How to Prepare Your Business for Media Attention

One day, a serendipitous moment—when the right reporter learns about your business—will change the course of your future. A little media attention can spark an explosion of new customers, open opportunities, and invite even more media attention. 

But if that reporter goes to your website and is unimpressed, the moment will go by without a spark. 

You don’t have to be perfect (far from it!) but you do need to get a few things in order if you want to be able to seize the moment the media starts paying attention to you. 

Here are five ways you can be sure your business is ready for media attention. 

1. Review your website

Does it look professional? And more important, does it tell your story? 

You can bet that any reporter is going to check out your online presence before they publish anything about you. They’re going to check you out, so pretend this is a promising first date and make sure you look the part. 

What else do you do on the first date? You tell them who you are and what you’re about. 

Review your website to see if you have high quality images of your products (if you have products) or clearly explain what you do (if you have services). Explain why you do what you do, what sets you apart, and how your business came to be. 

2. Get some samples ready

In most cases, the media is going to want to experience your product before they publish anything about it. If that right reporter sends you an email asking for samples, you need to have samples, quick! 

If you’re proactive about it, you won’t even need for that reporter to reach out to you. You can reach out to them! No need to wait on fate if you’re going for it.

3. Plan for an uptick in sales

Hello, success is calling, and it wants a bulk order right now. 

Let’s say you land that golden media placement, you need to be ready for your sales to go up!

I’m not saying you should invest in a bunch of inventory now, but at least have a plan ready to handle a major increase in sales. You should know how long it will take to manufacture rush orders and figure out if you will need to hire more staff. 

4. Make time for PR

The truth is, that serendipitous moment when the media discovers your brand rarely happens on its own. But you can definitely be your own publicist to make that magic happen!

If you really want to be ready for media attention, dedicate about an hour a week to reaching out to the media. 

Then be ready to quickly respond when the opportunity comes. This is critical: when the media says jump, you jump. 

5. Take the Foundations Course

If you’re thinking about making time for PR, you should spend that very first hour taking my Foundations course. This is where you can learn what the media is looking for, how they work, what to pitch, how to pitch it, and everything else to be your own publicist.