Last week, we talked about how to write a media bio. Today we will be discussing 3 common mistakes that people make when doing this and how to avoid them:
#1 Down playing or discounting previous experience/qualifications
As Jean Case acknowledges in her 2018 Forbes article, “For Women Only: The ABCs of Breaking Through":
"Women have been so conditioned not to convey their talents and strengths, that when the time comes to... it isn't surprising that it is often uncomfortable”
This discomfort can often lead to women either discounting or down-playing their previous experience or qualifications when it comes time to write their media bios. This is a mistake because a media bio should work to help you demonstrate your expertise, experience and why editors would be mad not to accept your work. An inability to self-advocate and market yourself well defeats the purpose of writing one in the first place. Can you relate, sis? Click here to find out how to overcome limiting beliefs caused by gender norms when it comes to PR.
#2 Lack of brand clarity
I've talked extensively about the fact that one of the most common ways to undermine your PR efforts is having more than one area of expertise on your website. This is also the case with your media bio. If you send an editor a pitch claiming to be an expert in one thing and, doing their due diligence, they see no evidence of that expertise on your media one-sheet or press page- they are not very likely to accept your pitch due to lack of brand clarity. To counter this, pick a niche and stick with it. You could also consider having more than one media one-sheet, specific to each of your diverse expert topics.
#3 Poor presentation
Mattie James recently shared that she sees a lot of influencers making the mistake of poorly presented content. She put it like this:
"Imagine your favorite meal EVER. It’s made to order, especially for you.... [The] chef brings out your favorite meal you’ve been salivating over for the last 45 minutes - on a trash can lid. Your wine? In a crumpled up paper cup. Not satisfying anymore is it? This is how a lot of you present your content to your followers. The ingredients of great content are there. The presentation is not. Beautiful presentation of your content gives you noticeability as an influencer. The idea is only good as the presentation [and] shows your audience how much you respect them" (Mattie James).
Likewise, not only is it important to have the 5 components of a media one-sheet present in terms of content, it's important to make sure that it's presented professionally within a well-designed and branded PDF document to:
Give you noticeability as an influencer
Show the editors that you will be pitching to how much you respect them
If graphic design is not your ministry hire one, sis!
Want more PR tips?
Well, sis, I've given you everything that you need within The Media Attraction Audit- the checklist that helps you to make sure that your website proves your expertise, credibility and authority so that you can get more visible, attract your dream clients and get paid what you want. Click here for access!