As chief innovation and marketing officer at DailyPay, which lets users access the money they've earned at any time, Jeanniey Walden straddles the line between marketing and public relations.

"My job is to build the brand of the company and make sure that employers and employees know that this option is available to them," Walden tells Doug Simon.

One of the keys to getting that message out, she says, is earned media. "Whether you're a start-up, whether you're a mid-sized company, or whether you've been around for 100 years, I think earned media is the most authentic way to get your story across and to really build a relationship with the people that you're trying to reach with your message."

Garnering earned media, she says, requires knowing what stories are making news. "We look at whatever the topical stories are and figure out if what we were doing at DailyPay can add benefit to those stories. Is there an insight? Is there an angle? And we look to insert ourselves in a conversation."

She also tells Simon that in order to be effective, communicators can't always be selling. "I've always been very specifically against coming across as a salesperson or a vendor. What I believe really shows the true power of a brand is the ability to just share what you do and let the customer and the results speak for themselves."

Walden is also "a big believer in sharing things that don't work with the appropriate organizations and teams." She tells Simon that "understanding pitfalls can be as helpful to an entity that's considering your solution. Probably more helpful than if you're just coming out with the top benefits."

She also stresses the importance of focusing on the "long game," adding that "in PR and comms it often takes a good six to nine months to build a credibility to get into a certain media outlet or a certain type of conversation that's happening, and you continue to build credibility as you go."

That emphasis goes hand in hand with keeping an eye on the big picture. "I see every piece of media that we put in the market as a part of a larger story. So, ultimately, when the largest story is unveiled, you'll be able to go backwards and look at the string of media that we shared in order to get there and say, 'oh, it makes sense.'"

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D S Simon Media helps clients get their stories on television through satellite media tours and by producing and distributing content to the media. The company also produces live social media events.