061: How to get Media Coverage in Real Estate with Josh Elledge

Some of you may have noticed I have been in the media a bit recently. I was featured in a Washington Post associated press article about real estate agents a couple of months ago, which was picked up by MSN, Yahoo, Time, and many other major media outlets. I even had to do a photo shoot for the article, which was extremely cool. I did not get that media coverage by sitting around and waiting for people to find me. In fact, I signed up for a public relations company to learn how to reach reporters and the media.

Josh Elledge is the head of that company (UpEnd PR) and helps many people get PR and has been mentioned over 2,000 times by the media himself. Josh also runs a savings blog and podcast called Savingsangel.com, which has had over 5 million dollars in sales, mostly thanks to media coverage. Josh works with real estate investors and real estate agents to gain PR and improve their business.

How did Josh get started working with the media?

Josh got his start with the media, by becoming a journalist with the Navy. He made many contacts in the industry and had instant clout because he was in the Navy. After leaving the Navy, Josh worked for public relations firms and started his own companies. At one point, he even owned a small newspaper. While Josh was starting new companies, he knew he had to save money, so he and his wife learned how to budget and save as much as they could.

After encouragement from his friends, Josh then started Savings Angel, a blog and podcast that teaches others how to save. Josh grew his blog and podcast using almost entirely free media coverage and estimates he has spent less than $500 on advertising (Josh gives many great tips on how real estate agents or investors can save money on this episode). Thanks to the success Josh had getting media coverage for himself, he started mentoring others on how to get coverage as well.

Why is media coverage important for real estate agents and real estate investors?

Media coverage is obviously very helpful to me, because I run a blog. The more exposure I get, the more traffic I get and the more books I can sell (Thank you to everyone who left a review for one of my books on Amazon and emailed me; I mailed out over 50 autographed books this week)! Media coverage may not seem that important to real estate agents or real estate investors, but it can be very helpful.

• Real estate agents: National media coverage may not help real estate agents get business, but local coverage can be huge. Some local newspapers and magazines like to go to one or two agents in their area to get quotes. That is free advertising for those agents. Media coverage also gives credibility to agents. If the media thinks the agent is good enough to be in the paper or on television, they must be a great agent!
• Real estate investors: I can vouch that having a good reputation gets me more deals. I have built that reputation over 15 years of investing in real estate and being a real estate agent. Getting media coverage, can drastically shorten the time it takes to build a good reputation. If a real estate investor is trying to buy a house from an off-market seller, being in the media will most likely make that investor seem more trust worthy.

Josh helps clients get media coverage on both the national and local level.

What does Josh think some of the most important things anyone looking for media coverage should do?

Josh has helped me with many parts of my business to make it more media friendly. He gives some specific tips for agents and investors to make themselves more media friendly.

• Website: When you are a professional, your website is what most people see first. If you are an agent, investor, or even an insurance agent, people will search for your website. If you are trying to get media coverage, reporters will check out your website as well. Making sure your website is mobile friendly, updated often, and has a media kit is very important.
• Digital reputation: If you search for your name online, what do you find? Is it good or bad? People Google other people all the time to see what they can find. If you are in the media, have a good website, or even a LinkedIn profile, good things usually show up first.
• Social media: Many reporters love to use Twitter. If you have an active Twitter account and use it to promote reporters, they will be much more likely to use you in a story. It is also important to have a solid LinkedIn profile and LinkedIn can be a great place to contact the media as well.

One of the worst things you can do is email a bunch of reporters (who don’t know you) asking to be in stories.

How can you contact Josh?

The best way to reach Josh is to find him on Upendpr.com. He has a ton of free resources and more involved coaching programs as well. He has done an awesome job for me.