Written by Nicole Myden

“You are worthy of publicity as a business owner, but you don’t need the publicity coverage to define your worth.” – Nicole Myden

Everyone has a why a story and a journey that led them to be in the line of work they are currently in. You deserve the world to understand your “why” your story and the products and services you bring forth into the world that makes people’s lives easier and better. However, you and your business are valid and worthy of great opportunities and experiences even if you’re not featured in the press.

Publicity is merely an amplifier – it is powerful because it helps a business or a person create more momentum and energy to attract new audiences. It helps a brand or individual have the chance to connect more emotionally to consumers through storytelling via earned media opportunities. The more people can see you visibly in the press, the more people have the chance to connect to you as the brand owner or company, and the more they will likely want to invest in your products and services – and better yet, become loyal ambassadors. We simply can’t afford to not be visible these days in this current climate.

If you want the press in your business, you must invest energy into it, just like any other area of your business. Just like the energy you put into building teams, company finances, accounting, legal agreements, contracts, customer service, product development, etc. Publicity in your business requires time, investment, and energy equally.

Publicity is a relationship business – hence public relations. It is my job as a publicist to make a journalist’s job easier – by giving them the great stories of small businesses and founders, by allowing the clients and experts to become trusted, reliable sources, and by nurturing relationships to afford the chance for the continuous press to materialize.

If you can’t afford a publicist or an agency, you can still reach out to the media on your own. A few key things to remember:

1) Don’t focus on national right away, start small and intentionally and invest in getting to know your local media market. This will give you such a strong advantage.

2) Become the “expert” and “go-to” person where you live. If you want to speak at events, create your own event to speak at. If you want to be on podcasts, create your own to establish yourself as the expert in your business. Creating your own forms of distribution and media can help you to start getting expert content out to add value to people.

3) Use your local market to establish yourself as a credible expert – build your visibility in local newspapers, magazines, and on podcasts and tv segments – you can create a digital media kit for yourself and or a tv loop, or reel that can help you leverage more national opportunities in the right timing

4) If you have a physical location, invite your local media in for complimentary experiences – it’s a great way for them to get to know you and build a more intimate relationship with them.

5) Don’t be afraid of the media – they are people just like us. And with Phoenix/Scottsdale being the #5 media market in the country, we have an incredible group of media here to support all the great businesses here.

6) Research local tv stations, magazines, and newspapers and make sure you are aware of who covers what – i.e. you only want to pitch and reach out to the folks that pertain to your niche or business. Make sure you are familiar with their recent stories and you are up to date on what they are covering so it’s in alignment and you aren’t wasting their time or yours. This will help you to share how you to can add value to their readers, viewers, etc by contributing expertise to similar topics of interest they cover.

7) Gone are the days of “perfect” – people want to connect with what’s real and authentic. Be yourself, the world needs to see you!

8) Be respectful when given the chance to do interviews – show up on time, be prepared, research, and most importantly, have fun with it.

9) Leverage your press. If you are fortunate enough to land media opportunities, leverage them. Share them within your internal organizations for momentum, share them with gratitude for the media outlets on social media, post them to LinkedIn, tag the media outlets for further partnership and synergy for audiences, share it in e-newsletters going out to your customers + partners, add the press to your website, and share at sales meetings and or conferences. Be proud of your press coverage. Share it with gratitude and appreciation, but please share it. People need to see what’s going on with your company!

10) Have fun with it. Be patient. It’s a process for a reason.