Leverage the Power of the Media

Tuesday Thoughts, Media, PR for Women Entrepreneurs, Female Business Owners, Small Businesses

I am happy to have this guest post by one of my favorite Central New York Media Contacts Deborah Jeanne Sergeant. I hope you enjoy today and upcoming posts on being more comfortable being in the media. Reach out to Deb because she loves having media sources.

A surprising number of small business owners and solo entrepreneurs overlook the very best, absolutely free marketing tool that few people ever talk about: media interviews. Reporters and journalists for the news media need interviews to provide professional insights and authenticity to their news stories. And guess what? When you provide that information in quotes, the audience perceives you as an expert—someone they should do business with. It costs you nothing and the exponential return on the investment of your time is incalculable.

So how do experts become quoted in magazines, newspapers, vlogs/blogs, podcasts, radio spots, and TV segments?

Get online

You need an online presence so media members can find you. At least maintain a website as your online billboard and link it to a social media account that you regularly update. The website should include the name and nature of your business, the name of your contact person, and the contact information (including your business location). Some people try to hide their physical location so that they attract customers from other areas; however, local media outlets need to talk with local people. And there’s no guarantee that concealing your location will attract nationwide customers. Many people want to work with a local firm.

Post on the social media platform at least monthly. Weekly or every other day would be better. A stale social media platform may cause people to think that you’re out of business. Keeping it up to date can help the news media know what you’re doing, which can spark ideas for news stories.

Get their attention

In addition to the passive approaches outlined above, send press releases to the news media each month. Find the email address of the news editor or news manager (not the advertising department) on local media outlets’ websites. Compile a list of these addresses to which you can send your release bcc. Unless your news is extremely time-sensitive, don’t call a newsroom. Send releases a month and a half in advance of anything that is date-related to allow sufficient time to develop the news story.

Be available

It sounds silly to have to mention it but be available to the media, but oftentimes, company representatives are difficult to reach. Include an option in your phone tree for media, so these phone calls go to the right person. Or at least train whoever answers your phone in how to respond to media calls so it’s not:

Me: “Hello. This is Deborah Sergeant writing for ___________. I would like to interview a representative of your organization about ________ to quote in an article I am writing.”

Receptionist: “We don’t want to buy any ads!” *SLAM*

That happens far more than one would think.

The person answering the phone should try to connect the reporter to the person designated to handle media calls or at the very least, ask for the deadline and take a message.

Reply before the deadline. Responding days or weeks later is not helpful. (I’ve had people do this and become angry that I can’t include them in a story that has already printed!) Crosstrain employees so more people can respond to rudimentary media questions.

About the writer: Deborah Jeanne Sergeant has been writing for newspapers and magazines since 2000. She also writes press releases, web pages, and social media posts. Visit her online at www.skilledquill.net.