Welcome to Bean to Barstool's Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series! As a full time freelance journalist in food and beverage, David Nilsen has communicated with thousands of breweries, distilleries, restaurants, chocolate makers, and other businesses, and he's seen ones who maximize their relationships with media members and outlets, and ones who are leaving opportunities on the table. Additionally, his wife and business partner, Melinda Guerra, is a freelance PR professional helping brands tell their stories and connect with media. Between the two of them, they’ll be sharing what we’ve learned over their careers to help craft chocolate companies of any size identify their stories, communicate them to media members and outlets, gain new customers, and keep the ones they have curious. In part 1 today, David talks about why media relations are so important no matter the size of your chocolate business, and why you need to have a strategy for this. In upcoming episodes, we’re going to explore how to build a media list, how to identify the stories you want to tell, how to create press releases and what to put in them, how to maintain media relationships, what to do when you get media coverage, and much more. The goal of all this is not to overwhelm you, but to walk you through how you Can do this, and why you should. One note: while a lot of what we’ll talk about could apply to social media, and we will be hitting some specific aspects of social media, this series is focused on working with media members and outlets. Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series: Podcast Episodes Why You Need a Media Plan (you're listening to it!) How to Identify Your Stories How to Build and Manage a Media List All About Press Releases How to Maintain Media Relationships and Communicate New Stories How to Get Started, and Common Pitfalls Blog Posts Why You Need a Media Plan How to Identify Your Stories How to Build a Media List Industry and Unexpected Outlets to your Media List How to Write and Send a Press Release How to Maintain Media Relationships and Communicate New Stories How to Get Started, and Common Pitfalls Check out David's book Pairing Beer & Chocolate: A Guide to Bringing the Flavors of Craft Beer and Craft Chocolate Together. Follow Bean to Barstool on social media! Instagram Facebook Pinterest Sign up for host David Nilsen's beer newsletter for regular beer musings, and the Bean to Barstool newsletter for pairings, collaborations, and maker profiles.
