Can you get press without a PR person? Absolutely.
Also referred to as earned media in the PR world, many founders falsely believe getting press without a PR person isn’t an option. My clients have been in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Time, Bloomberg, Inc, and others, but could they have done it without me?
Yes.
So, why would anyone hire me? Because I save them the money and time (and potential embarrassment) due to my rich history in radio, content, video and journalism. I know big claims are warning signs to journalists, and how to mitigate pitch rejection. I know journalists don’t care about your startup, but do care about stories you placed no value in. I know your data can be more powerful than your product, and I know how to win trust quickly with broad networks you have no access to.
But if you’re in a budget crunch, here’s how you get press without a PR person.
Pitching journalists without a PR person
Creating a successful pitch email to get press without a PR person involves a personalized approach rather than generic mass outreach. It requires you thinking like the journalist. Before pitching, answer these questions first:
- What does their audience care about?
- What do they care about?
- What do they write about often?
- How can you provide something that drives clicks for them?
Some founders will respond, “My startup is the value! Their audience cares about what I’m doing! It will help them!” Let me stop you right there.
That’s not true.
It’s never been true.
Inventive founders and leaders have never been recognized solely for their great ideas. Read this if you don’t believe me, but suffice it to say… You’re biased AF.
Writing a pitch a journalist will read: a framework
Your pitch must be Fresh, offering something unique without baggage terms that could miscategorize it; Accessible, providing clear, easily verifiable information and assets to minimize recipient effort; Relevant, carefully tailored to match the interests and specialties of your recipient; and Timely, strategically sent when the recipient is most receptive, avoiding busy periods or poorly timed topics.
More about the FART Method.
TL:DR: the best stories journalists like, are stories that actually don’t hinge on you or your company, but ones that can benefit from your expertise.
How to find the right journalist — yeah that’s a thing
It’s of vital importance your entire pitch focuses on value for the journalist, but did you know they all have particular focus areas? If you pitch your tech startup to a journalist who covers Microsoft and Apple (yes, some are that specific) you’ll piss them off.
Truthfully matching the right journalist to the right story is like a game of memory—the game with identical stacks of cards you turn over and match.
You have a deck of stories. And journalist-land has the identical deck of stories they cover.
Pitch your fundraising round to Axios Pro Rata who cover fundraising; pitch your celebrity endorsement to Entrepreneur who write for aspiring entrepreneurs; pitch your hard news expertise for The Wall Street Journal; pitch your introspective long form polarizing opinion to The Atlantic; pitch your odd rookie startup story to Fast Company.
TL:DR find each journalist on their publication website or social media and carefully read their beat or coverage area. To get press without a PR person know the journalist better than they know themself!
Learn more about how to get a journalist to cover your story
Do the journalist a favor
At the end of the day, when pitching a journalist, listen to your emotions. Do you feel like you’re asking for a favor? In that case, you probably didn’t pitch a good story. To get press without a PR person, your pitch should feel like you’re doing them a favor. It should feel as though you’re doing their job and giving them a great story on a silver plate.
A great pitch is a value exchange. You’re giving them something beautiful in exchange for their reach.
Learn more about how to get news coverage.
Get press without a PR person using brutal honesty
Honesty matters a lot when pitching. Because journalists see so many pitches, interview folks, and vet their stories, they develop a 6th sense for BS. And they get a LOT of BS. Today, they practically assume every pitch is a lie until proven otherwise—because it usually is. That can work to your advantage.
Founders that successfully get press without a PR person have an incredible ability to see past their own bias. The most successful of the bunch I’ve seen is one’s who challenge their own claims on paper. They go through their pitches, line by line, and challenge their own statements by asking, “can you prove it?”
If the answer is no, they delete it. This is key in getting press without a PR person because you don’t have an experienced 3rd party to review your work.
When emailed, this brutal honesty triggers the journalist “this is real” mechanism. I’ve seen average companies get coverage because a founder was brutally honest. And I’ve seen great companies crash and burn because they stretched the truth.
Learn more about how to get a journalist’s attention.
Build relationships with journalists before you need them
They’re not idiots. Journalists know you want something from them. Truth is, they also want something from you. Stories. Juicy, delicious, stories that will get them clicks. Clicks = money.
If you want to know how to build a relationship with a journalist, that’s simple—send them stories you have no ties to. Think like them and help them do their job. Send them breaking news or exclusive angles. Introduce them to folks who are experts. You get bonus points every time you do this and you have zero involvement in the story.
