Get into Top Media

This article was first published in The Huffington Post on January 22, 2016.

The core principle of getting into top media is this: It’s a methodical, holistic, step-by-step process. While top media outlets occasionally feature “newbies,” ie, those not previously featured in other media outlets, they primarily look for individuals who already have established themselves in magazines, newspapers, blogs, and television, for a few reasons:

1. 1. 1. They want to know that this individual can perform.

      Whether engaging a television audience or writing a

   compelling blog post

   , the people featured in top media need to have magnetic draw, to increase eyeballs and drive sales.

1. 1. 1. They are conservative.

      Media at the top has a lot more at risk than smaller, independent media. For this reason, they are far less willing to take a risk. The talent they feature need to have a

   track record in smaller media

   , to ensure this talent is a sound investment. Think about it this way: If you’re about to hire a contractor for work, you want that individual vetted out by someone you trust, right?

1. 1. 1. They are watching their peers.

      While there are very sharp, independent thinking editors and producers out there, marching to the beat of their own proverbial drums, most are in fact looking around at the Joneses of media, to see what everyone else is up to. It’s how they gauge what’s hot and what’s not. If the Joneses are doing it, so will they.

   Media feeds media

    feeds media, in a bandwagon effect.

For all these reasons, you need to build you your media portfolio step-by-step, beginning with the smaller, independent, niche outlets that are willing to take a chance on you, and climbing up from there, one hot media rung at a time. This objective in turn requires a comprehensive and savvy marketing and PR campaign – optimizing your brand and message, identifying and accessing the ideal target audience, strengthening your following and engagement on social media, establishing collaborative relationships with VIPs in your field, and speaking at prestigious venues, in a synergistic, self-reinforcing web.

Did you ever have something on your to-do list that required 10 sub-steps to knock off that one item? Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about.