Is there a top tier publication you really want to get into, but you think it’s only appropriate once you have reached a certain stage in your business?

Maybe you are new to business and think publications like Forbes and Business Insider are too prestigious for your relatively new company.

Think again. PR strategist and journalist Jenna Farmer has supported many of her clients to successfully get coverage in high profile publications, even if they are new businesses with a relatively small audience. Her expert advice is that what’s most important is the story you are telling and relationships you build with journalists. Jenna shares her top four proven strategies to get your start up into top tier publications.

1: Good stories

Your story doesn’t have to be dramatic, and it doesn’t have to involve a six figure business. Pitching the right kind of stories is always important for PR but it is especially important for high profile publications – a general press release you send to multiple journalists simply won’t cut it. 

In order to get the attention of a high profile journalist your story should come from a place of value and be a share worthy timely stories. It’s important to know your story: focus it around a lived experience; maybe it’s your personal story; your business story; your background story, or you share something that's been challenging or a little quirk you have.

Then you want to share your product and service, share what your USP is, what you are an expert in and give your take on something that is newsworthy or topical at the moment.

Keeping abreast of trends and developments and thinking about how your story suits the time of year and what the publications audience priority will be is crucial.

2: Build relationships with journalists

Many clients who have specific top tier publications in mind come to me believing there is a magic formula or inside list of journalist contacts which will determine your chances of getting featured. But a magazine like Forbes is no different to any other publication – journalists just want great stories and you will need to build good relationships with the journalists.

Finding the contact details of a journalist isn’t as difficult as you may think. The Forbes website lists contributors and senior contributors. Many of the senior contributors work for Forbes alongside their own business. Once you find the senior contributors and the areas they specialise in you can look on their websites and social media handles which will often have a way of contacting them. Finding contacts for Business Insider doesn’t require too much digging either – simply read their articles and look for email addresses.

Once you have their contact details do your research and look at what kind of articles they are writing. Look for patterns in their writing and topics. Maybe they interview experts? Maybe they prefer expert quotes? Whatever their style, ensure you try to mimic and replicate it in your pitch. If the timing isn’t right to send a pitch, it’s always worth talking to them on social media to start to build that all important relationship.

3. Keep on top of trends

It’s key that you answer the ‘why now’ question to ensure your pitch is topical and current. Perhaps there’s been a new study published that you want to give your expert take on – or perhaps you are responding to something which has gone viral. Track the news and contemplate how you can contribute to this cycle. Setting up a google alert set up for key topics in your industry can be a quick way of staying ahead of the game. It's also worth knowing your industry’s awareness days/weeks so you can contribute to that news cycle.

4. Send them an email

It’s that simple – that’s the biggest difference between you and someone who gets in the media.

Your email needs to clearly answer these questions. Who are you? Why are you emailing?

How can you help? For the top tier publications, it is worth investing the time to study the format of their previous articles and replicating the style and format they tend to write. It’s a good idea to reference previous articles they have written or mention the audience demographic and why they would be interested in your idea.