#11 | How To Pitch Editors & Press With Jason Feifer

Jason Feifer wears many hats: father, husband, amazing human being, Editor-in-Chief, podcast host and book author. Wow, it’s amazing he’s able to find time to sleep if you ask me. My biggest question for Jason? How, on top of all these things, do you even have time to work on (or deal with) your own social media?!

How Do You Create Time To Build Content? (6:40)

Jason spilled that doesn’t feel like he does everything the best he could. Which was refreshing to hear. Sometimes when people answer that they have “no problem” doing it all it makes me instantly alienated.

Work Your Next Job – The Secret to Success! (10:30)

In every meeting I always get an a-ha moment and this was no exception. I LOVED Jason’s concept of working your next job.

At any given time we have two sets of opportunities at work.

• Opportunity Set A is what is being asked of us. The things we have to do in order to get a paycheck.

• Opportunity Set B is what nobody is asking us to do but is available to us. This could be skills that are not mandated but would be helpful to learn. If you’re working somewhere that doesn’t have a podcast it might be a good idea to get familiar with podcasting, buy an inexpensive mic and pitch the idea of starting a podcast for your company.

Jason is adamant that opportunity set B is life changing. If you live your life only focusing on opportunity set A, then you are only good at things you are already doing. You’re not learning, you’re not growing and you’re not finding your next niche. With opportunity set B, you build, grow and develop skills that may not know what the ROI is but can open up new doors.

We never know where life would take us or what our jobs will end up being. This is why Jason is always building on and rebuilding himself!

How To Become a Thought Leader (15:30)

Sometimes it feels awkward to tell people what you do. It feels weird to say, “I’m a CEO of a company” or “I started a company,” at least it does for me. When Jason said he also felt this I was so relieved.

When I asked him how he got over this, I loved his answer. Keep it short – people don’t want your whole spiel. Give people just a bit and let them lead you in. Jason’s starts by saying he’s a writer and sees how people react. If they ask more, he gives them more.

Best Takeaway: Everybody in social media should have a franchise: something that’s simple, repeatable and scalable to do.

The Character & Alter Ego of “Jason Feifer” (20:45)

Our coffee meeting was not with the real Jason but with a character called Jason Feifer.

Jason explained that people don’t want “you” they want the part of “you” that’s useful to them. Create a character that is hyper focused on what the audience wants. For Jason, this character only comes out on podcasts, on stage or in his writing.

How Do You Get to the Real Person if We’re Characters? (26:30)

I had to dig further because Jason’s entire job as the Editor-in-Chief of Entrepreneur is to push past the “character” of someone and get to the real person.

I thought Jason’s advice was so strategic! First, let that person talk through all of their canned content. Like letting out air from a balloon just wait until it all comes out. Once it’s all out is when you start picking – asking them to respond to ideas and give you their take.

Jason’s Favorite Trick: Run a theory by them. It doesn’t even have to be a good or correct theory; you just want them to respond. Once they respond you can go personal and deeper based on how they answered. Jason stole this idea from famous podcaster Ira Glass and now I’m stealing it from him!

Working From Home Strategies (37:55)

Every day Jason’s day has two parts: productivity time and planning time. In the morning it’s productivity time until 1pm as this is the time when his brain is freshest and fastest. Later in the day is for meetings and making calls. As for those “pick your brain” requests he makes himself available…late at night once the children go to bed. This eliminates a ton of people who aren’t serious about connecting with him.

Saying “No” in Business and Life (40:35)

Jason’s canned no is something I seriously need to pick up. I don’t want to spoil it but something magic happens when he types “ddd” into his phone.

Copying Jason’s Homework (55:10)

• Best app/program you’ve started using lately? Descript

• What is the best gift you’ve given yourself or done for yourself in the last year? A nice microphone

• Favorite Podcast/Newsletter/Resource/person that you learn from? Richard’s Famous Food Podcast and Everything is Alive

• What is one thing everyone should try THIS WEEK? Everybody this week should post something in social media that they think is valuable to their audience but too embarrassed to post. Don’t forget to tag Jason!

How to Keep Learning from Jason

Follow Jason at: Pessimist Archive,  LinkedIn and Instagram. You can subscribe to his monthly newsletter on his website jasonfeifer.com

Next week we have Cheslie Kryst, Miss USA joining us. To RSVP, visit the CWK Calendar.