For smaller business, the responsibility of public relations often rests on the shoulders of a "non public relations professional." For these people, the first interrogate may be, "How do I Start Pitching?" But I think citizen can be equally confused by what opportunities exist in the first place. It seems logical that other associates are on Tv, in magazines or quoted in newspapers; you see that every day. Yet a disconnect can remain with your own firm and the coverage opportunities ready in the media.
Before you tackle how to pitch, let's take a look at where your firm can be covered in the media. Each of the following categories can be broken down into even added categories - which is good news - but let's start with a 10,000-foot view.
Do It Yourself
Category One: Newspapers. Look at your local paper and you will see a range of sections. Generally, each local paper has some version of sections such as local news, national news, entertainment, real estate, lifestyle and more. This means there are many opportunities for media coverage in just your local paper, depending on how you frame your "news." If you have a product or assistance that is ready nationally or on the Internet, now your opportunity to be in newspapers has assuredly reached into the hundreds when you consider all the local newspapers across the country.
Category Two: Syndicates. Syndicates are news organizations that write stories to be picked up by other media. If you look at your local paper, for example, you will likely see at least one story attributed to the Ap, or related Press. That same story was sent to thousands of local news stations, newspapers, Internet sites, radio stations and more, each with the opportunity to run it. Syndicates have writers with "beats," or areas of coverage, just like newspapers. Pitch one of these reporters on your firm and you have the opportunity to assuredly be in hundreds of media outlets at one time.
Category Three: Local Broadcast News. Your local news also has a range of stories they cover, though the news value has to be bit greater than some other media outlets. They are mostly surface breaking news, or the day's events. If your firm can tie-in with the breaking news topics that's great. If not, other opportunities still exist such as human interest stories or coverage of local events.
Category Four: National Morning News. This kind of media is one of the harder ones to break into, such as the Today show or Good Morning America. But again, you never know what will charge the fancy of a producer, or how your firm or product can suddenly be "hot" based on topical news. Let's say, for example, the news is surface food security issues based on new violations uncovered by the Fda. If you are a food manufacturer and can contribute an master to discuss what consumers should do to help keep their families safe, then that is a good time to pick up the phone and pitch.
Category Five: Magazines. There is a magazine for just about every type of man or interest out there. From women's issues, technology, entertainment, gardening, home building, fashion and more, this is assuredly a kind of media where each firm should be able to assuredly envision itself seeing an interested reporter.
Category Six: The Internet. The Internet provides good news - and slightly less good - for media coverage possibilities. The good news is that the Internet offers an ever-growing community of dedicated media outlets (think Slate, which was created specifically to be an online magazine), blogs, and counterparts to primary media (online versions of citizen or Shape magazines, for example). More good news is that "softer" news has a better opportunity of being covered since online outlets must modernize and refresh their article often to be relevant to their audience; thus, they need more content. The less good news is that seeing all the inherent outlets to reach can be time-consuming and, when you do, it's harder to track the estimate of "eyeballs" any one site gets. That said, for a new or growing company, the Internet can be the very best place to build a folder of media coverage that will take you to the next level.
Category Seven: Talk Shows. Talk shows are arguably an additional one one of the more spellbinding areas for coverage. That said, there are still opportunities for associates who can make themselves relevant or offer the human-interest angle of an issue, for example. an additional one opportunity is for product coverage as, you will notice, some times a year many of these shows do segments such as holiday gift guides, good products for kids, the most recent technology products or product giveaways for the audience.
Category Eight: Radio. An oldie but a goodie. Radio is still a great medium for getting the word out about local events, citizen and associates of interest in your community, experts on various topics and more. The coming of satellite radio has created even more opportunities, as has dedicated Internet radio stations. While satellite and Internet radio stations may have a smaller estimate of listeners than primary radio, they are often broadcasting to niche markets of citizen who, when marketed to, are more likely to buy your product or service.
Category Nine: Trade Publications. Like normal magazines, there is probably at least one trade publication for your industry. And since these publications essentially write about one topic, they are often hungry for news. an additional one perk of media coverage in your trade publication is that influential "players" in your commerce will likely be reading about you, which can always lead to larger synergies such as partnerships, promotions or speaking opportunities.
As you can see, there is no shortage of opportunity. Understanding that a vast, and growing, universe of media exists - all seeing for products, news and experts - will hopefully contribute you with the confidence and inspiration to get the word out about your own company.
Free Media Coverage - Nine Major Media Categories You Need to Pitch Your enterprise to Today