Earn press coverage by offering evidence, not announcements

A news site or trade magazine that quotes you is a page about your business written by someone with no reason to flatter you. That is the sort of page an assistant may later read. The way to get it is not to announce things. It is to be useful to someone with a deadline.

The short answer

Journalists need three things: a fact they can check, a person who will answer the phone, and a reason their readers care today. Offer one of those. Keep the pitch short. Make it easy to say yes. Accept that most pitches get no reply.

What counts as "evidence"

Your own news ("we launched a new service") is rarely a story to anyone else. These are better:

• Your own data. Prices, times, volumes or customer questions you can count. The small study guide shows how to do this well.
• Real expertise. A person who can explain why something happens in your trade, in plain language, with an example.
• A local angle. What a national event means for businesses in your town.
• A correction. You see a common mistake in articles about your field and can show the right facts.

Do not offer opinions as facts, numbers you cannot show, or customer stories you have not been given permission to tell.

Step 1: choose a small list of the right outlets

Find five to ten publications, newsletters or podcasts that already cover your field and place. Read what they ran in the last few months. Write down who covered what.

If they never run pieces like the one you have in mind, do not pitch them.

Step 2: write the pitch

Use this template. Keep it under about 150 words.

Subject: Data on [topic] in [place], if useful for your [section]

Hello [first name],

I read your piece "[exact title]" on [date]. It made me think of
something we measured.

[One sentence stating the finding with the number and sample.]
[One sentence on how it was collected.]

The full method and data are here: https://www.example.com/leeds-ebike-repair-prices

I am [name], I run Harbor Lane Cycles in Leeds, and I can talk for
ten minutes any weekday before 5 pm. I can also send a chart.

If this is not useful for you, no reply needed.

[Name] | [phone] | [email]

Send it to one named person. Put the finding in the first lines, not a company introduction. Link to a page with the data, not an attachment.

Step 3: respond to requests for sources

Some services collect requests from reporters who are looking for expert voices and pass them on to people who signed up. We do not name any here. Look up "journalist requests for experts" and read each service's terms and pricing before you sign up.

When you use one:

1. Only answer requests where you truly know the subject.
2. Reply fast and briefly: a direct answer, who you are, and one fact they can check.
3. Do not reply with a sales pitch. If your answer is just advertising, it will be ignored.
4. Give your full name, role and a phone number.

Step 4: when they call

• Ask what the piece is about and when it is due.
• Say what you know and what you do not. "I'd have to check" is a good answer.
• Send any numbers you quoted in writing afterwards, with the page they come from.
• Do not ask to approve the article. Offer to check facts if they wish.
• Be polite if the piece does not run. Many do not.

What not to do

• Do not pay for editorial coverage that is presented as independent. Google lists exchanging money for links as link spam. It says buying and selling links for advertising or sponsorship is normal when the links are marked rel="nofollow" or rel="sponsored".
• Do not hide gifts. If you send a product to a reviewer, the FTC's Endorsement Guides say free products can be a connection that should be disclosed clearly, close to the endorsement, when readers would not expect it. Google also lists sending a product so that someone writes about it with a link as link spam.
• Do not mass-send the same pitch to every address you can find. Google's SEO starter guide says more generally that you can overdo promoting your site and actually harm it.
• Do not demand a link. If a writer wants to link to your data page, that is their call.

How to check it worked

• Set up a simple alert for your business name and for the title of your data page. Note each mention, its date and whether it links to you.
• Check that each mention gets your name, location and website right. If not, politely ask for a correction.
• After a month or two, ask your buyer questions in assistants that show sources and see whether any press page is cited.
• Keep a list of pitches sent, answers received and what you would do differently.

What this won't do

• Coverage does not mean an assistant will name you. We cannot promise any effect on assistants' answers.
• Most pitches get no answer. Plan for a handful of replies from a longer list.
• A page can be changed or taken down later.
• Press takes patience. It works best when your own site already says clearly who you are and what you do, so a reader who follows the link finds proof.