The Colab Brief - 122: Putting the 🛒 Before The 🐴

Don’t put the cart before the horse. 

One step at a time.

You have to walk before you can run. 

It’s a marathon, not a sprint. 

You’ve heard them, we’ve heard them, everybody has heard them. But have you ever thought about how they pertain to your media strategy?

Good news! We have. 

Today, we’re discussing press goals, the strategy that precedes them, and why your approach may be cutting off your nose to spite your face (I could do this all day). 

Read Time: Time is a construct.

Ok, so you want to be in The New York Times. Or TechCrunch. Or on CNBC. 

There’s just one teeny tiny problem. 

None of those outlets have ever heard of you.  

When you’re a high-growth business, it’s not uncommon to come across a challenge like this. 

Everyone (well, mostly everyone) wants to be featured in top-tier business press. But if you haven’t established a consistent presence in the media, you can’t just jump your way to a Squawk Box interview. That’s like trying to start a hike at the summit ⛰️ instead of the trailhead - it’s just not the way the world works. 

Now, before we get into it, I want to reiterate that all of these goals are manageable and achievable for most businesses. What needs to be addressed is the timeline upon which you’re trying to achieve it. 

Your media strategy should be thought of as a pyramid, as seen below. 

Most companies need the foundational building blocks to work their way up to a top-tier. 

Here’s How It Works:

First, you secure the low-hanging fruit opportunities - these are the hits that are the easiest to get and publications that rarely say no.  

After you land a few low-hanging fruit opps, you start working your way up. Usually, regional and local publications care about what the people in their community are doing, so most of the time, you can get a few hits in that realm. Now, the real fun starts.

At this point, you have a good amount of foundational press (5-15 articles), so when a reporter Googles your company, they’re able to see some level of third-party validation, which goes a long way. Time for the trades. 

High-quality trade publications can be extremely valuable and are often overlooked for the shiny logos of business press. However, trade reporters usually understand the intricacies of your industry and topic and thus can write a high-value piece that’s not only comprehensive but also gets in front of your target audiences in a more effective way. Pretty cool, eh?

Finally, after all that work, it’s now time for the top-tiers. 

You’ll see that we couldn’t have jumped to the top of the metaphorical pyramid without taking the aforementioned steps first. If a Bloomberg reporter Googles you and nothing pops up, you can bet your bottom dollar they’re not going to write on you. 

But if there are a handful of pages of search results from industry and local publications, now you’ve got a shot. 

Listen - we see the inherent value of top-tier business and trade press. We love top-tier business and trade press. But there’s a reason you and everyone else on the planet value it so highly, and it’s the exact reason you need to work your way up to it. 

These publications are extremely exclusive - they won’t just write about anybody or anything. In fact, they probably write about 1% of the stories that come across their desk. They’re the Ivy League of media, so you can’t come to them with Google search results equivalent to a state-school GPA (I went to a state school, calm down).

And unless you have some seasoned and decorated executive on your C-suite, you are no exception to that rule. 

So, instead of targeting these publications right out of the gate and being inevitably disappointed, work your way up. Start at the bottom, get some solid foundational hits under your belt, and go from there.

It will result in more diverse and comprehensive coverage overall and increase your likelihood of landing in the top tiers.

Until next week,

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