How Prepared Do You Feel To Approach The Media?

The overwhelming feedback that we get here at NJRPR is that business owners like yourself, know they want more media presence but they don’t know where to begin.

What then happens is that they make an approach to a Journalist at a publication they would like to be featured in, and then they don’t hear back. So they give up trying.

What if I was to tell you that Journalists get hundreds, and I mean literally hundreds of emails every day?

So the most important thing you can do, before you even make an approach is to sit and work out why what you’re offering them would be of interest. Will their audience like to find out more.

I say it often enough but Journalists like to feature stories that are either quirky or when it comes to business case studies, they more often than not are looking for a journey. By that I mean someone who has gone from being xx pounds in debt to now running a multi-six figure business or something similar.

If you’re not quite there yet, that’s ok too. The likelihood is that there will be something that will be unique about you and the journey that you are on/have been on, that will still work for you. But as with any good story you need to have a start, a middle and some sort of an end, or at least an end in sight.

Then, once you’re clear on this, you need to make sure that you know your media. So for instance if your heart is set on being featured in a certain magazine or newspaper, then it’s always good to know where you see your story fitting in. How can what you offer, be of benefit to the Journalist or Editor?

Now you’re starting to see how being strategic about your approaches, rather than just asking someone to feature your business, is going to have more chance of cutting through a Journalist’s inbox.

There are so many other tools you can use to start when it comes to getting noticed, but please be realistic about the results.

I always remember sitting in an interview for a Head of PR role, and having to say to the two people interviewing me at the time, “I’m sorry, I won’t be able to PR your toilets for you but what I can do is x,y,z.” Having realistic expectations about what PR can do for you will make a huge difference for your subsequent return on your investment.

Yes, PR can raise awareness and help drive more clients your way, yes it can help make you more visible with the audience you’re looking to attract. But it’s not a solution to solve all other issues you may have with your Marketing. And you will find it virtually impossible to launch a toilet (unless of course said toilet has more gadgets than 007 and is about to be delivered to Buckingham Palace).

Hopefully the above will help you when it comes to getting prepared to selling yourself to the media.

If, of course, you would like to understand more, then there are still some spaces on our PR Workshop on Tuesday 4th June. For more details find out more HERE