TJ Walker explains how experts can pitch themselves to reporters when news breaks. Don't wait for calls: send a one-sentence topic, two or three sharp sound bites, and optional audio by mid-morning. It only works if you have real insight and memorable lines.
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You may think you're well known, you may think you're the greatest expert in the world in your particular subject niche. But not all reporters know that. Don't wait for reporters to call you. Call them when you think there is a breaking story that they might already be aware of and you have a unique perspective, an interesting insight. Reach out to reporters and do it quickly. Of course, if you are the CEO of a multi, multi billion dollar company, you can probably get media attention almost anytime you want. But if you are a smaller company, an individual, a consultant, lawyer in a small firm, you can still get a tremendous amount of coverage as news breaks that you can comment on and give an opinion on. So for example, if you are an employment lawyer, the U.S. supreme Court offers a decision at 10:00am it breaks. You would be much better off quickly analyzing it, looking at it, and coming up with three sentences that give your perspective in a sharply worded sound bite and a one sentence summary of what the topic was and then emailing that to all the reporters in your area or nationally, letting them know you're available to comment. It's much better to get that to them by 10:30 that morning than to write the perfect op ed piece that's 800 words and start shopping it around the next day. By then either nobody cares or they're only going to use lawyers that they've used for 50 years and who have huge, huge name ID. And then it's too late. If you just wait for reporters to call you, it's too late. But if you get out in front of them and show them you're thinking about the topic that they already have to cover, whether it's a talk show looking for guests, whether it's a newspaper editor looking for a story in a local angle, put your opinion in text. You can also do it in audio and video, ideally all of those, and then email it to the reporters. And for that matter, you can call them up. Now. Don't badger them, don't call them 10 times and ask if they received your press release, but call them, alert them to the story and that you are available to give your perspective. Now, this only works if you have genuine insight on the topic. It only works if you're able to crystallize the most important points succinctly. It only works if you're able to package it with great sound bites. But if you do all that, you're going to get a ton of publicity without a reporter ever calling you. You will be calling them.
