Choose wisely
When you decide you are ready to court media coverage for what you do, make, and stand for, it’s important to remember that bigger is not necessarily better.
Television channels, national magazines and big daily newspapers might have hundreds of thousands of viewers and readers... but are those people your “right people”?
Bigger is not always better. What do your right people read, watch, and listen to? Those are the publications you should pitch to.
Here are some ideas:
* Local newspapers: they are always on the lookout for stories that celebrate the people and activities in your home town
* Magazines in your niche: your right people probably read these magazines, so it’s worthwhile thinking of how you can bring your voice to their pages
* Magazines that your right people read, even if the magazines aren't about your exact niche: they might not know about your niche yet, but you share a lot of other interests so this is another good way to find those people
* Radio programs (not necessarily news, but themed programs): think about programs that celebrate arts and crafts, nostalgia, creative expression; interior design... whatever it is that relates to what you do
* Podcasts in your niche
* Other people’s newsletters that relate to your niche
* Blogs in your niche
Homework
Your homework today is to create a list of potential media outlets and publications to which you can pitch your stories. Start with the publications you may have listed when you did your Audience Persona activities (Lesson 2), and list any publications you know of in your industry. Next, spend some time browsing for more: go to a news agency and look at all the magazines, scroll through your podcast App Store, look up the websites of radio stations to research their programs.