Pitch This: How to Leverage the Media and Grow Your Business

Written by Susan Young

Listen closely and you’ll hear the terrifying sounds of budgets being slashed, panicky heads rolling and frightened people running scared. No it’s not the Haunted House at Halloween. It’s educated people like us-entrepreneurs, business professionals, speakers and nonprofit leaders.

Many people mistakenly think that PR is not essential to running a successful organization. That’s a huge mistake. Your competitors may be swinging the PR budget knife. They are the ones that will likely NOT survive this economic downturn.

Public relations and marketing are critical in these tough fiscal times.

When you are consistently proactive and visible to mass numbers of people who have buying power, you will not only withstand this difficult cycle but you will thrive.

Countless business professionals, speakers, authors, and entrepreneurs tell me they are “the best kept secret.” My immediate response is, “You don’t want to be a secret! It’s time to let the cat out of the bag.” It’s almost required that you flaunt and promote your organization, projects, staff, clients, talents, services, and products. In today’s market, it’s a must for success. You can leverage print, radio, and television news, along with social media and the Internet, to accomplish this, without draining your budget.

Here’s the bottom line. You must understand the mindset of reporters so your story will grab their attention. The result is you increase you company’s name recognition, credibility and revenues.

Here are 5 Tips to Help You Get ‘Free Press’:

1. Focus on your area of expertise and how it impacts the public. The overriding questions reporters ask are, “Why should I cover this? Who cares?" You must be able to answer these questions. Journalists receive dozens of pitches and releases daily, most of which are irrelevant to their audiences and are poorly constructed.

2. Pitch with clarity. Write your brief e-mail pitch (ideally 2-4 lines) or press release in a style that is clear, concise and compelling. Spark the interest of the reporter so he’ll be enticed to read more. You must grab their attention with a punchy and timely subject line and headline. You have less than 10 seconds to “WOW” them with your writing.

3. Tell a fabulous story. News is about people. People love great stories. Develop the art of personalizing, packaging, and framing your story with the right elements. Find a person directly involved and impacted by your news. Include a quote from them. Reporters prefer to talk to people who have actually experienced something, not the CEO. Look for the human angle of your story, not the operational end of it.

4. Avoid trying to sell your product or service. As a former radio news reporter, I know the media despises “salesy” language, adjectives, industry jargon, rhetoric and empty words. Fine-tune your journalism skills (or hire a professional to help you http://www.getinfrontcommunications.com/RecessionProofPR/index.htm).

5. Develop relationships with reporters. When you pitch newsworthy stories that are interesting and can help the public, you’ll become a trusted source. Reporters will pay more attention to your pitches and will be willing to quote you as an expert in your field. This will increase your credibility and revenues.

When you decide to be proactive and use PR to increase your name recognition and revenues, your business will prosper, despite the market and the pundits.

Susan Young
		About the author:
		Susan Young works with business professionals and associations who want to supercharge their communication, sales and motivation and make more money. She’s the President of Get in Front Communications, Inc. (www.getinfrontcommunications.com.) Susan is a member of the National Speakers Association and provides trainings, workshops and keynotes on interpersonal communication, sales, reading body language, Emotional Intelligence and public relations. Coaching is also available. Call (210) 375-6422.
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