R
Rebecca West
Guest
40+ small business owners reveal best practices for getting free PR & media mentions
Are YOU the next big thing? | Image via Canva
Pitching to journalist sources like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) and SOS (Source of Sources) is a fantastic way to boost your business’s online presence — but only if you actually get quoted.
As an interior designer who’s landed dozens of print, podcast, radio, and TV features, and now a writer who uses HARO and SOS for my own stories, I’m here to share five best practices that’ll help you land the pitch.
TL;DR: I’m about to tell you to keep your media pitches short and sweet… and yes, I’m also famous for using 42 words when 12 would do.
If you want to skip the fluff and jump right into crafting the perfect pitch, here’s the quick version:5 Tips for Getting Quoted:
- Lead with your clear angle, not your life story.
- Make your pitch memorable with a sticky detail.
- Keep it brief — don’t make journalists dig for the gold.
- Be specific — pick a lane and own it.
- Match your pitch to your website; consistency builds trust.
Real-Life Pitches: The Good, the Bad, and the Wordy
When I put out a media query looking for small business owners who’d found big success by serving a tiny, focused niche, over 40 replies poured in — florists, financial planners, food scientists, brewery architects, and more. Only a handful made the cut. Most either didn’t fit the criteria or were so long-winded that I had to dig for the gold.
I’ll give ya the Dos & Don’ts shortly, but first, an important reminder:
Imperfect pitches can still score mentions, links, and shout-outs. Those are huge marketing wins you can’t get without trying.
The following tips are meant to help improve your chances of getting picked up, but don’t let them hold you back. Pitch even if it’s not perfect, then learn and improve as you go.
That said… if you want your pitch to turn into actual coverage, not just a polite “Thanks!” or (more typically) radio silence, you need to get a few things right.
The 5 Dos & Don’ts of Media Pitching
1. Lead with your angle, not your autobiography
Journalists don’t want your childhood backstory.
Bad opening line:
“My journey into small business started when I was seven…”Oh heavens… I won’t care about your backstory until I understand your pitch.
Good opening line:
“We help local print shops automate their quoting process, just like VistaPrint.”Cool, I get it! I know who they help, and can relate to the “just like VistaPrint” concept even without understanding the industry. Without too much effort I quickly know whether this is the kind of expert I’m looking to quote.
Hook first, history later.
2. Give them a sticky detail they’ll remember
Just like house-hunters create shorthand labels to keep all the homes from all blurring together (“the one with the red kitchen,” “the grandma attic…”), journalists do the same thing for your story. If you want us to cling to the “right” facts, create that mental label for us!
Real examples that nailed it:
- For Keeps Florals — A florist who doesn’t create wedding bouquets. She helps preserve them (and your memories) forever.
- Liz Toombs — An interior designer who specializes in sorority house interiors. She’s completed over 100 in 25 states.
- DesignTeam Plus — The women to call if you want to design a brewery in Michigan. (Their link shows up under tip #5 below.)
Pro tip: You should be able to sum up your pitch in a phrase that would make a powerful, clickable email subject line, about 5–15 words long. Which leads us to the next point….
3. Be brief — don’t make me dig for the gold
If your pitch reads like a novel, at best it’ll get skimmed, at worst, skipped. Keep paragraphs short and lead with your best line. Don’t bury key facts on page 2. There shouldn’t even BE a page two!
The best pitches I got were around 200 words, and rarely more than 300 words: meaty but digestible. Several topped 1,000 words — that’s not a pitch, that’s a novel! Be as brief as you can while still writing in complete, coherent sentences. If we want more, we’ll ask!
4. Be specific — pick a darn lane
If you really want to annoy a journalist, send a pitch that ignores the request or breaks the rules. If we ask for vegan bakery owners, don’t pitch your definitely-not-vegan bakery. This isn’t rocket science.
What we’re really saying is: don’t waste our time. It’s not the journalist’s job to figure out how your story fits our story. Even writers like me who secretly love editing simply don’t have the time to do it for free.
Here’s an example of a vague pitch I got for my article on extreme niching:
Sounds inspiring, but… Which women? What obstacles? In their career? Relationships? Health? There’s a huge difference between empowering a 20-year-old and a 60-year-old, or empowering someone financially vs. physically. Without details, it’s impossible to see the story.
The fix: pick a dang lane. Even if you do help all women with all the things, THIS story has to be about one specific thing. This isn’t a cocktail party where I’ll lean in and say, “Ooh, tell me more!” — it’s a media query.
(NOTE: As a business coach, I help people find that clarity (see below where I workshop this example), but as writers offering free PR opportunities, we expect you to already have that clarity figured out.)
A few more examples of the vague pitches I got:
Errrm… That could mean anything from life coaching to real estate sales. And no, the pitch didn’t get any more specific the more I read.
Mission-driven, sure, but could be a summer camp, corporate training, or yoga retreat. Missing the “who” and “how” that would make this a timely or pertinent business to cover.
First off, that’s a pretty bold set of claims — smells like snake-oil.
Second, avoid generic phrases like “empower,” “unique,” or “transform.” They’re overused and underwhelming. We need to hear about specific results or surprising details if you stand a chance of standing out.
Workshop: What if that first pitch followed Rule #4?
This is what I got
But this would have been SO. MUCH. BETTER.
or
or
What’s the real story? Who knows, and that’s the point! Specifics make it easy for journalists (and clients) to see where you fit. Pick a lane if you want your pitch picked up.
5. Make it consistent: Your website should match your pitch
If I quote you in an article on extreme niching as “short-term rental insurance expert Joe Smith” and your site just says “insurance agent,” I’m not linking it. It’s confusing for readers, bad for SEO, and makes me wonder if I got the wrong person.
This isn’t a deal-breaker for a quick “man on the street” quote, but if you’re pitching yourself as the expert on a topic, your homepage should instantly back that up. Think of it as your digital handshake — when I land there, my trust in your quote should go up, not make me say “Huh?”
The good news? This alignment between pitch and website doesn’t have to be perfect to make a big difference. To show you what I mean, let’s break down three real examples — Good, Better, and Best — to see how closely your pitch and your website need to line up.
Good Better Best: Lining Up Your Pitch and Your Website
GOOD: DesignTeam Plus
The pitch was “Michigan’s go-to, women-owned, brewery design firm,” but their wonderful brewery projects are buried among a mix of other industries. If you want to be known for a niche, lead with it!
A simple fix? Remove photos of non-brewery projects from the homepage (ditching the church and corporate spaces) and replace them with only brewery images. With no other changes, they’ll instantly build trust in their brewery-design expertise. They could also sharpen their tagline from “Innovative Solutionists” to “Innovative Solutionists for Michigan Breweries.” Bold, clear, and memorable.
BETTER: DoSiteBuilder
While DoCorporate.com’s main message is very broad and rather opaque (“Customer Monetization Method: an asset-building approach to customer acquisition and retention”), their pitch about “helping local print shops automate quoting, just like VistaPrint” came with a link to a focused page on exactly that.
Owner Eric Herman’s savvy move? Offering journalists a specific page that backs up his pitch without having to revamp the entire website. It’s a clever strategy for a company testing or leaning into a niche.
BEST: For Keeps Florals
Nailed it. You land on the site and immediately see: pressed-flower preservation for weddings. The visuals, the copy, the vibe — it’s exactly what the pitch promised. If I were writing a story on how to preserve flowers, or featuring “unusual, meaningful gifts for your wedding party,” I’d be thrilled to quote the owner, Grace.
Zero doubt. Zero notes.
Bottom line: If you want press to position you as the person for your niche, make sure the click from the article to your website feels like one seamless story.
Journalists are drowning in terrible pitches.
If you’re putting in the work answering queries, have solid info, and still aren’t getting picked up, the problem may not be what you’re saying, but rather how you’re saying it.
These days, anyone can pitch a journalist — no PR middleman required. That’s great news for small businesses, but it also means writers are buried in bad pitches.
The upside? Most pitches are terrible… so a good one stands out instantly! Play it smart (ie, play by the writer’s rules) and you may get quoted — even if you’re not technically the absolute best source. (Not that you’re not fabulous, it’s just that, when we’re drowning in emails, we all favor the ones that are easiest to understand and use.)
Respect the format:
- Answer exactly what was asked.
- Use bold and bullets to make it skimmable.
- Write in short paragraphs and clear sentences.
Oh, and don’t bother with an AI-generated answer. To paraphrase fellow writer Mark Ellwood, “like canned quotes, obviously AI-written answers will never result in coverage.”
Big picture: Want Press? Get Specific.
Journalists want to feature interesting people doing surprising, meaningful, and useful things. It’s our J.O.B.! But you gotta help us help you.
Zoom out and you’ll see it’s really simple: to get picked up by the media, just answer their question with a clear, focused, and brief message. No fluff, just the good stuff that showcases your actual expertise!
Now go ahead — craft that killer pitch and show us why you’re the one we’ve been waiting for. You’ve got this!
Rebecca West is the creator of the “Nail Your Niche” intensive that helps residential interior designers attract clients eager to hire them. Check out her boutique business school if you need help nailing your niche.
Want more marketing tips and tricks? Subscribe to the Better Marketing newsletter The Marketing Memo here.
Dos & Don’ts for pitching on HARO was originally published in Better Marketing on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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