Here's the Pitch: How to Pitch Your Business to Anyone, Get Funded, and Win Clients

CHAPTER12

Pitching the Media

“Without promotion something terrible happens … nothing!”

—P. T. Barnum, American Showman

For an entrepreneur, positive coverage in a national newspaper or leading blog can transform business. New customers, instant credibility, and becoming an overnight sensation are just some of the benefits that flow from being read at the right place and at the right time. And the best part for the cash-strapped entrepreneur is that there is no need to pay thousands of dollars to marketing and PR firms for this ultimate form of publicity. You just need to do the right things, in the right way, at the right time.

Why Most Entrepreneurs Fail to Get Media Coverage

A common approach adopted by entrepreneurs who are trying to secure media coverage is to do nothing until the point at which they want publicity. Then they compile a list of e-mail addresses for bloggers and journalists who seem to be in the right space and send one general e-mail that talks about their company and product or service and asks the journalist to write about it.

The problem with this approach is that it forgets that journalists and bloggers are people who see their role as providing useful and entertaining information to the public, rather than being there to provide publicity for entrepreneurs. ...