Pitch Yourself as a Go-To Source of Real Estate Information

Raise your profile and reach new potential clients by being a source for the media. Being cited as an expert in an article may lead readers to seek you out, drive traffic to your website, or improve search engine optimization for your name or company. Here are ways you can build a relationship with publishers in your market.

Find the right outlet and contact

Collect magazines, newspapers, and a list of websites that cover your area. Pay attention to reporters and editors covering real estate and track down their direct business contact information. For newspapers or magazines, reporter contact information can typically be found on article pages or in a masthead, which is the list of people who work for the publication. 

Start with a low-pressure introduction

If your goal is to become an ongoing source for the publication, don’t start with a hard pitch of a specific property or industry recognition. Introduce yourself, your business, what you specialize in, and the ways your expertise or skills might be able to help the writer.

Have something to offer

Real estate writers don’t have your first-hand experience in the market or access to the same data sources as you. Provide data they can’t access without you, or offer to comment on a trend they’re writing about. You also can volunteer to answer more opened-ended inquiries or be a sounding board for article ideas.

If you have a trend, pitch it

Be proactive about pitching ideas and topics you think might be interesting to a publication’s readers if you haven’t seen it covered. You know the market and real estate consumers best. Although not every pitch will turn into a story, good ideas will earn you calls when a reporter or editor is looking for a real estate angle.

Create mutual respect

You may not understand why your favorite pitch went nowhere or it took the writer over a week to respond, but juggling deadlines can be just as difficult as managing clients. If you respect their time and expertise as writers and editors, the reporters and editors will respect yours.