I had a phone conversation with a colleague of mine who's making the switch from brand manager to PR director. Instead of tracking which shelves her product is sold on, she's going to be directing people to those shelves. She asked me to share with her some tips on how to get national media coverage for her products.

The first question I asked was if her products had national distribution, the one black and white criteria necessary to get national attention. When her answer was yes, I moved on.

Media relations is all about...the relations. It's knowing who's covering what. So, with that:

Tip #1: Read/Follow/Interact with outlets you're pursuing. 

I will always hear an old boss' words echoing in my ears, "You've got to know the news to be the news." That's about the only think I took from him, but that's for another post ;)

Tip #2: Get in with the freelancers

Freelancers, in my opinion, make the media world go round. Whereas a relationswhip with an editor housed at the magazine might end up in a one-time hit, the right relationship with a freelancer could result in opportunities with multiple outlets.

Tip #3: Operate a season ahead

Long lead magazines like Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, etc. operate on a 3-month lead time (or more). So, be pitch your story ideas well in advance. A client of mine has a new product line coming out in May. We started pitching this week.

Tip #4: Be patient.

It will take some time to see the result of your efforts. The blog posts below show hits on Good Morning America and Ellen. We started those pitches in May of 2010.  Nearly 8 months ago.

Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have. I'm happy to give my two cents :)

1 Comment

1. Ascending Butterfly on April 21, 2011 at 8:16 PM

   Great tips! Particularly #2, A relationship with a freelancer definitely can result in opportunities with muliple outlets!