Now is a great time to request press coverage for your coworking space.
Your pivot to virtual coworking, your insights into work-from-home culture, and your perspective on community and the future of work make you—as a coworking space operator—very compelling to media outlets and their audiences.
As you work to retain members and attract people to your virtual offerings, the local press can be immensely helpful in getting the word out and reaching new audiences.
Press releases are foundational to your media outreach, but you have to get them right.
In 10+ years as a professional writer, I’ve seen some really good press releases…and a lot of really bad ones. I’ve learned what works–and what doesn’t.
Here are seven easy to fix mistakes you may be making with press releases.
1. Wrong Publication
Crop dusting every publication in the state with your press outreach efforts is a waste of time. Research publications and programs that cover projects, companies and initiatives like yours. One well-researched request to an appropriate publication will get you much better results than a mass mailing to irrelevant publications.
2. Wrong Person
I’ll let you in on some insider wisdom: editors and producers are notoriously unresponsive because they are buried in emails and requests. If you have an inside track to an editor, great. If not, research a writer or reporter who has covered stories aligned with yours and reach out directly to them. These people are far more likely to open and respond to your email. Bonus: They can pitch your story idea directly to the decision makers.
3. Wrong Audience
Know the audience of the publication you’re reaching out to. If their readership or viewership isn’t a good fit for your space or project, you won’t get any traction even if you manage to get coverage. Make sure the publication’s audience is generally aligned with your market.
4. Wrong Time
If you send your request too late, the outlet won’t have time to assign and create the story. If you send it too early, your story could be forgotten or feel stale. Hit the sweet spot between the two.
5. Wrong Information
Media outlets want the information they need to cover a story laid out directly for them. Make sure that the essential information and assets are included in your outreach.
6. Wrong Approach
When reaching out to media outlets, don’t think like a business owner trying to get press. Instead, think like an editor, whose job is to find and share interesting, engaging information.
7. Lack of Professionalism
Writers, editors and producers see thousands of press releases. Make yours stand out. In my mini-course, How to Write a Press Release for Your Coworking Space, I show space operators how to plan, write and send press releases like a pro.
The course includes access to my own press release template and an example release you can use for inspiration.
Press outreach can be an incredibly valuable tool to market your workspace and strengthen your brand—and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to do it well. I’ll show you how it’s done.
Learn more: How to Write a Press Release for Your Coworking Space
Elevate your indie coworking space and brand in The Lab.
Get the education, support and community you neeD
