writers

When you’re pitching your angle to the writer, you should have at least two or three options ready to go. That way, if they don’t like the first angle, or you can’t reposition it to fit their needs, you can sell them on a second or third story while you’ve got them on the phone.

Prior to pitching the story, you need to do this basic prep:

1.    Come up with a catchy title like, “An Entrepreneurial Resource You Keep In Your Back Pocket.”  Exercise caution, though: you’re not writing the actual title for them-you’re coming up with a headline to catch the writer’s attention so you can pitch your angle. Writing the story is their job.

2.    For each angle/title, you need to have four or five key bullets prepared to help the writer craft a story. For example, if I was trying to get a writer to write a story about the cost savings of hiring a management consultant (like me), I would be sure to include these five points:

3. Think of 5 key bullets about your company that you will mention to the media every time you interact, regardless of the story angle you’re pitching. For example:

• Cameron Herold has done speaking events in 18 countries
• Cameron coaches entrepreneurs monthly
• Cameron was the COO for 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, growing the company from $2 million to $106 million in six years

Once you have three story angles and five key bullets about your company, you should feel relaxed and confident about calling the media. You already know what to say, and listening is easy. Free PR is easy to get once you know how to pitch your angles.

For more information on this topic, check out: Generating Free PR.