The great thing about content marketing is that it has allowed people to do their own marketing. You can develop your own voice and reach your audience directly.
Having a fully developed content strategy involves more than just content marketing, though. Sometimes you’ll want to employ traditional channel marketing as a part of your overall content strategy. This is why I was pleased to have Chris Well as a guest on my show this week. Chris runs a company called DIY Author, and he’s an expert on publicity and media.
In this episode, Chris shares his strategies for building your media kit, identifying the right outlets, crafting the perfect pitch, and then landing a series of appearances that can help boost your authority. Though Chris works primarily with authors, these strategies are really the same for small businesses of any kind.
The thing that I like about Chris’ approach is that publicity isn’t just the purview of publicists anymore. You can do it yourself now. It’s no longer centralized in the major outlets—there are far more access points to the media. Chris explains how you can use that to your advantage to build up a “portfolio of appearances.”
This episode is chock full of useful strategies. Chris talks about:
- How you can get media coverage now without hiring a publicist.
- How the rules have changed about press kits and media kits.
- Segmenting your media kit to fit 5 specific audiences.
- How to use press releases as a part of your overall content strategy.
- How it’s more important to have been on the Today Show then to be on the Today Show.
- The benefits of the focused attention of niche media vs. mass media.
- How to identify the right outlets and pitch the right idea/story instead of pitching a product.
- How to align with the goals of the media outlet you are pitching so that they want to cover you.
- Tips for identifying a good publicist, should you choose to go that route.
See below in the show notes for how to start creating your own media kit.
Show Notes:
Chris has a new book coming out, called “Publicity for Authors: Seven Steps to Get Media Coverage Without Hiring a Marketing Team.” Stay tuned here—I’ll post the link when it’s ready!
As he mentioned in the episode, Chris is offering a free checklist to create a press kit. You can find it here on his site: http://www.diyauthor.com/checklist.
If you are listening on iTunes and wish to leave a comment or question for Chris or me, please do so here on the show page: http://bit.ly/mwm-037.
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More about Chris:
Chris Well is a 30-year veteran of the media, having worked as an editor, correspondent, columnist reporter, or broadcaster for a variety of media, including newspapers, magazines, websites, radio, and digital media. Also a novelist, he has published and self-published several mysteries and suspense titles, including Too Good to Be Truman and Deliver Us from Evelyn. He lives with his wife in Tennessee.
To connect with Chris and learn more about his services:
Web / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook.
Loved this, nice validation of what I teach as well. I am glad to hear someone else preaching it loud! I work with authors and if I see one more Buy My Book link I am going to scream. I love how the idea of content marketing is making the idea of publicity a little more understandable for people. It’s really not rocket science; it’s just the age-old building relationships. Will listen to more, some of those topics on the side look very interesting!
Thank you for your comment, Linda. I hear you with the “Buy My Book” feed clutter. Honestly, it’s no different in any other industry. A broadcast mentality in a social space results in indistinguishable noise. The only way to cut through it is to get bi-directional and treat it like a conversation. I was really glad to hear Chris echo the same mantra in publicity too – it’s all about providing value to your audience, no matter who they are!