Your Message Matters: Guerrilla Publicity Secrets with Jill Lublin

Sabine Kvenberg: what would you say is the big biggest mistake people make when trying to get publicity for themselves or their business?

jill Lublin: Well, the first mistake is not doing anything. I'm just gonna say that. You know, because sometimes people

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah.

jill Lublin: hold back or I'm not ready or I'm not big enough or whatever's in your mind, forget about it. I just wanna say that, that you have to take small steps, even baby steps, to start creating what I like to refer to as visibility building activities. So the the mistake is

Sabine Kvenberg: Hello and welcome to another episode of Become Empowered. And I'm so excited about my guest today, Jill Lublin. She is a publicity strategist, international speaker, consultant, and four-time best-selling author, known for teaching publicity, networking, referrals, and influence marketing. Welcome, Jill.

jill Lublin: Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here with you.

Sabine Kvenberg: I'm in Germany right now but I didn't want to miss our interview. And just in case I start speaking German, you know why say Sabina You know it's so funny when you speak in one language and two languages and sometimes you don't even know which language you are speaking. But that is beside The fact. Jill, we met through networking and I was so delighted to be on your podcast and I am just so excited for for you to be here. So let's dive right in. you are a publicist. Was that always your dream or your idea of having that as your profession? Or did you start in a different direction?

jill Lublin: I absolutely started in a different direction. I actually was in law school going to become an attorney, which was my dream by the way, and then I got to law school. It's just not my style. It was too really difficult for my very butterfly kind of brain. which by the way makes me really

Sabine Kvenberg: Yes.

jill Lublin: good at publicity and marketing. That's for that, but not really law school. And you know, I actually got bronchitis five times that year, and I thought, all right, I get the message. And I dropped out of law

Sabine Kvenberg: Hmm. Yeah.

jill Lublin: school. but during law school, to make it more interesting for me, I started working with pretty major league entertainment attorneys, like representing such people as Huey Lewis and the News and Santana and got myself in the world of rock and roll and the attorneys working with them and and that transitioned me into the music business which I did love and the entertainment business was much more at my speed and much more interesting to me and I actually stayed in the music business for five years and became the director of promotion and publicity at multiple, I think four independent record labels and that for me is where I learned my guerrilla publicity tactics, which led which

Sabine Kvenberg: Ha ha ha.

jill Lublin: led to guerrilla publicity and me forming my whole publicity strategy consulting company and teaching media mastery intensive now. So, you know, it's like everything, a a journey and taking different steps sometimes leads to different directions, which was great for me.

Sabine Kvenberg: I love it because it's it's not unusual that someone starts out in maybe not the perfect direction they thought it would be, and then making that shift to really those things they love. And being in the entertainment business myself for many, many, many years, I know exactly when when you're talking about the The record labels. It was all different back then, right? and so it shifted totally. But the music industry is just so wonderful because it's the creative outlet. So with that said, you worked there and basically did publicity for the groups, for the record label or everything in between?

jill Lublin: Pretty much everything in between. They were independent record labels, which mean we had no budget. Unlike my friends, I would go to these music business

Sabine Kvenberg: Hmm.

jill Lublin: conferences. My colleagues would be you know, working in major labels and they'd have, you know, two million dollar promotion budgets. And I I would joke with, you know, with two million dollars you could make anyone famous, right? And right. So I

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah.

jill Lublin: had to learn tactics that would get us out there that were creative and unusual. And that's how guerrilla publicity came to be, like us using time and imagination and creating things that people would look at and pay attention to, that's what ended up really refocusing my career. And and I always like to say, you know, the music business is about all about perception and you create that and so I got to create it now for my clients, my entrepreneurs, who I work with small businesses and and lots of different kinds of industries. So, you know, it it translated itself, which is great, and I had amazing experiences, but I really got to take control, so to speak, of the whole creative publicity process within those labels. And One of the labels I worked with got sold to Windham Hill Records for multi millions of dollars. One of one of our other artists went platinum on you know, so there was just some amazing things that happened and I'm grateful to have been part of all that.

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah, and so so well, you had to be creative to do something without a big budget, which is a great segue to entrepreneurship today. We have a lot of solo entrepreneurs and small businesses with a small budget. And marketing publicity is everything if you want to get more clients, if you want to be known and there are of course different techniques. But what would you say is the big biggest mistake people make when trying to get publicity for themselves or their business?

jill Lublin: Well, the first mistake is not doing anything. I'm just gonna say that. You know, because sometimes people

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah.

jill Lublin: hold back or I'm not ready or I'm not big enough or whatever's in your mind, forget about it. I just wanna say that, that you have to take small steps, even baby steps, to start creating what I like to refer to as visibility building activities. So the the mistake is not doing anything. The second mistake is having a message that's unclear and isn't concise. So media loves concise and precise and and very important. That you stay focused on their listeners, their readers, their viewers. So avoid I statements and talk about you, the reader, the listener, the viewer, right? Just like you're listening right now, you want to know what to do about publicity. That's one of the things to do is speak in you statements, not us, I or we statements. That's really key. and in fact, when

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm.

jill Lublin: I wrote Gorilla Publicity, that's one of the things that media said. and agreed about, they didn't agree about everything, but they did agree about giving value and benefit. Those are the words. Think about that. Value and benefit to their viewers, listeners, and readers.

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm. So true what you said is not doing anything is obviously leaves you unseen. And for someone who feels unknown, what would you say the first step to becoming more visible in a meaningful way?

jill Lublin: So once you get a good message, and that is important so that you feel confident and ready, I I would go to nationaldaycalendar.com

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: and look to see what holidays or months of the year fit in for what you're talking about, or even a personal story, I call it use everything you've got. You know, like a client of mine who had breast cancer for October, we're talking about her breast cancer journey, even though she's really a wellness coach, which of course relates to it. For a business consultant I

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah.

jill Lublin: work with, she has a son who's autistic. We go and talk in national have her talk in National Autism Month about being a mom, being a parent. you know, having a a a wonderful child who has this, what do you do? And then of course everything she does leads back to her website. So you all have to know that that everywhere you talk always leads back. But I'm gonna encourage you to use what I like to call everything you've got. Your age, your ethnicity, your religion. so the obvious and then for instance one of my clients she's a leadership coach and works also in corporate. as a trainer and a self-published author. So she's multiple things of those, mostly on leadership. However,

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: she's, you know, worked with me and been in my media mastery intensives. And one of the things she's learned is use everything you've got. This is a really wonderful key. So there she was dragon boarding in Colorado. I had to look up what that was, but I found out. And

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah.

jill Lublin: she was and there was a reporter there covering this because it's kind of a newer sport and fun and And because well, first of all they featured her because she knew how to get the attention, right? And she said to the reporter,

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm, mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: Listen, I've also got these other things going on and I can help people be great leaders in tough times. Can I talk to you about that? And the reporter said, Yes, she ended up in the D Denver Post twice talking about two different things, one her hobby and one of what she trains and talks about and gets you know, makes her money from, right? Isn't that wonderful? That's what I'm talking about is a really great example of use all parts of who you are.

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah. And I can relate to it especially right now. I was at the Frankfurt Book Fair and my latest book, Gamchen, came out and I did also a couple of things here in in Germany for that. So I thought, hey, you know, I could use the whole trip. And so I had a topic said traveling with gum chan.

jill Lublin: Yes.

Sabine Kvenberg: Of course, my book, but also you have to have gumchen when you travel on your

jill Lublin: Yes.

Sabine Kvenberg: own. And so that's what what I did. And I reported from different and I was in Italy and it was exciting. So yeah, and who knows where this leads to. And actually it it did in in Frankfurt, which is another story for another time. But thank you for pointing that out. That is so true. Sometimes I think we are overthinking things. And have to come up with this gr grand bombastic things. And now it's really everything you and then that leads, of course, everything to your to your business eventually. So I love that. Thank you for sharing. Now

jill Lublin: you're welcome. And I'm excited to hear about your Frankfurt journeys. I've I've been Frankfurt so many years helping people get foreign rights deals. So I'd love to talk to you about that.

Sabine Kvenberg: Ooh, yeah, we should talk about that. Because that was my intention going there. And but here's the thing, Jill. I had no idea. I knew that some representative of our from our publisher was there and I wanted to seek him out, but he wasn't to be found. But I said, you know what? I'm here, so I'm gonna do everything and talked with everybody. And the very last booth that I went to. And what you just said, so I have to share that. There was this lady, she was like it was at the end of the day, she was yawning and so she said, a tiring day. So we started a conversation. And that conversation led to, this is what I'm doing. I'm looking for foreign rights and here's my book. And we talked and you know, at the end she said, Sabina, because I told her Germany is my homecoming, so to speak. She said I would love to explore more to translate your book into German. Yeah, talk about that, right? It's how we per perceive it, how we approach it and networking. So you are the networking queen as well. So tell us how does networking play a part of you being more visible?

jill Lublin: Hmm. Well one of the things, you know, and it I believe is a success strategy is you have to measure for networking. You know, as much as I'd love to say everything, you know, falls from the sky, it doesn't. It's based on relationships, as we know, like you expressed meeting someone who's now, God willing, gonna translate your book into German. You know how wonderful is that? That came from being willing to talk to someone and take a chance, even though she was yawning, even though, even though, right? you just never

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah. Yeah. Right.

jill Lublin: know who's who. So one of the things I think is key is Be clear on what your goals are. You know, you did say to her, I want to get my book translated into foreign rights. You you need to be clear on what your requests are and frankly ask for help. Do you you know, I like to s I like to call it the who question. Who do you know who? is a really good question.

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: And so every time I go to a networking event, I have three people I want to meet new. Okay, I'm talking about like either on Zoom or in person. And by the way, there's so many great networking events going on on Zoom that are just wonderful. So I'm thrilled about that. And then I want to, you know, so I want to meet three and I want to deepen three. You know, people maybe already know, find out something new, see how I can help and support them. And coming in with you know, how can I help you? And that kind of mindset, but also be clear on what your goals are. I don't know about you, but when I say to somebody, How can I help you? and they don't have an answer for me, there's nothing I can do as opposed to I am I am

Sabine Kvenberg: Yes.

jill Lublin: very well connected and very well resourced. I've had a thirty year publicity career, you know, that that means I have some connections and I want to support people, but I need to know their question, right? And I think that's important. And then you also have to respect people's time. so I think that that's a key. you know, but that's That for me

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah.

jill Lublin: would be one of the big things. I have a book called Networking Magic, by the way, and that's something we talk about is is is the who question and all of that. But the truth is a lot of your publicity will be built through visibility building activities, meeting people, you know, that's how you and I got to connect and be on each other's podcasts and help each other. Same thing all over. you know, you can find wonderful

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah.

jill Lublin: people who are willing to help you. If you're clear about what your request is.

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah. And you often talk about kindness and referrals. And how do those principles translate into real business growth?

jill Lublin: Well, number one, kind companies create more abundance. We've measured it. When I wrote The Prophet of Kindness, okay, we actually talked to many companies, both large and small, solo entrepreneurs and bigger companies. And there were several commonalities. One is that they were happier, the CEO, when they practice and express kindness. their clients were happier. They tended to make more money. And this was like across the board, across the board, no matter what they were promoting, selling, how many small companies are big. so I just want to say that. And that the multiplication factor is really important. And one of the things, you know, I know everybody measures

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: for ROI, which is important, and we also measure for

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: ROK, ROCs, return on kindness principles, and you know, things like

Sabine Kvenberg: Love it.

jill Lublin: Compassion and patience and flexibility, all return on kindness principles, are really key. And one of things that I'm s big on, I know people talk about random acts of kindness and I think that that's so important. But really what I wanna express is practice a conscious act of kindness every single day. And imagine this world and how different it would be. as we all do that. Just one thing. Be focused, a conscious act of kindness every single day and watch your world change and certainly others too.

Sabine Kvenberg: I love it. And it reminds me on one of my coaches many years back and this was his principal. Every day he sent out one message to a person in his networking or phone or wherever without anything to expect in return, just some kind words to support them that day. And I thought that was beautiful.

jill Lublin: Yes.

Sabine Kvenberg: And Yeah, that's exactly right. So what would you say is maybe you answered it at the beginning, if people maybe overlook one strategy, or most entrepreneurs may overlook one strategy that would lead to them to be more successful, have more clients, have more Whatever they want to have more fun.

jill Lublin: One strategy you're saying?

Sabine Kvenberg: One strat one strategy, what they overlook.

jill Lublin: So I'm gonna say publicity honestly is often overlooked. Here's what's interesting. AI today is finding you when you have publicity. Period. You'll get on podcasts, you'll get asked to be on you know major stages sometimes. You will often hosts start looking at that. So I just think that that's a real key, that you start your publicity today. and you know that goes, publicity is in my world a very much broader definition. It happens from the minute you walk out your door into a Zoom room for networking or a podcast or

Sabine Kvenberg: Yeah. Yeah.

jill Lublin: in out for coffee. Guess what? You are doing visibility building activities and you just well never know. But from a focus of media, I want you to get intentional about this. and you know focus in on finding you know two podcasts a month to be on and I think this is so wonderfully easy in today's world because hey guess what many more people have podcasts and ways that we can you know connect to each other and that is just so fantastic and an amazing possibility and prop you know profitability For you to reach one to many. The the deal about publicity is it gets you seen, it gets you heard, and it gets you

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: paid. And it elevates your status.

Sabine Kvenberg: Mm-hmm.

jill Lublin: And publicity in today's marketplace is a trust builder that helps people, you know, create more of that visibility factor that gets you known.

Sabine Kvenberg: And one of those visibility factors and elevating their status or their ex expertise is being an author. You are a multiple book author and so am I, but I also know some don't have a book or they're afraid to have a book. But even sharing their story can be very powerful.

jill Lublin: Yes.

Sabine Kvenberg: in in a blog where an anthology, for example, I I wrote one and I'm working on one right now, to give those people that elevated status of being an author, even if it's in an anthology compilation book. Now, if someone yeah. yes, please.

jill Lublin: Yeah, and let me let me just say, can I mention because many of my client many of my clients are not authors. Listen, if you've got a business, if you're a consultant, if you're a coach, if you are an entrepreneur of any kind, the reality is you're going to create more prospects, leads, clients, referrals, and frankly, exposure and credibility in the marketplace, plus the trust that people will choose you over anyone else, is created by publicity. And publicity is free. It's not advertising. It's not social media. Let me just be clear about that. It's about the power of your

Sabine Kvenberg: Good.

jill Lublin: message.

Sabine Kvenberg: Good. I'm so glad that you did say that because one of the things I wanted to ask you too, if someone is listening to this message and they said, Okay, it makes sense, but I really don't know what to do and how to do it. So if someone say would want to know more how to work with you, can you say something to that fact that maybe this would be helpful for me. So what do you do for your clients when you work with them?

jill Lublin: Well, let me tell you, because I have created something for all of you that gets you started quickly and if I may just share that. It's Yeah,

Sabine Kvenberg: Please.

jill Lublin: and it's it's called my publicity challenge. We actually in one hour just focus in on a different topic each day. And it's pretty much free and you can get there with those three topics. we we're gonna deep dive on them and it's live and interactive on Zoom with me, so very convenient. it's jilllublin.com slash start, and I'm sure that'll be in the show notes too. So please come on and that's a

Sabine Kvenberg: Yes.

jill Lublin: great place to start, literally, jilllublin.com slash start and get your publicity going so that you understand it, so that you're taking motion you're in motion and connected to a message that works. So I I think that'll be really helpful for people and and get you started quickly.

Sabine Kvenberg: Beautiful, beautiful. Yes, I'm I'm sure that people would like to take advantage of it and I can't wait to to learn more and also share it with my network because that is what's needed right now. And when you have a business, if you're an author or or any kind of entrepreneurship, I think You definitely want to get in touch with Jill and take advantage of this wonderful challenge. Because I know challenges are also very exciting b exciting because you're not doing it alone. There is something that you can strive for and do it together as a group. Wonderful.

jill Lublin: Absolutely.

Sabine Kvenberg: Okay. We are here at the top of the hour, and I would want to say thank you. If someone you you already shared your your link, I will put everything in the show notes. So if there's one last thing you would like to share, maybe a question I haven't asked you, please, now is your platform.

jill Lublin: I think that what's really important is that you start wherever you can with whatever place in your business you're at, it's perfect. Public is an evolutionary journey and you keep planting seeds and growing and growing, you know, and you meet different places in your business as you grow together. And so I want to leave you with this: the fact that your message matters. So let's get it out there, my friends. Your message matters. Tell the world it's your gift. It's important for others to

Sabine Kvenberg: Beautiful. And I second that this is important. Your message, your story. Share it, share it, share it. Thank you so much, Jill, for being here and sharing your expertise. thank you and the best to all the future projects that are on your table.

jill Lublin: Thank you.