Make it easy for people to find you and reach out to you. That means making sure you have an online presence.<ul><li>Have a website that clearly states the name of your business and what you do. </li><li>Include a contact email; not just a contact form. Reporters will likely be reaching out to multiple businesses, and they want to be able to track that they’ve reached out to you.</li><li>Make your location address prominent (if applicable). List the city where you are based and your business phone on your website where they’re easy to find.</li><li>Include social handles where you are most active so reporters can learn more about you and how you engage your audience. </li></ul>

Have a website with pertinent contact information

Reporters, producers, casting agents — all of them are scouring social channels to find their next story or star. When covering food trends, for example, reporters will search Instagram or TikTok looking for purveyors who are partaking in that particular trend.Additionally, if you build an engaged following, you become more attractive for media opportunities as publishers and producers see that you have an audience. You don’t have to be on every single channel. Pick one or two that you can consistently keep updated.

Be active on social media

<ul><li>Invest in professional, well-lit, high-resolution headshots that show you in your element and represent your brand. </li><li>Get a posed headshot, some action shots, or shots with you and your product, and shots with you and any co-founders, if applicable. </li><li>Ensure you have both horizontal and vertical options. </li><li>A good photo can mean the difference between you being the story’s image headliner or you being buried in the middle of the article with no visuals.</li></ul>

Get headshots

Good product shots can get you higher billing in an article. For example, if an online publication chooses a product of yours for a piece on “Coziest home decor you have to buy now” and you have a nice image of it, your product may end up being the face of the article.

Have good product shots

Is your business Black or LGBTQ+ owned in an industry that largely isn’t diverse? Is being eco-friendly a big part of your mission? Are you at the cutting edge of your industry? Do you have a particularly unique or interesting expertise? Do you give back to the community? This is the place to tell your story — a story that a reporter or producer can turn around and pitch to their leadership as a reason why YOU will be interesting to their audience.

Have a thoughtful About Us section

Having video of yourself can capture the attention of people scouting for everything from local and national morning TV shows to digital content for online publications, or even competition shows. You don’t need to invest in some pricey shoot either; a great video can be shot and edited on your phone.

Consider having video on your website

If a reporter is doing a story on wellness trends in Los Angeles, for example, they may start their research by Googling spas in the area. You want to show up in those results.In addition to having your business name, address, and phone number on your site, confirm your business is listed in Google My Business, Yelp, and even the local Yellow Pages, and optimize those listings.