A practical guide to pitching journalists

We all want media coverage.

Positive coverage creates exposure, authority, trust, and often valuable backlinks.

But for many people, the path to getting it is a mystery. Others believe myths about how it works.

Some believe you have to be at the very top of your industry before the media will care about your story.

That’s simply false.

Others believe you can simply buy your way into media coverage.

There’s a small degree of truth to that.

You can find contributors willing to feature you (or your client) for a fee, but this blatantly violates every outlet’s contributor guidelines. You may land the feature, but editors will eventually find out.

What happens then?

First, the article gets deleted or any mention of you and your links gets removed. Then, the contributor gets removed from the platform and blacklisted in the media industry. Finally, you get blacklisted too.

Good luck getting featured again. It won’t happen.

The reality is that you can get featured in the media.

You just need to understand the process and execute it consistently.

Develop your story

You probably have a great story — you just may not realize it yet.

The media has to produce a constant stream of content. If you have a strong story, you’re already one-third of the way to getting featured.

Let’s start with what doesn’t make a great story.

• You’re the first.
• You think you’re the best (everyone thinks that, and no one cares except your mother).
• You’re the biggest.
• You want to change the world.

So what does make a great story?

Like the answer to most SEO questions: it depends.

A great story starts with an actual story.

You have to explain, in an engaging way, why anyone should care about what you have to say.

For example, I often tell the story of how I used PR to rebuild my success after being on my deathbed.

I explain that my agency’s specific PR approach comes from the exact process I used to rebuild my own business — and that I want to give others the same advantage.

And my story is easily verifiable.

But you don’t need a life-or-death struggle to have a compelling story.

You just need a story that shows a deeper purpose. A mission. Something people can get excited about and care about.

Craft your pitch

Even with the best story in the world, you still need an effective pitch.

Your pitch has to cut through the noise and grab attention. Journalists, producers, and others in the media are inundated with pitches — many receive hundreds every day. Your pitch has to tell your story clearly and quickly, and motivate them to respond.

Easier said than done.

Most pitches are sent by email, so most people start with the subject line. That’s the exact opposite of what you should do.

Start with the body of the email. There’s a reason for this, which we’ll get to shortly.

Find a way to connect your story to current events. If a topic is…