Posted April 7, 2020
With almost all the news currently focusing on Covid-19, the media are looking for a huge variety of angles to focus their stories on. Whether you are a franchise, small business, corporate, not-for-profit or a school, you could be the next story.
While that scares some people, it’s actually a massive opportunity. The profile and reputation-building benefits of media publicity are unmatched anywhere else. However, there are things you need to know about how talking to reporters is quite different from any other form of communication.
This will be one focus of this Covid-19 blog series, as will how you can get proactive with the media to grow your business over the next few months.
What to do when that call comes in
When the call from the reporter comes in, there are two things you need to do. Ask as many questions as you want. You would want to know about his/her proposed focus, who else is being spoken to and what type of interview it is.
The next thing is to buy some time. Tell the reporter you are currently busy, but could talk soon. That will give you time to clear your head and prepare the message you want to get across in the interview. Remember this is a great opportunity and you want to influence what the story says. In other words, you don’t want to treat it as a Q&A. You will answer questions, but you will also have your own points to get across.
How we do that will be the focus of the next blog.