, then media are getting these like volumes of emails back with these attachments that are literally jamming up their inboxes. And this was the process kind of distributing and actually starting to search for, you know, relevant, like image based content between brands and media. And I was like, This is insane. And I'm getting paid an hourly rate that's significant enough to feel like I'm not spending my days, trawling through files or sharing files or the email or checking that in an email with you know, multiple attachments made its way through. So I thought there had to be a better way if that's like the catch cry of most, you know, most founders had to be a bit away. Oh, that just
Fiona
was like, Oh my gosh, I was just laughing because you couldn't see me but that is, oh my goodness. It's just a story of my life sometimes, and not necessarily my life now. But when I was doing full time more journalists and definitely back in the day editing magazines, it was just that the whole time and then even if you didn't have a high res image, you'd be like, Oh my god, now I need to go the photographer. What are the usage right? Now I'm gonna have to have that awkward conversation and or like even now, like I just was looking for a file the other day and someone had sent it through. We transfer ages ago. Now that's expired. So it's like, I'm gonna have to go back to them and ask for the file again. And
Gaby
yes, totally, these are all the problems. And so that was the genesis for the business, starting with image assets, and really thinking about saving time for brands, and also saving time for media. So while brands uploaded all of their image assets into kind of brand profiles or press centers into forta, then journalists could have free logins and come in and search and downloads to heart's content. And with their download, they'd get the RP and they'd get the stockist details, and they'd get the in store details. So they had everything they needed at hand, they had high resolution files, and sub brands also could then track what media with downloading their assets. So you know, all of a sudden PR becomes a function that starts to be more a little bit more data driven. And that was another kind of like, underlying kind of missing piece for me in terms of what is PR reporting? What does success look like in PR? How do we report on success, and I think for a long time, and probably still today, a lot of like, agencies or a lot of internal teams will still use pretty kind of like, you know, opaque reporting systems, because they don't have access to more data, like marketing functions. You know, a lot of marketers have reams and reams, you know, huge, vast numbers of numbers, to be able to share and kind of like show progress or show like ROI on it work. And PR has traditionally not had the same kind of access to data. And so I wanted to make sure that we built that into the product as well.
Fiona
Oh, sounds amazing. So how do you go from having a challenge that you know, so many people in your industry, and on the flip side, or the media, like you say, and just in general, just general sending files, it's gone crazy at the moment? How do you go from having that to actually creating like software? Like where you brought up? Or your parents in the tech space? Were you brought up by his small business owners? Who kind of just instilled? Like, yeah, go for it, you've got an idea. Go for it. Where did that kind of come from? Where did you think I can start a tech company?
Gaby
I don't know, to be really honest. So my parents are not in the tech space. They are not small business owners. But what they have always been, I think, which has as much of an impact is incredibly supportive of my sisters and I and what we've wanted to do and achieve. And I think we've always had a really growing up, there's always been a really nice kind of supportive base that I think that has kind of always felt, you know, to be there for us. And so I think just having that level of encouragement is always nice from a family and close friends. the Getting Started part I get asked about this often in terms of how did you get the impetus to actually just take that big first step? And I think there's a lot of naivety actually involved. Uh, for me, I think probably I've spoken to a lot of other founders for them too, in that you don't know what you don't know, unless you've done it before. And you're a multiple time founder and you know, you're going again and again and again. But when it's the first time you you know, you kind of take a leap of faith you're really you're Boyd by you know, like enthusiasm and passion and energy and you just going to give it everything and you don't know how incredibly hard the journey is gonna be and you don't know how many mountains you're going to climb. Well, you know, like how many peaks and troughs and, and what the roller coaster ride is like, until you've kind of stepped off into that world. And then by then you're kind of already this traction, there's motion behind you. And so you keep going. I think it was really just a sense of optimism. I'm a pretty kind of glass half full type person, I'll generally look at the benefits or the positives in a situation or a circumstance or an opportunity versus the negatives. And I think that probably is what carried me forward.
Fiona
Wow, I know that your parents are pretty proud. Are you like super organized when you're sending any stuff? He's like, yeah, so everyone knows that everything's out at all times.
Gaby
They are very proud. They're really lovely. My dad will always say, I don't know where you get it from, but your grandmother would be so proud. He's pretty self deprecating. I mean, he has his own businesses as well. When not when growing up, though. And yeah, they are very proud. I am the very organized one. I am always punctual in a family of people who are so late. it's maddening. Like I used to turn up to birthday parties when I was younger two hours late and you know, a birthday party goes for two hours generally. So yeah, I would literally be walking in when they were doing the cake and I'd be furious. And my dad would be like, Oh, no, no, don't worry, you know, fashionably late. And so I don't know maybe that's why I am the way I am that, you know I'm rebelling against their kind of general laxness around you know, time and punctuality but Yeah, they are. It's they're really lovely and supportive and proud. It's nice.
Fiona
It's so funny. He mentioned the time thing because I was running inside to get a cup of tea before they started and I was like, Oh no, she's in PR. I cannot be liked. Those people are sticklers for like the minute. We vary time as money. Come on, we can be getting status, right?
Gaby
We are very important. We have schedules. We've opted out in an Excel spreadsheet, you know, Chicago,
Fiona
obviously, we're talking about PR, but I studied journalism, I started in journalism magazines and newspaper columns. And I dealt with a lot of PR, and I still do, a lot of people still have like my email address from, gosh, 12 years ago, when I did a newspaper column. And there's, you know, different agencies and different agents will apply different PR strategies, and some will do the whole mass mail out, and there's nothing tailored and others are very specific, and you only hear from them, you know, when they need something specifically that you're suited to. And some work and some don't. But I'd love to talk to you, because you've been in this space for the same length of time, you know, almost 20 years that I've been doing journalism. On the other side of it, how have you seen PR change? And I guess we're gonna step the question a little bit. But what does a typical like PR agent or agency do now? Because some people listening to this who run their own small business, who are considering Oh, I want to get PR, but will PR look after social media? Does PR pinion cast as PR just do traditional, like print media? But yeah, if you could just talk us through kind of how that's changed, and maybe even what people might look for if they're looking at hiring a PR agent or agency? Yes,
Gaby
that's a big question, isn't it? 20 years. So I mean, I think the perception of what PR is, I think, unless you're working in PR or have worked closely with PR, to your point, I think maybe people's perception of what it is, has possibly not changed very much in 20 years from an outside looking in. And I think a lot of people would probably think of PR as what we would call Media Relations. And back, you know, 20 years ago, that would really be print media, like your PR, your publicist, or your your PR kind of team would look after our build and manage relationships and distribute content or, you know, press releases to print media, journalists, and put on events, physical events, for print media, journalists, and I think, if you agree with me, like that would be probably what, you know, the definition of what PR people did, would be for a lot of people
Fiona
Totally. And I think that's what people are scared of, like, if they think well, then do I have to do, I think, and we were talking about it before we hit record, there's such a murky waters between marketing and PR. And I was saying to you that often, not often, but every so often, we'll get someone that contacts me say, I needed to do all my PR, and I don't do PR, different and marketing and PR Yes, they are like sisters of the same family. But there's different skill sets for each. So do you think sometimes, though, like, because it's changed and adapted, some marketing is now being handled by PR agencies? But yeah, it's I would say that most people still do have the idea that it's just traditional, like big events, and people to come and then, you know, get me into the newspaper.
Gaby
Yeah, that's right. And I think there is a bit you know, it is blurry in between PR and marketing. Now, when we have as I was saying to you, as well, before we were recording, we have a lot of our customers who come in through a marketing team, and we'll get a marketing manager saying, you know, Wow, fantastic! Flaunter is going to help support our team and understanding how to deliver the PR function because our company has said to us all your marketing he will do PR to and for marketing experts. And this is the important distinction for kind of like, the lay person to understand who's someone who doesn't work in either function is that there are two such separate kind of roles that to say to someone, hey, you're just gonna we're just going to whack on a whole nother kind of subset of, you know, tasks and responsibilities to a role because, man, I think it's all the same, it's a pretty big call. And, and I think, just in general, like, you know, talking about what PR used to be defined as or thought of, as, you know, 20 years ago, and to now, the explosion in the number of channels, and audiences and metrics and expectations from like client expectations, or, you know, expectations of like managers or business owners, just the sheer volume of work that is now involved across both of those functions, and how vital they've become to the success of a business and the growth of a business, especially on a global level. And we're talking about you know, these days, you know, you build a brand it's, you know, global from day one, it's such a huge job, like it's such a huge job and there's so many responsibilities and you're not just talking to journalists, you're talking to influencers, you're talking you know, you're pitching to podcasts, you know, you're talking to digital media you're talking to you know, obviously still there is print media, you're also talking to, you know, like key spokespeople, you're trying to build relationships with, you know, all sorts of different audiences. And I think that's actually what people need to understand about what the role of PR is and what publicists are, PR professionals are really great at it and that's building relationships and that is transferable across So many different facets of business. And I think so critical today, to be able to build really great relationships with your stakeholders. And that's for all employees, I would say across the company. And so there's a lot that people can learn from PR. And it's really frustrating the payoff and get put in a bucket of it's an expendable expense can cut it off at any one point in time, if we need to save money, or if budget issues or if we don't quite understand it, because actually, it's so funny that what publicists what people do is so fundamental to kind of what businesses are trying to do today, and that's communicate with audiences and tell great stories, and just build networks and connections and relationships. And that's what every brand should be focusing on doing today.
Fiona
Totally, I couldn't agree more. And often, like I will talk through in all of my coaching programs and stuff, marketing courses, we talk through PR, and one of the big things that you just touched on is the relationships, but also just, it's NPR, people's DNA to just know the hook know that angle, how could they go? What did they go, whereas sometimes, you know, people think I'll just pitch them, you know, a pitch publication myself. And sometimes, you know, that can work. But other times when they because they've had that relationship, they're able to go, Oh, I know that you're interested in this particular angle. So if we go from there, you know, it's going to get a hit versus no more thing that I think you'll work
Gaby
totally. And I think people forget that the person on the other side of that page is also a human. And they're also just trying to do their job and get the best story and get the best outcome. And often, you know, people are surprised when we'll share, you know, content, or I'll speak to someone directly about, you know, how do I pitch my business? What do I pitch to someone? Like, what can I say? And it's often the best thing that you can say, if you don't know is to find someone that you think is in your space, you've researched them, Well, you know, what they talk about, and literally send them an email saying, Hi, I'm Gaby from Flaunter. And, you know, this is the kind of stuff that I do in a succinct way and say, What are you looking for? How can I help you? What are the kinds of stories that you want to ride? And you know, that is actually can be incredibly helpful a in building a relationship and be understanding your audience?
Fiona
Yeah, so so many great tips. Thank you, Gaby. Yeah, sorry. It's like this. So I think this is gonna be fantastic for so many people, especially, who've never interacted with, you know, anyone in PR, or in marketing, you know, sometimes these people grow an organic business from the start, and just, it's just really scary. It's like SEO, or it's like analytics. Oh,
Gaby
yeah. It's like building a great product. It's like, like building a tech platform, you have to talk to your customers, at every point that you can, and having good relationships with your customers, you know, your stakeholders, your customers, the other person, you know, on the end, you know, end of the phone, like, understanding their needs and wants is how you provide value. I think that's just universal,
Fiona
completely. And so with Flaunter, how did you come up with that name, by the way,
Gaby
Flaunt Your Assets was a tagline that we had at one stage that we kind of we've lost? But yeah, we sat in a room, a group of us sat in a room and just thrashed it out. And because it was also just can we get the .com? You know, is it taken is it not taken? So and I think this is getting harder and harder to achieve is, you know, getting a great name with the .com. But yeah, we went through lots and lots of ideas. despo was another name for it. That's Yeah.
Fiona
It makes you think of flaunting something. So yeah. And one thing I want to ask you about Flaunter. Sorry, I got sidetracked, the name was now that you've talked about, you know, so many analytics being part of it. And you can understand, and please correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are putting your images up for media, you can analyze how many don't download
Gaby
it. Is that correct? Yeah, that's right. Yeah. And so
Fiona
is there anything that you've learned in being in this space for you know, your career before this startup? And in the startup? Is there anything you've learned on how to make an image? Or can I download videos as well?
Gaby
They can't at the moment, I can upload videos, they can be accessed depending on how you share your links. You can access you know, YouTube or Vimeo, which can guide downloadable, yeah, but at the moment, it's imagery, it's media releases, or any kind of document actually can be lookbook, PDF workbooks, and things like that. Yeah.
Fiona
Do you have any advice? And it might be like, how long is the string? But do you have any advice on what makes an image good? So what makes sort of a media person go oh, you know, that's when I'm when I'm looking for grabbing things, or that one? definitely gonna go in the mix. Is there any tips you can advise to people if they're especially if they're sort of taking their own images? Or maybe they're just working with a photographer for the first time?
Gaby
Yes, definitely. I think before you take the images is understanding where you want those images to be. For example, let's say you're you know, often people you will take an image and repurpose it for all sorts of reasons. So they'll take it for ecommerce and social and then I'll have it for media. You know, as an aside, or they'll they'll shoot something for retailers specifically so they've got, you know, whatever it is that that retailer might stock of theirs, you know, the brand will also share that the assets, the digital assets that go along with that particular item. So really, it's kind of starting with what you're producing and for who, but if we were to take the kind of case of I'm producing a set of imagery just specifically to us kind of media or for like PR, it's really first knowing your audience. Because if you're looking at you know, who is going to want to reproduce one of the images that you have shot yourself so use your content directly and publish that, then it's thinking about the style of their publication and you know, you'll have there 1,000,001 different kind of styles that you know, publications will have and they will have developed it because they want to have a point of difference in the market. As we'll have brands. So you know, the way you actually shoot and display and to live out your imagery will be a reflection of your brand. And some people can do that kind of low rez scratchy, grungy bit kind of like real life type image really well, because that sits with their whole brand aesthetic and the whole you know, brand profile, and other brands will be incredibly polished, incredibly, you know, like spot on everything's perfect and in place, and very crystal clear kind of images. And they would never do a behind the scenes shot and, and that suits their brand aesthetic. So I think it's matching up both what you want your brand to be seen how you how you want your brand to stand, and also who you're targeting in terms of like where you want that image to be placed, if it's not within your own channels. And then the other thing is always shoot in high resolution always have the high resolution file, don't ever think you know that the lower resolution will get what you need. Because if you're just even for example, if you're just looking to go kind of online, you only want kind of digital publications, they still want really beautiful, crisp photos. And they actually want to be able to edit themselves. So the larger the file you give them, the more that they can do with it. So they're probably the big tips. And then probably lots of other kind of smaller in between things. But in terms of like the the basics, I think that's probably it to make sure you've got your aesthetic, make sure you know who you're pitching to, so that you know that your aesthetic works with theirs, and then always take really high quality images. And that doesn't mean that they will have to be, as I said, Chris, but like some could be kind of like that IRL look or you know, there could be grainy, but they're still high resolution.
Fiona
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And by high res, do you mean just I know that we used to always work 300 DPI at 1010 seconds?
Gaby
Yeah, yeah, basically, I mean, you're not producing a billboard, no one that you're going to be sharing it with is going to be like printing a billboard or, you know, that would be a marketing asset. But yeah, it's something that is kind of large enough and high quality enough. Like we always work on 300 DPI as well. So that you know, it's it's just a good quality image.
Fiona
Yeah. All right. Well, I've got you here, I'm going to ask you a bunch of other questions around. But is there ever a time I guess, people as well sometimes think, oh, more media is better? If I can put it on there and everyone sharing my green bag? That's awesome. Is there ever a time that you'd suggest that going to a lot of media doesn't work? Or that it's better for like, you know, is it better for a brand to get specific coverage rather than go big? Or do you think, you know, everyone should just go big?
Gaby
Hmm, that's a really good question. And I think it just depends on your strategy. It's the same really sad fact that, you know, luxury houses will burn excess stock, because they don't where they would prefer for there to be, you know, not much of it around and really high prices, that having any access or any sales stock, that's their strategy. Whereas other you know, other brands would obviously, you know, like to say things very differently. But in terms of, you know, how wide you go with your messaging or your imagery, I think it will generally come down to the strategy and also not just the strategy for that particular product or collection, but also your brand strategy. Also, I think it would depend You know, I think these days, a lot of if you're looking to target specific journalists or influences, you know, the more targeted you want to be to start with the, I guess, the smaller the pool will have to be or that you know, you'll be talking exclusives. And so you'll have periods of time, you know, maybe the first kind of month or two that a product or a collection is available, you know, tip consumers like that might see it, that messaging or that image might sit with only one or two publications one to media or influencers before actually then it starts to kind of get more widespread once you've kind of finished off that period of exclusivity with that particular publication. So and generally that's how it works. If you if you want if you have a specific target in mind, it would generally be an exclusive and then it would start to kind of open up
Fiona
Awesome. And on Flaunter, can people say this is an exclusive OR
Gaby
Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so on Flaunter, you can also lock your content and invite only certain journalists or, you know, certain, you know, people to view that content ahead of everyone else before opening it up more widely. Yeah.
Fiona
Oh, awesome. And so the other thing I wanted to ask is, as someone who's listening to this, and they have potentially never pitched the media, they've just sort of had this, you know, maybe they've had some media, but it's just been that, you know, the publication coming to them? Is there any tips that you would give to, you know, people in small business owners, or startups or whatever, who are looking to pitch to the media, like, should they pitch should they try build a relationship first? Like, what are the kind of the do's and don'ts? If you have any?
Gaby
Yeah, that's another good question. As one, we get asked a lot. And I think this comes down to, and this is what PR people will spend a lot of their time doing, and that's researching. So I think, you know, first step is understanding, you know, what's out there for me, where could I pitch if I wanted to what fits me? Who are the journalists? Or who are the producers? Or who are the editors that would be really interested in what I have to say, or what I have to share? And from that point, it's kind of really, back to the kind of question before is, I don't think there is a place anymore for mass email media release pitching, like, it just it shouldn't exist. No. It shouldn't have that. Yeah, that's right. It should just not exist. It shouldn't have existed for a long time. And I know people still do it. But you know, just as our handbags, and our phone cases are personalized, so should always our communications and our pitching me. So you know, you need to know the person on the other end of your email. And yesterday is an email like we actually did a couple of big kind of two and a half 1000 wide media surveys across the platform recently. And I think it was like 99% of Flaunter users came back saying they do not want to be called ever. They only want to be emailed like, please do not pick up the phone only email me. So pitching over email is, you know, 99%, right. And it's also just kind of knowing a subject, knowing what they want, and actually keeping it short and sweet. In terms of how you approach a pitch, instead of sending out masses of emails, and doing it really kind of like scattergun approach, you know, you don't even know the person's first name. And like you say, you're probably still getting pitched from like, a role you've had 10 years ago. Is that correct?
Fiona
Yes. Or I get all the time. And it's very obvious, like even one person, this poor woman actually wrote back to her and said, just giving you a heads up, she had like, put brand name here in like yellow. And you haven't even read what you're sending out? And, like, Don't even blind copy all the gentlemen. So you get an email with like, everyone from CHANNEL SEVEN and from from chelten. And you're like, let's go personal information that is just being shared with, like, 40 other people on the email
Gaby
Yeah, totally. And no one wants that. No one wants to receive that. A, it's not a good feeling to say that and be you know, why should you as a journalist, spend time crafting something pitching something, I think people forget as well, like, journalists are also reporting to someone else, to editors, to audiences to publishers. And if you pitch them something, you have to kind of imagine how they're going to have to pitch you in, you know, to the kind of the broader team or to, you know, to their audiences. So it's kind of like, if you are asking them to do all the work. And that is not the way to build a relationship. Yeah,
Fiona
completely. And can I ask and just tell me if I'm wrong, but so I have consulted and worked with a number of startups and digital agencies, and, and predominantly, it's always been men at the top. It's like a male dominated industry unless it's changed recently.
Gaby
Yes, startups. You mean? Yes. Yeah.
Fiona
And so I'd love to know, if you have any advice for anyone who's listening who's wanting to do something similar to you to go into the kind of tech space or the SAS space, or even just stepping into a space where they are very much in the minority. One kind of kept you going when I am like making the assumption that you face challenges being a woman in this space? Oh,
Gaby
yes, that's a really good one. So I have been lucky enough to have had some really fantastic champions throughout my journey, men and women. So that's the positive I think that's the kind of nice positive feeling is that it is like predominantly male. And you know, there are you know, there are a few, not just female, but I'll talk to you know, that's the kind of minority that I guess I'll put myself in. There are minority groups that find it really hard to break in and you know, in tech and in startups. So one of the biggest challenges is if you're going to get funding and if you want to get kind of VC funding, or you know, kind of Get some investors involved in the business, that can be really incredibly challenging for women, not just from, you know, like a confidence perspective or, or maybe just a numbers game, but also, just the access to the networks that have been so entrenched and that have for so many years or decades been kind of worked a certain way. And you know, trying to navigate those, as a woman can be incredibly frustrating and challenging. You know, one of the stories I tell, I will generally tell this to women is, and I've had lots of women over the years come to me and ask me questions about while you had babies, like, Well, you know, fundraising and while building a startup, and you know, I've had so literally more than on one hand, women say to me, I am so terrified of falling pregnant, or letting people know we're letting investors know, or fundraising while being pregnant, because I'm terrified that it's going to take something away from me, it's going to take away my legitimacy, it's going to make me look less passionate, you know, they're not going to want to fund me because of this kind of, you know, state that I'm in. And that's pretty hard to hear. And it's pretty hard to work through. But there are a lot of great people doing really great things at the moment in the space. And I think it's really changed in the past 10 years, like from when I first started to today, like, you know, it's like miles and miles apart. And I do feel really supported and there are growing networks, it's still not, you know, that the numbers are still not where they should be. We're not, you know, parity is not 5050. But I think things are getting better. And I think that there is a lot of support for women founders within their own networks now to like we're building our own networks. And that's incredibly important as well.
Fiona
Yeah. And I think the more that people can see people like you, then the more that you don't
Gaby
see it, you can't be it. I think that's that, you know, age old that statement. And I think that's a that's very true, that's very true for for all of us. And so I think, for a long time, people would ask me this question, and I'd really shy away from it. And I'd kind of step back and be like, I'm not a female founder, I'm just a found out, you know, like, I don't want to talk about whether I'm female or not, and how that might impact my journey. But actually, you know, as I've kind of become more and more comfortable in the space, it's, it's so important for me to lean into that side of the story for so many people, because I think it is helpful, and it does show that you can do it, and you can have kids and do it and you can feel incredibly supported. And there are a lot of great people out there who are, you know, working really hard to make a difference and to make it different. Hmm,
Fiona
thank you, thank you for sharing that stuff. I think just, you know, there could be somebody listening, that's like, this is exactly what I need to hear right now. And it is possible, and I'm going to go for it. So thank you for that.
Gaby
It is possible, starting businesses hard, full stop, you need all the support that you can get, and there are great networks out there. And there are some amazing female founders out there. And I just think that, you know, everyone's kind of trying to do their best, you know, to be more visible and to be more available and to be as supportive as possible, because it's really important.
Fiona
So, so, so important. So what have you had to learn, I'm guessing quite a bit up to level, the startup. So those beings that have been particularly hard or laborers to kind of get to grips with
Gaby
everything, well, not everything, but literally, like I am learning something new all the time. And in that first few years, that feeling can be exhausting and terrifying. But actually, what I've come to realize now is that I really love I feel really comfortable now in the discomfort of not knowing and the challenge of learning and growing. And that sounds so saccharin. I know, as I say it, but every day, there's something new that I need to learn. And I love that about my job. So at first it was like, literally how do I start a business? You know, how do you build like an app? How do you build a web app? Like what's a wireframe? Oh, okay, that was like early days and then you start talking about like fundraising and equity and options and you know, employee share option schemes and you know, all of those kinds of things and then you start talking about growth and channels and the unit economics of a business and subscription models, you know, and the list goes on and on and on. And then there's HR and hiring and how do you hire well? And how do you hire and you know, how do you hire without like, bias? How do you then like, keep people like how do you like keep engaged and you know, passionate can workforce? Like, you know, how do you you know, attract great people? How do you keep great customers, the list goes on and on. This So much to learn, I can every facet of the business, and I have learned a lot. I think the thing that I have learned the most as are saying is that there will always be more to learn. And so to embrace that feeling that kind of curiosity, and to really never underestimate the amount that you can achieve. And if you're willing to learn, then you know, like, you'll pick it up. And within three months time, you'll be on to the next thing. Wow.
Fiona
So in addition to all those things, which I'm assuming must keep you up at night sometimes, because my goodness, just going through the mouth, like, Oh, I feel stressed for you. But have you had like mentors, or you've talked about, you know, other female founders that have helped? Have you had any coaches? Or is there been any kind of books or even just a mantra that has really, really helped you and your business?
Gaby
I've always wanted to have a mantra, but I've never found my mantra, I don't know that I'm a mantra person. But I really love the idea of it. I don't know, keep going, keep going keep going
Fiona
into a box of fortune cookies or something after?
Gaby
Yes, finally, a box of fortune cookies. And yeah, I'll pick my my mantra. But yeah, I've had, I've had lots of amazing people around me over the years. In 2017, I also was very lucky to have gone through the startup accelerator programs, it's the top tech accelerator in Australia, and one of the top in the world actually. And through that program, and network of people that have you know, asked that, you know, it feels like my world really, really opened up a lot through that process. But, you know, from all walks of life, I guess I have found people who had this in a similar stage, to me, in terms of business wise, what I've found useful, actually, is to have some people, obviously, we're in the trenches together, you know, we're all learning as we go. And then it's also really helpful to have had, you know, more experienced startup founders, be able to share that, you know, what they've learned from the journey just a few years down the track, and then those people even further down the track that kind of share the bigger life lessons or help kind of with the bigger picture thinking and less kind of operational and more kind of being vision thinking, but then also just, you know, people who, who have incredibly supportive in terms of, you know, family, and how you make that work with the rest of the kind of like responsibilities of, of starting and running a business. And yeah, it's hard to pinpoint a person, when there's so many people that have been so generous with their time for many, many years, there's no way that I would still be here without that network or that community around me, it's really important to build that community around yourself.
Fiona
I completely agree. I'm always talking about cultivate your cruise, because
Gaby
yes, it's a good one,
Fiona
I really, really made it. And in terms of tech tools, now, apart from plant art, obviously, are there tech tools, or tech apps or platforms that you just could not live without when it comes to running your business?
Gaby
I think probably the pretty beige things. I don't know, if they're beige, I shouldn't say that, maybe, but probably the tools that a lot of people find, you know, really useful, you know, we're on slack for chat. We're on Google Drive. Sometimes we use Dropbox, but less, but really more the tools around, you know, how we service like how we maintain the app. And so, you know, AWS and then we've got our databases, and then we've got intercom, you know, so that we can chat with our customers. And then we have a bunch of analytics for so that we can actually track what's going on with the platform itself. And, and I guess we, you know, in terms of our marketing tools, you know, using channels like Bureau and Google Analytics is also still probably like a winner, you know, in terms of being incredibly different. But it's something that is really powerful, and really helps us drive the business. So in terms of like the the classification of our tools, I guess, we make sure that we were communicating with the team really, like seamlessly and all that documents are always available to us seamlessly. Absolutely. How on our phone, as well as our desktops. And then the apps that help to kind of service the platform and those tools that just make things run.
Fiona
Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Lots of those we're using as well. And many. Yeah, we're trying to come off Dropbox and just have everything in Google Drive, but Dropbox like crack, like you kind of like get on it. And you keep going back to it, even though?
Gaby
I know I know. Absolutely. And because personal stuff is there in Dropbox so long ago mixed in with business stuff, and all of a sudden you're hooked in. And that's a great app. And that's a great strategy, like you will keep paying for them every month, because actually, it's all there and it's easy, and it's easy to pay that money every month and kind of kind of think about the hours and hours you might spend cluttering
Fiona
Yes, we're waiting for things to sync properly. That's my biggest pet peeve with Dropbox versus Google Drive. But yes, having been in your business or your startup for quite some time, is there anything that you would have done differently if you were starting out now?
Gaby
That's a hard question because I think everything you know, in hindsight is so different and why it's so easy to kind of go, you know, look back and say, Wow, I should have done it all differently. And someone once said to me, a good friend and mentor, she said to me, that you can only we can only judge the quality of the decisions with the quality of the information that you had at hand at the time. I really love that because I think I'm the type of person that will always be second guessing myself, have I done enough? Have I done the right thing? Oh, my God, you know, overthinking things, the faster the decision, the more decisive that you are, really, the faster you move on and keep kind of like, keep moving forward, I think that's probably the better outcome versus obsessing over you could have done A, B, C, or D, like you've made the decision now commit. And then if you need to change track again, then make that decision quickly again, as well. So that's kind of a roundabout way of saying, If I hadn't done the things that I had done in the past, I wouldn't have learned or gotten to where I am today. So it's, I find that a really hard question. I think probably the most important lesson has really centered around people like how important people are in your vision, like bringing other people into your vision, and executing you can't do it alone. Like back to that idea of having the crew having a great, great team. And being really, really careful and taking your time and hiring people who are the right fit for your company and to share that same vision as you and having the right investors come on board who again, you know, help support you to kind of achieve that vision. So I think the biggest learnings for me, really come down to people.
Fiona
I love that. I guess Further to that, then what are you most proud of in the journey so far?
Gaby
Everything No, not everything. I mean, speaking to you today, like people I think I kind of referenced this earlier on is people always ask often ask the question, how did you get started? And I think the question that should be asked is like, how did you keep going when I think to keep going to keep on keeping on going and kind of going through the challenges of starting a new business from scratch, like from literally going from zero to one, it's incredibly challenging and I think congratulations and kudos to anyone that keeps going because you know, moving past the idea phase and the launch phase or that kind of like those first few steps, like that's when it gets really hard and I think that's probably what I'm most proud of, and the achievement is that I've just kept going like you know, there's a lot of tenacity and there's a lot of determination involved. Yeah, and I'm proud to say that we've been going you know, for so many years now and how we've grown and the impact that we've had
Fiona
Oh, that's such a good exercise it's so true like and I think also with small business regardless of what your business is, there's so many things that go on behind the scenes like picking yourself back up when you go crappy now like you know, things that if you were in an employee role and you're surrounded by people and you could chat to them and they're your peers, you're not their boss. It's very different because you could be like oh my gosh, I'm so annoyed that like Linda from accounts just sent me this email. Like fresh out you go down to the coffee store and you know, but when you're working by yourself to start a business and those things come in, it's you that has to pick yourself up all the time. And like yes, and and equally like you might get some really exciting news and it's you that has to be like oh my god this is amazing and take a moment and appreciate it. Okay, next next thing
Gaby
and you know what, like, so many of us are so bad at actually stopping and you know, like thinking about the winds and really actually celebrating we focus in on the negatives on the smallest negatives like and we just kind of put them under a magnifying glass and make them so big and important and kind of can all consuming yet the same size when would never get a look in and so I think it's really important to kind of put the magnifying glass on those two and the other day I was I don't know who I was talking to but we're talking about you know, positives and negatives and how even in a relationship like apparently for every negative thing that you say to someone that you're in a close relationship you need to say something like four or five positive things and kind of rebalance like the relationship and so I think for us to remember as well just as humans like you know, and self in kind of like that negative versus positive self talk. It's like Well, okay, for every negative thing that I'm going to say to myself, I need to say four or five positive things, you know, to rebalance that, you know, to bring back that equilibrium. And that's something that I'm really bad at, but you know, I think could definitely do so. work on and I will be doing more work on it. But I think it's something for us all to remember as well.
Fiona
Yeah, completely one of my best pieces of advice from a manager I had was it, I think it was my audible manager, she said, start a sunshine folder in your inbox. And every single nice thing that ever comes goes into the sunshine folder. And so anytime you she kind of had said set it up so that when you have your annual review, it's easier for you to say, Here's But yeah, I just get every client to set it up now. And we also talk about how you're going to celebrate that. And so often they'll be like, Oh, I'm gonna go out for dinner tonight. I'm like, No, no, is that an actual celebratory dinner? Or did you already have that plan? It's exactly what you said, We don't sit down and go, well dumb. This is incredible. Like, how awesome Are you in the same way that you'd something great at an employee role. You know, your manager might be like well done and shout your praises and everything. And we need to do that for ourselves as well.
Gaby
Absolutely. And I used to be the one in the office I'd always be like, you know celebrating our wins or someone else's we feel like you know, talking about going out for dinner or not. I'd be like, Oh my god, champagne time. And I was just like, wow, I really I'm feeling heading down the path of sounding like an alcoholic because you know, like every five minutes I wanted to go Yes. Champagne time. Yes. Amazing. Wow, okay, right, I need to kind of dial that one back a little.
Fiona
Whatever, whatever works. One of my clients is into doughnuts. And so her celebrations are always like going to this little donut store. I already know what I'm getting. Yay. But in terms of you know, you in Flaunter and being a female founder and being an amazing founder, regardless of gender, what is next for you? And where can people connect with you? where's the best place for them to check out Flaunter and kind of chat to you if they something that's really resonated today
Gaby
Yeah, yeah, they can email me gaby@flaunter.com. The site is flaunter.com. We also I mean, we have a blog that has some amazing content and really great resources in terms of like how to PR how to marketing industry profiles, things like that. So that's just flaunter.com/blog, but say the link in the main net anyway. But I would highly recommend if you know if anyone is listening and has questions around how to do PR, there's some really great resources that they can check out. Email me we bottle social handles air as well as Flaunter. Yeah. And we'd love to hear from, from anyone out there who's kind of, you know, feeling challenged by you know, like a situation that they're in or would like to learn more about what we do or just, you know, kind of PR and marketing in general.
Fiona
Yeah, amazing. And by the time this comes out, we will be heading into the silly season of Christmas and Hanukkah and everything else in the year. So it might be a great time for people to check it out and get the media sorted for Christmas
Gaby
Yes, definitely. Like I'm gonna say this but it's you know, like, people start producing their Christmas calendars and their Christmas specials like literally in July like we think of Christmas is in July as like a fun kind of like, you know, to feast in Australia, but you know, actually like it it is a planning that stuff now. And so the more organized you can get ahead of all of those major, like kind of calendar events like Mother's Day, Father's Day Christmas. Yeah, the more organized you can be the better. That's just another little like, you know, just to tie off the interviews, Christmas
Fiona
Yeah, so just organization is key. So thanks, right? Oh, so much for coming onto the podcast. And for so many insights and tips and tactics. It's really, really appreciated. And I know so many people listening to this will be like, Oh my gosh, I feel like I've got a crash course in what PR is and how I need it and how I'm going to get it for my business. So thank you so much
Gaby
Thank you for having me. Fiona. It's been really fun. Bye, bye.
Wow, that conversation just took me back to so many places that I've worked that would really, really benefit from Flaunter. And I think a lot of you listening are probably realizing how much your business would benefit from Flaunter as well. Just file sharing today and keeping track of these things can be so overwhelming in itself. So I think you know, it's incredible what Gaby has created. And we'll link to all of that in the show notes, of course, which you can find over at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/138. This is Episode 138. So two things stood out for me. I mean, so many things stood out from that conversation. She's obviously just a wealth of knowledge in that space.
Number one was really to do your research in terms of understanding, what are you trying to pitch Who are you trying to pitch to understanding the journalists understanding the podcast if it's pitching to podcast, I really loved that she talked about that element because I think it's something that we can get all excited and yet, I'm just going to pitch It's really, really important, especially coming from the other side being the journalist being pitched to quite often in my career, you really want to understand how do these people write? What do they like? What topics Do they like, even just, you know, what are the columns? What are the regular gift guides that they do, and having that familiarity will really set you apart? Because, like Gaby said, you know, it shouldn't be done anymore. But it still is massively done, where people are just sending mass emails to lots of different journalists, nothing's customized. I mean, it's very much similar to the way that you talk to your clients in any way your customers in any kind of communication that you're putting out there, the more personalized and individual it can feel, the better. So I love that. Gaby talked about research, if you are in that space, and you're sort of like, how do I even begin to research, you know, literally go to a library, once they're open again, or go to a magazine shop, we have mag nation here in Australia, and just flick through, you know, the magazines, look at the types of columns that are repeated, have a look online, have a look at the regular columns, if you have, like, I have the apple news app that I pay for, and you can go through, you know, hundreds of magazines, and you'll look at the contents page, and you start seeing the same things being put out. The other thing that you might want to set up is a Google Alert. So you might set up a Google Alert for a particular journalists name, you might set up a Google Alert for a particular publication, or you might set up a Google Alert for subject themes that are relevant to the story or the idea that you're going to pitch, in which case, you can then see that the angle is timely, because hey, I've just seen that this theme has been suddenly reported on way more than normal. Other things that like Google Trends, you can have a look at certain things that have been talked about more, and potentially maybe that, you know, goes into part of your pitch. But yeah, I think research is a huge one. And the second thing that stood out for me, I mean, this again, so so so much gold in that interview.
But the second thing that really stood out to me was the idea of having this support crew around you and you know, reaching out and and looking at people that are in the space that you want to be in and kind of getting in touch with them. And Gaby talked about, you know, having so many different mentors, but also being part of the start mate program, which is run I think it's run by launch week, and we'll link to that in the in the show notes at startmate.com. But wherever you are in the world, they are going to be groups, there's going to be competitions, awards, forums, networks, communities that you can be part of in your particular niche. And it takes, you know, sometimes courage for us to step outside and be like, you know what, no one in my immediate circle has this experience. So I'm actually going to go and contact people. And I've talked about it before, when I started my business, I sat down, I wrote a list of everyone who'd ever talked to me about getting help with marketing, social media, anything like that brand content, and I wrote down their names. And then I also in that same list, wrote down everyone I've ever seen speak that I thought was really great. I wrote down, you know, companies that I thought were doing really good. And I went on to LinkedIn, and I found the CEO of those companies, and I just contacted them. And granted, this was like 2015, things have changed a little bit. But still, I just I kind of stalked, looked for the email addresses found people if I couldn't contact them directly on LinkedIn, and just sort of said, Hey, this is my situation. I'm not asking for a job. I think what you're doing is fantastic, you know, always start with flattery, and familiarization and I just asked Can we chat? Can I kind of you know, talk to you can we go get and wine. And those conversations are incredible in not only opening my eyes to what was possible, but also validating my idea that if I leave this really secure job as head of marketing for a major company, that I could actually make things work on my own.
I love that Gaby talked about you know, having that supportive network, finding people you know, cultivating different crews, finding your networks applying for things like start mate so that you can meet people in a similar journey to yourself. So I would love to know what you took away from my conversation with Gaby Howard at Flaunter. Either email me. You can send an email anytime to hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. You can also come on over to Instagram at @mydailybusinesscoach and send me a DM I'm sure also that Gaby would love to hear from you. So like she mentioned, her email address is gaby@flaunter.com. You can find them over at flaunter.com and on Instagram. It's just that @flaunter_
And like I said before, we'll link to all of that in the show notes which you can find in full at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/138 or 138. Thank you so much for listening. If you found this useful, please share it with a business friend so they can understand more about PR and potentially head on over to Flaunter and see if it's the right fit for them, thank you so much for listening. I'll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to the My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you want to get in touch you can do that at my daily business coach comm or hit me up on Instagram at @mydailybusinesscoach.
