Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amy Forsythe. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Amy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
I recently completed on the of most meaningful projects I’ve ever worked on that resulted in a 200-page book titled “Heroes Live Here” that chronicled the memorials and tributes located on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in Southern California.
The project first began as me just taking a few photos to send to friends and fellow former Marines that I served with while I was on active duty, but it turned into a passion project to collect more photos and backstory of many of the memorials placed on the base to honor those Marines killed in combat operations during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during 2001 to 2021.
Amy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Amy Forsythe was just named as one of Success Magazine’s Top 50 Women of Influence and lives in San Diego with her husband and rescue dog named Schatzie! Amy worked as a TV reporter and producer for many years and now taking the reins of the Victory Podcast with a line-up of incredible guests and content you won’t find anywhere else.
She started her career as an enlisted U.S. Marine Combat Correspondent working as a military journalist before becoming a Navy Reserve Public Affairs Officer in 2010. She served five combat tours over the past 20 years and won many awards for her reporting while deployed covering combat operations and military exercises in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Guam, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Romania and Poland.
Amy Forsythe just released her first book titled “Heroes Live Here: A Tribute to Camp Pendleton Marines Since 9/11” that chronicles the rich history of the sprawling base and showcases the tributes honoring those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I was an early adopter of social media from back in 2005 time frame with MySpace and AOL chat rooms, etc., so I have almost 20 years of trial and error, but I would recommend people start by identifying which platforms are a good fit for their personality and products. Also, developing a content creation workflow that is manageable and sustainable is equally important. Here are the phases I use for most of my creative projects, campaigns, events, promotions, and content development:
1. Ideating – Thinking about the trends, tie-backs, topics and titles of content.
2. Planning – Creating timelines, calendars due-dates, coordinating with others and developing budgets.
3. Preparing – Charging camera batteries, setting up digital folders with labels, prepping space on hard drives, etc.
4. Executing – Fully play out the plan and stick to your time hacks and schedule.
5. Reflecting – Take time to identify what to sustain and what to improve. Close the loop and ‘clean up’ your digital space by ensuring assets are properly labeled, catalogued and archived. Keep a journal and track your growth progress by noting your social media audience metrics monthly or quarterly to determine what is working best for you.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
One of my favorite ways to build momentum and gain a strong following is by focusing on media engagement. Learning how to pitch to all types of media outlets is really key for gaining credibility and trust with customers and future customers. Nothing says “I’m trustworthy and reputable” quite like being seen in the news on TV and on print news websites.
I always try to reach out to journalists directly instead of their news desks because you can establish a one-on-one relationship that will result in follow-on coverage.
I pitched a story to one of my favorite military news outlets, “Coffee or Die” Magazine which is a male-dominated audience, by contacting one of their female journalists and she was very receptive to covering the launch of my new book. I don’t think I would have received a response if I reached out to only the editor or press desk.
I recommend identifying your niche media markets and start following them on social media which will help you feel more comfortable engaging with them for your pitch. They will follow you back and look for more opportunities to tell your story.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.heroeslivehere.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heroeslivehere/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeroesLiveHereCP
- Linkedin: https://www.instagram.com/amyforsythe760/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/amy_forsythe
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/AmyForsythe
- Other: https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/heroes-live-here-book-chronicles-fallen-camp-pendleton-marines-who-served-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-wars/2986696/