Introduction to Shanté Micah

Today we have Shanté Micah, a PR strategist and founder of Good News. Shanté helps businesses and brands get into the spotlight through earned media and get visibility, clout and credibility.

Shanté is a PR rockstar and an author. Her book “PR Power Play: How to use media to market yourself, build your brand and generate revenue” is a culmination of nearly 20 years of her experience in a practical framework that any business can use. It’s a must read for anyone who wants to use media effectively.

Shanté has been in the digital space since 2006. She’s got a lot to share about public relations and digital marketing. Whether you’re a public figure, thought leader or business looking to get more visibility today’s conversation is for you.

Table of Contents

• Who is Shanté Micah?
• Current Projects that Excite Shanté
• Tactical and Strategic PR Advice from Shanté
• Where Does Shanté See the Future of PR?
• How to Get in Contact with Shanté
• Advice to Her Younger Self
• Books and Leaders That Inspire Shanté
• Conclusion: PR in the Digital Age

Who is Shanté Micah?

Early Life and Determination

Shanté grew up in a tiny farming town in Washington with 5,000 people. She was one of 6 kids, the only girl with 5 brothers. From a young age Shanté was determined.

At 11 or 12 Shanté started thinking about her family’s financial situation and the limited opportunities in her small town. She knew to pursue a career and go to college she would have to leave her small town and find a way to fund her education.

Summer Jobs and Future Planning

Shanté’s summer jobs included driving a combine in the fields, a job that had air conditioning but required long hours of boring work. During those hours she would listen to audiobooks on cassette tapes and plan her future.

She started journaling daily, a habit she’s kept her whole life. Those journals document her growth, her plans and her perspective on the world around her.

Scholarship Pageants and College Funding

At 12 Shanté learned about scholarship pageants that offered money. With no experience and no guidance she decided to enter the Miss Teen of Washington pageant at 13. To her surprise she placed 2nd and won several category awards and a bunch of scholarship money.

This led her to enter more scholarship pageants and fund her college education.

Educational Journey

Shanté started with an associates degree in biology thinking she wanted to be a doctor. But she had a pivotal moment and changed her path. She realized her love for storytelling and decided to get a bachelors in broadcast journalism.

After graduating Shanté worked with International Sports Broadcasting, covering Olympic events and traveling the world. Then she felt drawn to Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications where she got her master’s in public relations.

Career

After education Shanté’s career has taken her through:

1. Director of Global Corporate Communications for a startup in Utah
2. Opening an international market in Israel for a company
3. Launching social media for businesses
4. 97th Floor, a digital marketing agency
5. Young Living as part of their PR team

Throughout her career Shanté has adapted to new challenges and new technology and always looked to innovate and improve in the PR and comms space.

Current Projects that Excite Shanté

Shanté’s current focus is on making PR more accessible and effective for businesses of all sizes. Her projects include:

1. Creating curriculum and courses on PR strategies
2. Consulting with large corporate entities on building PR teams and pitching pipelines
3. Writing and promoting her book, “PR Power Play”
4. Developing AI and automation tools to scale PR services
5. Providing mentorship to up-and-coming professionals and students in the PR field

Shanté is particularly excited about the integration of AI and automation in PR services. This approach allows her to provide high-quality PR assistance at a scale that was previously impossible, making these services more accessible to a wider range of businesses.

Tactical and Strategic PR Advice from Shanté

The Importance of Earned Media

Shanté emphasizes the critical role of earned media in today’s digital landscape. She cites a study by BuzzSumo that reveals:

• 90% of consumers prefer to know about a company through an article (earned media) rather than traditional ads or content marketing.
• 72% of consumers prefer their first awareness of a company to come through an article or other form of social proof.

These statistics underscore the importance of incorporating earned media into a company’s marketing strategy.

The Four Aspects of Creating a Media Pipeline

Shanté outlines four key aspects to creating a successful pipeline for earned media:

1. Creating a Connecting Index: Identify the journalists, editors, producers, and publications that reach your target audience. Understand what they’re talking about and the current cultural conversations.
2. Developing a Storytelling Index: Identify stories that will resonate with your audience and the media. These are often not what you initially think they are – focus on how your products or services solve problems or fill needs.
3. Crafting Compelling Pitches: Learn how to create pitches that stand out among the hundreds that journalists receive daily. Build rapport, demonstrate your research, and show that you understand the journalist’s beat and body of work.
4. Understanding Bottom Line Results: Focus on metrics and ROI. A good PR effort should drive tangible results, including increased website traffic, conversions, and a loyal customer base.

Implementing PR Strategies on a Limited Schedule

For business owners with limited time, Shanté recommends dedicating at least one hour per week to PR efforts. She suggests following the framework outlined in her book, “PR Power Play,” which provides a step-by-step approach to implementing effective PR strategies.

Integrating PR with Other Marketing Efforts

Shanté advises integrating PR efforts with other aspects of digital marketing, including social media and SEO. She stresses the importance of understanding these related fields to maximize the impact of PR campaigns.

Where Does Shanté See the Future of PR?

The Evolving Role of Journalists

Shanté notes that journalists are under increasing pressure to produce more content with tighter deadlines, often due to layoffs in media companies. This trend creates a greater need for PR professionals who understand the current media landscape and can provide valuable, ready-to-use content.

The Integration of AI and Automation

Shanté sees tremendous potential in the integration of AI and automation in PR:

• AI can help create a “second brain” for PR professionals, allowing them to work at scale.
• Automation can assist in managing relationships with journalists, including tracking interactions and important dates.
• AI can help in crafting personalized pitches and content.

However, Shanté emphasizes that successful PR will still require a human-first approach, understanding that journalists are people with specific interests, expertise, and audiences.

The Changing Media Landscape

Shanté acknowledges the shift towards individual journalists and influencers creating their own platforms on social media. She believes that PR professionals need to adapt to these changes, incorporating strategies for working with influencers and leveraging platforms like TikTok and Instagram.

The Enduring Need for Good Stories

Despite changes in the media landscape, Shanté believes that the demand for good stories with hyper-relevance and originality will only increase. PR professionals who can provide these stories and adapt to new mediums will continue to be valuable.

How to Get in Contact with Shanté

For those interested in learning more from Shanté or accessing her services, she can be reached through:

1. LinkedIn: Shanté Micah
2. Instagram: @shantémicah
3. Website: higoodnews.com

Shanté mentioned that while her Instagram account hasn’t been active, she plans to launch content in the near future, including power trainings and insights on creating media-resonant stories.

Advice to Her Younger Self

If Shanté could go back and tell her younger self she would say:

“Relax. Don’t try to figure it out. Find the fun in it.”

Shanté says she used to stress herself out because her life wasn’t going exactly according to the plan she wrote out in her journal at 12. She says to embrace the detours and see them as adventures not setbacks.

Books and Leaders That Inspire Shanté

Shanté shared these books and authors:

1. “The Laws of Human Nature” by Robert Greene
2. “Captivate” and “Cues” by Vanessa Van Edwards, on the science of people
3. “Bumpers” by Nick Peterson, on building a business while maximizing productivity and quality of life

These books reflect Shanté’s interests in human behavior, productivity and quality of life while building a business.

Conclusion: PR in the Digital Age

As we see from our conversation with Shanté Micah, PR is changing in the digital age. But the fundamentals of storytelling, relationship building and understanding human behavior remain the same.

We covered:

1. Earned Media: In an age of information overload earned media has credibility that paid advertising and content marketing can’t match.
2. New Tech: PR professionals need to get with the times and use new tools like AI and automation to stay competitive and add value to clients.
3. Human First: Despite all the tech, understanding and connecting with people (journalists and audiences) is at the heart of good PR.
4. Continuous Learning: The media landscape is changing fast so PR professionals need to keep up to date with their skills and new platforms and methodologies.
5. Strategy and Tactics: Good PR requires high level strategy and day to day tactical execution.
6. PR as part of the Marketing Mix: PR shouldn’t exist in a silo but should be integrated with social media, SEO and other digital marketing for maximum impact.

As we move forward it’s clear the role of the PR professional will continue to evolve. Those who can combine traditional PR skills with digital know how, data analysis and an understanding of new technology will thrive.

Shanté Micah’s journey from a small town in Washington to PR leader is an inspiration to anyone looking to get into the industry. Her message of continuous learning, adapting and being human centric is the formula for success in PR.

Whether you’re a business owner looking to increase brand visibility, a PR professional looking to future proof or a student thinking of getting into the industry the advice from Shanté is useful for anyone looking to navigate the PR landscape.

As we wrap up remember PR is about telling good stories and building real relationships. The tools and platforms may change but the fundamentals will always be at the heart of good PR.