The Media Authority Builder

Sample Output

Section 1: Angle Bank (excerpt)

EVERGREEN

1. "The six-month rule: why new widows shouldn't make any big money moves — and the three deadlines that are exceptions." Audience cares: nearly everyone knows a widow pressured into a fast decision. Your non-obvious insight: the real danger isn't procrastination, it's the opposite — well-meaning urgency from family and salespeople. The three real deadlines give the story news utility.
2. "The financial red flags that someone is targeting a new widow." Audience cares: elder-financial-abuse stories perform consistently, and yours comes from the protective side. Non-obvious insight: the most effective predators aren't strangers — they're "helpful" acquaintances with products.

CALENDAR 3. November (National Family Caregivers Month): "The conversation to have with Mom before tax season — a checklist for adult children of recent widows." Pitch in mid-October. 4. Tax season (pitch in January): "The widow's penalty: why the surviving spouse's tax bill goes up the year after loss, and what to do the year before."

NEWS-REACTIVE (standing, pitch within 48 hours of the hook) 5. Social Security or survivor-benefit rule changes: "What this means for the recently widowed" — you translate the change for the group with the least bandwidth to read it.

Section 2: Target Media Map (excerpt)

• Tier 1 — Raleigh-Durham: Triangle Business Journal (guest expert columns and quotes; pitch the assigned money/wealth reporter), WRAL and Spectrum News local money segments (pitch the producer, not the anchor; TV wants the caregiver-checklist angle — it's visual and shareable), News & Observer money desk (you have a prior quote — that reporter is your warmest door; re-open it).
• Tier 2 — Trade: Financial-planning trade press covers niche practices like yours as practice-model stories ("the advisor who built a widow-first practice") — a different pitch: you as the story, aimed at practice-management editors. Wings for Widows' own channels count here.
• Tier 4 — Source-request platforms: create a standing saved search for "widow," "survivor benefits," "grief and money." Your two-year-old N&O quote came this way — this tier is your highest-probability channel per hour spent.

Section 3: The Pitch Kit (excerpt)

Cold pitch — Triangle Business Journal, angle #1:

Subject: Story idea: the 6-month rule for new widows (and its 3 exceptions)

"Hi [Name] — after a spouse dies, the pressure to 'do something' with the money starts almost immediately — from salespeople and from family. The advice that actually protects people is the opposite: make no major moves for six months, with exactly three deadline-driven exceptions (survivor benefits, health coverage elections, and estate filings). I'm a Raleigh CFP who works exclusively with recent widows — I built the practice after watching my mother navigate this badly advised. Happy to walk through the three exceptions, the red flags of widow-targeted sales tactics, or a first-90-days checklist your readers could keep. — [Name], CFP, [practice], [phone]"

(118 words, angle-first, credentials in one line, three concrete offers.)

Section 4: Interview Readiness (excerpt)

• Soundbite: "Grief is a fog. The job in the first six months isn't to make great decisions — it's to avoid irreversible ones." (17 words)
• Bridge for "What should widows invest in right now?": "That depends on each person's plan — but here's what I tell every new widow before any investing conversation…" (redirects to the decision-free zone — and keeps you off specific recommendations, which your firm policy prohibits on the record).
• If pushed for a market prediction: "I'll happily be wrong with everyone else who guesses. What I can tell you is what a survivor can control…"
• Log every appearance with your compliance officer per firm policy, same day.

Section 5: Amplification and Compliance (excerpt)

The week it runs: add to your site's "Featured In" page (link, don't republish the article — copyright); email the clip to your full list in GoHighLevel and tag clickers engaged-media for a soft follow-up sequence; send a personal thank-you to the reporter (reporters keep reliable sources); add the outlet to your speaker bio. Compliance: "as seen in" usage must stay factual and unendorsed — the outlet quoted you, it didn't recommend you; have compliance review the Featured In page once, then reuse the approved pattern.