Want to up your PR game? Here are 60,000 reasons why you need this media matchmaker

By Jim James, Founder EASTWEST PR and Host of The UnNoticed Entrepreneur.?

In the new episode of The UnNoticed Entrepreneur, Rachael Taplin joined me from Solihull, England to talk about Media Matchmaker and how it helps entrepreneurs get noticed.

Media Matchmaker helps business owners and entrepreneurs secure publicity — but they do it very differently. They’re not a public relations (PR) agency. What they do is provide you with daily PR leads, give you all of the training necessary, and hold your hand every step of the way. They give you access to up to 60,000 journalists so that you can pinpoint and target the right type of journalists. They offer a very cost-effective way to secure publicity.?

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?The Challenge that Business Owners Face

Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, once wrote that the media are not interested in small companies; they only want to talk to big companies.?

But is there really no interest from the media in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)?

Rachael has been working for 30 years in the media and she has seen it change a lot. She has worked closely with journalists over the last 10 years. And even in the last two to five years, there have been changes in the way people consume the news: Everything we read today is shorter. We have soundbites because our attention span is a lot smaller. Additionally, there are so many online media outlets out there now. They need content and they need it fast.?

The way the media report the news has also changed. Now, they report the news and people consume the news via social media. The journalists would have to sit down each day and say, “What's trending?” They're following the news — and that's a great chance for you to secure publicity. And, absolutely, now couldn’t be a better time.?

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Rachael once did a survey involving some small business owners. An interesting statistic is that 80% of corporates use PR as a natural strategy. Meanwhile, 20% of SMEs only consider it when in fact, it should really be the other way around. The perception is that only corporates use or should be using PR. In reality, it's amazing for small business owners as well.

Why would the figure be only 20%? Could it be because they don’t understand PR or because they don’t have time? For Rachael, it’s a bit of both of these things.?

She said that in business, people don't know what people don't know. People always feel that they have to have a big budget to do PRs. She stressed out that PR agencies do a great job. But if you want to connect to the journalists, get those connections yourself, and do it yourself — then you can create an amazing kind of success for yourself.?

Traditionally, you'd have to go through PR agencies. However, you have the technology now. Everything's at your fingertips. The journalist's contact details are at your fingertips. For instance, journalists are using Twitter for journo requests. This has opened it up for the media to connect to every single person.?

But don't forget that media companies also research all the time. They’re looking for diversity — they're looking for people with different ethnicities and backgrounds, for people with disabilities. Today, it’s much more inclusive. And it means one thing: It’s easier than you think to get noticed by the media.

It’s All About Having an Emotional Connection

While there are technologies that democratise the PR process, most entrepreneurs didn't start out with a marketing or PR background. Many say that they’re nervous to be in front of the camera or they can’t write.

Rachael advises that when you write a press release, what you want to do is to get your company across. What it is that you do??

Typically, it’s a special offer or a product that you're selling and advertising. This is only logical. But keep in mind that PR is all about having an emotional connection: You have to share value and you have to connect to the audience. Always try and remember that it's advertising that sells but it’s PR that tells. You're telling a story and that's what you need to do.?

At Media Matchmaker, they guide you on how to do that. There’s a bit of advertising, but they more importantly want to know the story behind your business. So it's practically about what you're doing. If you’re already doing marketing and you’re doing blogs and you’re writing posts on LinkedIn — these are stories that can already be sent to the media. These stories will help because you're giving value. All that Rachael is asking you to do is take your current marketing one step further and send your stories to journalists.

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How to Get Noticed by a Busy Journalist

How do you get that journalist who's getting hundreds of enquiries every day to notice yours?

Rachael has interviewed hundreds of journalists and though they’re slightly different, they share something similar. And it boils down to making your story relevant to their audience so you don't waste their time. If there's a trending news story and you know you can comment on it, send them an email saying, “In light of today’s story, I'm available to comment on this.” You have to be relevant and be industry-specific. If you're going to send something to a trade industry magazine, make sure you've got some sort of a trade case study or statistics behind it.?

For instance, she has a lady client who does parenting for parents of children with disabilities. Literally, within seconds of sending her story out to targeted journalists, they got a response and the lady got some publicity.?

Publications like The Guardian or The Daily Mail might have 150 to 200 journalists. What you want to make sure is that your press release, newsletter, email, or whatever it is, ends up in front of the right type of journalist. It could be a freelancer who writes about parenting or health — and not just someone at the news desk (because it can go into a spam box together with lots of other things).?

Also, take note that journalists don’t just simply dismiss you.

Rachael mentioned someone from The Telegraph (he’s also written for Forbes) who “stars” everything in his inbox. He files it all away and searches by keyword afterwards. What she’s pointing out is that you shouldn’t always think that journalists who won’t respond to you right away won’t use your story. Often, they will come back to you. It just takes a little time and commitment. They might not be working on your story right now but they might want to build that later.?

What You Need to Have

When asked what sort of information should be sent to a journalist for you to be viewed as an interesting, expert, or credible source, Rachael said that you don’t have to have lots of media interviews or letters after your name.?

If you've got the expertise and the knowledge, then you're helping them. It's a win-win situation. They're not there to trick you. They're there to share the information that you have to help their audience or their listeners.?

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So, what you can do is share your story. You might have a personal story that's never been shared before (the media love exclusives). If it isn't an exclusive story and you want it to get into whatever you want to get it to, send it as an exclusive story. If you have specific expertise, send it to targeted journalists. See what trending news stories are saying. See if there are any national days or celebration days or weeks that you can write about. You can have case studies. There are lots of ways that you can make it easy for yourself.?

But as she mentioned before, even a simple introductory email can already work really well. One of Rachael’s clients managed to secure eight to 12 pieces of media coverage because of one introductory email.

On Exclusives

If you want to have an exclusive, the danger is that you could be sending it to lots of journalists. And it’s worrisome to upset those journalists who won’t get that exclusive.

To address this, Rachael advises you to try and build a relationship with journalists of publications where you want to appear. She always encourages her clients to have a hot media list comprising 10 media outlets that they like. Read their articles, follow them on Twitter and LinkedIn, find out information about them, and like their posts. This will help them kind of get to know you in advance. And then you can say, “Look, I've been following you. I love your articles. I love the way you write. I've got an exclusive story.” Give it about a week or follow it up a few days later. If there’s no response, then send it out to another.?

She had a client whose daughter sadly committed suicide. That client created her own business to help people with their epiphany process. She sent this story out and literally had the media coming back to her. She secured an exclusive with a national newspaper that then went on to a national glossy magazine.?

They have agreed on terms that she was an exclusive story for a month. And the other media all agreed on different terms. That client was able to put out a story and speak to the media in slightly different ways.

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When it comes to exclusives, you can target specifically one media outlet and give them a chance. Or, you can also send it to many and wait to see which ones will come back to you. Say that it's an exclusive story that hasn't been shared. Be really open to sharing it and show that you're being authentic with that, then just see who comes back to you.?

Nonetheless, you have to be mindful of where you want to be and who your audience is.

Rachael helps people with publicity and PR but she’s also a business owner first and foremost. She advises clients to look at the bigger picture. What is it you're trying to achieve? Make sure that the media coverage has your customers — it should be the most important thing for you. PR isn't about ego. It's about getting the success that you want from raising your profile, your customers, and your cash in the bank.

Consistency is Key When Building Long-term Relationships

Rachael also raised an interesting thing about consistency and going to the media over time because PR isn't just a one-hit-wonder. You are building a relationship.?

When you work with Media Matchmaker, you will be together for a minimum of 12 months. On the first Thursday of the month, you can join them and they’ll give you guidance on your strategy and your ideas. It's about consistency. And if you made a promise to one journalist, you have to obviously stick to that promise. But you have to be open to talking to anyone.

At Media Matchmaker, they have a network of 60,000 journalists in over 44,000 media outlets. There's plenty to go around. If you’re a big lover of radio like the BBC, it’s a great way to secure publicity and they can help you with that. They also launched a new podcast service because they see podcasts as a great way to gain publicity and reach new potential customers.?

Don't always think that PR is about traditional PR — about national broadsheets and radio stations. It's digital PR as well. And as there are so many opportunities out there, it all boils down to consistency.

Rachael and her team can give you access to templates and things like that. But it's about showing up. In business, you just can't stop at one point. You have to do something. Whether it’s doing pay-per-click advertising or marketing or sales, you have to have a strategy.?

Because she has so much PR success herself, helping hundreds if not thousands of others succeed, she considers being consistent one of the easiest ways to add on to what you’re already doing and achieve success.?

How Much PR is Enough?

The question now is, from a PR point of view, how do you know it’s too much or if it’s not enough?

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Rachael said that you have to show up whenever you've got something that's newsworthy. Once a month, you can also check in with the media and send them an email to state the topics that you can talk about. Give them three new topics to see if they're interested in covering these stories.?

If you're a natural writer already, you can send them some information and your blogs. If you're not, you can give them headlines. Don't forget that the job of the journalist is to introduce you and interview you. Your job is to be a great source of information.?

For instance, Rachael has dyslexia and she really gets challenged with writing. What she’s done is to look for podcasts like The UnNoticed Entrepreneur or do radio interviews. She was able to have so much coverage in the printed press because the journalists had interviewed her. This shows the importance of playing with your strengths and with what you want to do.?

If you've got a trending news story, send it to the media that can publish your story straightaway. This is why, again, it’s vital to have different media lists. Take note that consumer and trade magazines print two months in advance. Your breaking news story isn't going to go to that news desk unless they’ve got an online version. You need it to go to the dailies, the radio stations, the TV channels, the podcasters, and the regional press (if they print weekly).?

In sum, think about where your story fits. If there's a breaking news story that's trending and you're the expert, jump on it straight away because the media want people to comment. And a great place to start is your local community or your trade press.

However, you have to know your services. You shouldn’t be someone that you're not. You have to be able to share your expertise and knowledge.

Responding to an Interested Journalist

In case a journalist does reply to a pitch you sent, you must have information about your company ready.?

On Media Matchmaker’s platform, they encourage you to put your audio files so you can listen to see what you sound like; your videos so that you can see what you look like on camera; and also your photos (e.g. head and shoulder shots, actions shots). When you upload those, you’ll have links and you can download them in low- and high-resolution.

You’d also need your press pack which includes the details of what you've done before, the topics that you can talk about, the credentials you have, and your contact details. It's really important that you are available, so you have to put a mobile phone number where the media can get ahold of you when they want to.?

However, Rachael emphasised that you shouldn’t get too hung up about it. Some of her clients have a media page. If you can, you can also create your own website and have a press or media page. Even if you haven't had publicity before, show that you’re available to speak and put the topics that you can discuss. You can simply send journalists that link (or your profile at Media Matchmaker).

It doesn't need to be overcomplicated. Note that journalists also do their due diligence — they can look you up. This is why it's also important to be consistent across various platforms. Have your LinkedIn profile, Facebook, and Google My Business updated. All of these other touchpoints need to be aligned as well.?

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On Getting Noticed Herself

When asked about how she gets herself and her business noticed, Rachael said that she’s doing exactly what she’s sharing with her clients.?

She does a lot of speaking engagements at events, which helps raise her profile. She also shares her content to teach people how to do it and get them inspired and take their fear away. British people tend to be reserved — they don’t push themselves forward. She’s there to tell you that you are the expert and you’re knowledgeable. In getting ready for publicity, you don't need to prepare too much. You just need to put yourself forward.?

She also shares her stories through press releases, podcasts, and networking.?

The Cost of Working with Media Matchmaker

Regarding pricing, Rachael said that she made Media Matchmaker very affordable.?

On average, a PR agency would cost between ￡3,000 to 5,000 a month (She clarified that PR agencies do a great job and they, too, work with them). With her company, you can start working with her and get daily PR leads and attend ongoing training for the whole year for just ￡600 plus value-added tax (VAT).?

If you want to take their larger package, it's just over ￡2,000, and it will already grant you access to all of their journalists. You can literally send unlimited press releases because you've got all the media contact details.?

It’s affordable but the most important thing is that you’re getting a return on investment. She hears success stories from her clients and, in fact, even her marketing people who got a side-hustle business got publicity through responding to a journo request service.?

Rachael is really proud of Media Matchmaker; of how she created it out of her own pain of wanting to raise her own profile and build credibility over a credit crunch. When she couldn't afford a PR agency, that’s when she realised that she has insider secrets and she can also teach others how to do it. She shares this knowledge with you and holds your hand as much as she can.

Media Matchmaker is free for the media to join. The media use their services because it’s free and they need a quick turnaround when they search for subject matter experts.

To learn more, visit their website www.mediamatchmaker.co.uk or you can connect with Rachael on LinkedIn.

This article is based on a transcript from my podcast The UnNoticed Entrepreneur, you can listen here.