5 ways to land a story in top-tier publications

Grabbing a coveted byline in Forbes, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur and more can be gold to PR pros, but it takes persistent effort and patience. Follow these secrets for getting in.

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“How fast can you get my business featured in The Huffington Post ?”

If I had a dime for every time a client or potential client asked me some variation of that question, I wouldn’t have to do PR anymore.

It’s not a bad question, but clients’ longings for Tier 1 media coverage are often misguided.

Good press coverage should be a helpful tool, not a means to an end. PR is a process, and a valuable one at that. A single placement in a Tier 1 media outlet can open doors, but you must have realistic expectations about getting there, and you should know how to make the most of it after the publicity happens.

Remember these guidelines:

1. Stop insisting on features.

If you’ll accept only features or profile pieces in major media outlets, your chances of ever getting covered are severely diminished.

Margie Zable Fisher wrote:

Every client wants a big profile of the company on the cover of a major magazine or newspaper, but most stories are about a “trend,” several companies, or some recent news with quotes from experts. Profiles are few and far between.

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