Most brands want to earn press mentions. They increase brand awareness, improve credibility, amplify reach, boost web traffic and help to increase sales. Earlier we discussed 10 popular ways on how to get press mentions for your brand and to follow up, I’d like to share how I earned 4 press mentions in 2022 for free. These mentions came specifically from Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Axios Crypto, Washington Post and Fox Business live news channel.

First a refresher from the previous article.

The 10 most effective and conventional ways of earning press mentions are:

1. Write a compelling press release.
2. Build relationships with journalists.
3. Utilize social media.
4. Participate in industry events and conferences.
5. Create a media kit.
6. Utilize online press release distribution services.
7. Collaborate with influencers.
8. Create a company blog.
9. Offer exclusive content or media.
10. Utilize SEO.

Now I’ll share the approach I used which takes a different spin on some of these methods.

Axios Crypto Press Mention

I found a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of an Axios Crypto article inviting Axios readers to talk about their crypto journey. Being a fan of Axios news, I mentioned that upfront and followed it up with my own crypto investing experience. Brady Dale responded to my email and after some back-and-forth, he invited me for an interview over Whatsapp.

After the interview, Dale asked for a picture they could use to “Axios it up” and it turned out looking like this:

Dale and I occasionally message each other on Whatsapp to stay in touch. Here’s a few suggestions for growing relationships with journalists.

Quick Tips Building Relationships With Journalists

1. Add-value: Don’t be self-promotional about ideas for a story; they hate that.
2. Engage online: Follow them on socials and share and interact with content you like and can add value to. It’ll help you stand out.
3. Listen: Find out what they need for their story or story ideas; be helpful and add-value. Listen more than you talk.

The Wall Street Journal Press Mention

Similar to Axios Crypto, WSJ invited readers to talk about their crypto experience. Crypto investors can still fill out the form here.

About six weeks later, Hannah Miao reached out inquiring about my experience with FTX and asked to speak that day. I made myself as available as possible and once our call was over and she spoke with her editor, she invited me to send over a picture of myself to be included in the article. I sent an edited picture (don’t do that) and didn’t get the original in before press time :-(

Regardless, Miao sent me an email as soon as it was published so I could see how it turned out.

Quick Tips With Media Kits

1. Have an unedited, professional picture of your self or a crisp, high quality brand image ready at all times.
2. Screenshots of your proof are fine. Journalists can read meta data too. It’s a good practice to ask what they prefer when you can.
3. Your title frames the context of your quote and press mention. Be deliberate.
4. Get feedback on your media kit and improve it as you learn.

The Washington Post Press Mention

The day after the WSJ article was published, I got an email from Julian Mark with the subject line “Media inquiry -- Washington Post”. Mark read the WSJ article and was doing a story in the “context of everyday folks and wanted to illustrate what investors are going through right now.”

Similarly to before with Miao, I made myself immediately available to speak with Mark and spoke candidly over the phone for about 40 minutes. Perhaps too candidly on my part, as WaPo is not known for crypto-friendly coverage (yet).

Regardless, I enjoyed speaking with Mark and would happily do it again!

Fox Business Press Mention

Half an hour after Mark’s WaPo email inquiry came in, Ben Tillem, Fox Business producer emailed me about the WSJ quote and asked if I’d be interested in doing a live interview on air. It was an exciting morning, to be honest.

In the email Tillem said what time the show goes live each day and asked what my availability would be. I responded quickly and made myself available for the following week.

Tillem had a screening call with me; at the end let me know what questions to expect on air. That call was followed by a video and sound check 10 minute session with the technical team for angle, lighting sound etc.

Utilize SEO Tips

1. Backlinks: I put backlinks on all my press mention articles as this helps them rank quickly on search engines. I’d recommend Instapaper, Folkd etc
2. Social shares: I share across my social media channels and distribution networks to boost the content. It also helps rank the same content multiple times (Reddit especially).
3. Crunchbase: I add press mentions on my Crunchbase profile as another kind of backlink.
4. Syndicate the news article on Medium, LinkedIn, telegra.ph and wherever else you blog. (Canonical link at the bottom, linking to the original article to avoid website or page SEO penalization).
5. Embed video in my content whenever possible. This is because embedded videos on high domain authority websites can rank on the first page of search results in a matter of minutes.
6. Search your niche keywords using quotes on Google News. I was able to find the WSJ form for crypto investors using this technique that you can try too. Below are a couple of examples to give you some inspiration:

7. 
   

I’ll add to the media outreach opportunities as I find them moving forward so bookmark this page in your browser and follow me on Twitter if you found this insightful.

Have something to add? Leave it in the comments!