How To: Get Press For Your Blog

A year and a half ago I launched a project on my blog that landed me on NPR: All Things Considered, The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Psychology Today and a number of national and regional media outlets. Last February I spoke at the annual Blissdom conference about how to get press for your blog. Since then, I have been approached by numerous bloggers who had the very same question. So, how do you get media attention for your blog?

1. Start a Series
There are a million examples of people launching an interesting series that drew national media attention. This is exactly what happened with my Twenty-Something Letter Project. I started a series that drew in more readers and as those readers began talking about my series the more mainstream media outlets became interested in what I was doing. Need some other examples? The Happiness Project, The Seventeen Magazine Project, The Little Brown Dress Project just to name a few. Come up with a project or series that aligns with the stuff you normally blog about and get it going!

2. Target the Right Editors
Look at the series that you have created and think about what media outlets might be interested in covering it. There is no way that Maxim or People magazine would have been interested in my Twenty-Something Letter project.  When I launched the twenty-something letter project I pitched The New York Times, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen Magazine.  Did all of them cover it? No, but all of them could have covered it and it wouldn’t have been out of character for their brand. Make sure that the outlets you are targeting are the right fit.

3. Find the Right Editors
There are a million freelancers at a magazine and a number of editors that cover different topics in different sections. The key to getting coverage is finding the writer that is going to be interested in what you are doing.  If someone covers food stories at Better Homes and Gardens they probably aren’t going to be interested in your project unless it is about food. If someone does celebrities profiles in RedBook they are probably not the writer you want to contact. (unless you are a celebrity) Look for an editor that would naturally cover your type of project and reach out to them. The more targeted you are the more successful you will be.

4. Be an Expert
You don’t have to launch a series to get in the media spotlight. Many bloggers  simply get press attention for being an expert in a unique field. What do you know better than anyone else? Start positioning yourself as an expert in that area. If someone is writing a story for a magazine about the latest hair trends they might think to call Sarah James. If someone is doing a piece on mom-entrepreneurs they might ask Jill Salzman for an interview. Become someone that editors and reporters associate with a specific expertise and build relationships with editors who cover those topics.

5. Network, Network, Network.
I can’t tell you how many media placements I have landed for clients simply because I had a friend of a friend.  Go to conferences, tweet-ups, twitter parties, forums and connect with other people in your niche. Let them know what you are working on and listen to what they are working on. Maybe they know an editor that you just have to meet or you might know the perfect person for them to talk to. Making introduction and connecting people with similar interests is a great way to build relationships with media.

Now I want to hear from you! What is your secret to landing media coverage? What has worked for you? What hasn’t?