There are not many things free in life these days but when it comes to marketing or getting profile for you and your business, it is staring us all in the face. Media coverage! There has never been a better time because TV, radio and newspaper journalists are desperate for stories.
And if you know the way to play the media game, the results can be incredible. Phones will start ringing with orders for your product or service, people will want you to speak at their events and suddenly new business becomes a lot easier.
So why doesn’t everybody do it? Because they don’t know how to play the game properly and amazingly there are only TWO big problems stopping people from getting free media that are SO EASY to fix:
- Even though every person and business has a great media story they don’t know how to pinpoint their MEDIA ANGLE
- But that’s only half of it – even the best angle is no good if you don’t know how to PITCH IT properly to the media
If you would like free media and want to know how to do find your MEDIA ANGLE and PITCH IT properly, take a look at my advice.
HERE ARE 6 TIPS TO FINDING YOUR MEDIA ANGLE
- First work out what media you want to be in – to start off, pick one TV programme or one radio programme or one section of the newspaper or even an industry publication. The local newspaper might be the easiest if you have a local story.
- Watch, read or listen to it for an entire week or for a number of issues (current or recent back ones are both ok)
- Get a ‘feel’ for the types of stories they do
- Target the journalist writing the stories or ring the radio/TV station and find out the producer’s name and email address of the programme you have chosen
- Look closely at yourself and your business and work out what type of story (ANGLE) is like – not the same as – the ones they are already doing.
- Put an angle filter over your story and ask yourself:
Is my story/ANGLE something new? – or a new spin on something?
Is the background to my ANGLE (or the idea for my business or product) interesting?
Does my story/ANGLE help a lot of people (especially the type of audience of the media you have chosen?)
Is my story/ANGLE something different?
Is my story/ANGLE something that will change a lot of people’s lives?
Is my story/ANGLE something very touching and emotional?
Is my story/ANGLE something unusual?
Is my story/ANGLE something quirky?
Does ANGLE make people say “wow” when I tell them about it?
If you said YES to any of the above you have an ANGLE
Now for the PITCH
Pitching to the media (find the right person – journalist or the producer – by ringing them up and asking the receptionist!)
You can pitch via phone directly to a journalist (sometimes very hard to get onto them as they are so busy) OR you can email them a pitch. But here is the secret……it must be BRIEF, BRIEF, BRIEF but PUNCHY, PUNCHY, PUNCHY!!!
And even better here’s a formula for you:
Email or Phone:
Hi
My name is <INSERT YOUR NAME>, I know that you do stories on ………… eg people in business
Would you be interested in (THE STORY/ANGLE)? …… eg (for a local newspaper) about a 22 year old girl, who emigrated from India, worked in a (local) Oporto store and decided to buy the store franchise (with the help of her bank and her Dad) – SHORT and to the point!
THAT’S IT!!!
And here is the story. It works!
Too easy……..
From employee to franchisee with an appetite for business
JANUARY 18, 20165:23PM
SOME people may see buying the restaurant you work in as jumping from the frying pan into the fire, but not 22-year-old Akanksha Taneja.
She relishes owning Oporto Penrith, in Sydney’s west, and the many challenges managing about 20 employees — including her mother and aunt — presents.
And for her, it is just the beginning.
“I definitely plan to add a lot more branches to my tree and grow ahead in such a great company,” Ms Taneja told the Penrith Press.
Ms Taneja credits coming to Australia in 2008 with making much of this possible.
She said she would have had to wait until she was 18 to work in her home country of India, whereas here the then 16-year-old emigree started immediately, choosing to work at Oporto Penrith, where by the age of 20 she was promoted to store manager in charge of her younger brother, among others.
After graduating from accounting at Western Sydney University, she left to pursue a career as an accountant at Novotel Hotel for six months until her former boss told her he was selling the franchise business.
“He asked would I be interested so I spoke with my dad, who was very supportive, and we officially took over in June 2015,” Ms Taneja said.
“It was my destiny to run Oporto, I think.”
Ms Taneja says she never let her age hold her back.
“I think the best thing about Australia is people realise the value of money at a young age because they know how hard they work to earn it,” she said.
If you’re struggling to find your media angle, come to our one day workshop. We’ll even have journalists and media booking agents from Channel 10, Huffington Post, 3AW and StartUpSmart/SmartCompany ready to hear your pitch live! Discover your media and pitch it live: www.pitchthemedia.com.au
