Show Notes
Episode 64: Inside Small Business Editor: “I Want to Hear From Founders” with Tim Ladhams Guest: Tim Ladhams, Editor of Inside Small Business Host: Liz Nable
Editor of Inside Small Business, Tim Ladhams, lifts the curtain on what it really takes to get your small business story published in one of Australia’s leading SME platforms. From founder features and Q&As to op-eds and data-led news stories, Tim explains exactly what he looks for in a pitch, why he actively prefers hearing directly from business owners (not PR agencies), and how to position yourself as a genuine thought leader rather than just another self-promotional voice in the crowd. If you’ve ever wondered how to get featured, share your lived experience, or turn your hard-won lessons into media coverage, this episode is packed with practical, actionable insights you can use straight away.
Get in touch with Tim here: [email protected]
Key Topics:
Inside Small Business 101: How the publication works, the daily mix of founder features, news stories and expert op-eds, and who their audience really is.
What Editors Want: Why Tim cares more about your “why, what, when and where” than your revenue, and the simple story elements that make a founder pitch stand out.
Op-Eds That Get Run: The exact guidelines for opinion pieces (500–750 words, specific topic, clear takeaways) and why he ruthlessly cuts anything that feels like thinly veiled self-promotion.
Feature vs Q&A vs Op-Ed: How Tim decides which format your story belongs in, when he’ll turn an email Q&A into a narrative feature, and the kinds of quirky, challenger or “against the odds” stories he loves.
Data, Research and Policy Stories: How research from organisations like Xero and COSBOA turns into news, and why issues like payment times, government red tape and platform shutdowns (hello, Meta) matter so much to his readers.
Print Magazine Opportunities: The bigger, deeper stories that make it into the quarterly print edition – from AI and social media acquisition costs to “devil’s advocate” debates and systemic barriers holding small businesses back.
Thought Leadership vs Selling: Why being featured in Inside Small Business builds credibility in a way social media alone can’t, and how to use media to position yourself as a trusted voice among your peers.
Pitching Etiquette: How to email Tim, what to put in the subject line, how long to wait before following up, and why a clear one-page bio or bullet-pointed backstory works better than a glossy PR pitch.
Opportunities for Small Business Owners:
Founder Features: Strategic, story-driven profiles focused on challenges, strategies and lessons – not fluff or hero worship.
Q&As: Ideal for micro-businesses, side hustles and quirky ventures, where Tim crafts targeted questions and you supply succinct, insightful answers.
Opinion Pieces: 500–750 word, tightly focused articles on one specific topic (e.g. staff retention, AI, digital marketing, psychological safety, payment terms) with 2–3 clear, practical takeaways.
Advocacy Columns: Stories that highlight systemic issues like government policy failures, broken schemes or big-business behaviour that harms small operators.
Tim’s Editorial Non‑Negotiables:
Story over sales: No external links in articles, no sales copy masquerading as “insight”, and no paragraphs that exist purely to promote your product or service.
Integrity and balance: Strong views are welcome, but not personal attacks or anything that could land the publication in legal hot water.
Clear categories: Pitches should broadly fit within finance, technology, sales and marketing, planning and management, or growth and development (with subtopics like people/HR inside those).
Respect for process: Expect an 8-week lead time on op-eds, be patient around magazine deadlines, and follow up politely if you haven’t heard back after about a week.
Timestamps (Approximate):
00:00 Introduction, secret “code word” to get Tim to open your pitch em
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