How To Get On The News

When you hire me, you get an experienced media advisor, too. - A search engine marketer who uses his experience working in a PR office to generate publicity for your company in the course of doing everyday duties.

With the high cost of advertising and shrinking budgets, securing a placement in a newspaper, TV broadcast or blog are exceptionally effective in meeting marketing goals.

My Experience:

I worked in a PR office for several years, was interviewed many times and learned to get releases into targeted reporters' hands. I am also adept at "pitching" stories to generate news stories and have placed many national and local stories.

Getting your company mentioned in a positive way in a newspaper or in a TV newscast can be as easy as identifying something that is "newsworthy," writing a simple news release and getting that release into the hands of the "right" reporters.

When companies do what they do everyday, they sometimes overlook newsworthy tidbits that reporters would love to report on. I look at a company's activities to identify things that are newsworthy. I often locate reporters who have published similar or complementary stories in the past. I then send the reporter a "pitch." Key to placing a story is to assure your release lands into the hands of the "right" reporter.

The Message

Getting earned media placements is more than simply issuing a news release on Business Wire. I carefully craft "the message" to make it attractive for a reporter to take an interest. And in some cases, I take the extra effort to write a release customized for a specific reporter.

Forgotten Step of Targeted Distribution

Since there is no guarantee a reporter will actually see a Business Wire release, I take the extra step of forwarding the release to key reporters and bloggers and following up with a phone call.

TIP: Often a customer case study can be newsworthy. Reporters are also often interested in human interest features - stories of how a real person benefited from your product or service.

Bloggers vs. Reporters

With the increased importance of bloggers, I have translated my media-relations skill into being able to locate and pitch stories to influential bloggers in industries.

Bloggers write about a "topic" or a related group of topics. Companies are smart to appeal to blogs read by their typical customer, not appeal to general interest, fun or "entertaining" blogs.

However, with bloggers, there is no established mailing list of appropriate bloggers a company should contact. Bloggers frequently go in and out of business (or stop adding to their blog).

When seeking to reach out to bloggers, I must find the best bloggers and keep an eye on the "pulse" of an industry's blogosphere.

Read how I conduct a blogger outreach program.

Once you get interest from a reporter, train yourself on How To Be Interviewed