Why pitching to the media is a lot like selling

I was thinking about pitching the other day and, more specifically, why so many entrepreneurs and creatives find it a challenge. 

That's when I came to a realisation. A way to talk about that makes the most sense. And that's to think about it the way you think about selling. 

Let me break this down.

Firstly... it takes a bit of time 

Now, I know most of you probably wouldn't launch a new product or service without warming up your audience a bit first. It would be a super risky move and leave you relying on the fact that people are going to go from 0 to invested in one move. Media outreach is like this - putting time and effort into warming up your audience (ie researching and building relationships with journalists) is going to yield way better results than just going in there cold. 

You need to know your audience

Just as you wouldn't try to sell your course on navigating the menopause to a teenage boy, you don't want to be pitching ideas to magazines or journalists who are never going to write about that topic. I've said this before and I'll say it again: if I had a dollar for every pitch I received that had literally nothing to do with what I write about I'd be sending this newsletter to you from my private island in the Bahamas. Don't waste your time pitching to media outlets that have no interest in what you do. Do your research, find out what media outlets are relevant to your niche, and pour your energy into them.

Know your USP 

I bet you're all clued up on what makes you stand out in your market, right? Wellll you need to do the same thing with your pitches. Stop going in there with the generic. You need to ask yourself what would make you stop and read this story? 

Persistence is key

Just like with selling, you don't expect to send one email and completely sell out. I see so many people give up on pitching because they sent one out, one time to one journalist and didn't get an immediate yes. You have to see this as the long game and remember that a couple of hours a week invested into your media outreach is going to yield better results than dropping thousands on ads. Recycle the pitches you've got, research new journalists and try, try again. 

When you get that full page spread in a broadsheet or glossy magazine, you'll be so thankful you didn't give up at the first hurdle.