As an entrepreneur, it’s in our nature to always be selling. But when it comes to speaking with reporters, you don’t want to turn your interview into a sales pitch. That’s one of the quickest ways to get your story killed.
Here’s why. Experienced journalists are trained to hear a sales pitch or commercial. They know their job is not to sell products but to sell stories to their editors. If you have a product or service, reporters want to hear the story behind it.
I wrote a story that goes more in-depth on this approach for Entrepreneur Magazine. You can read that article here. If you’re short on time, here’s a summary of how you can better close the “sales” interview with the journalist.
Don’t Discuss about the Procedures
A common mistake I see many entrepreneurs make is they want to discuss procedures. Unless you’re speaking with a trade reporter writing for an industry-specific audience, stay away from the backstory. Reporters don’t want to hear how the logistics work; they want to hear what is the final result.
Sell the Story
Try to focus the product or service around the story line. Don’t jump into how or why your product is the best. The best reporters can read through the subjective and objective language. Instead, try to identify in advance what story you want the reporter to tell. By doing this, you will sound like like a contestant on Shark Tank.
I go more in-depth on these approaches in my Entrepreneur article. Please follow me on Linkedin to get more of my articles on best approaches for PR.
ABOUT MACIAS PR
Finance Monthly and ACQ5 5 – an international industry award – named MACIAS PR the 2017-2020 Strategic PR Firm of the Year, and PR Firm of the Year. This was the third year in a row that Finance Monthly recognized our firm. Our founder – Mark Macias – is a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. He is frequent a PR contributor with Entrepreneur and Forbes, providing media analysis, insight and crisis advice on timely business topics. City & State Magazine also named him a top 50 PR Power Player in 2022.