As an entrepreneur, getting media can be difficult if you do not have a Public Relations Firm on your team. Over the past several months I’ve understood the importance of media and storytelling as it can help elevate small businesses to thrive.
We would like to provide a bit of guidance to my fellow entrepreneurs on how pitch yourself when you can’t afford a publicist just yet.
Identify The Story Being Told
Before you even put pen to paper (or rather fingers to keyboard), make sure that you’ve identified exactly what you’ll be sharing with the journalist you’re reaching out to. Reporters are looking for stories that are interesting, engaging and relevant to their readership, so make sure that whatever you’re presenting to them fits those qualifications. One thing I always try to emphasize to people seeking PR advice is that good pitches tell stories, not tries to sell a product or service. That, hopefully, comes later!
Ask Yourself: Who Would Resonate With This Story?
Consider who would relate to this story about yourself or your business that you’re looking to tell. What does this audience look like? Is she a CEO in her mid-forties or a natural hair influencer? What platforms does she look to for her news? Her fun, escapism articles? Figure that out and then pitch your story to those publications intentionally, so long as it also resonates with that media outlet. You never want to pitch a writer a story that has nothing to do with what they cover! So ladies in tech, try to avoid sending your pitch to Vogue…unless, of course, you developed a dress that can sew itself!
Tell Your Story Clearly, Concisely and Confidently
These three C’s are incredibly important to keep top of mind. It’s so easy to let our stories get away from us. I mean, it’s ours! Naturally, because it’s personal to us, we’re more passionate about it. But, make sure to find a way to convey that passion and zeal for your business or service in a clear, concise and confident manner. Reporters receive approximately 1.2 billion emails a day (according to a statistic I just made up myself), so make sure that your pitch gets right to the point and explains why your story could be of value to them.
These pointers should help in tiding you over until your business is in a more solid place to bring a professional PR consultant on board, but that should definitely still be earmarked as a high priority for your brand. In the long-run, that investment will be well worth it.
