Episode#13: "How to catch a journalist's attention" - Amy Lewin - Senior Reporter at Sifted

50inTech Podcast

Hello, I am Amy Lewin. I'm a journalist at Sifted which is a new media platform backed by the Financial Times. At Sifted, I write about startups and tech across the whole of Europe. Although, I have a particular interest in what I call “the people side of companies” (...)

Today, I am talking about how to catch a journalist's attention.

So, journalists get a whole lot of emails. I get dozens if not hundreds of pictures and press releases every single day. And it's rare that I even bother opening them. Unless I know or trust the person who's sending them to me or, unless they have a really, really, great subject line which I'll talk about a little bit later on.

If you're trying to get media attention, I realize that's not what you want to hear. But don't worry because I have some tips about how to capture a journalist's eye.

Number one, you have to pick your journalist. There are lots of journalists out there and we all are interested in different things. You need to figure out which journalists are going to be most interested in you and your company. (...)

Next, think about if they write about your sector. (...) Do they write about companies and people in a way that you would like to be written about? (...) Think about what kind of stories they write. (...) Finally, also think about whether or not they write for a publication or work for a media outlet that your target customers, investors or potential hires actually read. (...)

Next thing to do is to follow them. (...) You can go to events that they speak at, try and say hello afterwards. But, please do not pitch them your company there and then. (...) Sign up to their newsletters, follow them on social media, a bit of flattery never goes a miss. (...)

Next thing to do is to get out there yourself. So, you can also make it easier for journalists to find you rather than you hunting them down. The first thing to do is to speak at events. (...)

You can also (...) write things. So write things, tweet things, set yourself up as a thought leader. (...) Show that there are certain things that you really care about and you're an expert on. (...) And then when a journalist is looking for someone to speak to on those issues, your name will probably come up.

The next thing to do is to make friends with journalists. So, treat that relationship as you would treat any relationship. If you give to them, you might expect to get back. So, be helpful. (...)

If you can't actually meet them in person though, then you'll probably need to resort to the dreaded pitch email. (...) The first thing, if you're emailing a journalist out of the blue, is to write a really sexy subject line. (...) Then in the main body of the email, make sure that you explain what your company does in really simple language. (...)

Include useful information like, when your company was founded, how much money you've raised, how big your team is. So that the journalist has to do less hard work there. Make sure the email is short though. Be funny, show some personality. Include links and assets. (...)

And then finally, be available. Some journalists work to really tight deadlines. So you need to be able to speak to them that day straight away if they’re interested.

I'm very excited to be joining the 50inTech community. If you want any advice on speaking to the media, storytelling, how to catch a journalist's attention or even how to, kind of, network and connect with people more broadly in the world of startups, then find me on the platform.