‘Cause the first step to getting featured in media is to contact them!

It’s hilarious that I posted about nailing media interviews when I didn’t talk about the basics first.

If I’d been more organized about my content, this wouldn’t have happened, but at least now you have this!

I know some publicists don’t like to talk about their “list” because it makes your relationships seem transactional, but it’s the truth—you can’t do a media outreach campaign without having a list of people you think might report on a story. So let’s get into it.

1. Open a new Google Sheet or Excel document.

You might think a long list in a Google Doc or Microsoft Word document is okay—no. This is not a good way to keep a list because you might sort your list by type, location, or other factors. Having people’s info in a long-ass Word doc is just going to make people impossible to find, especially when you have 25 contacts or more.

You’ll want to set up your sheet with columns, including:

Outlet name (An outlet can be a print or online magazine, newspaper, radio show, TV show, online show, or podcast)
Name and title (producer, host, writer/reporter, etc.)
Email address
Website
Social media accounts

Later on you might want to add physical address (if you ship products/books) and a phone number, but I’d say those aren’t important when you’re first building a list.

Here are examples of how I have columns set up in Google Sheets for my Vancouver media list and my global vegan-friendly media/podcast/content creators list.

A screenshot of a Google sheet titled "Sample columns - local media" and columns A through Q filled out in the top row

A screenshot of a Google sheet titled "Sample columns - vegan media" and columns A through Q filled out in the top row

2. Start compiling the list.

You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to find information on people, especially if they are reporters or podcast hosts. Some legacy media outlets don’t publish emails (the most important piece of information on your list), but they give you the formula. So if you have the formula for one person (e.g. firstname.lastname@domain.com), you have it for everyone who works there.

You might wonder why “type,” “title,” and social media links are there.

As I mentioned in #1, there are various types of outlets. You might pitch a TV show that does live in-person 5-minute interviews differently from a podcast recorded on Zoom for an hour. Content creators/influencers are also a different beast. So you must know who you’re pitching to and why.

If you’re pitching a magazine or newspaper, you could contact the reporter directly, but maybe you can only find their editor’s info. Or some podcast pitches go to producers first vs. the host. Content creators might make you go through their agent. That’s why the title column’s important.

Social media links are important because when a story or interview comes out and you want to share it on your social media accounts, having the outlet AND reporter/host’s social media handles are useful. When you become friends with these folks, you’ll likely already be following them.

You might have other columns that are useful to you that aren’t in my example lists. It’s YOUR list so make it yours.

There are some services like Rephonic and Pod Engine I’ve used to develop lists, and you can use these too, but you usually have to pay monthly. So I recommend using them for a time to populate your own starting list, and then you can cancel your plan. You can always resubscribe later.

3. Start building relationships

The easiest way to do this is to follow folks on social media. Get interested in their content and the type of stories/episodes they produce/publish. If you want to be buddies with folks in your area, invite them for coffee, lunch, or dinner dates. (This is how publicists and public relations agencies form relationships fast. My boss from the first company I worked for did mani/pedis with a TV host.)

You’re an expert in something, right? Give them story ideas they might not know about. Connect them to a colleague or friend who’d make a good guest on their podcast. HELP THEM in their work without expectation, and they’ll pay attention to you.

Then when it comes time to pitch them with your story or book, you’re not a stranger. Or at least, you can show you’re familiar with their work.

I recommend copying your master list each time you do a separate campaign, especially if you plan to send news more than once a year. That way you can keep records from each campaign without messing up your master list.

4. Keep your list updated

Did that podcast stop airing? Did the host get sick or go on parental leave? You’ll want to add notes or adjust your list when you find out people or outlets have moved, changed, or shut down. This is why it’s best to have your own list and not use an online database, because you might discover the news faster than software can update its records.

That’s it—not rocket science, eh?

List no-nos

1. Don’t add media to your email list.

If you have an email list, great. If the media person becomes a fan, they’ll sign up for or ask to be on your list. The WORST impression you can make is signing them up for newsletters they didn’t ask to be on.

I once used my email list software to launch a release to local media…there’s nothing wrong with this if you don’t intend to send multiple times, but people can unsubscribe! So I don’t recommend ever using software for campaign launches. Some publicists do it, but I don’t for this reason.

2. Avoid using newswires for your media campaign.

Yes, newswires are available for you to pay to blast out a release about you/your product. This is what publicists call the “spaghetti against a wall” method. You don’t know who the wire is sending to (and usually it’s an outdated list of thousands of legacy media and podcasts—believe me, I’ve used it). You’re launching in the dark!

Newswires are really only useful to public companies and large corporations that are mandated to announce something to their shareholders. They’re not even really doing it to get media coverage. Usually, the most these newswires do is put your release up on random sites like Yahoo!. That’s not strategic; that’s populating pages with your name on it.

If you have a budget and don’t want to bother doing your own media campaign and building your media list, just hire a PR agency or publicist to work with you on your launch campaign.

Need a ghostwriter, editor, or marketer to help you publish and market your book so you can get it in the hands of readers? Read more about my services here and contact me if you’re ready to begin!