How to get press and build media relationships that actually work

Executive overview

Most people pitch cold and wonder why nobody responds. The problem is skipping the relationship-building that makes a yes easy to give.

Harry Campbell of The Rideshare Guy has been quoted in media over 2,000 times using a repeatable system built on providing value first, timing outreach strategically, and making it as easy as possible for reporters and hosts to say yes.

The core insight: make it so easy for someone to say yes that they'd feel bad saying no.

Building the foundation before you ask

• Invest in relationships months or years before you need something — not because you're calculating, but so the ask feels natural when it comes
• Small signals of investment matter: buying someone's product, leaving a podcast review, sharing their article, donating to their cause
• If hitting "send" makes you nervous they'll say no, you haven't done enough groundwork yet
• Phone number as a relationship signal: having someone's number indicates a meaningfully different level of connection
• Writing about people — featuring them in roundups, recommending their work — is a high-leverage way to give first

Crafting a pitch that gets a yes

• Subject line: casual and friendly matches the actual relationship level
• Open with a personal reference that shows you know their world right now
• State what's in it for their audience specifically — not what you want
• Include proof (a link to a track record, a sample, past coverage) so they don't have to dig
• Separate the short "should I care?" section from the longer detail below a visual divider — they'll skim the top and think "this person is thorough"
• If you've done work for them in the past that went unused, a light callback is fair game
• Calibrate effort to confidence: the more certain the opportunity, the more prep work is worth doing

The journalist PR system

• Beat reporters cover the same companies repeatedly — search Google News for recent stories on your topic to build a list of exactly who to contact
• Weekly news roundups featuring reporters serve two purposes: they build your content and create a reason to reach out
• Monthly mail merge (e.g. Gmail Mail Merge plugin): personalised emails to featured reporters noting the specific story you covered, offering access to sources and data, no ask
• Follow up on HARO responses via Twitter — reporters on HARO get hundreds of replies; a quick tweet saying "just replied to your request on X" gets your name in front of them twice
• Stagger touchpoints across days: share their article on day one, follow on Twitter day two, like a few tweets day three, then email — name recognition compounds
• Most replies come on the second, third, or fourth attempt; use Boomerang or similar to set follow-up reminders automatically
• Unlinked mentions: set Google Alerts, then email the reporter (or editor) after the piece runs to politely request a link — frame it as helping their readers find you

Why press is worth pursuing

• High-authority backlinks are what SEO professionals pay thousands of dollars for — earned press delivers the same thing
• A dedicated feature article can still drive significant direct traffic years later
• Press begets more press: once inbound requests arrive, leverage contributors or team members to handle lower-tier outlets, preserving your time for the highest-value ones

Live case study: launching a product with no existing press relationships

• Search Google News for recent stories on your product's problem (e.g. "hidden camera Airbnb") and open the top results
• Identify the journalist, find their Twitter, LinkedIn, and personal or publication email
• Stagger touches: share their article tagging them (day 1), follow on Twitter (day 2), engage with their tweets (day 3), connect on LinkedIn (day 4), email with a soft pitch (later in the week)
• Track in a simple Google Sheet: one row per journalist, columns for each touchpoint and date
• Lead time matters: reporters love exclusives; a pitch sent a month before launch ("not out yet, want to be first?") outperforms a pitch sent on launch day
• If your story is time-sensitive, look for breaking news hooks — a fresh story on the same problem makes your outreach topical and timely

Topical timing and scaling

• People are most likely to say yes when they have something coming out — new book, new product, topical news moment
• Set alerts for relevant news so you can pitch while a story is hot
• The same staggered-relationship system applies to podcast appearances, partnership outreach, and recruiting — not just press
• Block time explicitly (e.g. one hour per week) to work on relationship-building; it rarely happens without a scheduled slot
• For existing key relationships, add them to a recurring check-in cadence in your task manager — monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly as appropriate