93 | How to get your brand and business story in magazines & newspapers with Jenna Farmer
Get Your Brand & Business Story Featured in Magazines & Newspapers
WITH JENNA FARMER
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Do you want to get your online business featured in popular media outlets such as Forbes or Business Insider? In this episode PR Expert & Journalist, Jenna Farmer, is sharing the exact steps you can take to land media coverage that elevates your brand.
As you listen, you’ll learn what kinds of media features might benefit your business, what you should have in place before reaching out to these publications, how to craft the perfect pitch and what to do when you land media coverage to ensure that you stand out and actually drive traffic back to your website.
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🔗 5 business publications that are looking for guest contributors
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I don’t know about you, but I have often found the idea of PR a little bit daunting… I think that as online business owners, we’re so used to everything taking place inside the online space and we don’t necessarily think about the benefits of being featured in traditional media outlets, such as magazines and newspapers.
One person who makes PR incredibly simple and easy to understand is Jenna Farmer. Jenna is a PR expert and journalist who helps business owners land media coverage to elevate their brand and grow their business. She’s helped online business owners get showcased in publications such as Forbes, The Telegraph, Stylist, Business Insider & more. And in this episode, she’s very kindly sharing her PR & media knowledge with us!
As you listen, you’ll learn what kinds of media features might benefit your business, what you should have in place before reaching out to these publications, how to craft the perfect pitch and what we should do when our PR feature is accepted to ensure that we stand out and actually drive traffic back to our website.
If the idea of landing press coverage for your business is something you’ve been toying with, this episode is going to bring so much value and lay out the exact steps to help you do it!
Episode Transcript
This transcript is AI generated. Please note in mind that it may not be 100% accurate.
Leticia Collins
00:00
Welcome to the podcast Jenna. I know that you have so many juicy strategies and tips about how we can leverage PR and media to grow our businesses. But before we get into that, I would love to know how did you start your business and what was it that really drew you into the PR world?
JF
Jenna Farmer
00:19
So how I started my business is a little bit long winded, but back in 2012, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. And from that experience, I started to write a blog, which was all about my experience of living with the condition. At this time I was working as a teacher but that blog really opened lots of doors to me.
JF
Jenna Farmer
00:40
It got me some press coverage and I started to realise the benefits of press coverage. It allowed me to lead my job, it got me writing work, writing for national newspapers and it allowed me to lead teaching and transitioning to this whole other career of working in the media. So it wasn't a brilliant time, but it led to a really great opportunity for me. And I ended up getting into the PR world because having done my own PR and got myself all over the media, so many people asked me as I was now working as a journalist, like how could I do it for them?
JF
Jenna Farmer
01:12
How could I get them in the media? How could I tell their story? And that's how I ended up working in PR.
LC
Leticia Collins
01:18
I love that you managed to turn a life event like that into such a big opportunity for yourself. And you've obviously achieved so much and you should be so proud of yourself. And I love that you help people with PR because I feel like traditional PR is something that many online business owners tend to forget about and don't necessarily consider as part of their marketing strategy.
LC
Leticia Collins
01:44
But obviously, you know that it can do a lot for business owners. So what are the benefits of leveraging media features like this?
JF
Jenna Farmer
01:53
So there is so many benefits and you're absolutely right. So many people will come to me like after they've exhausted like every other avenue with getting visible. So 1 of the most straightforward benefits is that we know that when we get press coverage and we get links back to our website or wherever we're hosting our digital offerings and courses and programmes, we know that getting links from those really prestigious publications can really help with our SEO.
JF
Jenna Farmer
02:19
And I won't go into a whole SEO explanation as to why, but we know that increases our chances of getting found on Google. So if we are getting some really great press coverage, not only when you search your name, will that press coverage come up, but it can also help the SEO algorithm meaning that you rank for other things that you're trying to rank for when standing out online so that is the first big reason. The second reason is that it really does influence buying decisions so you know whether you are making your sales page stand out or whether you want people to follow you on Instagram. We know that and we see this all the time in people's bios, if they've been featured in Forbes or if they've been featured in other business publications, it does set them apart and it gives them that trust factor that although we shouldn't necessarily just be influenced by logos, it really does show the person that is opting into your mailing list or joining your Facebook group that you are the real deal and that you stand out and that you have that sort of prestige of being in the press.
JF
Jenna Farmer
03:16
And the final reason is I think it gives you more of a voice. So loads of us in the digital world obviously have really great expertise and are offering, but getting PR can be a way for people to know you as well. So, you know, sharing your personal story, just like I did at the start of the podcast, or sharing your opinions on the industry. And it really gives you a voice to not only find a whole new audience, but actually to show your existing audience, actually who you are and what you do.
LC
Leticia Collins
03:44
Yeah. I love that you mentioned that because we often think of PR as a way to get visible and get in front of a new audience, which it definitely is. But it's also a great opportunity to just boost your credibility as a whole within the online space and within your existing audience. So I'm glad that you mentioned that.
LC
Leticia Collins
04:03
And then would you mind just letting us know when you're talking about press coverage, what types of coverage might that include?
JF
Jenna Farmer
04:11
So it really can include so many different things. So you know, when we use the WordPress, we tend to think of like magazines and newspapers but when we use media as a whole that can also include things like being on podcasts like this 1 or getting involved with things like summits which I know you've talked about before things like being on radio being on TV or even like partner with other brands, all of these different things really, whether it's writing articles for magazines, being on podcasts, being filmed for TV, working with other brands, all of that really comes under the PR umbrella.
LC
Leticia Collins
04:47
And what advice would you give someone who is thinking about really starting to leverage PR for their business? What advice would you give them to narrow down which publications would be best to feature themselves in?
JF
Jenna Farmer
05:01
So I think it really depends on the overall goals and I always try and get people to like draw a line and think about what the outcome, first of all the sorts of places they want the audience to find them through PR, whether that's by reading a certain magazine or listening to a certain podcast. But actually the most important thing is like what we want them to do next. So what is the actual outcome of the PR?
JF
Jenna Farmer
05:23
You know, what are we trying to achieve? So a lot of us in the business space will say to me things like, okay, I want to be in Forbes. And of course that's really exciting. But if your aim is to really do PR so you get found on Google actually we're looking for a whole range of publications that we need to feature in because we need to get those website links to get us found on Google So it really depends on what you're trying to achieve.
JF
Jenna Farmer
05:48
For other people, it might be thinking about, and you can ask this question to your audience, where is your ideal audience hanging out? So what are they reading? What are they listening to? But also thinking about whether you want to be an expert.
JF
Jenna Farmer
06:01
So whether you want to be sharing quick tips and tricks like me talking about PR, or whether you want to be a thought leader where you're having more conversations, talking about the industry, calling for change, and that can also influence the sorts of publications that you work with. But I would recommend that you keep an open mind because there's so many different benefits to PR. So don't just focus on I want to be in Forbes, I want to be in Business Insider. Start thinking about the stories you can tell and the values you can offer.
JF
Jenna Farmer
06:30
And also keeping an open mind can increase our chances of getting in a wide range of press, but also have a little look at what your audience is actually reading, what your audience is actually hanging out, because it might be different to your dream publication.
LC
Leticia Collins
06:44
Yeah it's just about knowing your audience isn't it, Like you need to know where they're hanging out, like you said, what platforms they're consuming content on, and that's both online and offline, and just placing yourself in front of them. So Once they've identified where they want to be featured, what would you advise that business owners have in place before they start reaching out for those features?
JF
Jenna Farmer
07:09
That's a really good question because I think a lot of people aren't sure when is the right time. So I always say there's not too many things we need. The first thing we need is a place for people to go after they've seen your coverage.
JF
Jenna Farmer
07:21
So for most people that is going to be a website. I have helped some people that don't have their own website. I do recommend that it is good to have your own website even if you're using something like Karcher or another provider, having your own website as well is going to help with SEO and Google. But for some people, they might want to drive traffic towards their podcast or their Facebook group or their Instagram.
JF
Jenna Farmer
07:42
So having a clear thing, first of all, is where do you want people to go to? If you want people to find you on Google, then you're gonna have to have a website. But otherwise, if you have done some research already, you might know where customers come to you from. Is that your email list?
JF
Jenna Farmer
07:58
Is that your Instagram? Is that your Facebook group? And then it sort of makes sense to direct them to there. So that's the first thing, have a clear idea of where you want the people to go.
JF
Jenna Farmer
08:07
The next thing is just to have a few like practical things ready. So I think most people that listen to the podcast would be like a service-based business. So having headshots and things like that. If you are a product based business then having some product shots are also really important and those don't have to be like really professionally shot but you do need a couple of images either way that you can share and I always recommend that as well as having like a headshot, you also have an image of you doing the thing that you do.
JF
Jenna Farmer
08:35
So if you would write a book, make sure you have a good image of you holding the book. If you are an artist, make sure you have an image of you painting, which sounds really obvious, but lots of people don't. So having your website sorted or a place for people to go, having your images sorted. And then the last thing is all about just thinking about what stories you can tell.
JF
Jenna Farmer
08:55
And this is where you might just spend a little bit of time reading different publications. So it's all very well saying you want to be in Forbes, but what stories do they tell? Do they tell like first person stories, 5 top tip stories? So really having a look at the publications that you want to feature in and start really create a bank of different stories you can tell.
JF
Jenna Farmer
09:15
And I always recommend that the best thing to do is have a whole range of different types. So you've got your personal story, like I told at the start of the podcast, like having Crohn's disease and how that changed my business. Then you've got like your expert stories, like your top tips, your transformations, your how-to's. And then maybe you have like your opinion stories where you share your thoughts and feelings about a particular topic.
JF
Jenna Farmer
09:37
So having a list of stories and you can start to have a look maybe you're already telling these stories on your Instagram or your mailing list so you can start to collate that and maybe put it in a folder or something like that where you've got all of this content that you're already using that we can sort of cross-purpose for when we're pitching and when we're reaching out to journalists.
LC
Leticia Collins
09:56
Yeah absolutely there is no point in having this great PR feature if you have nowhere for them to go because it just ends up kind of being redundant otherwise. And I definitely agree that you should have some kind of website, even if it's just a 1 page with the basic information, because that is going to increase your credibility and it's going to act as a hub for you and your business and how they can work with you. And of course we are not just going to be waiting around for these media outlets to magically find and want to feature us.
LC
Leticia Collins
10:30
So do you have any tips on how we can approach and pitch media outlets to secure these features?
JF
Jenna Farmer
10:37
Yes, so it doesn't have to be complicated. So there's a few things we can do. I'll break them down into 2 things.
JF
Jenna Farmer
10:43
So first of all, you've got your cold pitching, which is where you're just reaching out to a journalist out of the blue, maybe you've read their column, maybe you've read their section of the magazine and you realize they always cover certain topics, either way it's fine to reach out to a journalist and let them know about you and what you do And when you do that sort of thing, all you need to do is really just answer a few questions in your pitch. The first thing we always do is just say who we are and sort of what we do. And we just say that in a literally a sentence or 2, like I'm Jennifer, I'm a PR expert and I help businesses get all over the media, for example. And then the next thing we always want to do when we're emailing a journalist is to explain why we're emailing and just make a personal connection.
JF
Jenna Farmer
11:27
So just like any of the stuff you do in business, Personal connections really help with journalists as well. So read the magazine that you're pitching to, mention an article that the journalist wrote last week, or mention a section that your story would be perfect for, and just make a personal connection to that specific publication, And then let them know how you can help. So it's all about changing your mindset and thinking Rather than I'm emailing a journalist to sell to them. I'm in fact emailing a journalist to offer value I've got a really great story.
JF
Jenna Farmer
11:59
This is going to get them loads of traffic, they're going to love it, it's going to get shared. So really having that mindset, we're not just emailing them to just brag about ourselves or sell our product to them, we're emailing them with a great story. So explain how you can help, maybe tell them about an idea for an article you've got and what that article would include, maybe say that these are the topics I can talk about if you ever need an expert and that's the first way that you might do something. The next way you might do it is called reactive or at least that's what I call it.
JF
Jenna Farmer
12:29
So when we aren't cold pitching we sort of know what a journalist is looking for. So a really simple thing you can do after listening to this is to just go on X or Twitter and just search the hashtag Jurno, J-O-U-R-N-O, request, all as 1 word. And that will come up with lots of different requests from journalists looking for case studies, looking for experts, looking for people, looking for products. And that way you can actually see exactly what the journalist is looking for.
JF
Jenna Farmer
13:01
And when you've done a bit more PR there's other things you can do as well too. You can spend money on different inquiry services and memberships but that's just something really simple that you could do this week that is free. And in that case you might know exactly what the journalist is looking for. So if I went on Twitter and saw that the journalist was looking for a PR expert, I could do exactly what I just mentioned a minute ago with my email, but it's just a little bit easier because I can say, I know that you're looking for a PR expert or I know that you're looking for a top tip on XYZ, and I would be perfect because XYZ.
JF
Jenna Farmer
13:35
So the more information we can find out about the journeys, the better. But either way, if you've got a publication that you'd like to write for, read it carefully. Try and find the right person. Get to know them and their work, and then just reach out and answer those questions like who are you, why you're reaching out, how you can help, and a final question that's also worth thinking about as well is why now?
JF
Jenna Farmer
13:59
So if you can spell out like why is a good time to talk about this now. It could be the time of year, it could be just because it's going to be more popular, social media, but if you can also say to the journalists like why your idea is such a good idea to explore now, that really helps as well.
LC
Leticia Collins
14:16
I love that you gave examples there and shared all different ways to pitch so thank you for sharing that and I do want to reiterate what you mentioned first because I think that a lot of people forget to make it personal as well but this is the thing that's going to get them to say yes oftentimes and it's important to remember as well that it's not all about you it's about what you can offer them so I just wanted to reiterate that and thank you for sharing those ideas and of course we want to ensure that those features are worth our time. So once a media feature has been secured, what can we do to ensure that we stand out and actually encourage readers to click over and visit our website and socials?
JF
Jenna Farmer
15:03
Yeah, so I think that's a really good question. So the first thing that we want to always do is when we're speaking to a journalist, always spell out how you want to be credited. So we've just mentioned there about people visiting our website, but if we don't actually tell the journalist our website, they might not even include it.
JF
Jenna Farmer
15:19
So I recommend that everyone has like a bit of a bio that they send to a journalist that says like this is my podcast, this is my website, so we can make sure that we're making it really easy for that journalist to credit us because we don't want to get credited in the wrong way or without all of the links that we want people to go to. So that's the first thing. Then it's worth thinking about, like I said at the start, like is this actually the right place that we want to send people to? So this can change with your business And like if you're doing evaluating your business like following the things that you talk about on this podcast Then you will know like what your aims of PR are So for example, I know personally that whenever I'm on a podcast or anything like that I will probably mention my Facebook group because a lot of people find coming into a Facebook group about PR a lot more accessible than scrolling through my website.
JF
Jenna Farmer
16:06
So it's really worth thinking about what do you want them to do when they land on your website. If you're using a website link, maybe you could make sure that on the homepage there's a really easy, compelling way for them to sign up for your mailing list. So they're not having to, you know, scroll through your about page and therefore not only is that going to get us the link to the website, but we're also then going to think about the next step. So then they're therefore going to click on something, they're going to sign up.
JF
Jenna Farmer
16:32
So it's not enough, I think, to just have your website and expect people to click and spend ages browsing through to find it. So a real clear call to action on your website to make sure that people then take the next step. But also Make sure that you're leveraging the PR for yourself. So I see so many people that get amazing press coverage and do absolutely nothing with it because they just assume they can sit back and let the coverage come to them.
JF
Jenna Farmer
16:58
Absolutely share it on your social media. Encourage conversation, share it in your Facebook group, share it on your Instagram, maybe even turn it into a newsletter, ask people their opinions. You could even, if it's a big piece of coverage, you might even turn it into some sort of promotion, like a special discount code to celebrate. I recommend that everyone on their website has something called the press page, which is just a section of their website that shows all the press that they've got.
JF
Jenna Farmer
17:24
So really shout about it and then set up something like a press page so you can sort of promote the evergreen to anyone that goes on your website sees a whole list of press coverage that you've got and then that is still going to be working for you even if it's like months and years after you've got the press coverage.
LC
Leticia Collins
17:40
Yeah it's about making it easy and I've actually seen a lot of business owners making use of QR codes recently. And I'm seeing this in business cards and within free trainings to direct people to their Instagram or their website. And it's just such a great way to make it easy rather than having to type out a name and potentially misspelling it.
LC
Leticia Collins
18:01
This just removes all of that and allows the consumer to get there in 1 tap. So I don't know whether you have any thoughts on that.
JF
Jenna Farmer
18:09
So it's something that I definitely see a lot in terms of advertising. So if you do any sort of advertising in a publication, a lot now will let you have a QR code, a special discount, and that's because they really want to track those metrics themselves so they can see, you know, how many people have peeked through, and so you can see the results of advertising. With editorial press, which is sort of organic, natural mentions, like that you're not paying for, but you're just reaching out to journalists.
JF
Jenna Farmer
18:36
That's not something that you would do, but it's definitely something I'm seeing in advertisements because if we're spending our money advertising in a publication, we really wanna make it as easy as possible for people to find us. So if that was something you explore in the future you could definitely look at creating a QR code for that, a tracking link, a discount code with your bog standard editor which is where you're not paying, you're just shouting about what you do, it tends to be a link of your choice instead.
LC
Leticia Collins
19:04
Yeah, that makes complete sense. And I also wanna quickly talk about that link of your choice because I think that including an incentive to actually tap over to your website or socials is a great way to encourage them to do that as well because consumers don't tend to do things unless there's something in it for them these days. And that's completely understandable.
LC
Leticia Collins
19:26
So just offering some kind of freebie when they get to your website as a way to get them to stay there and hope you grow your email list at the same time is going to do wonders for your business.
JF
Jenna Farmer
19:38
Yeah, definitely. Having some sort of incentive, you have to think, just putting yourself again in the mindset of the reader, Thinking about yourself if you read a magazine or website, what makes you click through? You know, it's not gonna be, if you're a nutritionist and you share 50 words as a nutritionist on eating a healthier breakfast and you put a website link, is that gonna make me stop what I'm doing and check out your website?
JF
Jenna Farmer
20:00
Probably not. So just thinking about, like you say, ways that you can make it a no-brainer for someone to jump over from the PR coverage that you get.
LC
Leticia Collins
20:09
Yeah, absolutely. And is there anything else you feel like you'd like to add to the conversation that we haven't covered, and you feel would be beneficial to any business owner wanting to leverage PR and media features to know. So
JF
Jenna Farmer
20:24
I think the last thing I would say is don't rule out sort of writing whole features. So I think a lot of people feel like they couldn't write a whole article because they're not a journalist themselves. So my journey, like I said at the beginning, was, you know, I don't have a qualification in journalism.
JF
Jenna Farmer
20:40
I use my story and something that I was really passionate about to leverage it essentially to create a job in the media industry, writing about all sorts of topics relating to me. So there's a real misconception that I think that you have to have like a qualification or that you have to do a certain amount of XYZ to write for the media. So I would say 1 of the real great things about writing a whole article as opposed to having a 5 minute chat with a journalist is that obviously we get more time to talk about us, people get to know us, we can control the content a bit more because we're writing the whole thing. So definitely don't rule that out.
JF
Jenna Farmer
21:16
If you enjoy writing and you have a passionate voice and you want to talk about it, have a look at opportunities that will allow you to write the whole article because obviously more words means more coverage, more opportunities, but also more ways for people to sort of get to know you and for you to stand out a little bit and it is not as complicated as you would think to do that.
LC
Leticia Collins
21:36
Yeah I mean nowadays we can learn anything online and the more you do something the better you'll get at it so thank you for sharing that but I do have 1 last question for you. And this is something that I ask every guest who comes on the show. As you know, this podcast is all about keeping business and marketing simple.
LC
Leticia Collins
21:57
So I would love to know what are you doing to keep business simple? And this doesn't have to be related to PR it can be anything.
JF
Jenna Farmer
22:06
So I'm probably very late to the party and this is not an original idea but I just discovered many chat a few weeks ago and that has really helped me so much with my Instagram growth which is 1 thing I'm working at the moment. I guess it sort of relates in the media as well. It's about thinking about for me, what do my audience really want?
JF
Jenna Farmer
22:24
So creating some really easy PR freebies, which I know you talk about free things a lot on the podcast, to get people enticed. So I've been creating sort of reels with that and then teaming up with ManyChat. So then they get the freebie direct to their Instagram. And I know that's probably like years off, but I think it's brilliant.
JF
Jenna Farmer
22:42
I've already just discovered
LC
Leticia Collins
22:43
it. Yeah, ManyChat is a great tool And automation in general is amazing and can save so much time and simplify so much in business. So yeah, no, I love that. And finally, where can everyone go to connect and learn more from you?
JF
Jenna Farmer
23:01
Thank you. So there's a few places that you can find me. The easiest place is probably my Facebook group, which is if you're on Facebook, it's get your business in the media with Jenna Farmer, or you can connect with me on Instagram at Jenna Farmer PR.
JF
Jenna Farmer
23:15
And then finally I have a podcast which is all about PR which is called PR in your pocket.
LC
Leticia Collins
23:21
Wonderful and you will find all of those links in the show notes so you can go and connect with Jenna and start your PR journey but Jenna it has been so lovely to chat with you today. Thank you for taking the time to come and share your knowledge.
JF
Jenna Farmer
23:37
Thank you, I've really enjoyed it.
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hey, I'm Tish!
I'm a multi-passionate business owner, digital marketing strategist, business mentor & part-time digital nomad ✈️
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