Typewriter — Whether you are a nonprofit or a small business, getting the public to pay attention to you can help you bring in donations or make sales. In my experience as a journalist and a public relations pro, I’ve found the best way to get the media to cover you is to tell interesting, impactful stories.
Here are some recommendations for finding stories worth telling, connecting with reporters and building your own media empire using your website and social media.

1. Look for stories within your organization.

Ask around. What makes your colleagues cool? What’s different about the event you’re planning?

Also, think about what’s happening in the world/your world? Is there a tasteful way to connect your organization to a current news event?

Another way to share stories is to nominate staff, customers, board members, volunteers and other supporters for awards. If they win, you can share their triumph on social media or your website. The organization sponsoring the award may have connections with media, or even be a media outlet that will write about the winners of its own awards program.

If your nominee doesn’t win, you still may be able to turn the nomination into a story you can share on social media or your website.

2. Build rapport with reporters.

Do your homework. Find out what reporters cover your industry or niche. Follow them on Twitter. Get familiar with their work. When you’re ready, pitch them how they like to be pitched.

It’s important to develop reporters’ trust. How? Help them do their jobs by telling them about compelling stories that they can share with their viewers, listeners or readers.

Don’t (necessarily) send a news release. Send an email. Or two. Keep your message informal and short, and don’t use jargon. Your subject line is critical to catching their eye. Don’t just write “Story idea.” Be specific enough to intrigue them to at least glance at your email.

OK, OK, send a release if you have to. Your boss may insist you do. Or a release may be a good way to help the reporter get the details right.

But keep the release simple. Make sure you include the hallowed five Ws and one H:

Who’s affected?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?

And please avoid fake quotes. They’re easy to spot and may make people question the authenticity of the rest of the story. If you do need to include a quote, perhaps from senior leadership, make sure the quote sounds like a reasonable facsimile of what an actual human being might say (with proper grammar and punctuation, of course).

And of course, tell a story in the news release. A nonprofit could include a story about a client who has been helped by its services. A small business could include a story about a customer whose problem was solved by the business.

Don’t be afraid to follow up with reporters to remind them about an event or find out if they will be attending. But then let it go. Don’t be a pest. There will be another opportunity to connect with the reporter and you want them to be happy to hear from you, not annoyed.

An extra pro tip: Personalize. If you’re going to email reporters, get their name right to acknowledge them properly. Maybe I’m a bit sensitive about this because during my nearly two decades as a reporter, my name got butchered a lot.

Better to not personalize than to get it wrong. A reporter friend once shared the following tweet: