As a marketing and PR professional for an award-winning, Cincinnati-based agency, most of the time I work behind the scenes on my clients, so to speak. From ghost writing articles to conducting research to coordinating design for materials and outreach efforts, I am not front and center—and that is just fine with me.  

In fact, growing up my mom always wanted me to become an on-air personality—a reporter or news anchor—but I never had any interest in being in front of the camera nor did the unusual hours appeal to my very routine-based personality. However, I recently had the pleasure of working with one of our clients on two media opportunities and wanted to share some things I was reminded of throughout the process: 

• If at first you don’t succeed…follow up on your pitches. It’s easy to assume that there is no interest if you don’t receive a response.  But, that is not always the case. In this instance, both media outlets were interested- it just took a friendly reminder to get the ball rolling.  Why? Who knows. Most likely they were just busy, so it pays off to check back in.  
• Don’t be one-dimensional. Instead, offer up a few different angles/talking points in your pitch to give the producers and talent something to craft their segment around. 
• Always be prepared. And make sure your client is well prepared, too. Conduct media training to review talking points and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse as much as possible to ensure that they are comfortable once the cameras start rolling.  
• Prop it up. Anything you can provide that is visually interesting and helps support the theme and messaging of the segment is appreciated- just make sure to vet any props with the television station ahead of time. 

If you’ve had experience working with the media and have other tips and tricks to share, I’d love to hear them.