HOW DO I GET NATIONAL COVERAGE FOR MY BUSINESS?

I get asked this a lot and it is not a simple answer. Even if your best mate is a national journalist, he/she/they will not run a story on you and your business unless it fits their brief. It's not because you are not worthy, it's all to do with context.

Imagine you run a company selling high end jewellery and I, a friend, came along and said will you take a guest blog from me all about my company the services I offer?

Chances are that you will say 'no' because my expertise and subject matter does not fit your website and its messages. If you were inclined to say 'yes' you might ask me how I can tailor my expertise to your area of expertise. You might still be my friend, I simply don't fit your context.

Journalists right about issues and people which fit their brief. Their brief is general, topical and specific and it can move and change at a moment's notice - so even if a journalist has said 'yes' they may have turn around and let you down at the last minute because a news editor has changed their mind or another story which is bigger and deemed to be 'better' has landed.

The best way to aim for national coverage is to ensure you are ready for those moments when national journalists are looking for someone like you - and you do that by being easily found. Easily found by showing up and being visible and also easily found because you search for relevant journalists in your community, sector, area of interest and follow them and share their stuff. It's a slow journey but it's more effective than spamming them with loads of irrelevant stuff. X is good for this, using the hashtag #journorequest and also creating lists (make them private) so you can access those people easily to share their stuff.

Another key thing in aiming for national coverage is to be present and visible locally. Too many PR professionals turn up their noses at local or hyperlocal coverage - which simply, for me, shows their ignorance of how the media works. Local news is the bedrock of all news and every day, news agencies scour local papers, on and offline, looking for strong local stories they can then 'tout' to the nationals. Why do they do that? Because they know they will find some EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Being visible locally will lead to be visible nationally and internationally over time. Anyone can do this for themselves yet it requires time and effort. The benefit of someone like me - who you have to invest in - is that my knowledge and ability to do it is simply better, more efficient and it will happen more quickly. However it won't happen tomorrow or next month and it won't happen if you think 'Fiona's got this, I can sit back and watch things change'. No. I can't 'be' you and nor can any member of my team. We have to work together. It's still a journey.

The other thing to remember is that journalists aren't interested in your product or service (unless they are specifically writing about that and that won't happen often) they are interested in YOU. Your personality and those aspects of it that you are happy to share are the real stories for a journalist. The human aspect of everything- that's what drives in most cases.

Some business owners find this hard to grasp - particularly those who are neuro-divergent I've found. They tend to think 'who is really interested?'; 'why does that matter?'; 'that's not relevant'.

Yet just pause and think about the power of 'social' media. While you may get annoyed at people sharing pictures of their dinner, lunch, dogs, cats, or the 'ins' and 'outs' of their lives - people are interested in their millions. They are interested in subjects which interest them - not in your judgment of what they should be interested in.

Some subjects are more popular than others but there's an audience for everything and some in that audience could buy from you. It's the basic tenet of marketing. Being visible enough and in the right place will lead to opportunity to sell. If those opportunities are coming and you are not making sales - that's a whole other discussion.

Have a great weekend!