5 Tips To Get Yourself PR (From a former TV Anchor)

Getting media coverage on your personal brand or newest business venture can be like solving a puzzle, if you don’t know what steps to take.

As an award winning National TV journalist turned PR Agency owner (founder of Disrupt PR), I have been on TV 1000’s of times. And, I'm ready to spill the tea on how we can all get a piece of the media pie!

To start, there’s something exclusive about ‘earned media.’ PR is powerful. The effect that press coverage can have on the trajectory of an organization is truly remarkable. The public knows you didn’t swipe a credit card to get featured in a big magazine or on a prime-time news segment. Rather, they realize you did something awesome to get there.

So, what was it? Well, as someone who has interviewed thousands of experts, brands leaders, politicians, and public figures, I can tell you many of them have PR agencies to get them in the door. However, PR agencies in general require an entire team working for you around the clock, they (can be) expensive. If you're not ready to pay for a team, here are my top tips for getting yourself featured in the media, AKA DIY’ing PR.

1. Create a one liner

We are all complex human beings; mothers, daughters, business owners, guitar players, roller skaters, etc. But, when it comes to PR, your messaging has to be simple. If you are looking to get media coverage for your personal brand, how can you define yourself in 1-2 sentences? Try to think about how your expertise would be useful to the media. (And attempt to include your best accomplishment in the one-liner). For example, a mother and couples therapist would be better positioned for media as the “NY Times best selling author and relationship therapist who has coached 1000’s of happy couples.” A daughter and real estate investor sounds more press ready as the :self-made millionaire-house flipper who has flipped over $1 billion of real estate for profit, charity and the community.”

2. Find your niche outlets

It’s great to be on Good Morning America — but it can be challenging to wait around until your expertise falls on their lap. In the meantime, figure out who is talking about your craft? Are you a pet supplement entrepreneur? Financial literacy expert? Florist? Today, there are thousands of cable news shows, podcasts, digital outlets and even blogs that hyper-focus on just about any topic known. And, oftentimes, these outlets can have better ROI for people because the listeners, readers and viewers are your target demographic. (By the way, niche doesn’t always mean small, major cable networks have daily segments on entrepreneurship).

3. Pitch yourself

Once you find some niche outlets, send out pitches! One of the easiest ways to pitch yourself is to newsjack. Find a topic that is pressing, popular or newsworthy and insert yourself into the media beast. Remember, journalists often pride themselves on writing about societal trends and meaningful stories. So, leave the title of the company you started at the bottom of your pitch. Instead, talk about the value you can bring to their podcast, show or article. 

Example: Let’s say you own a blanket company and use Amazon to sell your products. The newsworthy topic could be supply chain issues. Send the journalist an e-mail and let them know how you can contribute to that topic. “I am a supply chain expert who runs 8 companies via Amazon. We are importing and exporting thousands of items daily, I would love to give you a behind the scenes look at what’s going on. Do you have any need for an expert on this topic today?”

4. Find the journalists

You can often find journalists to pitch based on previous articles they have written. If you can’t find their e-mail address, you can always address an e-mail to the news show, podcast or newspaper. (Example, they typically have an e-mail like info@example.com). These e-mail addresses are typically monitored by someone on the team scrolling through story pitch ideas.

5. Leverage your media

Once you get on TV or in an article, it’s important to leverage your big placement. To be able to say “as seen in” can be wildly powerful for your ethos, authority and credibility. So, how do you tell people? Anywhere you market yourself. Social media, newsletters, websites, e-mail signatures, business cards, etc. Proof, my company’s instagram page will most definitely have a post pointing to this article, as seen on "LinkedIn " after this article is published. Impressive, isn’t it?