Inc. Magazine has a great piece on how small businesses can secure media coverage. Eleven tips are outlined, including these:
11. Be Reachable
10. Get Online
9. Perfect Your Pitch
8. Show Your Face
7. Establish Yourself as an Expert
6. Don't Send Sloppy Copy
5. Know Your Audience
4. Tell the Whole Story
3. Plan Ahead
2. Use Distribution Channels
1. Respond Promptly
These 11 tips are very good and would encourage you to check out the details at: http://bigtweet.com/c/b/twitter/teammakerain/N7XKN. However, I would like to recommend two additional tips that could serve you well for securing your story in print or on a broadcast show. These include.
#12. Fit Within a News Cycle. There are certain stories that become hot and almost take over a newspaper or television program. One example is Swine Flu or H1N1. There was nearly 10 days of intense media coverage. If you have a relevant story, these times could be opportune for you. If you sell solutions making it easier to work from home, your company could be included in a story on how employees may be asked to work from home if a co-worker has been idenfitied with Swine Flu. You have to think creatively.
#13 (baker's dozen) Dedicate the Time. Trying to get media to cover your story takes time and real dedication. For those businesses that think getting into the local paper will take one quick email or phone call, they will be disappointed. Also, you may wish to engage with a public relations expert, consultant or agency that have trained resources and often have worked with your media targets on previous stories.
I hope this is helpful. What tips do you have?
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If I may add another side to item #12, understand the news cycle. It may be hard to predict when the news cycle is going to be taken over by a Swine Flu, MJ death etc but once these events happen they can have a very predictable life span. Swine flu was hot for 10 days, but by day three room for other things appeared. With MJ, once the funeral was over, the story faded quickly. Part of it is fatigue on the part of the media and some seriously blown overtime budgets. The media will staff down for a few days hoping something major does not break. If you are looking for an entry point for something that would normally have a hard time getting the media's attention, this day after the big event is one. The media is more inclined to take something "ready to eat" at this moment.
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