S8 Bonus 03: Pitching & Dating — More Similar Than You Think

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[00:00:00] YD: Welcome back to Travel Media Lab, everyone. I'm your host, Yulia Denisyuk, an award-winning travel photographer, writer storyteller, community builder, podcaster, and entrepreneur. Working with publications like afar, the New York Times, NA Geo, and more. Traveling to some really interesting places around the world and producing stories that I'm very.

[00:00:24] Excited about and Travel Media Lab is our platform for helping you break into the travel media space where we share insights, tips, advice, and stories from people working in this industry. And all this month we're continuing to share with you a few of my favorite conversations from inside our membership, this circle as we gear up for the return of season nine of our podcast soon.

[00:00:49] In this episode you're about to hear today, I'm gonna share with you a discussion we recently had in the circle during one of our weekly check-ins. This is one of the many things we do inside the circle. We have weekly check-ins on Zoom where we set the priorities for the week and also have opportunities to.

[00:01:07] Ask me questions related to your pitches, uh, working in the industry and where I also share some of the insights and some of the things that I've learned in the previous week from, um, being in this industry as well on this particular call. And in this episode, you are going to hear us discussing what pitching has to do with dating.

[00:01:27] I love that part of our conversation, how to deal with our imposter syndrome. That's going to be very familiar to many of us. And I will also give a sneak peek announcement of a storytelling retreat in Barcelona this fall. You heard it here first. We'll be releasing more information soon. But just a heads up that that's something I'm working on and it's gonna be a really exciting, uh, five-day storytelling retreat in Barcelona, um, happening later this fall.

[00:01:57] And just a reminder that at the end of this month, June, On Friday, June 30th, we will be closing open enrollment to our Circle membership until further notice. So if you've been considering joining us, this is your chance right now. Join us before Friday, June 30th to get in on all the activities, all the insights, and all the support we have inside the circle because the enrollment will not be available after that date.

[00:02:25] Alright, uh, with that, Further, no further review. Let's dive into this episode today. 

[00:02:34] All right. Welcome France, uh, to our weekly meeting. Uh, hi Katie. Hi Jolene. Um, I'm calling from a co-working spot here in Valencia. 

[00:02:47] alright, well, uh, let's see what's, uh, what's going on this, uh, week with everyone? Um, I just posted the top five, uh, for, for this week.

[00:02:57] There are some nice opportunities there. Um, And I know Shelly also just, uh, posted, uh, the Cosmo call for pictures in, uh, in the WhatsApp group, even though the deadline has passed for that. But still take a look at that one, it, that thread, that tweet Twitter thread has some nice, um, she puts some nice just, uh, characteristics of what they're looking for in the magazine in general.

[00:03:24] So, um, take a look at that one when you have a chance. And yeah, there's quite a few interesting opportunities. Um, uh, for the top five this week. So definitely check those out. Um, alright, well, uh, let's, uh, let's see. 

[00:03:39] It's interesting how these things work sometime, particularly with stories that are not necessarily like, have any kind of urgent, uh, ti news driven angle. It just sometimes not the right time and then all of a sudden everybody wants it. You know? I think I mentioned already the story about just being published on new on BC Travel with my Indigo Blueprint story, which took two freaking years to.

[00:04:05] To find a home, and then literally the same week that it was gonna be published on BBC Travel, I get an email from the editor at the New York Times asking me if it's still available. Like, what the hell? You know, nobody wanted it. And then when it's getting, it's like, it's like romance. It's like dating, right?

[00:04:22] Yeah. It's the same thing. That's very, when nobody wants it, nobody wants it. And then when one person wants, it's all a sudden, everybody wants it. It's, it's kinda like that sometimes. Um, but I'm, I'm glad to hear that, Larry. That's amazing. 

[00:04:37] By the way, I was, uh, updating our documents today. The, the one that has a master list of publications, and on that list there are 52 or 54 publications, you guys. So if you ever feel like, okay, I don't know where to pitch this, do, do, refer back to that document, because sometimes it can spark ideas.

[00:04:56] You know, you, you may think, you know, like five off the top of your hand, but there's 52 on that list, right? Yeah. And not every one of them will be relevant for everything that you have, but still just, I, I encourage you to use that as a resource. Um, And I also wanted to say that w uh, I just had a call today with someone who's gonna be a guest on the podcast, on the Travel Media Now podcast, and she's an editor-in-chief for Full-Time Travel, which is a very interesting concept.

[00:05:26] It's a website, uh, started by, uh, travel industry veterans, editorial veterans who started a marketing agency and built up this website called Full-Time Travel as. Um, their own sort of publication property because they used to work with hotels and, and tourism boards in, you know, in, in teaching to other publications.

[00:05:51] But then basically they started their own and they were able to build it into quite a. Quite a nice sizable publication. Um, so she's gonna come and talk to us about other revenue streams you could be doing besides, uh, you know, besides publishing, which I'm, I'm very excited about. But she, als also mentioned that although they're not able to pay for these stories, if you ever need a home for a story, especially if it's like a press trip or an assignment, she said she's happy to, to take a look at those and.

[00:06:23] Of course I never wanna encourage free work, right? But sometimes we can find ourselves in a situation where, you know, I took the press trip, I've been pitching this story, pitching it, pitching it. I'm actually right now in two situations like that, But I can't find a home for those stories. And, and she's like, if you ever need to just put something somewhere, you know, they have a sizable audience.

[00:06:46] Uh, so I, I think the press or the tourism board will be happy with that. But yeah, she said she is very open to that. So if you, if you guys ever need something like that, um, do let me know. Well, you'll know, you'll know who she is when she comes on the podcast and, you know, we'll get her contact and everything, but that's another kind of option.

[00:07:06] Available, but I'm, I'm excited about talking to her about those other revenue streams that she's gonna talk about. So that's pretty cool.

[00:07:15] We need to get out of our heads. It's not serving us.

[00:07:18] It's really not. Think about all of the time that the stories could be circulating, already could have been circulating. Uh, if you would've kind of got out of your head and just let it do its work, you know, and, and really I think. So first of all, no shame in all of this, right? We all go through imposter syndrome.

[00:07:39] It's such a real thing. Like to this day, I go through it, like everybody goes through it. Michelle Obama goes through it when she goes on stage. You know, I heard that somewhere. So it's, it's very like, I don't want us, um, to feel like ashamed when we acknowledge it, not, not that it's happening here because I think you guys are all very open about it, which I really love.

[00:07:59] But I really think it's helpful to adopt this minds like when you, when you, when you. When you see it coming on, think about how it's not serving you. Really, it's, it's really not, you know, cause. We need to get those stories out. You guys have have brilliant ideas and brilliant stories and we need to get them out.

[00:08:18] So yeah, I encourage you to please put it in the circle cuz that's a safe space, right? Like if you think it's not ready, we're not gonna tell you, oh my God, how could you ride this? It's not ready. I will tell you if it's not ready for sure. I'm not gonna say, oh no, go ahead. If it's not ready, I will tell you.

[00:08:35] But I'm not gonna say, oh my God, how could you ride this? You're not a, you're a horrible writer or something. Right? Which is something that we kinda go through. Uh, so please use the resource, it's there for a reason for you. Um, and I'm excited to see your Jamaica pitch.

[00:08:50] Lian Way is this, uh, interconnected, uh, trail path that connects, uh, uh, ancient cities of the federation used to be this, uh, league or federation of city states before the Greeks and before the Romans.

[00:09:06] So it's, you know, more ancient than that. So, okay, great. What's the hook here? And I, um, in one of the conversations with our guide, she mentions just kind of briefly off passing. She's like, oh, uh, this, uh, this federation, or the way they had their city state structured, Was what inspired Hamilton and one other guy to write the US Constitution the way they did.

[00:09:30] And it, it inspired the whole organization of the US Congress and, and you know, the representative democracy that US has. And I'm like, wait, what? That's my hook right there. Because, you know, it's a very little known fact. I don't think many people know that, like who or what inspired the US Constitution.

[00:09:48] Um, and that's gonna be my hook when I'm pitching this. You know, it's gonna be about this Sian Way trail, but that juicy detail that it inspired us constitution, I think is gonna be what, what really is gonna make that pitch exciting. So sometimes you just know when you hear something like this and you're like, oh my God, this is amazing.

[00:10:08] Right? Uh, sometimes you don't. But it definitely comes together when you, when you do more pitches and in terms of your details, needing more context. That's also a skill that you can develop when you like the more pitches you write, because the pitch needs to be concise, right? That's something that all of you guys struggle with at times.

[00:10:28] Um, so how can you get that context? Uh, without it becoming, you know, three additional paragraphs. Um, and I would say that if editors need more context, if they're intrigued by the idea, they're always gonna ask for that context too. So don't be like, you know, um, don't be afraid to be more concise or, or to err on the side of being concise rather than overflowing.

[00:10:56] Because if they need more context, they'll ask for sure. So that's what I would say here. But yeah, you see, we can have these conversations a lot when you submit your pitches, and I give you feedback on those. So definitely encourage everyone to do that. But I'm excited, Katie, excited to see your pitch.

[00:11:14] Awesome.

[00:11:15] no details have been ironed out. I'm thinking to do a five, four, or five, maybe six maximum day storytelling workshop in Spain this fall, uh, which I'm super, super excited about. And, uh, you guys will all hear about it first before I open it to the public because, uh, I want our to be, uh, in their first.

[00:11:40] Uh, but yeah, that's something I'm thinking about. And, uh, I'm gonna be doing workshops and it's gonna be in, in a very nice space that I've yet to find, but it's gonna be in our own space. Uh, I'm gonna be doing workshops there and we're also gonna go and, um, do some day trips, uh, in Catalonia and meet farmers, producers, artisans, uh, and.

[00:12:04] Uh, people like that or some stories and things like that. So it'll be super exciting. So no details yet. Nothing about dates, nothing about pricing or anything, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm working on this and, um, hopefully for some of you, I will meet you this, this fall and in Spain for this thing, which will be super exciting.

[00:12:25] Thank you so much for listening to our bonus episode today. I hope you found the ideas we discussed here, relevant and inspiring to you. And if you're looking for support, opportunities, and community in the travel media space, consider joining our Circle community where we have conversations like the one you just heard on a regular basis.

[00:12:46] Go to travel medialab.com/circle to learn more, and be sure to join us before Friday, June 30th, because we will be closing. Open enrollment into our membership. Until further notice. Thanks again for listening and I'll see you very soon.