Using Crystallization to Get More Media Exposure

Two weeks ago I reached out to an esteemed professional in the publishing industry who was referred to me by a mutual colleague who suggested that he and I connect. The initial intent of my outreach was to see how I could support his efforts, trusting that the interaction would unfold exactly as it should. The last thing on my mind was getting anything in return, at least directly. I learned long ago that networking, collaboration, and strategic partnerships work best when they come from a genuine spirit of unity and a commitment to selfless service.

A few days ago, my new friend sent me an unexpected invitation via LinkedIn: Would I be interested in contributing my expertise to an article in Forbes.com? My fingers instantly danced with appreciation as I enthusiastically said HECK YES, not knowing a thing about the specifics of what was required. My attitude was, “Tell me what you need and I’ll deliver it.” Full stop. I’ll figure out the details later.

My first hoop to jump through was The Pitch: Write my idea in 20 words or less and my credentials in 11 words or less. [Breathe, Theresa. You got this. 🤓]

After several rounds of yogic breathing and some maniacal tap-tap-tapping on my keyboard, I ended up sending a response a few minutes later with a pitch idea consisting of a whopping 12 words and a credibility statement clocking in at 9 words. WOO!

Yesterday I received a response in the affirmative that he liked my idea and I could now proceed to write an entirely original article at 300-400 words about my chosen topic. (Mine ended up at 386 after many rounds of editing.)

Even though I’m practically drowning in tasks and had not considered this incredible opportunity prior to a few days ago, I knew that I wanted to deliver strong and deliver fast. So this morning I timeblocked a few hours solely for the purpose of getting my first Forbes media contribution written and sent. (This also included time to write a bio, provide resource links, and find some pretty photos of me in action.)

After sending it off to my publisher friend by lunchtime, I received an email from him confirming with me that I hadn’t, in fact, just copied and pasted previous content from another article to this one. (A big no-no for the media outlet.) It turns out that the speed with which I responded was unusually fast. HA! Nope. It’s all brand new – every last word of it came out of my noggin and thro