Is the Media Calling You? May 22, 2013Expert BlogsOff

Woo Hoo! You just started your new business, and customers are starting to arrive at your door and visit your Website, but you haven’t heard from the media. Why aren’t they calling you? Well, here are…

The Top 3 Reasons Why The Media Is Not Calling You

1.    They won’t unless you call them.

Have you reached out to media members to introduce yourself and your new business? If not, how are they supposed to know you exist?

Take the time to make a list of specific media members you want to contact. Then, call introduce yourself. Tell them who you are and the benefits your new business has to offer. Most important, let them know that you can act as a resource for future stories in your area of expertise.

Keep it short and sweet and ask them if you can send them news about your business. The worst they can say is “No,” but at least they’ll know who you are and you’ve started a media relationship. And if you are nervous about calling media members, start with a small, local publication and move up to more important and larger media venues after you’ve had a little practice on the phone.

2.    You don’t care about them.

When you contact a media member, you’ve got to think about what’s in it for them and provide information they can actually use. If you simply talk about how great your business is and all the product features you have to offer, you will hear crickets chirping or a dial tone.

However, if you think about how you can offer valuable information to a media member that he or she can actually use, you’ll be more likely to from a lasting relationship with that person. By creating a reputation of always providing interesting and current information, over time, media members will want to call you for future stories.

3. You haven’t done your research.

When you contact a media member, do you have a specific story in mind that relates to his or her target market?

If not, you need to do more research. Before contacting a media member, you should know what that person writes about (his or her beat), read their previous stories and learn about their audience. Then, you need to use this information to develop a unique story idea specifically for that media member.

Do not send a blanket media pitch to a huge list of media members!

Yes, this is easy to do, and you may get a few, media nibbles from your efforts, but if you want to develop long-lasting relationships with the media and get fantastic stories written about your business, take the time to do your research.

After all, if you were a member of the media, would you want to talk to someone who has an interesting and unique pitch just for you or read a “template” e-mail you know was sent to many, other reporters?

Do What it Takes to Make Your Phone Ring.

You may think your new business deserves press, and media members will just start calling you. But this is just not going to happen unless you are already well-known. Getting good publicity for your new business takes time and effort.

Conduct the appropriate research and learn about specific media venues, reporters, producers, and bloggers before making contact. Develop specific pitches and think about how you can help media members do their jobs. By doing so, you’ll become a respected expert that media members will want to speak to, and your phone will start ringing!

For additional help with your SEO copywriting and publicity efforts, please contact me below or at www.rembrandtwrites.com.

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