Want to get featured in Big Media?
This PR expert will show you how.
One of my goals for 2023 was to be featured in Business Insider.
My BI interview came out in January 2024.
After I added this to my bio section, my followers & subscribers grew exponentially.
Big media means big coverage, but also huge credibility.
If you want to become a successful solopreneur, you need to work that into your marketing efforts.
How?
, former owner of a PR agency in London, and current writer of , will show you.
Can a solopreneur really get noticed by big media?
When it comes to PR for solopreneurs, there are two myths to clear up.
The first myth is that PR is just getting into press. Newsflash. It isn’t.
PR stands for public relations. It is everything you do to manage your relationship with the public.
Getting into press is publicity or media relations.
The second is that to get press (not PR for the aforementioned reason), you need a press release and a long list of editors to send it to.
This, my dears is called spam. It won’t work. And likely will get you blocked.
Now that I’ve said that, let’s discuss what good PR looks like and some ways we can get it.
Let me give a few examples of what PR might look like for you: getting on a podcast, attracting a brand partnership, being paid to speak, sharing your expertise in a workshop, writing a collaborative post (like this one!) on Substack.
What most solopreneurs want to know then, is can they get into big publications like national newspapers, TV & radio. The answer is unequivocally YES. AND it is often easier than you think.
Everything starts with a story
Your story to be precise. Your biggest asset as a solopreneur is not your well-put-together case study slide deck or shiny client testimonials. It is YOU.
You, as the cornerstone of your PR efforts, can borrow all the best from big business but be agile and reactive.
The easiest way to get press is to think less about sharing the success of your business and more about the human interest stories that others can connect to. If you were a magazine, what might be the back pages, your equivalent of horoscope or recipe pages?
Why? The difference between you and your competitive set is not your price or your colours and fonts. It is your brand. How your audience feels about you makes them want to work with you over someone else.
When they know a story or a bit about you, or what I like to call showing a bit of ankle. It is much easier for you to stand out.
There are so many ways you can carve up your stories and expertise but let’s start with 3.
Regional press and media
Without a doubt, it is the easiest place to start and also the most overlooked. Why? Regional news teams are always on the hunt for a good story, particularly for TV and radio.
The best part? It is a great way to connect with others in your local area and find other collaborations, partnerships, and local businesses.
You can read more about how to pitch to regional media here:
Quick takeaway: Check out media.info for a list of regional writers and producers
Top tip: Buy, read, listen, watch your local media outlets. Can you spy an opportunity you would fit in?
Opinion editors
An alternate to the ubiquoituos press release.
My favourite way to do this for myself, formerly my clients when I had an agency and today for my Substack members is with an opinion piece.
An opinion piece is where you submit a (surprise, surprise) an opinion about something topical and ideally, something combative that will spark debate and attached a news hook.
A perfect example of this is one of my subscribers Eloise Rickman. Her ‘why is relevant now’ ties now just to her book launch week but is topical around the UK general elections. Her subject matter washow children should be given the vote, which proved very combative for some. https://metro.co.uk/2024/06/17/dont-want-voting-age-lowered-16-want-abolished-21028254/?ito=article.desktop.share.top.link
A quick google or play around with ChatGPT on how to find submission details for opinion editors will give you a bunch more information but here are three of my favourite slots:
How to Pitch INews Opinion Section
Want to write a piece for the Financial Times opinion page?
Happiful Magazine Contributor Guidelines
You can learn more about how to write for Metro here.
Go where the media are playing
Even easier than pitching from scratch? Go where the media are playing.
What does this mean?
It means, if a journalist is already interested in writing about a topic or article looking for experts it is a thousand times easier to do this when they are already looking for people like you.
Top tips around this: It isn’t enough to just put your hand up and say, I could do this. You need to give them all the information they need up top.
Two of my favourite places to start doing this
Lightbulb: A Facebook group run by Charlotte Crisp, where entrepreneurs and journalists come together. You as an entrepreneur can pitch your own story OR you can respond to press requests.
or #journorequest Search for this hashtag on X, select latest, and you can see a long list of different requests from media.
You can start gently
Pitching to big media can feel scary. And sometimes actually working with a smaller audience who is a direct audience match can work much harder for you, Like me writing for Maya today.
If pitching to TV, newspapers or radio feels too hard start small.
Ask to guest write an article for someone whose niche or audience overlaps with you. Or try pitching yourself for a podcast. The best bit about speaking is that your audience gets a real sense of who you are and what you are about, so it's great for that memorability piece, which is ultimately what good PR and personal brand building activity should be all about.
Last but not least, don’t be driven by your ego. If it’s a huge outlet but you don’t agree with the values or a massive influencer in the social media platform of choice for you but you know their business practices are a bit sketchy you don’t have to do it.
Remember, everything you do is managing your PR - whoever you collaborate with is going to reflect your brand personality so I would always be led by values over numbers.
As solopreneurs, we are in a unique position against big businesses. We have ourselves. Other businesses can try to compete on price, but it is us, our personality, and what we stand for that will lead people to work with us.
In the digital age, we all have a personal brand and digital footprint, and it has never been easier to control what is found when someone does a Google search to find out more about working with us.
Think about the stories you are willing to share
Pay attention to regional media outlets to see if they are relevant for us
Research opinion columns for target publications and study the submission guidelines
Play where the media are already playing
Start small if you need to, it’s not just about big numbers
 | A guest post by
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Thank you for having me! Here for any Q’s in the comments ❤️
So many great and actionable tips; thank you for sharing ☺️