How to pitch to Smart Company
How to pitch to Smart Company with Eloise Keating
Founded in 2007, Smart Company is a news website dedicated to Australia’s 2 million small business owners. This is a media outlet that’s crystal clear in its vision: “Our main aim at Smart Company is to provide that helpful content that can make a difference to someone's business. And that's definitely what we strive to [do] each day,” says editor Eloise Keating.
Every article, op-ed, Q&A, or series is geared towards providing small business owners and entrepreneurs with the information they need to succeed. If you think about the Australian Financial Review as talking to the big end of town, Smart Company talks to the one-man and -woman shows, the family business, and the startups who pour blood, sweat, and tears into their business every day. Sound familiar?
Smart Company is Australia’s major source of news and information for small business. And really, it’s no wonder that small biz owners and entrepreneurs need a dedicated media outlet: they account for 35 per cent of Australia’s GDP and employ a whopping 44 per cent of Australia’s workforce.
“small biz owners and entrepreneurs need a dedicated media outlet: they account for 35 per cent of Australia’s GDP and employ a whopping 44 per cent of Australia’s workforce”
If you’re reading this, chances are you’re part of those statistics. That means Smart Company could be the perfect home for your story.
In this episode of Hack Your Own PR Podcast, I spoke to editor Eloise Keating about what business owners can do to maximise their chances of appearing in Smart Company.
The good news is that Smart Company absolutely loves hearing directly from small business owners. So, if you’re handling your own PR, you’re already at an advantage. Eloise told us that readers to love to hear about stories of growth, the highs and lows along the way, the things you’ve learned, and the advice you want to share with other small business owners just like you.
Other tips Eloise offered included exactly when to send your pitch, the types of articles they will and won’t publish, what to include in your subject line and how you can prepare for an interview.
What does Smart Company publish?
SmartCompany and Startup Smart were really started to offer something different to entrepreneurs in Australia,” says Eloise. “We try and keep that mission going by offering a little bit extra, I suppose, or a different perspective on a lot of business issues; really honing in on what's most important to small businesses at the moment.”
The team publish 11 or 12 articles a day, including those written by their team but featuring quotes from small businesses, as well as guest articles written by experts in small business (usually small business owners). This is great news for you: SmartCompany readers LOVE to hear from other small business owners.
In short, what SmartCompany likes to share is thought leadership. And definitely not product placement. Thought leadership can come in many forms, from a business owner talking about their journey and what they’ve learned along the way to a marketing expert writing an op-ed on what they want to see less of in their field.
Each day, the team focus on publishing the right mix of stories to meet the needs of their readers. As you know all too well, the small business world is full of lots of different folks. SmartCompany tries to cater to interests from tech to real estate, hospitality to retail and everything in between.
What is the smaRT COMPANY publishing cycle?
There are two newsletters that drive the publishing cycle: the SmartCompany Daily sent at 12.30 pm each day, and Weekend Smarts.
At the daily 8:30 am editorial meeting, the content for that day’s newsletter is decided. That means sending a pitch early in the morning if it relates to current affairs is a good idea! However, the team will work on stories for the next day in the afternoon so if you’ve got a hot take on a news story that’s developed throughout the day, there’s no harm in pitching it after lunch.
If you send a pitch early in the morning hoping for a same-day story, make sure you’re available to drop everything and do an interview. And state this in your pitch, right next to where you include your contact details in big, bold letters.
The ingredients of a good Smart Company pitch
1. Think about what you like to read.
This is a great principle to use when framing up all your pitches. “Think about the kind of content you would find useful for your business,” says Eloise. “That's really what we're aiming for.”
2. Know the publication’s areas of interest.
“We're not really going to look at stories about big businesses or surveys about what big business thinks on X, Y or Z,” says Eloise. “We're interested in the small end of town.” Perfect if you’re one of the small biz owners I usually work with!
3. Put the founder or owner centre stage.
SmartCompany loves to speak to business owners. “We tend to prefer to publish articles from people who are running their own business because they know what it's like,” says Eloise.
4. Human stories.
Share your experiences and insights as a small business owner and a person. Offer a perspective or an insight that’s unique to you. Or share a personal experience that sums up what all small businesses are going through at the moment.
5. Growth stories.
Stories of successful small businesses are in demand. But make sure you’ve got the numbers to back it up. Eloise understands many small businesses don’t want to talk about their turnover and profit figures. But numbers on sales or sales growth are good, too.
Before sending your pitch...
Be clear on whether it's an exclusive or a scoop.
In journalist speak, an exclusive is something you’re only offering to one outlet. You haven’t contacted another place with the same pitch. A scoop is a piece of breaking news that’s usually of great importance, for example a serious allegation against someone of high profile, a government scandal or a breakthrough in an ongoing story.
You’re more likely to be offering exclusives rather than scoops. Either way, SmartCompany likes to know that you’re not offering your story here, there and everywhere. If it’s important to you to be seen on SmartCompany, offer the story there first and wait for a no before pitching elsewhere.
Work hard to include a really good subject line.
Make it clear and give an indication of what your pitch is about by including keywords that relate to your topic. “We're getting hundreds of emails in the morning and we need quick ways to sift through,” says Eloise. Avoid general terms like story opportunity and drill down to the essence of your story. “Why I started giving away my PR secrets” might be one example.
Don't forget your availability.
The daily publishing schedule of SmartCompany’s newsletter means the stories that make it to publication can sometimes be those that are easiest to write that day. If you’re available for an immediate interview, your chances of success are much stronger. Make it clear in your pitch email what days you are available to speak and even what hour of the day. And don’t forget to include your phone number.
What not to pitch
Anything that purely pushes a product or service.
Even if it’s an op-ed that you’re writing, it needs to be about a topic or an issue, rather than about what your business offers.
Shallow stories.
Puff pieces or things that aren’t backed up by experience or data just won’t cut it. Remember, you’re talking to other business owners who know what this world is like. Make sure your story’s got some depth and is backed up with real data.
Research-based stories.
That said, pitching a story on the latest survey of small business owners is not going to go over very well. Think of it as preaching to the choir. Instead, offer your own perspective on that research based on your experience as an owner.
Press releases.
Eloise and her team are more interested in a short and sharp pitch that’s come from the business owner themselves. At the very least, any pitch should give easy access to the owner, with their contact details and availability for an interview included in the email.
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Listen to Eloise Keating’s episode
Listen to the full conversation with Eloise on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts now.