How to Get the Attention of Journalists with Marike Frick

If you’re running an online business, putting yourself out there is necessary to get the visibility, credibility and clients that will make your business grow. If you understand how to get the attention of journalists, this will become much easier.

However, what immediately comes to mind when thinking about PR is the daunting number of press-releases that get sent out each day and are never read.

Marike Frick, my guest this week on The Sigrun Show, teaches her clients how to get press coverage without writing a single press release. She is a trained journalist and started her own online business 5 years ago after people started asking for her advice on how to get in touch with journalists.

In this episode, Marike shares her top tips on how to grab a journalist’s attention and how to find the right journalist for your story. She also talks about how once you’ve scored your interview, you can display your media coverage for maximum effect.

What you will get out of this episode:

• The story behind Marike’s online business (2:38)
• How long she’s been running her online business and how it developed (5:25)
• Marike’s tips on how to grab the attention of journalists (7:44)
• Where and how to contact a journalist (10:30)
• How to find the right journalist for your story (20:52)
• Once you scored an interview — what follows? (21:36)
• Where and how to display your media coverage (25:31)

Connect with Marike

• www.wasjournalistenwollen.de
• Marike on YouTube
• Marike on Facebook

The full article

To gain visibility and credibility for your online business, PR is essential. Getting media coverage for your business leads to new clients, but also opportunities like speaking engagements. To achieve this exposure, you need to get the attention of journalists.

However, getting a journalist’s interest is difficult. In my recent chat with journalist Marike Frick, she compared it to trying to grab the attention of a mother of twins who is juggling a household and a job.

Having worked in the field for years, Marike knows what journalists want to see and which pitches they trash right away. We spoke about her top tips to get the attention of a journalist, and here, I’m sharing them with you.

Tip 1: Stop writing press releases

Journalists get hundreds of press releases each day, and don’t have time to read them all. That’s why so many pitches go unanswered. Instead, do a quick shoutout. This can be in the form of a short email, a phone call, or a message on social media. Simply say: “Hi, I have a topic for you. Are you interested?”

Tip 2: Don’t brag, but create interest to get the attention of journalists

When you decide to make a pitch, don’t brag about yourself or how great your business is. It will put off journalists immediately. Instead, directly pitch your story or expertise. Convey the sense that you have something interesting to say on a specific topic.

Tip 3: Research the right platforms to get the attention of journalists

Research where journalists are active in your country. Which platforms do they use? Wherever the journalist you want to reach is most active, that’s where you should make your pitch. It might be a specific social media channel, or directly via email. If you don’t know the direct email address of the journalist you want to reach, call the newsroom and ask for his or her contact.

Tip 4: There’s no harm in following up with journalists

If you don’t receive a reply to your pitch, follow up at least once. Journalists get hundreds of emails a day — yours might have simply been overlooked. You can’t lose anything by sending a quick reminder.

Tip 5: Don’t make the same pitch to hundreds of journalists

Avoid writing the same email to hundreds of journalists. It doesn’t work. Your pitch should fit to the individual journalist you’re reaching out to, and to the area this journalist specialises in.

Did any of these tips help you with your PR? I’d love to hear about your PR experience. You can connect with me on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.