Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/82405
MEDIA COVERAGE Appearing in the media—whether online, in print, or on television—is a great way to enhance your credibility, demonstrate your knowledge to potential clients, and increase the visibility of your business. It's important to remember that the public is incredibly media savvy— they can and do discern a difference between paid advertising and editorial coverage. Far more weight and credit is given to editorial coverage, which is considered to be genuine, real news—information of value that they can trust and act upon. An added bonus is that editorial coverage is free. Most massage therapists (myself included) don't have the endless budgets that allow for extensive, expensive advertising campaigns. Appearing in the media can accomplish many of the same goals of advertising: increasing visibility, building name recognition, demonstrating your expertise, and motivating potential clients to seek you out. This can be a cost-effective way to build your business. EDITORIAL COVERAGE There are only a limited number of opportunities to appear in the press— although there are now more media venues than ever before, increasing the chances for even the smallest business to get some coverage. On a daily basis, reporters, editors, news directors, and webmasters have to decide who's worthy of their limited space. There are some hard-and-fast rules: breaking news stories of national and local importance get the lion's share of space, and depending on your region, sports coverage can eat up a good chunk of the attention. What makes up the remainder? That depends, in part, on the judgment of editors and news directors. Every business is built on relationships, and there's no case where that's truer than Appearing in the media— whether online, in print, or on television—is a great way to enhance your credibility, demonstrate your knowledge to potential clients, and increase the visibility of your business. the media. If the space is available, and you've got a good relationship with a reporter and their editor, you've got a far better chance of getting coverage than some relative stranger who calls out of the blue looking to get the grand opening of their business covered. BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP Building a strong relationship with the media comes down to one simple concept: the easier you make life for them, the more likely they'll be to cover you. The question then becomes, how do you make life easy for the media? Follow these simple steps: FIND THE RIGHT CONTACTS Not every media outlet is appropriate for every story. You'll want to research what media is in your area, and where you'd like your business to be covered. If it's a newspaper, read that newspaper. Ask yourself what section your story might be appropriate for—and take note of the editor of that section. If it's radio news, listen to the type of stories they cover. Does your story fit or would it seem out of place? Most media outlets tend to repeat themselves: they cover stories that are very similar to topics they've already aired. Does the show offer on-air interviews or is it only the DJ reading news stories over the air? If you're considering television coverage, pay special attention to locally-produced programs. What type of stories do they cover? What is the coverage style: folksy and down home, in-your-face confrontational, or somewhere in between? Web-based media is a little different. Some is incredibly local— city-wide web magazines, for example, while others are far more general. As a rule of thumb, you want to explore web coverage on sites visited by your clientele and potential clientele. Most people don't travel far for massage, so that may limit you to locally oriented websites. On the other hand, if you're in a tourist or destination location, you have greater options available. You want to reach out only to the type of publications and media outlets with which you want to be associated. Where your name appears will reflect on your image. You want this to be a positive thing. 70 massage & bodywork july/august 2011