You pitch a magazine here. Send a sample to a blog there. Get a call to do a radio interview.

Before you know it, you have a jumble of notes on tiny scraps of paper, important information contained within emails that – OOPS – you forgot to save, and your whole publicity system has turned into a big, hot mess.

Try this organization system that's so simple and easy-to-use, it will have you weeping with joy.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A SAMPLE SPREADSHEET
**this sample spreadsheet is in Excel format

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Start with a blank Excel file (or other spreadsheet program that you prefer)
• Add a column for "Outlet Name" – name of the outlet you are pitching
• Add a column for "Contact Name" – name of the person at the outlet you'll be contacting
• Add a column for "Contact Title" – job title of the person you are contacting (important because there may be multiple producers for one show, or multiple editors at a magazine)
• Add a column for "Email Address" – email of the person you are contacting
• Add a column for "Phone" – phone number of the person you are contacting
• Add a column for "Address" – address of the person you are contacting (important if samples are requested)
• Add a column for "Website" – website of the outlet you are contacting, great for keeping on top of their latest news
• Add a column for "Pitch" – this is where you will write the date and title of your pitch. For example: 1/26: Valentine Gift that Makes Hearts Pitter Patter
• Add a column for "Sample" – for product businesses, this is where you can note the date the sample was requested and sent (those without a product can leave off this column)
• Add a column for "Follow Up" – this is where you will note all of your follow up, phone calls, emails, etc so you can keep track of how often you are following up and what happened during your last contact
• Add a column for "Placement" – if you're lucky enough to score a placement, make sure to write the date and description of the coverage here!

Keeping all of your press outreach organized into one simple spreadsheet makes your life easy, and you'll quickly feel like a bona fide PR pro!

How do you organize your press efforts? Was this spreadsheet helpful? Leave comment below!

In my PR course, I teach participants how to create a manageable pitch list (meaning – a list that isn’t so long it will overwhelm them). This list incorporates a nice mix of local outlets and national outlets, with the intention of building a buzz locally, yet working to build those relationships with national media.

One question I get quite often is how to determine which outlets are the “best” with “best” usually indicating “how many readers/viewers/listeners.”

While some outlets are a staple in every business owner’s top 10 (O Magazine, Today Show) there may be a few great outlets out there that you haven’t considered. Check out this resource from BurrellesLuce featuring the top 100 outlets by circulation or visits and determine if any of these outlets are appropriate for your product/service or determine how you can contribute as a guest expert!