Hi, Nina here. This is your weekly newsletter to help you grow
your business and brand. Don’t hesitate to reach out. I’m all ears.

Hi there! Glad you're back  🙌

Last week, I've shared how you can efficiently pitch your story to media outlets with my 3-step method.

This week, I tell you what you can do with your clippings once they are published. 

Working with the media is essential to form the public image of your brand or personality and build trust. However, many founders and entrepreneurs don't recycle their clippings or don't use the most effective method.

So, here are four principles for re-using media coverage you can follow: 

Share Interesting Insights On Social Media

Sharing your media coverage on social media per se isn’t a new idea. You might already do that. 

However, many creators use the most horrible technique possible to do so.

They take the URL of the published article and add a caption that goes something along the line: “I was featured in XY about ZY, you can read it here..."

This is NOT how to do it.

First of all, it resembles bragging and will generally turn people off.

Second, it's uninspiring. It doesn't provide any value to the reader and nobody (except for close family and friends) will click on the article.

Instead, already highlight the most important points from your interview in the caption. 

• Mention the marketing tips your audience can use in their daily lives.
• Talk about industry trends that help marketers do their jobs better in 2022.
• Described a journaling practice helping writers be creative.

Give your readers the juicy stuff, so they feel prompted to read further. Sharing media coverage is not about selling anything but rather providing genuine value.

Include It On Your Website

You probably know the concept of social proof. Sharing testimonials or star ratings is one way to create credibility for your products and services.

Displaying the logos of media outlets, TV shows, podcasts, or even other blogs you've been mentioned in is another way to do so - especially if you don't have any testimonials yet.

Here’s a picture of how an international startup includes their media clippings in a “Mentioned in” section:

Always link the logo to the original coverage when available so your reader can read further. 

Use It For Content Production

There are two ways you can use media coverage in your content:

1. as inspiration
2. as a source

Let’s take a look at each one:

Coming up with great topics all the time is not an easy task. Identifying the right content pieces which also resonate with your audience is even more difficult.

People often advise you to analyze social media comments, interact with other creators, or talk to your customers to identify client-centric content.

Another source of great content is media clippings. If a media outlet has published a topic (either with you or with another entrepreneur), it’s definitely content you could exploit further.

Try to distill the article, podcast, or guest blog into as many content pieces as possible, turning them into posts, tweets, articles, or videos.

Secondly, if you're mentioned in the article, you can link to this very article as a source in future content. It increases the quality of your work, builds trust, and serves as an external link for SEO.

Build Relationships

Another mistake I see many founders and entrepreneurs make is cutting off the conversation with the journalist as soon as their article is published. Until one day in a few years, they again try to contact the reporter for another interview.

This is NOT how media relations are built and maintained.

First of all, the journalist is unlikely to remember you three years from now and you’ll again have to compete against all the other brands which want to be discovered.

Second, you’re leaving a lot of potential on the ground, if you don’t hold contact with the journalists. 

Connect with them on social media and interact with their content from time to time. Just to keep your name on their radar. 

If you engage with their content occasionally, they might even interact with yours too and who wouldn't like to have comments from a Forbes journalist on their LinkedIn posts? 

This would definitely make an impression on your readers!

“Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date."
– David Beebe

🍑  Are you struggling with your headlines? I'm personally using the Headline Studio by CoSchedule but there is another web application called Blogabout which also gives you headline ideas based on keywords you inserted. You might want to check them out, they've truly improved my headline production.

🍋  I came across another article by Forbes, in which a journalist explains how entrepreneurs can use Google Trends to analyze their company's market share and success. Might be a useful tool for later in your founder's journey.

Currently Reading: The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia.

Up next: Believe it by Jamie Kern Lima.