357: Mastering Earned Media to promote your business with guest expert Michelle Tennant

Michelle Tennant, author of 21 Day PR Action Guide: The Who, What, When, and Where to Launch a Successful PR Campaign

Bill Ringle and Michelle Tennant discuss how PR can catapult your expertise and business to the readers and listeners of major business media like CNN and the WSJ to attract new clients and customers.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

Interview Insights

Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview

  • Be thankful if you receive a complaint. It goes to show that someone cares enough to give their opinion about your business or product. Use the gift of complaint wisely to raise standards.
  • Establish your authority to gain trust. Your authority and your credibility are your best PR.
  • Listen to what the press needs and do not call them to promote you.

Read show notes for this interview

  • The Bionic Woman (remember Lindsay Wagner?), who has the power of sharp hearing and listening, was a great inspiration to Michelle growing up. [00:55]
  • Michelle shares her experience being on Good Morning America. [04:17]
  • A tip that you won’t hear from anyone else about welcoming complaints. [05:47]
  • Elizabeth Bernstein, a press contact of Michelle’s, shared her frustration with sources who were engaging and giving her good stories, yet not willing to go on the record. Michelle tells how she used that as an opportunity to win for Elizabeth, win for her best clients, and win for Michelle’s company. [07:34]
  • The value of authoritative media versus social media for promotion. [10:22]
  • The impact of the pandemic on the press. [15:24]
  • Case: Kim, a journalist from South Carolina, was having trouble with entrepreneurs who couldn’t understand why they keep getting a ‘no.’ [19:54]
  • Would you pitch yourself to Oprah or Anderson Cooper? [22:01]
  • My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins [23:26]

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Expert Bio

Michelle Tennant , author of 21 Day PR Action Guide: The Who, What, When, and Where to Launch a Successful PR Campaign.


Good Morning America Producer Mable Chan calls Wasabi Publicity’s Chief Creative Officer Michelle Tennant Nicholson a “five-star publicist.”

Michelle calls herself a “storyteller to the media.”

For 30+ years, media friends have solicited her help in crafting news stories by requesting sources, sound bites, and statistics. 

Contact Info and Social Media for Michelle Tennant

Resources Mentioned During the Interview

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed so you can explore further.

Published by Michelle Tennant


21 Day PR Action Guide by Michelle Tennant