Securing free publicity in the media is a great way for you to promote your photography business.

Yet, it is not usually something that just happens without significant effort on your part. Sadly, opportunities rarely just land at your door.

You’ll need to be both proactive and reactive in your PR approach if you want your photography business to be featured in the media.

Three ways to secure free publicity for your photography business

When targeting the media, whether that’s newspapers, magazines, online, radio or TV, I would recommend that you use a combination of these three strategies:

1. Proactively pitch your original news and stories to the press

Press releases and tailored media pitches are the most common way of doing this.

Identify the media publication or journalists you are interested in reaching out to, and then offer them your news.

2. Respond to requests from journalists who are already working on commissioned features

The #journorequest hashtag is a great source of opportunities.

If you can provide exactly what a journalist needs for an already-commissioned article and can provide it quickly, you’re in with a chance of being featured.

3. Leverage hot, topical news stories and join in on the conversation

By targeting the media in relation to stories and topics that journalists are already talking and writing about, you may be able to shoehorn yourself into the news agenda.

This technique is known as ‘newsjacking’. It relies on you being able to find a fresh angle on a current news story.

Pitching an opinion piece or providing an expert commentary are two examples of how you may do this successfully.

Help journalists find you

If you are keen to secure publicity for your photography business, it is also worth me stressing the importance of making yourself visible online.

Journalists use the internet to research and discover prospective experts, businesses and potential case studies to include in their work.

  • They scour the web looking for people to feature
  • And they use the web to research people who get in touch with them.

So whether you are proactively pitching to the media, reacting to a #journorequest or aiming to news jack, you can be sure that if you contact a journalist, one of the first things that they are likely to do is to Google you!

They’ll want to know whether you are as relevant, influential and as experienced as you claim. Essentially, are you a credible expert or potential source of information for their article?

Which is why an up to date online profile is important.

Include your contact information

So, with this in mind, I’d urge you to optimise your online presence.

Make it as easy as possible for journalists to find you online. And once they do, make it easier for them to grasp what it is that you can potentially offer them.

Complete the bio sections of all your online profiles, including on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, and outline clearly what it is that you do and your specific expertise.

A final tip: Be sure to include your email and phone number! This may greatly increase the likelihood that a journalist gets in touch with you since you are making it as easy for them as possible to make direct contact.

Aim to serve journalists

Aim to serve journalists and make life as easy as possible for them.

If you do, you may well be successful in securing high-profile, free publicity for your photography business.

If you’ve found this useful, you might like my free PR and marketing tips which I send out to my email subscribers. You can sign up to receive those here.

Which of these three PR approaches has worked best for you? Do let me know in the comments!