How do you build relationships with journalists?

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I’ve worked in PR for over two decades, but now anyone with a wifi connection can connect and build relationships with journalists. Here is how to do it.

Don’t make it transactional.

Go into the connection with genuine reciprocity. The mistake I see most people make is to only go into pitching to a journalist with what they can get out of it.

It needs to be less “Dear XX. Here is a press release with the latest news about my product or service I’m trying to sell”

Go in and genuinely ask yourself the questions first:

• What headline would this story have to make people read it?
• Is this going to drive traffic to their site?
• Does my story 100% match their audience?

Remember, news outlets are a business. The way they make money is through clicks, readers and subscribers. In today's digital world, it’s never been more obvious which stories go viral and which make a slow pfffffffffft.

Invite them to stuff.

Own a podcast but want to be featured by a journalist you have no relationship with. Ideally, they are a topic match. Reverse engineer your promotion strategy and invite the person you want to write about…