05/06/2026
There’s nothing else that gives you the ability to reach as many people in one shot as PR, along with the credibility and authority it brings.
So it’s no wonder that so many coaches and experts want to be in the media. However, most out there don’t have the staying power needed to make it to the point where they’re getting called back time and time again onto some of the world’s biggest platforms. They fade out way before momentum is built.
The ones that do make it to that stage understand these things…
1. Nobody owes you publicity. And for real credibility, you have to earn it.
And by earning it, I mean you give the media angles that are interesting, informative and entertaining, and you are consistent.
Even relentless in making that happen.
The ones that drop off don’t usually make a big dramatic decision to quit either, it creeps up on them. They send out a few pitches and focus on what they haven’t booked or had responses for, giving it meaning it doesn’t have. They shift their focus into other urgent things in their business (they’re always there so it’s easy to do!) and drift into avoidance.
Or they go to the other end of the scale and try to impress journalists and producers. They start adding more context and setting the scene in media pitches so they end up like short stories that are beautifully written but won’t get them booked. Sending an entire article when all the journalist asked for was a short quote. Forwarding their entire image folders, case studies and a copy of their book. All of this has the opposite effect so then they get disheartened.
You build a great rep in the media world by being a reliable expert who delivers every time, that takes longer than most people expect.
2. Journalists aren’t going to send you feedback on the media pitches you send them, or even reply most of the time. Many of them receive 100s of pitches a day, they wouldn’t have time to write any articles if they did that.
And also, why should they? Do you reply with detailed feedback every time someone sends you a cold sales pitch? I know I don’t.
A lot of the time, the silence has nothing to do with your pitch at all- it could be down to editorial calendars, timing, a similar piece already commissioned and other stuff way beyond your control.
And a lot of the time, their inbox is saturated with the same handful of angles from different people. Every niche has its trending talking points, and most people are pitching theirs without realising they're one of fifty other people sending the same angle that week.
3. While we’re on the topic of pitches, media pitches and sales pitches are two completely different things.
A sales pitch is about you and your offer, a media pitch is about their readers and why this angle matters to them right now.
If you approach a journalist with sales pitches, you’ll be forever wondering why they’re not interested.
I’ll tell you why now- because they don’t care about you, or how good your program is, they care about entertaining and informing their audience.
4. Now I’ll tell you why that’s a great thing.
Because they are excellent at attracting huge audiences who are there because they’re interested in what you have to say.
So why is this on a list about hard truths? Because the pay off for that is that it can feel deeply uncomfortable- the pieces aren’t designed to appeal to you, but the audience (pay to play is the other way around, btw). You have to be able to keep moving through that discomfort to gather real momentum.
5. You don’t control the final piece. What you spoke for 10 minutes on adding a bunch of context can be cut down to a single line. The angle you pitched may not be the one that becomes the headline. You might not like some of the wording used. And that’s part of the deal- you have to be able to let go once you’ve done your interview.
What's worth going back to a journalist about- your name or business name is wrong, or there’s an error that could genuinely harm your rep.
Going back to them about everything else- the wording you'd have chosen differently, saying you’ve got a cat when you’ve only got a dog, a grammatical error etc is not going to go in your favour.
Journalists talk, and the reputation that gets you called back isn't built only on your coverage. It's built on whether you're someone people actually want to keep working with.
