Media contacts

You do not have to maintain regular media contacts to keep getting free publicity. If your stories are good enough, they will do the hard work for you.

But as with anything in life, the more you put in, the more you are likely to get back.

By maintaining a media contacts list you will be able to ensure your stories always work hard.

Start by identifying your target media. Gather basic information, such as contact details, how they prefer to receive news, their target audience, and the deadline. Get more on this and useful websites to help here.

Try to make a personal contact with each of your target media, preferably someone in a senior position such as the news editor. As long as you respect their deadlines (ie don’t call them 10 minutes before publication!) they won’t mind you phoning on an irregular basis.

As with any business deal, if you show interest in them they will show interest in you. Make it a priority to read their website each week and keep up to date with what they’re doing.

It’s OK to test stories – pick up the phone, give a brief summary and ask if they’d be interested in a full release. It’s also OK to ring after sending a press release to see if they got it. Note that the media get so many press releases a day they might not remember yours. So don’t be offended if they don’t remember it, just get ready to send it again!

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