How I got National press coverage (for free) and you can too

How did this article I wrote get published on Yahoo Small Business Advisor?



Warning: this is the longest email newsletter I've written, but if you read it until the end you'll see exactly how I got published on Yahoo, step-by-step.

Estimated reading time - 4 minutes. Don't have the time now? Print this and read it when you can. This how-to article won't go live on my website for another week.

Here's what I didn't do - 

1. Fill out a form on Yahoo's website asking them to publish my article
2. Send an email to a Yahoo editor
3. Start sending tweets to people who work there

Here's what I did do - I created a very cool infographic. Actually, my buddy (who is an awesome graphic designer) made the infographic. More on that later, including the way you can win your own infographic to use in your business.



"So you sent the infographic and article to Yahoo, then?" Nope.

Yahoo, like many gigantic companies, uses syndicated feeds for most of their content. Notice how on my byline it says, "Business 2 Community" after it? 

Instead of going straight to Yahoo and asking them to publish my article, I went to a site that already has a relationship with Yahoo. Yahoo already trusts Business2Community.com, so I went to them first. Was it as simple as filling out a form on their site? 

Think again.

First I searched the Business2Community website and did some research. What articles on their site currently have a lot of shares? What kind of articles are interesting to their target audience? I then found the submission form on the Business2Community site and tailored my message for their audience.

It took almost a month after I completed the form - and two back-and-forth emails with an editor - to get approved. I wrote my first article for them, submitted it, and hoped they liked it.

They did.

So that's it? Just go on vacation and the rest magically happens, right?

Nope. 

Now I really had to get to work. I let everyone in my social networks know that this article was a big deal and asked them to help me share it. I posted the request on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. I sent individual emails to friends asking them to help promote it. I needed my friends to tell their friends if I had any hope of rising to the top of the Business2Community pages.

Did it work?

The next day after going live, my article from the Business2Community site appeared on the front page of the Branding section of their website (TWICE!)