Instant Credibility (Part 1): How to Get Your Name in the Media (and Keep it There)

What a perfect day to post this! Check out this article about me in Sunday’s Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_13182878

Now, do you think it would help you raise private capital (or do anything for that matter) if you had press coverage like that for your business? I literally had inquiries from new investor prospects before I had my first sip of coffee yesterday! Last week, I posted an article about how to raise private capital without “advertising”. You can clearly see the result of it now, but how can you do the same?

Let’s cut right to the chase: Good news about you and/or your company in the media gives you credibility. Why? Because you are big enough to be in paper/magazine/tv and “they” must trust you if that’s the case. Who are “they”? It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because most people think “they” are smart and trustworthy. So if “they” trust you, then most other people will trust you too. “They” are really people looking for a story to tell in order to 1. Provide information that may interest their audience, and 2. Sell newspapers or magazines. So why not help them do just that while picking up your piece of the free trust pie that is being passed around? Granted, “they” can paint you in a bad light just as easily as a good one, and will sell just as many papers because of it. It’s your job to get started out on the right foot from day one. Here’s how:

Establish Your “Experience”
If you are brand new in the business of real estate investing, or any other business, it may seem difficult to get your foot in the media door. Journalists are looking for “experts” to quote in most of their articles. Good news: An “expert” is defined as someone who knows more than the average person about any particular topic. If average is 50% of the population, and you have completed one investment property deal (bought one, sold one, heck…even LOOKED at one), then you are now way, way above average and now qualified as an expert. Don’t think I’m serious? Take another look at the article that I was quoted in above. I’m not the only person quoted in there. The writer was quoting me as a credible expert, but also intentionally quoted a beginning investor with much less experience. He even got to say “I’m looking to borrow money from someone else’s IRA.” How’s that for not advertising? So how do you get noticed by a journalist as a new or experienced investor?

Relevant Compliments
I have to give some credit to Than Merrill of FortuneBuilders and A&E’s “Flip This House” for this step. He’s the one that originally gave me this idea for this strategy at his Wholesaling and Marketing Bootcamp a few years ago. It’s worked great ever since!

Here are the steps to get your name into the media as an expert in your niche (example: my “niche” is private funding for real estate investment deals):

1. Start with your local newspaper: Find an article about your industry or niche. In my case, I look for articles written about real estate investing that include quotes from actual real estate investors in my marketplace. If the articles also talk about private funding, all the better, but general articles about real estate investing are really good enough. Also, read the entire article and make sure that the writer frames the expert in a positive light. You don’t want to get a reporter that goes around bashing people. If you can help it, you only want your name in the media if they are saying good things about you.

When looking for an article that sounds like something you would want to be mentioned in, remember that even a good interview with a reporter does not necessarily yield a good article about you. Journalists have editors who control the content of their articles. If the editor wants a negative spin because it sells more papers, then that’s what you get. In these cases, I always remember something that Donald Trump once said: “It doesn’t matter how you get your name in the media, just get it in. People won’t remember how they heard your name, but they will remember your name just the same.” (That was not an exact quote, but you get the message).

2. Construct a compliment to the writer: Writers love to get feedback on their work. Especially the good kind, and especially from people that don’t want anything in return. That’s where you come in. Via e-mail, you will send the writer a message thanking them for the article, giving them praise, explaining why you are qualified to issue the compliment and why the article meant something to you. You will leave a way for them to contact you, but will ask for NOTHING in return. Here’s how it might look if you are somewhat new in the business:

Dear Joe,
Thanks for your great article in yesterday’s paper entitled “No Banks Needed: How to fund your next real estate deal with self-directed IRA’s.” I am a relatively new real estate investor and have struggled for the last year to get 3 very simple deals funded. As the mortgage companies and banks were no help (as you well know), I turned to private money and was quickly able to fund my deals. It has really turned out to be a great win-win partnership between me and my lenders. I was so glad to see your article yesterday because there has been so much negative talk about investments that most people just want to keep their head in the sand and not talk about it. Articles like yours give people a new way of looking at things and open up opportunities for investors on all sides where there may not have been previously.

Thank you so much and keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

Peggy Smith
808-555-5555
peggy@happyhomebuyers.com

Now, if you received that e-mail, how would you feel about that person? What would you want to do after reading that e-mail? Would you think, “oh, that’s nice” and delete the e-mail? Or, would you write them back?

Here’s an example of how your e-mail might look if you are an experienced investor:

Hi Joe,
Thanks for your great article in yesterday’s paper entitled “No Banks Needed: How to fund your next real estate deal with self-directed IRA’s.” I am the President of a local real estate investing firm and we’ve been buying dozens of homes, renovating, then selling or renting them during the past many years. As the mortgage market started constricting over a year ago, we began looking for a solution to our funding dilemma. We ended up establishing a relationship with a local self-directed IRA company that turned out to be a great success for both of us. They educate their clients about possible investment opportunities within their IRA’s, and we educate them on the in’s and out’s of certain investment models that we can provide. The IRA company is happy because their clients have a good place to invest their capital. The investors are happy because they have a safer, secured investment with a strong yield, and we are happy to have a small “private bank” of sorts from which to fund our projects. Articles like yours really help to keep people open-minded about alternative investment models and bring light to options that most people never knew existed. I think you are doing people a lot of good.

Thanks again, and keep up the great work!

Best Regards,

Ernest Jones
President, EJ Capital Group
808-555-5555
ej@ejcapitalgroup.com

This time the writer received a compliment from an “expert”. They take this seriously because they just received a big pat on the back from an “important person”. Not only that, but we told a short story of our success in the e-mail. Since writers are always looking for something to write about, you may have just given them their next story, along with a credible expert to quote in it (that would be YOU).

Your homework this week is to try out the above strategy. Contact 2-3 local journalists and follow the instructions above. Wait patiently and see what happens. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get a response, but also don’t be surprised if you get a response and request for an interview right away! If you try this and don’t get anywhere, keep it up. Persistence beats resistance. If you have some success, or challenges, please leave your comments here so we can talk about it further.

Next week, we’ll dig into Part 2 of this strategy and discuss how to “snowball” your success above and take it to the national level on a consistent basis. I will also discuss the effective use of press releases and the power they have to drive massive traffic to your website and produce more interviews for you if used properly.

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