How to Get the Press to Notice Your Business: 3 Non-Negotiable Rules
Let’s be completely honest for a second. Getting the press to pay attention to your business, your new product, or your service can feel like trying to shout in a crowded stadium (and no one hearing!). You send off an email, you wait, and then absolutely nothing happens. This isn’t necessarily you, journalists are incredibly busy people.
It is incredibly frustrating. But more often than not, it isn’t because your business isn’t interesting, or your new product isn’t great. It could well be because that person’s inbox is overflowing with requests, but it can also be because your pitch didn’t give the journalist exactly what they needed to do their job.
Journalists, editors, and producers are some of the busiest people on the planet. They are drowning in deadlines and wading through hundreds of pitches a day. If you want them to pick up your story, you have to make it as easy as humanly possible for them to say “yes.”
If you want to drastically increase your chances of media success, you need to embed these three fundamental rules into your PR strategy.
1. High-Quality Imagery is Non-Negotiable
You could have the most life-altering product or the most inspiring business story in the world, but if your imagery is rubbish, your pitch is heading straight for the bin.
Think about it from their perspective: if a journalist loves your story but you haven’t provided a decent photo to run alongside it, they can’t publish it. You’ve stopped them in their tracks.
Here is what you need to keep in mind:
It doesn’t have to be a professional photoshoot. While professional shots are great, standard smartphones are incredible these days.
It does need to look professional. Your images must be crisp, clear, well-composed, and never blurry.
Watch your background. Make sure the background is tidy, decent, and fits your brand aesthetic.
Think about sizing. Provide high-resolution files that can be easily resized or cropped for print or digital.
Do everything you can to set yourself up for success from the very first click.
2. Keep Your Pitch Concise
It is tempting to write an essay when pitching your business. You want to explain everything from how you came up with the idea, your life history, your vision, for the future and maybe even where you went to primary school (I’m only half joking!).
Stop right there. They do not want your life story.
The golden rule of pitching the press is to keep it as concise as it can possibly be while still delivering the vital facts. Your email should be punchy and straight to the point.
💡 Insider PR Tip: If you absolutely have to add extra context or background details, do not clog up the main body of your email. Instead, create a clear ‘Notes to the Editor’ section right at the bottom. This keeps your introduction clean, while still giving them extra info if they choose to scroll down.
Before you hit send, ask yourself: ‘Is this extra paragraph helping my chances, or is it just making a busy editor close the document because they don’t have time to read it?’. If it’s the latter, you know what to do…
3. Include a Clear Call to Action
Let’s say the magic happens and a member of the press reads your pitch, loves your product, and wants to run the story. What do they do next?
If there isn’t a glaringly obvious next step staring them in the face, you are creating friction. You should never force a busy journalist to go on a weird, adventurous treasure hunt across the internet just to find your website or your imagery.
Make the next steps totally seamless. Inside the body of your email, explicitly state what to do next:
Provide a direct link. Always include your exact website address.
Offer more assets upfront. I always say something like, “If you need additional information or images, please let me know.”
If you like, link a shared folder. You could include a link to a Google Drive or Dropbox folder containing your press release and image library if you want. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT, send a link to a file that expires in a few days… you’re not helping them and that means you’re not helping yourself.
If they want to publish your business, make sure their readers actually know where to find you.
Want More Practical PR Tips?
Mastering your own PR doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It’s all about understanding what the media needs and delivering it to them on a silver platter.
For loads more actionable tips, behind-the-scenes tricks, and strategies to get your product or service the massive promotion it deserves, make sure you’re following me over on Instagram at @rheafreemanpr! Let’s get your business noticed.
