What do you do when you know you have a story that the media would want to write about? Many small businesses face this dilemma each day. This blog post is designed to show you what goes into a good story pitch and the mechanics of how to pitch it to the media.

Many people are intimidated to pitch the media (even PR professionals can get a little uneasy about it) because it is, in essence, a cold call. We all know reporters are busy. Like sales prospects, it can be difficult to get motivated to pick up the phone and call a reporter because you think you’re bothering him/her. It happens. But as we mention in the PR Toolkit resource for small business, keep one very important thing in mind: when done correctly, you’re not bothering them. You are helping them.

When a reporter does a story that includes your company in it, you will find that it can do wonders for your business. A positive story about your company lets people know that someone else thinks highly of your company (in this case, that someone else is the reporter). The key is to know How to Get Great Publicity Coverage.

What Is A Story?

Reporters write stories to inform their readers, listeners or viewers about important news or trends happening in your local area, around the country or even across the globe. Examples of story topics include why gas prices are so high, the impact of swine flu, and the war in the Middle East. A story encompasses all kinds of elements (an interesting topic or theme, facts about your company, quotes, information on important industry or national trends, statistics, customer testimonials, information from people outside of your company). And the more of these elements you have prepared ahead of time, the better your chances of having a successful story pitch. The number one thing to remember as you’re building a story pitch is to always keep in mind that the story can’t just be a blatant promotion of your company. It must embrace and illustrate a trend that is larger than you or your company. It’s important to know how to successfully create a pitch that the media will be interested in so that you can avoid making a bad pitch.

What Goes Into A Story?

1. In one sentence, ask what you want the story to be about.

2. How does it relate to an event or issue currently taking place in the news (locally or nationally).

3. Does it have anything to do with a certain time of year or holiday.

4. Are there other people or experts not affiliated with your company who could add to the story, and how.

5. Do you have customers that are impacted by your story and are they willing to speak with the press.

6. What kind of statistical information is relevant to this story, and is it from a credible source.

7. Who from your company will be quoted, and are they ready to address the successes AND the struggles.

8. Have you researched to see if any other media have already done a story on this topic.

9. Have you Googled to see which media cover this topic.

10. Have you gone to your local bookstore to find other consumer, business or trade magazines would be interested (and written down the names of reporters you can approach).

11. Have you thought about how you can incorporate social media into your story (polling people you’re connected with for additional topic research, pitching bloggers or identifying reporters in your Twitter network, for example).

12. Have you watched the television shows you’d like to be on and written down the names of reporters/producers you want to approach.

13. Have you done the same for radio shows (AM, FM and satellite radio).

14. Have you thought about the best time to call up your intended reporter target (most prefer early in the day and week).

15. If you’re pitching for certain consumer media or holiday angles, have you given yourself enough lead time (anywhere from 3-6 months ahead of the story date, start pitching).

16. Are you considering pitching a wire service to get pickup from many different outlets across the country.

17. Do you have a big list of relevant blog sites with the contact info for each to add to your list of media to approach.

18. Do you have any visual aspects to your story (photos, images or video) that you’re prepared to share with the media. Use  The Flip to create useful videos to pitch to bloggers.

19. Have you remembered to identify any video blogs or podcasts to add them to your pitch.

20. Have you thought about how big you can make your story? Does your story impact a large national angle in the news (swine flu, steroids in sports, recession) and have you studied the national cable and network news shows for guest opportunities.

How To Pitch Your Story

When it comes to pitching a story to the media, remember that your goal is to help them uncover a good story. If you want to promote your company, buy an advertisement. A reporter is going to write a story that is balanced with the good sides along with the not so good sides. Your goal is to deliver information and enough supporting materials (images, customers, facts, etc.) that allow them to paint as positive picture of you as possible. But remember it is not their job to promote you or your business. Also, expect that they will also include your competition in the story. It is your job, again, to give them enough information and data so that your company controls most of the “real estate” within the story – in a positive way so that you can see great return on your PR investment.

• Create a press release that supports the story you are pitching (this should answer the question, why is this story newsworthy and it is used as background that you can send to the reporter).
• Write up an email pitch letter that you send to the reporters you want to approach for a story. This email should not be very long (two or three brief paragraphs) and should take a conversational tone simply telling the reporter about your story topic and why you think it would benefit their readers/viewers.
• If a reporter doesn’t respond to your email within 24 hours, call them on the phone and ask to speak with them about the story idea.
• When you call, plan to have between 10-20 seconds to get your pitch across (even shorter for national media or reporters on deadline).
• Have a script (or at least talking points) written out as a reference. Ge to the point quickly. If you must read your script, practice it lots of times so that you sound conversational and comfortable.
• They will either tell you they aren’t interested, ask when they can meet to interview you, or request more information (this is where you want to have the pres release ready to send them).
• If they tell you they’re busy with other stories and they’ll have to think about it, give them a chance to work through those stories and call them the following week to try and set up the interview (it’s very important to continue monitoring the news in case any additional developments occur that may affect your story topic).
• When you call the reporter back, try to have a new twist to your story that entices them even more. Maybe you found a new customer in their area they can speak to, or a new development in the trend or topic you can share with them.

Here is a sample pitch I used recently that resulted in an AP story as well as television stations all over the country:

“Hi, my name is John Sternal, how are you? With the gas prices reaching all-time highs right now, what do you think about a story on a new program that helps people escape their expensive, gas-guzzling SUV lease so they can immediately downsize into a smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicle? And I can put you in touch with a few people in your area who have recently gone through this program. What day is best for you next week to set this interview up?”

–Of course I also told them the name of my client but I won’t use this forum to promote it
–I immediately got their attention by tying it in to the media frenzy surrounding the high gas prices
–I sold them on a new program that is helping people
–I immediately started shaping the story for them
–I quickly arranged for them to speak with a few customers

Several reporters I spoke with happened to be on deadline when I called. But my pitch was very much on target so they each gave me several minutes and asked lots of questions. My goal was to use the opening 15 seconds to simply get them interested so I could quickly move into a conversational discussion with them where I could get them even more excited about the program. Here’s the background of what we talked about that got them even more interested:

–What other trends I was seeing in the industry
–Why this program offered a great alternative to the other options consumers face
–How much most people save by using the program
–How much the program costs
–How the program works and how easy it is
–Which auto companies are affiliated with the program
–Background of the customers they would be interviewing
–Contact info of industry analysts that track our industry
–Important differences between my client’s company and other competition

If you liked the information in this post you’ll find more tips to help you get media coverage in the PR Toolkit. Download your copy today.