How To Go From Anonymity Into The Media Spotlight

When their teams enjoy a great day on the gridiron, football players love to celebrate with high fives and end zone dances. I can happily report that our team isn’t much different when we experience wonderful successes in the media for our clients!

And, we’ve had plenty of reason to dance around our office these past few weeks! We’ve been celebrating because some of our clients have appeared in such major publications as the New York Times, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Parade magazine and others of this caliber.

So, you may ask, who are these clients exactly? Star athletes, big name celebrities or rock stars?

Nope. They are folks pretty much like you and me. Many are experts in their fields, and possibly known within certain circles, but they aren’t household names. Yet, there they are, being interviewed by the nation’s top media.

Let me tell you about one client in particular, Jeannette Bajalia, a financial professional who specializes in helping women prepare for retirement. She’s had a remarkable few weeks in the media spotlight. We arranged interviews for Jeannette with such publications as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Time.com, Parade magazine and Investors Business Daily.

Those are some media heavy hitters!

I’m sharing Jeannette’s experience because I think there’s a lesson in here for those who don’t believe these iconic publications would be interested in them.

But first, let me pause for a moment and allow Jeannette to tell you in her own words her reaction to how the media has embraced her and her message:

You journey through your life and professional career thinking that you’re just one voice in a sea of noise around you. You believe you have something important to say, something others need to hear about that can help shape their lives, help give hope, inspiration, or simply a nugget of truth. And I thought, “If I could just get my message out there and get my voice differentiated in the sea of noise, I can help others.”

I wanted my voice heard from the mountaintops and pursued ways to communicate my message and worked really hard locally doing workshops, speaking, writing, but local wasn’t enough and the work effort was draining and didn’t get the results I desired.

My voice needed to be heard nationally, perhaps internationally, so I sought the professional expertise of a PR company thinking that I could get a bite or two of attention. 

Boy was I wrong!!

I didn’t get a bite or two, I got national press and visibility of the highest level and prestige in publications that I would have never dreamed were possibilities. The result: my voice being heard by millions – at a grand level. 

This national media exposure has given me more media opportunities, greater credibility with my clients, and given me the confidence to know that OTHERS RESPECT MY VOICE cause it’s one to be heard.

We loved learning about the impact this coverage had for Jeannette on a business and personal level. Yes, more happy dances in our office!

So how did Jeannette – and some of our other clients – achieve this kind of success? Here’s how:

• Responsiveness. Whenever a media opportunity arises, Jeannette jumps on it. She realizes she needs to be responsive to the media’s needs and understands that timeliness is important when you’re working with journalists who are on deadlines.
• Quality of responses. As quick as she is, Jeannette doesn’t just dash off a one-size-fits-all response. She gives thoughtful answers that demonstrate her depth of knowledge and writes so clearly that a journalist can use her words almost as they are written.
• Accessibility. If the journalist has follow-up questions, or wants more time with Jeannette, she makes herself accessible. The window of opportunity often is brief when it comes to the media, so those who don’t set aside the time risk losing out.

For our part, we need to be just as fast as our clients in getting back to the media. We know that, if we delay, they’ll find someone else.

Very likely, that someone else will be a person much like you who just happened to make themselves available on time and with something of value to say.

Promptly yours,

Marsha

P.S. If you’d like professional help getting interviews with the media, we’ve been arranging interviews for our clients on radio and TV, and obtaining editorial coverage in newspapers and magazines for more than 26 years. We also offer a comprehensive social media marketing program for select clients, where we do it all for you. If you’re interested in our help, please call us at 727-443-7115 Ext. 231. We’d love to hear from you!