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How to write a media pitch
6 February 2023Here’s a top tip if you want to pitch something to the press. No, scratch that, this isn’t a top tip, calling it a top tip downplays it.
This is the mother of all pitches, the Holy Grail of pitches, the creme de la creme of pitches, the tippety toppety grand prize of the pitchery lottery.
Best thing about it is you can do it with just a couple of sentences. You don’t have to write a white paper or even a press release.
And I’m about to show you how one Newspager did it.
Robert Bolohan of Lotuly® (Human Translation) achieved this zenith of media tartery last week with his pitch to a journalist (no, the Newspage crew had nothing to do with this one, Robert achieved it all on his lonesome). His pitch was this:
“My wife and I bought a minivan and converted it into a fully electric self sufficient and off grid campervan. We’d love to talk about how we save money every month.”
There. That’s it. Two sentences.
What’s so special about those two sentences? That’s what you’re thinking, right? Well allow me to open the door for you and let you into the room marked “Dark Arts of Media Mastery”
The perfect pitch has to contain three things. If it contains these three things, you’re guaranteed to have a line of journalists outside your door, a few climbing in through the windows and at least one stuck in the chimney.
The three things are:
💡Touch on a megatrend
💡Have a unique angle
💡Be current
Let’s look at Robert’s pitch again.
Sustainability and the environment are megatrends. “A fully electric self sufficient and off grid campervan” is all about being environmentally friendly. Boom! Point 1 taken care of.
The campervan is a unique angle in the context of what the journalist was looking for. In this case an article about solar panels for the home. A campervan is not what you first think of when you hear home, but it could be a home, hence a unique angle. Boom! Point 2 taken care of.
We are in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis and people are struggling to pay their electricity bills. “We’d love to talk about how we save money every month” hits our current circumstances right on the button. Boom! Point 3 taken care of.
Okay, so most people are unlikely to go out and buy a minivan and turn it into a Tesla but an article about it hits the megatrend, has a unique angle and is timely.
What’s more, the thought of living off the grid, cruising along the highway with the summer breeze flowing through the windows while you sing carpool karaoke to “Me and Bobby Mcgee” sure sounds like an enticing dream. Especially if you just opened your electricity bill.
So next time you want to pitch an idea to a journalist, make sure it hits a megatrend, has a unique angle and is current.
Now sing with me:
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose, nothing don’t mean nothing honey if it ain’t free, now, now.”
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SMALL BUSINESS OWNER? YOUR VIEWS DON’T COUNT FOR THE MEDIA.
13 June 2021On Friday morning (11 June), the Office for National Statistics published the April GDP data – the latest snapshot of the UK economy. It showed the economy grew by 2.3%.
We issued comments on the economy to the national news media from a wide range of small business owners around the country. Not one was used, as these types of stories are often seen as above the pay grade of the ‘everyday’ business.
Instead, the national newspapers – as they too often do – quoted macro-economists, politicians and think tanks. People in the ivory towers of the City of London and Westminster bubble. Not the small business owners on the front line. People who are the economy.
People like Andrew Deighton of Derby-based AWD Development Solutions:
“The light at the end of the tunnel started to get a bit brighter for me in April and May. April saw things start to pick up and in May I invoiced more than for the final eight months of 2020 added together.”
People like Gillian Jones-Williams of Fareham-based Emerge Development Consultancy:
“For us, in April and May, it felt as if the world was waking up. We are a training company and have gone from losing huge amounts of money last year to feeling extremely positive about our future.”
People like Andrew Elcock of Nottingham-based Xynomix:
“April and May saw our bookings return to pre-Covid levels, as business confidence continues to increase. “During the same period last year, we saw our bookings plummet by 60%, so April 2021 has certainly shown reassuring signs of life in the wider economy.”
People like Larry Morgan of Bromsgrove-based Trojan Consultants:
“As an SME providing software to the public sector, the seismic impact of Covid-19 on Local Authority finances is becoming ever more apparent. Huge budget cuts announced by councils up and down the country are having a massive impact on our business, and doubtless many other suppliers to the public sector.”
Quality insights all, but not a column inch given.
The entire purpose of Newspage is to change this. To give a voice to the people who are the economy rather than those who simply talk about it. To ensure your views are heard.
Because currently, all too often in the national media, your views don’t count.