You’re making quite a splash on LinkedIn but how do you springboard to mainstream media to promote your business?
(This blog post is based on an interview with Jules Brooke, a long-time PR expert based in Melbourne. You can watch the full interview here.)
How to find journalists on LinkedIn
To build media connections on LinkedIn, search for a topic, then for journalists. You could then filter the results by location, journalist business or journalist lifestyle. When names pop up, connect with them and then try sending them an email or message.
Journalists have been prevalent on X (formerly Twitter), but many business journalists are now on LinkedIn. As LinkedIn is growing, other journalists are realising they need to be on the platform. You won't necessarily get an answer from them on LinkedIn, but you will be able to find out who they are and where they work.
While you can search for journalists on LinkedIn, you can be sure they're going to research you and your business. They will be looking at your LinkedIn profile, so you need to make sure it’s in good shape.
Do you need a good LinkedIn profile if you are going to connect with media?
The bigger the news outlet, the better your profile will need to be because they won't want to interview or quote relative unknowns. If you have a very small network or don’t post on your LinkedIn profile, you will fail to adequately demonstrate your ability and experience.
This means you need plenty of recommendations, which you can now put into your Featured section with a Premium account, and you need to be using all the other features LinkedIn has made available to improve profiles.
How can you improve your profile to attract journalists and editors?
For profile headlines, try to include the word “expert”, because journalists tend to search for an expert in a particular topic or subject. And include as much as possible in the Featured section.
The Featured section allows you to put up PowerPoint presentations and links to talks you've done. You can also show videos you’ve created and white papers you've written, all of which add to your credibility.
Journalists won’t be impressed by academic laurels, but rather that you know what you're talking about. They want to see you haven't spent six months working in an industry and now claim to be an expert.
The best thing about LinkedIn is the more you work on your profile over time, the longer your history. This means journalists will see you're not just a fly-by-night.
💡 Pro Tip: LinkedIn has changed substantially in recent years and is now much more about visuals. Previously it was all about text. Now you can add video, images, PowerPoints, pdfs, etc to demonstrate your expertise. If you want to be seen as credible and knowledgeable, you need to think about LinkedIn in a completely different way than you have in the past.
How important are media releases in 2024 and do we really need to write them?
You may not need to write a media release because if you want to get published by a smaller media outlet you can send them an article that is ready to go.
Write articles and media releases in the third person. So, rather than saying “I love to help my clients and have done this and that to assist them”, refer to yourself by name as if you are writing about someone else, e.g. “Gail Smith loves to help her clients . . . ” etc.
Also attach a photo because most articles run with an image. Journalists will thank you for that as it saves them a job trying to find one.
Sending a journalist the complete package means they are more likely to cut and paste your text and photo and put them into their media outlet, digital publication or whatever type of media you are targeting.
Can content you put on LinkedIn attract journalists?
Journalists are looking for clickbait these days and competing for an audience with a short attention span. This is why you shouldn’t put your article on LinkedIn and then send it to them. Do it the other way around because Google will only rank something the first time it sees it. That matters to media outlets because they want the best SEO they can get.
Write your article and send it to the media. If they run it, great, you've got something you can then post on LinkedIn. If they don't, then post it on LinkedIn anyway.
How long should you leave it before you put an article up on LinkedIn?
If you send a media release to a digital media outlet, the turnaround can be quite swift because they have a keen appetite for presenting new material as fast as possible.
However, if you’re pitching for radio or TV coverage, give them maybe a week, then ask if they have seen your media release. Suggest that if they’re not interested, you’ll send it somewhere else.
Monthly magazines may take a couple of weeks to come back to you. In the meantime, you can send an email to inquire whether they’re going to use it – and if not, mention sending it somewhere else.
Daily newspapers say they need 24 hours to respond to a media release, but you need to make sure they've seen it.
If you don’t get an answer from a media outlet, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not interested. Assume they haven’t seen your media release, so send it again a couple of days later, saying “I just want to check that you saw this”. And then they'll say yes or no.
But if it's something you really want, be upfront. Pick up the phone and call the media outlet and say: “I sent you an article a couple of days ago that I thought was perfect for your readers. I haven't heard back from you. Did you see it?”
There's no place for being shy and retiring if you want to be in the media, particularly if you want to appear regularly and be seen as somebody who is up to date with what’s happening in your industry.
About Jules Brooke:
Jules is a speaker, MC, business mentor, founder of She's The Boss Group and Handle Your Own PR, host of She's The Boss Chats podcast and YouTube channel. She was named a Woman To Watch in 2021 and 2022. She is also the founder of Australian Women Speakers which works to find speaking opportunities for women with expertise and wisdom. Connect with or follow Jules here.