Tips to get media to write about you

Friends, Fellows and Finalists.  I am definitely not an expert, but I have compiled some things I have learned over the years that have helped Unreasonable get into major publications (Inc., Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur Magazine, etc….).  Take a look and share other helpful tips in the comments section.

Step 1: Find the right people/reporters/bloggers

• Use Google reader and search for articles related to your business or your industry on the web to find potential people to write about you.
• Look at competitor’s and similar companies’ websites to see their publicized media and contact similar or those same resources (for example, when I was looking for people to write about Unreasonable in the early days, I looked for reporters who had written about social entrepreneur conferences because I knew they would care about what we were doing)
• Don’t pass someone up because you think they don’t write for a big enough publication.  No person or media source is too small to email – they could all be connected to bigger blogs/newspapers/magazines. Many people write for multiple publications.  Plus, who knows, you could be their breakthrough story!
• Here are some tips to find their email addresses, which are usually not openly shared
1. Search and find their personal blog, Facebook, Linked and see if their email is there (may times it is!)
2. Find the email of someone at their company. If you know a teammates email, you can sometimes guess the format of their email (ie: everyone at Unreasonable is name@unreasonableinstitute.org. If we hired a new employee named John, can you guess what their email address would be?  Similar patterns exist at other companies.)
• Give them 1-3 weeks to write the article

Step 2: Get them to care enough to write about you

• Make the email you send them personal. Don’t do generic or blast emails to media sources.  Treat these people as what they are: people! (not as an email address)
• Give the email a catchy headline (imagine they get 100 emails a day, make them open yours by making it worth grabbing their attention)
• At the beginning of your email, relate to their interests or a past article the wrote to let them know “why you are contacting them”
• Do not say everything in the initial email. Don’t pitch your whole company. The point of the initial email is to get them excited to follow up with you. When they follow up, that is when you can say more.
• Give them an exciting reason to care about reading on right in the beginning (“There is a challenge given to 46 Unreasonable entrepreneurs around the world who are using business to tackle the worlds greatest problems to raise money to attend the Unreasonable Institute in Colorado, USA!”
• Similarly, your company is not the story that they will most likely be excited about. Your company + the challenge on the marketplace is a more exciting story and more likely to get picked up (at least I think).
• Its nice to include a catchy picture in the email, but you certainly don’t have to.
• Refer to their readers throughout the email. Their job is to produce things that readers will want to read (this is how they get paid), so make sure to focus on their readers.
• I have never gotten far by simply including a press release on first email. Press releases are not 100% necessary in the first email in my opinion.
• Follow up with them if they don’t respond in 5-7 days. We call this a “gentle nudge”, or a reminder to them they you care about them writing the article, not just anyone out in the world.
• After you send the initial email, feel free to bring in a press release or interviews with other teammates if it helps.

Step 3: Make it worth it for them!

• Send thank you’s after they write it! They did you a huge favor!
• Drive traffic to their posts (spread it on social media, comments, etc). This will help give you good will for when you contact them again.

Marketplace Lessons: Against All Odds

Raising Funds with No Internet, Credit Cards

Each year, the Unreasonable Institute gathers 25 entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental problems from every corner of the world in Boulder, Colorado. There, they live under the same roof for six weeks, learning from mentors like the former Managing Director of Investments of Google.org and an entrepreneur who’s brought 19 million farmers out of poverty. In order to be accepted to the Unreasonable Institute, finalist candidates are challenged to raise the it costs to attend the Unreasonable Institute ($10,000 for 2012) in small contributions on the Unreasonable Marketplace. This is the story of 2011 Unreasonable Fellow Moses Sanga of the Eco Fuel Africa team from Uganda who raised their funds against all odds.

An Uphill Battle

When I first heard that to be accepted to the Unreasonable Institute I had to raise thousands of dollars through credit card contributions over an internet based Unreasonable Marketplace, my first reaction was that this is unfair!  I remember thinking: “How do these people expect a guy like me from a remote village in Africa, with no rich friends or relatives and with limited access to the internet to raise thousands of dollars.”

Honestly, I didn’t know anyone with a credit card. No one in my entire village knew even what a credit card is and to make matters worse, the nearest place to access internet was 17 kilometers away.  I remember telling my father about the Marketplace and the rules of the game and he advised me not to even waste my time. Everyone I talked to said that this was impossible but somehow I refused to accept.

I knew that I could surprise myself and the world if I only tried and oh yes, I did. I walked the 17 kilometers, talked to everyone I could and somehow the entire world conspired to help me and the rest is history. I raised the funds and become an Unreasonable Institute Fellow, 2011.

The Strategy: Sharing My Honest, Personal Story

My strategy was simple. I simply shared my honest life story on the Marketplace and talked to everyone. People supported me when they heard my story!

Internationally, one person read it and he was touched. He told a friend and the friend told another friend. Before I knew it, I had many supporters around the world. These were people I had never met!

Locally, I talked to all potential funders, both friends and strangers. Of course the local funders had no credit cards but they gave me cash contributions. I visited many CEOs of local companies in Uganda. 3 of them were touched by my story and impressed by my passion and drive and they gave me $1000 each. This contribution made all the difference! I tried to appeal to both local and international potential funders and this helped.

My advice to all the finalists is that you should be original. Tell your personal stories. Let the world know why you’re so passionate about this problem that you’re willing to risk your life to solve it. Take this as an opportunity to share your passion and commitment to solve the problem you’re working on. You will be surprised to know that many people around the world also care about the same problem and these are the people who will support you in the Marketplace.

Best of Luck, and Never Give Up

It won’t be easy but it’s not impossible. You can do it! If I could do it everyone can! This is an opportunity of a lifetime. Attending the Unreasonable Institute has changed my life. Don’t allow any obstacle to stop you! This is an opportunity you shouldn’t waste. Do everything within your means to succeed and we are here to help you. You only need to convince us that you’re the best option among the many! I wish all the Finalists good luck.

An Unreasonable Call to Action

There are many amazing ventures on the Unreasonable Marketplace who are challenged by hurdles far larger than ours. Many have no access to the internet, many don’t own a computer, many come from very humble families with very limited means but these are people working on solutions that will make the world a better place and shape the course of history! All they need is someone like me and you to believe in them enough and invest in them to enable them attend the Unreasonable Institute and be able to benefit from world-class mentors and network with potential investors. Attending the Unreasonable Institute has changed my life. Please join us in our campaign to give high impact entrepreneurs wings by supporting these amazing Finalists on the Unreasonable Marketplace!

Read more about the work of 2011 Unreasonable Fellow Moses Sanga and his team at Eco-Fuel Africa on the Unreasonable Network!