5 secret behaviours of our most successful experts

By Emily Morgan, Media Engagement Manager, Media Stable.

Some Media Stable experts just nail it with their content, and get interviews for almost every piece they put out, time after time. It’s not going to be the case for everyone, because media is fickle, topics are not always perennial, and some pieces are just stronger than others. Sometimes your great idea will be usurped by a huge news day with some world event that dominates the news for days.

But for the experts who seem to snag it every time, it’s not just down to dumb luck. After observing the different ways our experts operate, it’s apparent that there are some common traits and behaviours of the super successful.

Here are their secrets:

1. They send content to us regularly – like weekly

Experts who continue to get great traction will send content to Media Stable at least fortnightly, probably more often than that. It’s a numbers game and they get that – the more content you send us, the more your name and ideas will be in front of media.

2. They don’t overthink it

They don’t get bogged down in perfectionism or searching for the perfect research statistic or some other piece of information. If they can’t find stats, they turn their piece into an opinion. They understand we are here to edit and polish content, and they trust we can do that. So they take 5 minutes to bash out a 100 word piece, email it over and let us edit before we put it out. They don’t stress over it and they keep it simple.

3. They’re willing to talk about a variety of topics

They don’t limit themselves to just one topic within their field, they open themselves up to talking about a variety of topics and hang on for the ride. This broadens the application of your expertise, and opens up the minds of media to what you can speak about.

4. They stay relevant – use the news to leverage their opinions

They keep track of the news and what is happening in their industry/relevant industries and they comment on it. They come up with interesting opinions on the news, and they get it out to media the same day the story has hit the news. If you’re a day late, you’re too late, and they know it. It’s not that they don’t do the proactive, non-timely pitches too, but they mix them in with the news comment pieces and that’s the best formula.

5. They draw lines between topics

There is an expression in the editorial worlds that goes like this… “you’re drawing a long bow”. I’m not advocating that you should start forming long reaching opinions, but successful experts know that they need to draw bows, and they get us to decide if the bow is too long. That’s our area of expertise, so they lean on us. It’s all about the angle, so if you’re really worried about it then drop us a line with the news story attached and we can help you decide if it’s worth commenting on.

So with this in mind, my challenge to you is adopt all of these traits and behaviours for the next month and see if it makes a difference to your media traction.