Here's How to Get Press Coverage for Your Small Business

As a small business owner, you need all the help you can get right now to attract people who will support you. Unfortunately, not many journalists will decide to cover your business story on a whim out of the kindness of their hearts (except maybe Lindsey Thompson, owner of the LemonHearted blog. She is an incredible advocate for shopping small in the Orlando, Florida area).

Most journalists and content creators need a little push. To get your small business in the media, you’ll need to make a list of contacts and pitch them the story of your product or service. Here’s how to get press coverage for your small business:

1. Define your goals

What are your business objectives? What do you want to gain from press coverage of your small business? Brand awareness, more website clicks, email inquiries, social media followers, email list signups, or product sales? Define what it is you are hoping to accomplish after getting press coverage for your small business, and let those goals inform the rest of your strategy.

2. Outline your story

What story do you want the media to tell about your business? Journalists write their news articles with an angle, meaning instead of simply making an announcement that you are open for business, they will want to share something unique about your business that sets it apart from the millions of other small businesses out there.

Maybe you have a moving backstory about how you came up with the idea for your business or why you started it. Or perhaps you overcame extraordinary challenges to start your small business. Look for the attention-grabbing details in your small business journey to get journalists interested in your story.

3. Make a spreadsheet of potential contacts

Find publications that cover your industry or entrepreneurship/business as a whole and make a spreadsheet. Medium is a great place to start. It’s home to publications covering topics like tech, health, food, veganism, and more, and there is no shortage of writers on here who are looking for a good story.

In your spreadsheet entries, include the name of the publication, their overall social media reach and circulation (you can find this information on their website under “Press” or “Media Kit”), the name of an editor or journalist who covers the specific topic your business relates to (or business in general if the publication is for a particular niche), their email, and some links to the latest pieces they have written.

You can find this contact information on the publication’s website under “Masthead” or “About Us” (titles may vary), or on Cision if you have an account. Or, you can do some snooping on LinkedIn on the company’s page under “People.” If all else fails, try typing the name of the publication into Twitter and looking for people who mention it in their bio.

4. Find a media outlet or journalist that you have a special connection to

Journalists are more likely to cover a story they can personally relate to, so look for connections between your small business and the publications, websites, and writers you are thinking of targeting. Maybe that means you add a newspaper from your hometown or a journalist who went to your alma mater to your list. If your business deals with pets, find an animal-loving writer. Be sure to make this connection clear when you send your pitch.

5. Do some social listening

You may be posting a lot about your small business on social media, but if you want the media to cover it, try listening instead of talking. On social media, that means following a targeted list of publications and journalists and monitoring the things they tweet and write about. You can do this by turning post notifications on in Instagram and Twitter, or using the list feature on Twitter.

Once you find a mention of something that relates to your small business, you can make a note to reach out to that particular contact. You can also be proactive and type in “call for pitches” or “pitches” on Twitter and see if any editors are looking for pieces related to your business.

6. Make a HARO account

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) is an incredible, free tool that matches journalists with the experts, businesses, and individuals who can give them quotes and stories to write about. When you sign up as a source, you can subscribe to emails that will send you daily lists of stories journalists are looking to write. When you find a story title that matches your small business, you can email the journalist directly through HARO, and they just might write about it!

7. Write a press release

Once you have the perfect list of journalists to contact, you’ll need something to send them. This is where the press release comes in. You can write slightly different versions for every person you contact, using the unique angle you chose in step two. The basic press release formula is Who, What, When, Where, and Why. You can use a template for reference, like this one here. You can also hire a PR writer (hey, that’s me!) to write the perfect, attention-grabbing press releases for you.

Getting press coverage for your small business is a time-consuming but rewarding endeavor. If you land your small business story in a major publication, it’s basically like winning free advertising! Following the 7 steps above will have you well on your way to getting the press talking about all that you have to offer.