Getting your personal brand into the press is an excellent way to gain authority in your niche, earn attention from your ideal clients, and solidify yourself as an expert in your field with your peers and competitors. Here are 10 ways you can do note-worthy things to get your story, business and brand into the Press and make a PR agency’s job easy to pitch you to journalists.

Publish a book

Publishing a book, whether a novel or nonfiction, positions you as an expert. Your book is your calling card and can be a good lead generation tool. While there are ways to make money from royalties, publishing books also provides another way to help people and provide deep insight and value on your personal zone of genius.

Be an expert

If you want to be a go-to expert who is frequently interviewed by the press, you need to start building your reputation as an authority right now. How? By becoming a thought leader in your industry. There are several ways you can do this, including:

Starting a blog where you write about the latest news and trends in your field.
Creating videos and podcasts that provide advice and offer insights into your field of expertise (and sharing them on your own site, as well as YouTube and Instagram).
Starting a Meetup group to bring local experts together to share knowledge with each other while also networking.
Speaking at conferences on topics related to your expertise (you can search for conferences in which you might be interested in on Lanyrd.com or Eventbrite.com.
Networking with other thought leaders in your industry and getting involved in their projects (if they ask if you have time to volunteer, say yes!). Discover how you can add value, ask to be a guest on their podcast, or see how you can help them accomplish a goal.

Getting yourself out there is hard work, but it's worth it if you're serious about becoming an expert interviewee for the press – even if that means getting vulnerable and never giving up on sharing your story.

Give a talk

The three things you need for a successful presentation are material, passion, and practice. It's not that hard to do: all you have to do is make sure your material is relevant, you're passionate about it, and you practice.

I’ve been given the opportunity to speak on many stages, which has given me great practice keeping an audience’s attention, as well as gotten me amazing content to share online, and allowed people to experience the real, authentic me in person. Some of the most impactful platforms I’ve seen people speak on are TEDx stages. Find out how to get on a TEDx stage HERE.

Write an article

If you are very experienced in a topic, writing an article on that topic will show your expertise and make you more likely to be contacted for interviews or stories. It could also be about something you want to learn about, because doing research and learning about the topic will give you the same benefits it would give any other journalist: contacts, media exposure and credibility. You can also write a personal essay about some problem you faced or solved -- this could get picked up by the Press looking for inspirational stories for their audience.

Whatever topic you choose for your article, make sure it's well researched so that the press will see your sources as credible when they check them out (and they will!). And don't forget that articles should be long enough to be useful to readers; if they're too short, journalists might think you don't have much of anything valuable to say on the subject.

You can publish your articles on platforms like LinkedIn, USAwire, Substack and Medium. Not only do these help you gain authority, but they’re great for building strong SEO on Google for your personal brand.

Be known for something

In order to stand out and get attention, you have to be known for something. You have to be the person people think of when they need that specific thing. You also can’t just be known for being a “good guy,” – you have to be known as “THE” guy. Being known as “THE PRESS GUY” has led me to a ton of opportunities. I’ve been a guest on dozens of podcasts and TV shows and had my expertise written about on big websites like Entrepreneur, as well as had my clients featured in FORBES, and even gotten them verified on social media. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t think a blue tick next to their name doesn’t look authoritative.

I’m known as “THE PRESS GUY” because I’ve consistently gotten results for myself and my clients through high-quality press placement.

Be available

Though it may seem like a small thing, taking the time to make yourself available to journalists will help you get your foot in the door with publications. If a journalist can't reach you, they're not going to bother including you in their story. If a journalist has a hard time getting information from you, they're going to be less likely to use you in their story (especially if there are competitors who have the same product and are easier to work with). There's no point writing about someone or something that's difficult for readers to access.

Be everywhere

Establish yourself as an expert on social media.

Go out and meet people in person.
Build a web presence.
Create a following.
Find your niche, and then own it.

Make connections

Make connections with journalists, editors, PR people and other influencers in your industry. These are the people who can help you get press. Get to know them. In fact, get to know anyone and everyone who has anything to do with your business or even personal life. You never know when you might need a favor (like press) from someone so be friendly and helpful whenever possible. Don’t kick dogs (or cats), and always tip your waiter. Like I said… it’s the small things.

Make it easy

You want to make it as easy as possible for journalists to talk about and write about you. This is why you need to be easy to contact, have a well-curated website, have a well-organized press page, have a media kit and have a press release ready. You should also have someone on your team who is responsible for answering questions from journalists and a PR and Press team (like the incredible folks at Ace of Spades Agency for example) who have all of this information readily available when you need it.

Have interesting ideas

This might seem like an obvious one, but you need a unique angle because even in a non-saturated niche we all have competition.

Have unique (or even polarizing and controversial) ideas.
Have an interesting way of communicating those ideas.
Make your ideas relevant to the audience you’re pitching.
Do something memorable enough that people will want you on their show or interview you for their article.

Press will make your business grow if you play your cards right

One of the best and most effective ways to grow your business is through the press, as it can drive sales, website traffic, brand awareness, and social media followers. In fact, we've seen email signups double for our customers after being interviewed on a TV show.

If you think about it, this makes sense—people trust what they read in magazines or newspapers much more than they do an advertisement. A positive article that praises your business will be perceived as more credible and unbiased than a paid ad.

Authenticity shines through well-placed Press and has a longer-term, higher ROI than ads, which is why getting your personal brand in the press should be a top priority if you want to scale your legacy business from simply a company into a well-respected brand.

…And while we’re talking cards, what better one to have in your hand than the Ace of Spades?

10 Ways to Get into the Press