What you will learn: Business owners say getting attention from the media feels like an unattainable goal. Like any goal, though, you work step by step to reach it. Start with getting media attention locally. In today's episode, we'll talk about Why local news outlets wants to do a story on YOU.

Transcript:

Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Never struggle to get attention again.

I’m your host, Cheryl Tan

Want to learn how to get noticed by the media?

What if the media came to you, and right behind them….clients and customers?

How do you leverage that publicity to grow your company?

This is the Get Media Smart podcast, where you will hear real-life stories of publicity gone right. You will learn actionable steps to get your name in front of the people who matter.

Hi, everyone! I’m Cheryl Tan. Thanks for joining me. Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Episode #4.

How is the challenge going? I would love to hear about it. You can share your thoughts in the “Get Media Smart” community on Facebook. I find that a community creates a great environment for getting things done. I have already seen some impressive progress in our group.

You can sign up for this free email challenge at CherylTanMedia.com/podcast and for two full weeks, you will get action items straight to your inbox - action items that will help you attract attention for you and your business.

I will outline the challenges in the first 14 episodes of this podcast. I would love it if you subscribed to the “Get Media Smart” podcast, where I will take you through the entire two-week challenge verbally.

The goal of all of this, of course, is to attract attention and then GET MORE CUSTOMERS.

To me, publicity and media attention are a great way to get in front of the right people.

But you have to lay the groundwork. Laying the groundwork for success can be such a pain.

But I have learned it's the only way to achieve it.

When talking about becoming a media magnet, it is critical to have a plan of attack. And it starts with knowing who is on the field.

Welcome to Become a Media Magnet Challenge #4.

It's critically important to do your homework before you start pitching the media. So many people want to start at the top, like "The Today Show" and "Shark Tank." That's great. But if you've ever seen the shows before, you know you'll have to have massive sales, an incredible fan base or big-time connections to be featured there first.

You'll get there. Just give it some time. And do other work first.

Start with the low-hanging fruit. Start with the local media, whose job it is to cover the local community.

First, how do you get your local news? Is it through the newspaper, the radio, morning TV? Is it Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or a daily email from USA Today? I'm not judging here. I just want you to take a look at the spaces you inhabit to get more information about our world. Are any of them local?

I ask that because local media outlets are focused on just that, local people. While you may be more interested in a global view, your local news wants to do stories on people who live in their communities.

That means YOU.

For that reason, it is important to know what media outlets have news departments in your area. Typically, they'll be the television stations, radio stations and there may be several newspapers. But don't forget, there could be bloggers who are typing away from their kitchen tables in the town next door to yours. For entrepreneurs, business journals and business shows are so important. There are also monthly magazines and weekly publications to consider.

What you will learn: Trying to figure out how to create a media pitch? Focus on your story first. What kind of story does the media want?

Transcript:

Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Never struggle to get attention again.

I’m your host, Cheryl Tan

Want to learn how to get noticed by the media?

What if the media came to you, and right behind them….clients and customers?

How do you leverage that publicity to grow your company?

This is the Get Media Smart podcast, where you will hear real-life stories of publicity gone right. You will learn actionable steps to get your name in front of the people who matter.

Hi, everyone! I’m Cheryl Tan. Thanks for joining me. Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Episode #3.

How are you today? What struggles do you face in marketing your business? What challenges? Feel free to share them in our Facebook community. You can search for “Get Media Smart” in Facebook or goto CherylTanMedia.com/podcast and you can get the link there. How does the media play a role in your marketing plans?

I want to help you become a media magnet. I invite you to take part in the 2-week Become a Media Magnet challenge. Today is Challenge #3. You can still catch up.

Sign up for this free email challenge at CherylTanMedia.com/podcast and for two full weeks, you will get action items straight to your inbox - action items that will help you attract attention for you and your business.

I will outline the challenges in the first 14 episodes of this podcast. I would love it if you subscribed to the “Get Media Smart” podcast, where I will take you through the entire two-week challenge verbally.

The goal of all of this, of course, is to attract attention and then GET MORE CUSTOMERS.

Let's move onto Challenge #3. In Challenges #1 and #2, we talked about using Google to figure out how you show up in search engines - how you are seen by potential clients and the media online - and what you can do to raise your profile. If you missed them, check out the “Get Media Smart” podcast episodes 1 and 2.

Today, we are talking about your story - and probably one of the most difficult things people say they have trouble with when pitching the media.

When figuring out how you will approach a reporter for media attention, you must first offer them a story they want to tell. How do you do that? We’ll dig deeper into that, but a word of warning - Don't sell them on anything because if you do, you'll be sent to the sales department.

Consider these questions:

*What is your personal story and how would it inspire others?

*What results have you achieved in your business that would be a positive lesson for someone else?

*What do you teach your customers? And what part of that would be an important lesson for others? What does the reporter's audience need to know (related to your product or service) in order to live a better life?

Remember, you are the expert in your industry, so go one step further. What trends are you seeing in your industry or your business that could affect the reporter's audience? How can you tie it to news of the day?

As you figure out what kind of story you want to pitch, ask yourself these questions before you hit send on your email.

*#1 WHO are you? Journalists tell stories about people, so if you have a story to pitch, make sure there is a human angle. It could be your own story you’re trying to share, maybe it’s one of your client’s success stories.

*#2 WHY would their audience care? A health reporter is going to have a different audience than a business reporter. Think about the people they are writing to, and you will have greater success.

What you will learn: Now you know how you or your company appear in Google. You may want to do things to change what people see about you and your brand. How do you raise your profile in Google?

Transcript:

Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Never struggle to get attention again.

I’m your host, Cheryl Tan

Want to learn how to get noticed by the media?

What if the media came to you, and right behind them….clients and customers?

How do you leverage that publicity to grow your company?

This is the Get Media Smart podcast, where you will hear real-life stories of publicity gone right. You will learn actionable steps to get your name in front of the people who matter.

Hi, everyone! I’m Cheryl Tan. Thanks for joining me. Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Episode #2.

Today is Day #2 of the 2-week Become a Media Magnet challenge.

You can sign up for this free email challenge at CherylTanMedia.com/podcast and for two full weeks, you will get action items straight to your inbox - action items that will help you attract attention for you and your business.

I will outline the challenges in the first 14 episodes of this podcast. I would love it if you subscribed to the “Get Media Smart” podcast, where I will take you through the entire two-week challenge verbally.

The goal of all of this, of course, is to attract attention and then GET MORE CUSTOMERS.

Yesterday, I mentioned Google. You typed in your name or your business name and what did you find? Maybe that you have some work to do to get your name closer to the top.

I am no SEO expert, by any stretch, and depending on the uniqueness of your name, it could be more or less challenging for you to move up in the ranks. In any case, the best way I know how to raise your profile, literally, is through content.

I list three ways, from most difficult...all the way to an option that is much, much simpler.

You are the brand. You run your business. In my opinion, your personal website (or your business website) is the number one way to get ranked in Google. So if you type in your name, or your business name, you are close to the top. In terms of degree of difficulty, yes, it can be high up on the list. Getting hosting, buying a domain name, putting together content, consistently adding new content...all of those things take work and they absolutely pay off. But they take time and commitment. We’ll dig deeper into that in another episode.

Not ready for that? No worries. Being quoted in an article or being featured in a news story is the #2 way to get your name higher in Google, especially if your name or your business name is in the headline of the story itself. If there's a way you can get your business some media attention, you will probably see the effects in Google. We'll talk specifically about how to reach a reporter in an upcoming challenge, but that's a sure fire way to be seen in search engines because media outlets' websites have a much greater reach than most.

If that is not possible, then try social media. Posts on Google+ are indexed in Google, which means if you post on Google+, they'll show up in Google when someone searches your name. Your profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn will as well.

So...the homework for today is to establish those profiles if you haven't already. You do not have to be everywhere, but social media is here to stay. Being seen in at least one of those places is a smart business strategy. Establish, at the very least, a LinkedIn profile. Google+ is a good idea, too. Then perhaps, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, depending on what kind of business you own. If you already have the profiles, then start posting consistently. What do you post?

What you will learn: Media attention is a great way to get the name of your company in front of the public. Before you actively seek it out, though, find out what journalists will see when they search you out. What does Google say about you, and why does it matter?

Transcript:

Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Never struggle to get attention again.

I’m your host, Cheryl Tan

Want to learn how to get noticed by the media? How can you stand out in a crowded industry?

What if the media came to you, and right behind them….clients and customers?

How do you leverage that publicity to grow your company?

This is the Get Media Smart podcast, where you will hear real-life stories of publicity gone right. You will learn actionable steps to get your name in front of the people who matter.

Hi, everyone! I’m Cheryl Tan. Thanks for joining me. Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Episode 1.

Today is the first day of the Become a Media Magnet challenge.

You can sign up for this free email challenge at CherylTanMedia.com/podcast and for two full weeks, you will get action items straight to your inbox - action items that will help you attract attention for you and your business.

I will outline the challenges in the first 14 episodes of this podcast. I would love it if you subscribed to the “Get Media Smart” podcast, where I will take you through the entire two-week challenge.

The goal of all of this, of course, is to attract attention and then GET MORE CUSTOMERS.

Are you ready to get started???

Here is Lesson #1. It's an easy one to start with, and if you do it, you will get some valuable intel. It’s designed to let you see how others see you.

First things first: how do YOU get your name "out there?" Think about that for a minute. Do you pay for ads, do you create a funnel of loyal customers who refer you to their friends? Do you create content, host events? Really successful business owners tell me they attribute a lot of their success to referrals. They have created raving fans and those fans spread the word. Wouldn’t that be great if we all had that? The beauty of living in this day and age is sometimes those referrals can and often happen online and through the media.

In my opinion, publicity is the best referral you don't have to buy. The definition of publicity, by the way, is the attention given to someone or something by the media. What is the media? It is mass communication, so we’re talking television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet - social media. Basically, anyone with an audience talking about you, your products, or your services is a good thing for your business. We can talk about bad publicity another time, but for the purpose of this challenge, any publicity is good publicity.

Ok. Back to my question. How do you get our name out there?

Waaaay back, businesses would take an ad out in the Yellow Pages. In fact, when I was a young reporter, I would find businesses for news stories in, you guessed it, the Yellow Pages. For example, if I had to do a story on the tax deadline, I would go to my dog-eared copy of the Yellow Pages to look for someone to talk to about filing rules, regulations, and deductions.

Just the other day, I was talking with a business owner who told me life used to be so much easier. He told me he used to get 75% of his business from that ad in the Yellow Pages.

But times are different. Really different.

And you'll be hard-pressed to find a Yellow Pages in plain view now.

There is a modern-day version of that service. It's called Google.

So let’s say you get a referral for a business from a dear friend. Sometimes you’ll pick up the phone and make an appointment right...

Summary: Welcome to the kick-off of The Get Media Smart Podcast! I am so excited to be starting this program. I am even more excited to be sharing the stories of some incredible entrepreneurs.

Transcript:

Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Never struggle to get attention again.

I’m your host, Cheryl Tan

Want to learn how to get noticed by the media?

What if the media came to you, and right behind them….clients and customers?

How do you leverage that publicity to grow your company?

This is the Get Media Smart podcast, where you will hear real-life stories of publicity gone right. You will learn actionable steps to get your name in front of the people who matter.

Hi, everyone! I’m Cheryl Tan. Thanks for joining me. Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Episode 0.

This podcast is all about you, the entrepreneur who is trying to figure out how to be seen in a crowded marketplace, how to be seen as an expert in your field.. It’s designed to answer the questions I get all the time from entrepreneurs who feel as if they have been ignored by the media, they’re frustrated by the lack of response they’re getting to their pitches, they’re just not sure where to go to get their story heard.

Who am I? I am Cheryl Tan of CherylTanMedia.com.

I have been a television journalist for 20 years and over time, I have told thousands of stories. I have looked for stories to share with viewers in so many places, from city council meetings to college campuses...our goal was to inform, to educate, and yes, to entertain the people who tuned in. I have been a reporter, a producer, a host - so I have been been actively looking for stories to fill my shows and capture the attention of my audiences - all within the framework of a very stringent deadline.

Over the last few years, I have started telling the stories of entrepreneurs, and I realize the struggle many business people have with reaching out and making the most of publicity and media attention. Many don’t know where to begin.

In June 2014, I started a media strategy company where I show entrepreneurs how to get the media attention they want. In June 2015, I got back on television, where I host a business TV show, focusing on businesses near where I live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I love living at the beach.

So I am taking what I have learned in the newsroom to help entrepreneurs. Truly, it brings two of the things I love most - telling stories and talking about business - together.

I’m kicking this podcast off with a challenge.

Do you want to become a media magnet? Do you want to be in a position where the media call you? It can and it will happen. But you have to do a little bit of work first.

So, take the challenge I’m offering. You can sign up for it at CherylTanMedia.com. .

The first two weeks of this podcast will be the challenge portion, where each day I’ll go over the day’s challenge, share the challenge homework and show how it will help you on the road to becoming a media magnet.

After that, I’ll share some real-life case studies from entrepreneurs who have grown their businesses to incredible heights. And they have media attention, publicity, and a lot of hard work to thank for it. I want to learn how they have used media attention and publicity to grow their businesses. So, you’ll learn from me, and we’ll all learn from them. I cannot wait.

I want you to be able to take away something, at least one thing, from each podcast episode. Just one. Something you’ll act on.

My father always says, The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.

I want to inspire you to take action. To start a business. To create a product. To reach out to reporter. To get one step closer to your goal.