Why you should get on a journalist's radar before you pitch them

So. Journalists.

Before you start sending out pitches to them, I always think it’s best to get on their radar first (and I’ll be telling you more about HOW to do that in a way that doesn’t feel disingenuous or cringey next week).

Here are the reason why.

It shows them that they're meeting their ultimate goal - to connect with and give value to their readers 

When you reach out to a journalist to tell them you appreciate their work (more on how to do this next week) it shows them that they’re doing a good job - and everyone loves to be told that they’re doing a good job.

It will give you the chance to see how they interact with people outside of formal pitching 

Getting on their radar outside of a pitching email will give you some insight into their personality and communication style, which will help you personalise your pitch even further to suit their taste.

It gives you a chance to show them who you are before you pitch to them 

When you’re communicating without expectations, it’s a different dynamic to when you’re pitching - getting on their radar gives you a chance to talk to them in a non-pressurised way when nothing is really at stake. It also means that there’s more chance they’ll look at your social channels of their own accord.

It means you'll become a name they recognise in their inbox 

We’re all overloaded with emails and messages. That’s why when we open our inboxes, we usually prioritise emails in this order:

1. Messages we’re expecting

2. Messages from people or names we know or recognise

3. Everything else

Your aim is to get into one of the first two categories and the best way to do that is to get on their radar prior to pitching.

If you can do that, you’ll already be putting yourself way ahead of the rest of your competition.