The Dos and Don’ts When Working with the Media

POV: You find yourself in a space where it’s time to start pitching your business, organization, book or ideals to media but you are not sure where to start.

It’s essential to take a step back and understand that working with media doesn’t have to be overwhelming or daunting. The key to media relations is BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. If you change your perspective to focus on building relationships, you set yourself up for success.

Here are some beginning DOs and DON’Ts of working with the media to support you in building long-term relationships with reporters. 

DO —

• View each reporter at each media outlet as an individual. 

• Personalize your pitch to the specific reporter and the stories or topics they usually report on.

• Ensure EVERYTHING, including their name and title, is spelled correctly before sending. 

• Always kick off your email with a catchy & relevant subject line. 

• Create a bank of pitch ideas based on different angles to tell your story. 

• Understand that the reporter is thinking about their audience, and tailor your pitch for them. 

• In your pitch, focus on why their audience would be interested in your story.

• Focus on how your business, book, service or story meets the need of your ideal customer, client or audience. 

• Follow-up with a reporter in a respectful and understanding tone with additional angles and topics. 

• Be clear and concise. The reporter should know who you are, what you are pitching and why very quickly. 

• Choose your words in your pitch carefully. They should be powerful. 

DON’T —

• Cold call a reporter for a pitch unless you have an ongoing working relationship with them. 

• Send out mass pitches to all reporters at the same media outlet at one time. 

• Hit send without triple-checking spelling and grammar. 

• Follow up with a reporter with an aggressive or accusatory tone. You will not receive coverage. 

• Follow up with a reporter multiple times in the same week. 

• Send the same pitch to the same reporter repeatedly. Remember you are looking to build long-term relationships. 

• Lie to reporters or share something in your pitch that is an exaggeration. 

• Write long pitches that over-explain your business, book or story with too many details. 

Pitching media is a long-term commitment and does not result in media coverage or podcast appearances overnight. This is why it is crucial to start your media outreach EARLY and create a strategy for outreach. 

Want to know where to begin? Start with your local media. Build a local media list and create relationships with the people in your community. National outlets love to see that you have been featured in local media and already have experience working with and interviewing with media outlets in your area. 

This is why Choice is in the relationship business. Not only do we build relationships with our clients, we have long-standing relationships with reporters who trust the Choice team and know our clients are thought leaders, innovators, motivators and people who are making a difference. We believe in our clients and their story. Don’t forget, your story matters!