As a budding entrepreneur, or maybe even a well-established entrepreneur, you may be thinking, it’s time I try to get some publicity to grow my reach and my brand. I want to become more credible, I want to be in Forbes (if I had a dime for every time I heard that), I want to reach new audiences, etc. I’m here to help you out.
I come from six years in the corporate (agency) world working in PR and Marketing. For the first 3-4 years of my work life I was a straight up media relations boss. I learned from some of the most talented women in the industry and I respect them so much, shoutout to my Lovell Communications ladies. While working there, I really learned the art of pitching and these tips are ones I still use when pitching today, or share with my clients if they want to practice pitching themselves.
Here are 5 simple steps to perfecting the perfect pitch:
Make sure you have a great story to tell
Before you even start writing a pitch, what makes YOU or your company great, amazing, different, and worthy of coverage? What’s the SO WHAT factor? What I mean by that is, if you simply pitch something like, “Hi I’m Katelyn Hamilton and I am an online business manager with a background in PR and Marketing and you should do a story about me.” They’re going to ask you, SO WHAT? And who is Katelyn Hamilton? And what’s so great about her?
You have to give them a reason to want to cover you. Are you transforming the industry? Are you doing something NO ONE has done before? Have you scaled so quickly that it’s actually mind-blowingly impressive? What makes you different and notable? What’s the story?
Do your Research
Before you just go pitching any and everyone, do your research on the publications you’re interested in, and probably more importantly, the reporters that you are pitching. What kind of readership does the publication cater to? What types of stories does that reporter write about? Do they do a weekly feature of some kind? If you’re pitching for an event, don't pitch to a local newspaper about an event on the other side of the state.
When you’re writing your pitch, you can have a “standard” template to work off of, but cater the intro paragraph to that specific reporter. WHY are you pitching them? Did they write a story you love and relate to? What makes YOU a great fit for THEM and their publication? If you pitch a healthcare reporter about the latest restaurant in town I can guarantee your email will be in their trash folder faster than a cheetah chasing his lunch. And on that note, if you do find a reporter(s) you jive with, build that relationship. You’re more likely to get coverage in the future, or help on future projects if you’ve established a relationship with someone vs. just sending them generic pitches all the time.
Report the 5 Ws
The who, what, when, where, why. The most critical piece of information is the why; all the other information is necessary as background info. Why is your event or client or business important enough to share with readers? What are the benefits to covering you and what are you doing differently that their readers will want to, or need to know about?
While the background info shouldn’t be in your first paragraph, they still need to know who you, or your company, are and what you do. This gives context to your lead line in the pitch.
K.I.S.S
Keep it simple stupid. The same thing applies when pitching your story. Keep it simple and emphasize what really matters in the story you're trying to tell. Your pitch shouldn’t be extremely long. Give them enough info to want more. Speak in layman's terms and don’t over complicate what you’re trying to say. If they’re interested they’ll ask more questions or get you on the phone.
How to Close
When you close the email, ask them if it sounds like something they’d be interested in. Leave with a “let me know if you’d like to set up a time to discuss in more detail, or if you have any questions.” Tell them when you’ll follow up next and leave your contact information. Then if you don’t hear back, follow up a few days later. We all get busy, and they get hundreds of pitches a day, so it’s easy to forget to respond, or miss something.
There you have it, now you know how you can get covered in Forbes ;) Just kidding. I titled the blog this to get your attention, and honestly kind of as my own little joke. I seriously get asked all the time if I can help people get covered in XYZ big magazine or publication. When I worked at an agency it was all about “can you get me on GMA or The Today Show?” If it was that easy, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal or that special. The pitch is important, the relationships are more important and at the end of the day the story is the most important.
My advice, simply start by self-publishing on websites that offer community submissions such as Thrive Global, Gast Company, Entrepreneur and Inc. See my post in Thrive Global here. Also, if you want to read a great national media case study of mine from my time in the agency world, check out this one here. From there, you can use that coverage to gain credibility. Start drafting your own pitch based on the tips above. Research publications (small and large) and reporters and put together a media list. If this isn’t something you feel comfortable with, even after you try it, then outsource it and hire someone who specializes in this kind of thing.
Have you ever pitched yourself before? Was it successful?
Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.
After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.
Katelyn is also a soon-to-be wife, stepmom, dog mama of two furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.
Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.
