The Why Factor: The Secret to Attracting Media Attention
Members of the media are hungry for a good story. If you’ve got a compelling story and a desire to expose your message to the masses, it’s time to tap into your Why Factor to get the media’s attention. I recently had the opportunity to help Denise Costello, owner of The Energized Body, put together a plan to drum up free publicity for her business and her upcoming Healthy Holiday Fare cooking demonstration and tasting. Here are the secret ingredients we whipped up together to do just that.
Why This
First, you need to be able to tell the media why your message is relevant to their audience, and explain how your business helps solve a problem.
Denise wants to help people “eat right to stay out of the hospital and off medication”. Why this message for the media? After all, we all know we should eat right. True, but we don’t see many health professionals getting laser-focused about why people need to do it. Denise is taking a specific stand on this issue and the fact that health topics in general are making headlines right now, makes the message more appealing.
Why Now
Not only do you need to convince the media that your message is important, you have to demonstrate why it’s important now. The easiest way to do this is to link your story idea to current events, trends or, in this case, a seasonal angle.
Denise saw the opportunity to naturally tie her event into the holidays. Other media savvy business owners will pitch reporters story ideas that tie into holidays and seasonal events as well, so we talked about ways to tweak the pitch. First, we used a well-known statistic to communicate a problem that would help us position Denise’s message and solution: Most people gain one to two pounds over the holidays that they never lose. Those extra pounds add up over a lifetime.
In offering her solution, Denise also flipped the common refrain of “surviving the holidays” on its head. We wanted to the media to know that her message is important now so people can thrive through the holidays, rather than simply surviving them. She’s got the tools and ability to help people feel healthy, strong and energized through the holidays (and all year long by the way), which is far more appealing than just enduring them.
Why Me
Just as you do with clients, you need to stand out to the media. Use everything you’ve got to distinguish yourself. This is where you leverage a short version of your personal story to engage and connect with the media. Include details that boost your credibility too; for example, the results you’ve gotten for yourself or your clients.
Not only is Denise a fit foodie and owner of The Energized Body, she also considers herself a flexitarian. R.N., “foodie” and “flexitarian” are some keywords that will perk up just about anyone’s ears, including the media. Right away, Denise’s background as a medical professional signals that she’s qualified to speak about health issues yet the “foodie” and “flexitarian” monikers show a human side and hint that what she’s offering is designed to help the average person achieve success. We made sure to include keywords that would call out to her ideal prospects within the media’s audience – busy mom and business owner – two lifestyle challenges that often make it hard to eat right. We also wanted the media to know in an instant that Denise is living proof that her solution works. She looks fabulous, she’s energized and food is her only medicine.
And that my friends is a delicious recipe for media success.
Would you like to learn more about how Denise can help you thrive through the holidays? Contact her here.
Have you approached the media to get your story and message out to the world in a bigger way? Let us know why or why not in the comments. Thanks!
Related articles
[…] is part art, part psychology. There are plenty of free resources on my blog (like this one & this one) & others (check out The Publicity Hound — better than a PR degree!) to help you pull […]