I have been a journalist for 20+ years. I have found that every good business has a story, but not every entrepreneur behind that good business knows how to sell that story to the media. Consequently, some businesses never get media attention while others seem to be favorite resources.

While blogging, creating YouTube videos, your own Internet radio show, video podcast, and RSS feeds are great ways to gain exposure, being quoted in a traditional news source adds credibility. Becoming the “go-to expert” on a media list can equate to powerful exposure.

Utilizing the media to grow your business is nothing new. All businesses can benefit from the exposure and attention and the media daily turns to companies and entrepreneurs for expert advice.

However, understanding how to gain the media’s interest requires inside knowledge of the industry. That’s exactly what I am going to give you in this blog.

1. Network with reporters. Just as it’s always good to know a great attorney, it’s also good to know a quality reporter. Many reporters have blogs and Web sites. If you post comments and begin feeding them unique and interesting stories, you’ll find that reporters will eagerly welcome your posts, emails, and even calls. Don’t waste their time. Be direct and offer pertinent and timely information.

Remember that reporters typically are responsible for multiple stories in a day so they are very busy. They also get pitched ideas (many bad ones).

What makes a story idea good? It has to have widespread interest coupled with a personal aspect. So don’t just pitch your company and/or product. Instead, offer help first, information that will benefit the public. Then show how the personal element of the story plays a vital part.

For example, if you’re a company that specializes in cleaning out foreclosures, you could grab the media’s attention because the real estate debacle is a hot topic. So, you might pitch the story to the media by saying that your company cleans X foreclosures each week (assuming X is a relatively high number) and that after cleaning foreclosed homes your company has compiled a list of the top 10 items that are frequently found in foreclosed homes. These are things that all buyers need to know about before they consider purchasing a foreclosure.

Now, this assumes that what you find in the foreclosures is interesting and important to buyers. I have interviewed many people who deal with foreclosures from the banks to the real estate agents and typically there are similarities with foreclosed properties. Buyers would be wise to check the properties for these issues before buying.

The point of the above example is to use statistics and tangible information, then to couple it with a hot topic that the media is caught up in.

2. Make it easy to locate the “go-to expert” in your company for an interview. I have called companies for interviews and been told “We’d love to do this story but the only person who can do the interview is our CEO and he won’t be back for a few hours.” What a shame, so I find another “go-to expert” and get my story filed that same day. The other company gets the free publicity because that company had a “go-to expert” ready and willing to speak to the media.

What this entails is educating many people on the subject of how to talk to the media. Make sure, at the very least, that your top tier of management is prepared to do an interview with a reporter.

Also, make sure that your front office knows what to do when the media calls. Savvy companies have media procedure policies in place. The front office doesn’t just send an inquiry from a reporter into a CEOs voice mail box. Instead, the receptionist gets the information from the reporter, locates the appropriate person for the interview, follows up with the reporter via email and/or telephone, which gives the company ample opportunity to get free publicity through the media.

Unfortunately, I can’t count the number of times that successful connection doesn’t happen because the company doesn’t have media procedure policies in place or the receptionist/staff couldn’t be bothered with a call from a reporter (because it’s not viewed as a sales call). How silly! That call could generate extraordinary publicity and future sales.

3. Have real clients and people available that the media can interview. It’s vital to have past clients that you can recommend for the media interview. Sticking with the above example, the Trash-Out companies (as they’re called) should have a list of people (for instance, from the bank that hired the company) that can be referred to the media. If you’re a remodeling company, give actual clients’ names and contact information. Make sure you’ve pre-screened these clients and know that they can do a quality interview. Nothing is more frustrating than getting a lead for an interview from a company and then having the interview be awful because the referred client isn’t articulate or refused the interview.

4. Have a personal touch to the story you are pitching. The media is always looking for the personal story to tell. So, using the example earlier about the company that cleans foreclosed properties, an interesting angle would be if company X found something of value or mystery (such as the skeleton found in an LA foreclosed property). Depending on what the item was, that could make a very intriguing and possibly emotional story for the news media.

5. Think like a reporter before you pitch to a reporter. Here’s the point--not every company has a juicy tale to tell, so that’s where creativity comes into play. You have to think like a reporter before you pitch a story to a reporter. If you’re pitching a story to a TV reporter, think about what video the reporter would use to tell the story. Did you know that some good stories are turned down (or get very little air time) on TV because there just isn’t any compelling video to accompany the story? It’s like saying you’ve got a face for radio! Sometimes the story is better for print or radio.

Did Tropicana blow it?

 Sometimes new is simply not better. Of course, it's a matter of opinion but if you no longer stand out in the world of products then you're going to lose consumers. 

Recently, Tropicana created a new look for its OJ carton and, well, the new look (to many consumers) looked bland, unrecognizable and generic. The new marketing created such controversy that the company sucked it up and crushed the new look. "Do any of these package-design people actually shop for orange juice," complained one writer of an email message. Thus, the old packaging prevailed. 

It wasn't just that the packaging looked so generic, consumers complained that it made it harder to identify which variety of OJ was in the carton. 

Actually creation and innovation are part of the business of continually marketing products and services. But remember that just because those inside (working for the company) may be tired of a particular look, the consumers might not. And, in fact, the consumers (with any luck) have come to recognize a product's particular packaging and look. It helps them easily identify it and quickly put it in their shopping cart. 

Consumers want reliability. They want products in the same location in stores. They don't want to have to search up and down aisles and have to relocate items every single time they go to the market. They want consistency. 

Moral of the story: if it ain't broken don't fix it. Keep it simple for consumers. And remember, just like in journalism, don't bury the lead.

If you're selling a product, make it easy for consumers to know exactly what they're getting or they might just look elsewhere.