Forums, sites, and places to find media outlets

[tylerhutchinson]

Hey guys,

My company is expanding (again) and it is going to release videos and books about management, consulting and a bunch of other tools for business owners. One thing I want to start developing is creating recognition for being an expert in my field. I have a couple connections and I am about to start being in online magazines as a guest writer. One of my clients guest speaks on multiple radio shows.

I developed a package to pitch the idea, but I am trying to find the best way to find radio (online and traditional), magazines (online or paper), blogs, or even tv (again online or traditional) to be able to guest speak on. Are there any platforms where I can advertise this to multiple people quickly?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.

[vangogh]

I'm not sure about how you would go about this offline, but I'll offer some thoughts for online. I would think the same basic principles apply.

Ideally online you would have been building relationships with people and site owners. Send any person who's audience you think would be a good match a copy of the books and videos with the idea that you think that person's audience would be interested. You don't even need to ask them to review the books and videos. Bloggers usually will if they like them. The people you send everything to don't even need to be people you know. Send them to top business bloggers. Most you'll probably never hear from, but if one or two write up a review it can drive a ton of traffic your way.

Also ideally you've been building up an audience at your own site. If you have just let your audience know. They'll usually begin sharing the news on social sites. You will need an audience for this though.

Write a press release or two or better hire someone who really knows PR well. A good press release can get picked up by both online and traditional news outlets

You can always buy space in a magazine and time on both tv and radio. If you target things well I don't think the costs have to be prohibitive.

With newspapers I've heard others suggest if you can come up with the story you stand a better chance of getting that story published. You have to think about it from the perspective of the journalist and editor. The story isn't that you want to get word out about your books. It has to be something that will be of interest to the paper's audience. Again a PR person can probably help here since their job is to help craft that story.

Keep in mind that you don't necessarily have to pitch everyone and everything at once. If your story gains traction in one place it becomes more likely it will get picked up in other places. You might release a video online that spreads and catches the attention of a journalist who writes a story which catches the attention of the host of a radio show…

[Patrysha]

Get yourself listed on Profnet within your specialty.

Keep your eyes on HARO (Help a Reporter Out) - you can choose just to receive the section from your industry though I personally just get the full list because queries in other industries gives me some great ideas for blog posts and pitches to local/regional media.

Connect with media in your area and in your field of expertise via Twitter. Most largish cities will have media breakfasts - attend them if you can.

If you have the budget get a Vocus membership...It's in the $6000 range but you can usually get a discount by attending one of their free teleseminars and having their sales team call you. (There are other services out there too, but their format seems easy enough for a non-pr pro to use easily)

Don't send a whole package until it's been invited. Start with a quick one sheet. Follow up with regular press releases (once a month ideally...you won't get picked up every time, but it keeps you top of mind).

Be available as a last minute guest...letting them know you're available when someone else cancels tends to pay off.

Listen/Watch the media you want to get coverage in...see how they cover stories and figure out where and how your story/information will fit in. Mention recent coverage and how it's similar and different in your cover email.

DO NOT Mass send...pick your targets carefully - or risk pissing them off and sending all your future correspondence to spamfolder oblivion.

DO NOT waste their time with self serving propoganda...deliver up a compelling timely and relevant story to their target audience.

Don't use press releases for Bloggers or podcasters UNLESS you know they accept and feature them, you gotta be personal to win most BLoggers over if you do not have a previous relationship with them through running in similar circles online, commenting on blogs, belonging to the same interest or business groups or something along those lines.

Do not confuse publicity for advertising.

If you are going to hire a pro...don't cheap out...you want to find someone who can do it better than you can, most lower costing level PR people are either just starting out or not very good. You might as well do it yourself than hire a pro that will ignore some of the advice above. (check out The Bad Pitch Blog they often rip press releases and approaches to shreds)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I've written a couple of ebooks and delivered more than a few presentations on publicity so I could go on and on for hours as you can imagine...

[Patrysha]

Oh but before you start trying to establish yourself as an expert on the national stage, you should probably spend a little time explaining how you've helped your clients so far in the year or so that you have been taking clients...you have to talk about the awards, the success stories and the background before you step it up to take the message to the masses really...

With the current state of your website, blog and newsletter, you'll likely get a pr pro recommending a marketing company to you before they began work on any public relations...

And with the types of videos you are offering you are going to really have to go all out to differentiate yourself to get any kind of traction with a story for the traditional media at least...