At 24 years old, with no media connections and no money, Tory Archbold was told by a friend over coffee that she should forget starting a PR company and go marry a nice guy instead.

She walked out of that coffee date, backed herself, and went on to build Torstar, one of Australia's most high profile brand and communications agencies. Over 20 years she launched some of the world's biggest brands into this market, including Zara (whose Sydney launch drew 22,000 people and is regularly called A...

Imagine receiving 300 emails a day, opening one or two of them, and deleting most of the rest. That is the inbox your media pitch is landing in.

Few people know that inbox better than Bryce Corbett. Across his career he has worked as a reporter, gossip columnist, TV producer and executive editor at some of Australia's biggest media outlets, from The Daily Telegraph and The Times in London to Sky News, The Australian Women's Weekly, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes. He has also ...

Anyone can throw a thousand dollars behind Meta ads. You can take out a billboard, advertise on TV, or shout from the rooftops on social media.

But nothing builds trust, credibility and reputation like organic media and free PR.

I spent 15 years as a TV news journalist before spending another 15 as a small business owner. Now I teach small business owners how to get featured in the media, and there is one piece of advice I repeat more than any other.

Prepare before you pitch.

Write it down. ...

Getting featured in the media once is exciting. Getting featured consistently is what builds a reputation.

The difference between the two comes down to one thing: your relationships with journalists.

I spent 15 years as a TV news journalist before becoming a media and PR coach for small business owners, and I can tell you these relationships do not require hours of your time every day. But they do take weeks, months and years to build. Whether you are a solopreneur or you run a big team, wheth...