What you will learn: How to follow up on your media pitch.

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. Welcome to the Get Media Smart podcast. Episode #13.

It’s down to the wire. You’re almost done. Day 13 of the 2-week Become a Media Magnet Challenge.

You can still join us by signing 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. They are short, to the point, and you can always join us in our Facebook community to talk about your results.

Today, you will learn how to follow up after you have sent a news release or an email or made a phone call to a reporter, a producer, or an editor at a media outlet.

First, congratulations!

That is a rather large step. And it means you have done quite a bit of work so far.

Don't give up.

One of three things happens when that call or email is received.

*#1. It sparks interest RIGHT NOW, and you get a phone call or email in return, as in minutes later. That also means the reporter needs to set up an interview RIGHT AWAY.

*#2. It goes into a file, to be looked at later.

*#3. It gets deleted.

Unless you get a response right away, you have no idea where that idea falls in the grand scheme of things.

So, here's my suggestion: Wait two to three days, and follow up.

If you called, send an email. If you sent an email, then call.

There are a lot of theories floating around out there about the best way to follow up, but here’s the thing. We’re all people. If you have a worthy story - one that doesn’t try to sell a product or service outright, but has a newsworthy hook or a lesson attached to it - then it’s in the best interest of the reporter or producer to hear about it.

When you reach out, be succinct and let that reporter or producer know you wanted to make sure he/she received the information about your upcoming event or story idea.

And this is key. Ask the person on the other end of the line or in the body of the email, "Does this story interest you?" If you're on the phone, you will most likely get an honest response. At this point, you want a yes or a no.

A yes means you can follow up if they don't choose to do the story that day. If it's a no, you can start a conversation, ask that person what story would be of interest. It's all about relationships, as we have been discussing since the beginning of our two-week challenge.

Today's challenge is to take a look at any previous pitches you have made, any emails you have sent that received no response. Now is the time to revisit them and follow-up in the way I mentioned above. It's the only way to find out what kinds of stories these media outlets really want to tell.

Here’s what I find when I talk to clients. They don’t follow up. They simply don’t reach out again. I get it, you have no idea whether the news outlet wants to hear from you. You don’t want to be the pest. You don’t want to be blackballed.