4 Ways to Secure PR Opportunities

Podcasting, guest blogging, in-person speaking… you name it, it’s a great way to increase your visibility in front of your ideal customers or clients and start to build more thought leadership. All of these fall under the category of public relations (PR) and are known to:

• Expand your reach
• Increase your credibility
• Drive traffic back to your website

And so much more. But if you’re not familiar with how to find and land these opportunities, it can seem overwhelming and confusing.

Keep reading to learn how you can secure these partnerships for yourself and your business.

Turn to Google

Some good old fashioned research on the Internet will become your best friend for this, as it will be crucial for helping you to find and source various publications and opportunities. Before you start to research, it will be important to know what types of features you’re seeking, as that will guide the search terms you use.

Take us, for example. We’re a woman-owned marketing agency based in Massachusetts. If we were to search for opportunities that align with our company, our clients, and our expertise, here are some terms we may search:

• “Massachusetts business conference”
• “Entrepreneurship podcast”
• “Marketing blog”

Searching these terms will bring us closer to finding exactly the types of features we’d be looking for:

• Conferences in the state where we can potentially lead a workshop about marketing
• Podcasts where we can share the unique story of how we got started
• Blogs where we can write about the latest and greatest topics in the marketing world

Once you find ones that feel like a good fit, make a list so you can keep track of them all. In that list, you’ll want to include the name of the publication / organization, the contact information, potential topics you could speak about, and other important notes.

Pay Attention to Distribution Lists

You may be surprised to hear that there are some journalists who are as desperate to find sources for their stories as you are to find these opportunities to participate in. That’s where distribution lists come in!

Journalists or other public relations professionals will use distribution lists to share the sources they need, or the experts they’re looking for, and anyone can apply for that opportunity if they fit the bill. It makes it super easy to connect the two parties together and create a mutually beneficial relationship.

A few of our favorite distribution lists include:

• Help A Reporter Out (HARO)
• Qwoted
• #prrequest and #journorequest hashtags on Twitter

Receiving the press opportunities directly in your inbox or combing through them on Twitter makes it easy for you to jump on the ones that align with what you’re able to contribute.

Build Relationships with Journalists

Twitter is a gold mine for finding journalists of various niches and building relationships with them. Following them, sharing their articles, and finding ways to bring value to them can go a long way. The more you interact with them, the more they’ll know who you are and what your specialty is, allowing you to stay in the back of their mind for when they’re looking for an expert like you for a story.

How can you keep track of journalists on Twitter? Start a list! Each time you come across someone that you think would be a good match, you can add them to your list, which makes it easy for you to refer to when you want to see what they’re tweeting about lately and find out if there’s an opportunity for you to work with them.

Be Consistent

You’ll likely hear “no” a lot, or even worse, get no response, before you finally get a “yes.” You may even find that you get featured somewhere without even knowing! That’s why it’s important to be consistent with your searching and pitching, even if you worry that it’s not working out. The more you do it, the better chance you’ll have of getting featured somewhere.

Along with that, don’t be afraid to follow up. If you submitted a pitch and didn’t hear back, follow up with the publication or writer a few days later. Their inbox often gets bogged down with many other pitches and stories, so it’s super easy for your email to slip to the wayside.

What’s the best way to get started? Dive right in. As you continue to look for these opportunities and pitch yourself, you’ll be able to find out what works and what doesn’t, helping you to put your best foot forward.