31 // How To Get Featured by Press
One of the things I did this week was taking part in a media relations workshop.
A friend of mine who’s subscribed to this newsletter asked me to share my learnings, so I’ll use this issue to do so.
I signed up to that workshop without knowing exactly what to expect, so let’s get that out of the way first: The workshop and this text here are about the practice of informing/pitching media and journalists about your story in the hope of getting featured.
Let me list some of my main learnings:
Journalists are bombarded with hundreds of such messages and expect that. Doing cold outreach doesn’t always feel natural, so knowing that this is common, expected, and often appreciated helps.
So be loud. This doesn’t just count for the first message, but for following up, and keeping in touch.
Keep coming up with new aspects to share.
As always in life, it’s helpful to put yourself in other people’s shoes. Understand how journalists work. They are constantly looking for good stories. Help them find one.
You don’t directly deliver a story, but just information. They are the ones doing what journalists do.
So think about what your info might be turned into.What makes a good story?
📆 it has to be timely: you have an event or something you do relates to current events
🌟 be noteworthy. there has to be something new to your idea
🎯 for target audience. my previous newsletter issue’s content wouldn’t fit mainstream media
🎭 emotions
✅ credibility. don’t try to fool anyone
Do your homework.
Research journalists, and what they are interested in / published before.
Make a list of contacts. Or get a list.
You always reach out to specific journalists. If you contact multiple people in one publication, let them know.
The workshop also covered which media to choose among other topics.
That will be one of my next steps on that front, though I don’t plan to get busy with it for the next weeks.
I hope this might help one or two of you
–Emil