In this week’s episode of SUCCESS Line, you might hear a new brogue. I talk to Conor, an Irish entrepreneur with a Ph.D. in neuroscience and psychology. He has been releasing free content online by writing articles but is growing frustrated by his relatively low readership. He wants to develop a more consistent readership and have his articles more prominently featured, but he doesn’t know how to break through the over-saturated media landscape.
It’s the easy excuse to say, “There is too much competition, and no one will pay attention to me,” or “I don’t have a big enough following.” These are simply justifications to excuse yourself from truly putting in the work to find out whether those statements are true.
Of course, the media is saturated with content. However, there is a massive shortage of good content. I am here to hold you accountable—don’t let yourself off the hook with flimsy excuses. Marketing is part of your art. You must be willing to go out and tell people that your art exists—whatever your art may be.
If you’re not sure where to start, read on for my three biggest concepts for how to get featured in the media.
1. The media is in the business of attention.
The media is in the business of attention. You need to position your expertise, ideas and content in a way that dovetails with what drives attention. One of the easiest ways to do that is to tie your expertise to something already happening in the news cycle or to something you know your audience cares about.
If you want to be published in an industry outlet, you need to tailor your pitch to the outlet’s audience. Most media outlets are starving for fresh content, but their content must be able to garner clicks. This is not to say that accuracy is not important—you need accuracy to drive attention—but it cannot be your sole focus. The No. 1 highest threshold to getting your content published in the media is attention.
2. The media needs you more than you need them.
Yes, really. Media outlets need to produce new content every month, week, day, hour and even minute. They are desperate for qualified, credible experts to publish on their platforms. And although it may feel like you are just one creator among the masses, remember these outlets need you and your expertise.
Consider how you can position yourself as a credible expert that can grab the attention of their audience. If you can bring more eyeballs to their site, you will become an essential element of their outlet.
3. The media thrives on relationships.
As with anything else, the media is all about building relationships. And the best time to build a relationship is before you need one. Consider what you can give or how you can be of use before you ask someone to help you.
Reach out to the people you’d like to build relationships with and offer to help them with no strings attached. If you do this enough—and you do it authentically—when you eventually need help, these people (now likely friends) will be thrilled to lend their assistance, expertise and connections.
Whether it’s helping edit, providing social media strategy, or taking photos, be of service first. If there is anything that is a golden ticket in the life of an entrepreneur it’s relationships, and that is especially true when it comes to getting your work in the media.
The SUCCESS Line is no longer releasing new episodes on the SUCCESS Podcast Network, but you can still listen to the full conversation below.
