Chasing Press Coverage & Connecting with Reporters

Q. Can you chase press coverage all the time or should you wait for important events so you have a hook?

Like everything in life, this isn't a simple yes or no. It's dependent on goals and focus. 

As a rule of thumb, don't spam reporters - they're people too and hate it just as much as you do.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's look at goals and provide answers based on that.

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If the goal is coverage - consistent, quality coverage - then yes, you need to have something that provides a 'hook'.

More specifically, you need a story to share that is one of the following:

1. Relevant
2. Newsworthy
3. Makes an Impact

Think of it from this perspective. What type of news do you consume? Is it niche specific? What about data driven? What about something newly launched or event a novel idea?

What you share needs to be as strong as (if not stronger than) what you're consuming. 

If you want to dive in further on what that means and how to provide that, you can read more about it here. 

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If the goal is to build brand awareness that eventually leads to coverage, then you're looking for a sustained and progressive approach.

This approach gives you the flexibility to reach out to a reporter to develop a connection, a relationship. This is valuable because it lets important reporters in your sphere know that you're around. And, while you might not have a story for them to cover today, you will one day. Getting them invested early on will make quite the impact later!

Wondering what steps to take to make that happen - to actually build this relationship? Stay tuned until next week when I cover it!

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Until then, let's connect...my inbox is always open! 

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Cheers to being on pointe!