I started my Monday morning today by being interviewed on the Dreamaholics Podcast.
It was a great 30-minute interview where I shared some of my top lessons to live a more ambitious life and pursue your dreams.
Every week I’m asked to appear on at least 1 show, and I always say yes. No matter how big or small the Podcast or blog or YouTube Show.
The more people that know about our mission at Ambitious, the better.
And when you have a mission to help 1,000,000 people to start a business, we need to keep telling and re-telling our mission to anyone that will listen.
That is what I love about media coverage. They need people like you and me to tell our stories to fill up their shows.
Every morning the local news needs 3 hours of content. Then another 30 to 60 minutes at lunch. Then another hour or 2 in the evening and again before the late night shows. And this is 5-7 days per week.
There simply isn’t enough tragedy or breaking news to fill all this time.
Then add in Podcasts that air 5 times per week. That’s 20 potential guests they need every month. Even a weekly show needs 52 guests in a year.
This presents a great opportunity for you and your business.
The challenge becomes getting the media to pay attention to you and give you the coverage you need to grow your business and raise awareness.
This week on Ambitious Live, we are inviting one of the top media trainers and coaches into the Ambitious Live Studios to teach you everything you need to know about connecting with the right people and crafting the perfect pitch so you can get your story in front of the world, drive more leads and awareness for your products and services.
Today, I wanted to share with you 3 very practical things that you can do right now to get more media coverage for your business.
1. Highlight Your Expertise
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned about the media is that they like their job to be done for them. This isn’t because they are lazy, but because they are busy and need to make quick decisions for their audience.
Not every producer or show host has hours upon hours to look for guests, listen to past episodes and research everything about everyone.
Make their job easier by providing them a place to get everything they need and make it very easy to read, skim or watch.
When we launched Ambitious.com and wanted to reach out to Podcasts to talk about what we were up to, we created a page specifically for them to learn about me, what we do and the topics I could speak about.
On the page I shot a short video just for Podcast hosts and introduced myself and what I could offer to their show.
I then listed some of the key points about why I could be a different guest for their show.
Then we created a list of bullet points that I could speak on. Doing this allowed me to be considered for multiple shows outside of the business or marketing category. I really wanted lifestyle sites, but would also consider business shows if the audience was right for us.
Finally, we listed some screenshots from people that listened to previous interviews I had been on and what they experienced listening to me. This was followed by a laundry list of media placements I have accumulated over the years.
You can checkout the page here to see the example.
Doing this allowed us to appear on more than 20 podcasts in the first 30 days of launching Ambitious.com last year.
2. Treat Every Media Appearance Like You Are Being Seen On Oprah
No matter what media you are being featured in, treat it like it’s a really big deal. This means taking screenshots, posting behind the scenes photos, posing with the host and engaging your audience in the process.
If you don’t treat the media you are getting like it’s a big deal, no one else will. If you treat it like it’s a big deal, so will others, and they will be more likely to send new media opportunities your way.
What this also does is force you to create “media around the media.” This gets a little meta, but stay with me.
Every time you are featured in the media, you need to create media about that feature placement. This means taking photos, screenshots, Tweeting, Instagramming, Snapping and doing everything in your power to capture that piece of media.
Why would you do this?
So you can use this new media in your marketing. Want to know why I get invited to be a guest on a lot of Podcasts?
Because I’ve been a great guest on a lot of Podcasts. I share the episodes, I post behind the scenes photos, I share Snaps and Grams when the post goes live.
I then add all of this to a media page and insert the episodes onto the Ambitious Facebook Page.
This is a huge secret in the media and PR business – media begets more media. Those in the media, who do a good job and are seen as someone who is in the media, get more requests to be in the media.
Create moments from everything you do. And then share it.
3. Have Something To Say
My good friend Sally Hogshead calls this “opinions of authority.”
You must stand for something and have something to say if you want to be taken seriously by the media. They don’t want someone wishy-washy. They want something that has a firm opinion. They want people to take sides when you talk.
Think about political and pundit based media – they all have positions (right or wrong).
The people that get asked to be in the media frequently have something to say about a specific subject. If someone needs an expert to talk about Podcasts, they are going to call on the person most likely to talk about Podcasts and has a strong opinion about the power of Podcasts. They aren’t going to look for the person who thinks podcasts are “ok.”
Take a side. Take a stand. And make sure people know your position.
If you’re in the middle, you’re just noise.
The best experts have something to say and aren’t afraid to offend those that take the opposite position.
Want To Learn More Media And PR Secrets?
Join Jess Todtfeld for the next Ambitious Live Masterclass this Wednesday, June 8th from 1pm-5pm Eastern where he will share how to get your products, services and story told by the media so you get more awareness, credibility and sales.
Click here to register for this free, live class now.
The post 3 Simple Ways To Get More Media Coverage For Your Ambitious Business appeared first on Ambitious.