Organizations Need to BE the Media. 10 Strategies to Get Free PR and More Attention

The following was taken from Jess Todtfeld’s talk on BE the Media… How Organizations Need to Become The Media. Jess Todtfeld is a Guinness Record holder for publicity, bestselling author, speaker and consultant. Jess shows organizations how to properly harness the power of both traditional media as well as social media. When used together, they create a powerful force of influence.

1. Target the Media

   Focus on the target. What is your right fit outlet? What will put you in front of your prospects. Just focus on reaching out to those outlets. This strategy is a combination of reaching traditional media as well as social media/internet media outlets. Good news… you can create your own content and many will run it.

2. Just Email Them

   (Traditional Media.)
   You don’t have to spend all day putting together involved press kits. The media is looking for stories and interesting people who get to the point. Write a short email that includes the hook or headline in the subject line. Also include bullet points on what you’d say if they were to interview you.

3. Use a Hook

   A hook is a short sentence or headline that really hooks or grabs the attention of those reading your pitch. When you write out potential hooks, ask yourself, does it make you say “so what?” or “tell me more.”

4. Do Some Story Detective Work

   This is how you know what stories the media wants. This is how you get ideas for stories. Go to news.google.com. Search for keywords around your topic and notice the evidence of other stories that the media has run. Use this information to formulate your pitch. Also, create your own content around these hooks. This is more content for you to use on your website, in email marketing, social media posts and beyond. When the media sees that you have content on this topic, they will want you even more.

5. Bullet Points and What You’d Say

   This part is crucial when writing your pitch email. The one thing most people do not include is… What they’d actually say. In the body of your email, include short answers you might deliver.

6. Local Media Needs You Badly

   Here’s a secret… they need your help. They need to fill spots with stories and they need people to pitch them ideas. It’s as simple as that. Be the solution.

7. Don’t Forget the Power of Internet Media

   The internet has the greatest reach of any media outlet. It’s worldwide. It also has something else that beats traditional media… it can be incredibly focused. You can have a wide reach and target your right fit prospect at the same time. I’m talking about podcasters, bloggers, people who will post online interviews. These outlets don’t get pitched as much as traditional media and need your help. I use the phrase internet media because not all internet media is social media. Some is just your content for people to consume.

8. Write Articles and Guest Blogs

   People need your content. Content helps with ranking in search engines. This is a guaranteed way to be seen by more people and to have greater visibility.

9. Author Strategy

   This makes you an instant expert. Write a short book. Organizations can easily do this now as well. You can distribute this yourself or through Amazon. Books are an amazing media opportunity. They don’t have to be long. They just have to share great content.

10. BE The Media

    The tables have finally turned. You can now be the media. You can host a Facebook Live, a tele-seminar or Webinar. You can post YouTube videos share your own articles. When you are the publisher or broadcaster, you are guaranteed to get your content out there for others to see.

Jess Todtfeld high energy keynotes and sessions are interactive, fun, and filled with actionable takeaways. Make sure to check out one of his speaker videos as well as many of the video testimonials.