16 Ways to Build Profitable Relationships With Key Reporters
Patrick McFadden • July 16, 2013
A core principle of marketing is getting the word out about your business to your target market. In marketing there are many ways to do this. PR is one of those ways that is powerful, credible and a low-cost (or no-cost) tool, but often underutilized by businesses and independent professionals.
An indispensable part of PR is building profitable relationships with key reporters and a commitment to consistently putting out informative, educational, or entertaining news every month using the combination of local press contacts and online social media tools.
If you’re looking at PR for getting the word out about your business, this is where you start. Here are 16 ways to build profitable relationships with key reporters :
- Connect. This could be through social media tools like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or in real life.
- Monitor hashtags . Often reporters chat with the public on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter and you can respond to comments they make.
- Send a compliment. Compliment a reporter through Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or through e-mail on a story he or she did.
- Introduce yourself. Local press contacts are always at big public or chamber of commerce events. Introduce yourself there and pass along your card, but don’t try and sell them the idea on the spot. Just be helpful.
- Invite reporter out for coffee. Make it known that you want to establish a relationship and be as helpful as possible. Make sure you also ask a lot of questions about them.
- Comment. At the end of the online version of a story a journalist or reporter did, leave a great comment. Engage them and create two-way conversations.
- Congratulate them. Let them know you’re thinking of them on their birthdays or other personal news they post.
- Search through Muck Rack to find regional or national reporters on Twitter who cover your industry.
- Highlight a story. Write a positive blog post on your blog highlighting a story of theirs, and e-mail them the link.
- Respond regularly. Respond regularly to posts they’ve written either on their blog, or on a local community blog you’ve noticed they post on.
- Visit city council meetings in your town. Usually there’s a reporter sitting around bored, that you can start a conversation and build a relationship with.
- Sign up on helpareporter.com. Several e-mail lists are sent out daily, full of reporters needing experts for stories. Jump on those that fall within your expertise. Keep in contact with those reporters.
- Scout publications. Local business weekly publication have smaller and a more targeted readership. These media outlets are also run by just two or three people, and they’ll jump at a guest column or article by you because it’ll save them the time of tracking down a story on their own.
- Befriend a show host. Listen to AM radio stations, especially on weekday mornings or on Saturdays. Befriend one of the regular show hosts. Often they’ll highlight any business that is doing something interesting the public might find interesting.
- Stop spending money on an online press release site. Those online press release systems are more useful for building inbound links, or if you’re already a recognized expert with a track record, and there’s a major news event breaking that you could discuss.
- Ask them if they’d mind if you added them to your email list. Then provide them with educational content to sell them on doing a story about your business.
At the end of the day, know that establishing relationships with local reporters and editors will enhance your opportunity to turn your newsworthy ideas into published news.
Question: Do you have any other ways that you build relationships with reporters? Which one, two, or three ways are you considering?
Understanding platform intent, sales cycles, and what actually works in high-ticket home services
1. The Challenge: VMI was like many service providers — positioning their value around what they thought clients wanted : “Office furniture installation and assembly — let us handle creating your perfect workspace.” But the actual buyers — facility managers, project managers, furniture reps — weren’t looking for “perfect workspaces.” They were trying to avoid installation nightmares . Their real priority? ✅ Great installation days. ✅ No chaos. ✅ No missed deadlines. ✅ No angry phone calls from clients. 2. The Insight: After conducting stakeholder interviews under our marketing strategy consulting engagement , the Indispensable Marketing team uncovered critical feedback: “We need installers who maintain a professional site and follow instructions.” “We lose relationships when installations go badly.” “I need quotes back quickly or I can’t sell the job.” This wasn’t just about services , it was about trust, problem-solving , and professional reliability . So we reframed their differentiators not by what they did, but how they showed up : Same-day project quotes Problem-solving on-site Update protocol with clients Professionalism guarantee Lasting Impression Insurance 3. The Shift: We shifted the positioning from vague benefits to real-world, emotional triggers : Instead of: “Let us create your perfect workspace.” Now: “Get the perfect installation day, every time.” That subtle shift aligns with who’s actually buying (and who feels the pain when things go wrong). The end-user may care about the workspace. But the buyer cares about the install . 4. The Lesson for Others: If you’re selling a service, don’t describe what you do. Describe what the client wants to avoid or achieve — and who the real buyer is. Then, systematize what you’re already doing well and give it a name. Just like our team did with: “Same Day Quotes” “Lasting Impression Insurance” “Reliable Presence Protocol” 5. The Outcome Within weeks of updating their messaging and positioning: The company reported more qualified leads asking the right questions Furniture reps began referring them because they were “easy to work with and made them look good” They were shortlisted for larger, multi-phase projects due to increased confidence in their process But most importantly, they stopped competing on price — because they weren’t selling perfect workspaces anymore. They were selling peace of mind on installation day.
Most marketing firms talk about tactics. We help our clients see the bigger picture.
