Member Blog: Pitch Perfect – Some Dos and Don’ts of Media Relations

by Carol Ruiz, Higher Ground Agency

The current media landscape is rapidly changing. It was much different a decade ago, five years ago, even a few months ago. Many magazines and newspapers—both print and digital—have sadly shuttered, some have cut back on publishing, while others have slashed budgets and staffs. Many times, these cuts mean reporters have to pick up more beats (it’s not uncommon for someone to cover, say, cannabis and local sports) meaning they are buried in work and deadlines and don’t have a lot of time to mull over your pitch or idea for a story.

Your goal is to make it easy for reporters to run your news. Here are some tips on what to do and what not to do when working with reporters.

DO: Throw a good pitch

A good pitch, just like the cliché sports analogy it refers to, should be thrown down the middle. It should be clean, hittable, and offer newsworthy information. (OK, that last line isn’t about baseball, but you get the picture.) Remember how busy reporters are and rehearse your pitch before getting on the phone until you know how to sell it in less than 60 seconds. While being upfront is important, it’s also okay to be creative. Help set the stage to pique a reporter’s interest, engage his/her imagination, and find the story quickly.

Tying your pitch into a larger story, trend, or current issue is a good way to get a reporter’s attention. There are big stories both on a regional and national level going on within the cannabis industry that you can tap into. For instance, Berkeley Patients Group, a well-known dispensary in Berkeley, CA recently did press outreach around the detriment of high taxes on the legal cannabis market. Because the dispensary’s leadership team has a close working relationship with the city and deeply understands the issues surrounding high taxes on cannabis, they were able to act as spokespeople and get coverage about the lowering of the city’s cannabis tax from 10% to 5%. The coverage helped get their name out to local cannabis consumers, but also contributed their reputation as a group of leading cannabis advocates, which is one of their main goals.

Another tactic in getting coverage is providing supporting and timely data and, if possible, information about the cannabis industry a reporter may not know. And, providing high resolution images, such as product photos, spokesperson headshots, and infographics will exponentially increase your chances of getting coverage. If you can offer all this, you’ll have wrapped your story in a nice package and made it easy for a reporter to tell that story.

DO: Build a relationship with reporters

Research is absolutely necessary to your success. Know who you are pitching, what they write about, and their writing style. There’s nothing that annoys reporters more than a pitch that has nothing to do with their publication or beat. Even at one media outlet, there may be multiple reporters on the cannabis beat, such as at the Associated Press and it’s important to know what each one of them covers, whether policy, products, health, etc., so that you know the right reporter to pitch.

If you have the opportunity, take the time to actually get to know reporters before pitching them. Take advantage of media in your geographic area, go to their offices or try to meet them for a coffee. You’ll also find the press attends cannabis industry conferences, which presents a great chance to meet reporters from across the country that you may otherwise never have the chance to meet in person. Face-to-face interactions, even for a brief moment, can go a long way when the time comes for pitching them. It helps build a foundation of trust for what you hope will be a long and fruitful professional relationship.

DON’T: Be a pest

Of course, even doing all your research and building that relationship the best you can, can’t guarantee a reporter will respond or write an article. You may have to tie your hands behind your back if you are tempted to follow up too many times. While it is important to follow up and maybe offer a different angle, stalking a reporter is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Here’s the scenario: You send a pitch. You hear nothing. Re-send it. Nothing. Maybe a third time, and this time, with a phone call. Nothing. Chances are your email has been deleted. (And if this happens a lot, please re-read DO: Throw a good pitch.) If you do get in touch with a reporter and he/she says no, it’s time to cut your losses. It’s tough, but it happens to the best of us.

DON’T: Shotgun pitch

What’s a shotgun pitch? It’s pretty much spam. You send your pitch to a long list of reporters all at once (cringe) using BCC: (cringe). This is also one of the biggest blunders you can make in media relations and reporters can spot it a mile away. It’s better to stay targeted and contact seven key reporters with a well-researched and tailored story versus throwing a general pitch at 50 media targets and hoping something sticks.

DON’T stress and DO keep it on the level

Pitching the press can be intimidating and stressful, but reporters are always looking for newsworthy stories and will welcome your pitch if it is delivered in the right way. Be transparent. Be informative. Be helpful. Be patient.


Carol Ruiz is co-founder and Partner of Higher Ground PR and Marketing. Janitor, construction crew clean up, waitress, documentary filmmaker, adjunct professor… just a few of the paths Carol Ruiz walked before finally finding what she would do for the rest of her life.

At these former gigs, as founder of NewGround PR & Marketing (a highly regarded agency in the real estate space), at Higher Ground, and at dinner tables the world over, Carol is a storyteller. Storytelling being the heart and soul of public relations, it’s no surprise that Carol was drawn to the world of PR. 

Member Blog: Building a Powerful PR Toolkit

by Carol Ruiz, Higher Ground Agency

In order to run a successful PR campaign or build your own PR department you will need a set of tools that you can pull from again and again. Here are key strategies you need to tackle in order to build a successful toolkit.

Define your story. Story telling is at the heart of every PR campaign and will drive everything you do. As you know, cannabis is on fire wth new products introduced everyday. The ones who tell their story in a compelling way are the ones that will stand out. Ask yourself: how is your company, product, or service better or different than any other on the market? Is your product the first of its kind? Are you a bootstrap entrepreneur? Have you been a cannabis activist since the 90s? Does your company help people in need? Your story will be the DNA that is weaved throughout your toolkit, from your elevator speech to speaking to media.

Develop a media list. This list should have the following components: reporters’ names, titles, contact information, what they cover on their “beat,” —and this one is important—what you have pitched them and when you have pitched them. This is your guide to keeping organized and remembering who you’ve contacted. Cannabis beats are starting to fragment now into silos like “business,” “products,” and “lifestyles.” Don’t make the mistake of sending a business-focused press release to a lifestyle reporter. It’ll be ignored. There are companies like Meltwater that provide a comprehensive and constantly updated media data base. While there is a yearly subscription, it will help save an immense amount of time since pulling together a media list is time intensive.

Develop a media kit. When sending out a press release or pitching media, you should provide them with everything they need to run your news. Include facts about company executives and leaders as well as their headshots, a company overview, press releases, and compelling photos and images of your product or service. The goal of a media kit is to make it easy for reporters to understand the who, what, why, when and how of your company and its unique story. If reporters are provided with all this information (most importantly high-quality images and photography) at their fingertips, your chances of coverage increase. Your media kit should be online, digital, and easy to access.

Develop a press release. This could be its own blog but for now here are the key steps. Keep it simple. Stick to the who, what, where, when and how. Write a compelling headline that helps your news stand out and write the body of the release in the inverted pyramid style, meaning, have your most important information in the lead paragraph then include less important news below. (Industry secret: Most reporters will stop reading after the first paragraph. Make it a good one!) Write your press release in Associated Press (AP) style. This is the language that reporters understand and will recognize when they see it. Be upfront and transparent, clear and concise. Reporters are too busy to dig for the news in your release so keeping it simple will help you get more coverage.

Distributing your press release. Using your media list, send one email at a time (never do a mass, BCC: pitch), customize your email and make it personal. The goal here is to build relationships with reporters, not spam them. It’s important to follow up after sending your release but don’t make yourself a pest as reporters are overworked, cover myriad beats, and are always under deadline. Always. If you want a broader approach distribute your press release through a wire service. The huge advantage here is the breadth of media outlets your press release will get in front of, however, you won’t get that personal touch point. Wire services can be expensive but depending on the scope of your news, entirely worth it.

Leverage social media. Again, this could be its own post, but the short take is: use your social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn) to announce your news. Since a press release is written in a specific style for reporters, feel free to re-craft for your social audience in a friendlier, accessible voice. Reach out to reporters on Twitter with your news (with a big caveat: some do and some do not like to be pitched on social media and in public; do your research before tweeting a pitch). Lastly, when and if you get any coverage, you must post it on your social media pages. It’s a powerful way to increase your visibility, build credibility, and connect with new followers.


Carol Ruiz is co-founder and Partner of Higher Ground PR and Marketing. Janitor, construction crew clean up, waitress, documentary filmmaker, adjunct professor… just a few of the paths Carol Ruiz walked before finally finding what she would do for the rest of her life.

At these former gigs, as founder of NewGround PR & Marketing (a highly regarded agency in the real estate space), at Higher Ground, and at dinner tables the world over, Carol is a storyteller. Storytelling being the heart and soul of public relations, it’s no surprise that Carol was drawn to the world of PR. 

Member Blog: Picking a Fabulous Flack (Part 1 of 3)

by Carol Ruiz, Higher Ground Agency

Media relations is the bread and butter of any PR campaign, and picking the best PR strategy for your company is crucial. PR is often confused with advertising and while the lines have blurred in recent years, there are still key differences between the two practices:

  1. In the traditional sense, an “ad” is conceived, designed, written, and placed in a media outlet, for a fee. PR is “earned media” meaning that a PR pro has convinced (or “pitched”) a member of the media to write a positive article about a company, brand, product, dispensary, or service. A PR agent may have a fee, but there is no cost attached to the appearance of the article, and the article not filtered through the suspicion and cynicism through which many ads pass.
  2. Consumers understand that ads are biased – towards the advertiser! But a positive news story, written by a journalist, has much more credibility.
  3. An ad’s message has been brainstormed endlessly by countless “creatives.” But an article is articulated in the voice, and perspective, of the journalist. A good PR person knows how to increase a company’s chances of positive publicity by developing relationships and trust with journalists, pitching journalists whose style and tone indicate they are looking for a good story to tell, and providing training for spokespersons to stay “on message” in interviews.

The credibility of a positive article makes PR a very attractive opportunity in the cannabis industry, particularly given the unfriendliness of major companies like Google and Facebook. So, how do you decide the best approach? In-house? Hire an agency? What about budget?

PR salaries can range anywhere from the mid $50,000s to well into the six figures for management. Agencies will structure pricing differently, often with an hourly retainer. PR folks can be stereotyped as offering big promises with few results. Especially in an emerging industry, deep industry experience is uncommon. Experience in the field is a huge advantage as the agency will have already formed relationships with journalists who cover cannabis and will not have as big a learning curve when taking on a new client.

When interviewing agencies, ask candidates for the names of editors and/or reporters they frequently work with and then contact the top three for references. And, perhaps even more importantly, ask for references from other clients the agency has represented. And while you’re at it, ask about the agency’s philosophy on media outreach. If the company uses a shotgun approach by sending out massive amounts of press releases versus developing a client’s story fully and strategically communicating it to carefully researched journalists, it would be wise to move on to the next candidate. PR is all about story-telling and while press releases are a good occasional tool to disseminate big news, the most effective PR pros are good story-tellers who understand that identifying the right publications and journalists and providing customized pitches that resonate with the journalists are the ones who’ll be the most effective.

If an agency you are interviewing guarantees a specific number of articles per month or quarter, it might be a good idea to pass on engaging it. Nobody can guarantee a specific amount of media coverage. Instead, ask for case studies and past results for evidence of an agency’s success rate.

Cost is a factor and rates vary. Average hourly rates for an agency focusing on cannabis seem to be between $125 and $200 an hour, and with firms clamoring to enter the industry, you can swap experience for a lower rate (but be careful… no relationships with cannabis media can equal no coverage.) And perhaps the most important factor of all is culture. Do you like them? Do they vibe with you? It’s vital that an agency understands its clients to their core and acts as a true partner. In cannabis, there is inherently a social justice and activist component to the work. An agency who lacks in that sense of “mission” should raise a red flag. What we as an industry do know, and the maturity with which we do it, has a major role in determining our industry’s future. Don’t forget that!


Carol Ruiz is co-founder and Partner of Higher Ground PR and Marketing. Janitor, construction crew clean up, waitress, documentary filmmaker, adjunct professor… just a few of the paths Carol Ruiz walked before finally finding what she would do for the rest of her life.

At these former gigs, as founder of NewGround PR & Marketing (a highly regarded agency in the real estate space), at Higher Ground, and at dinner tables the world over, Carol is a storyteller. Storytelling being the heart and soul of public relations, it’s no surprise that Carol was drawn to the world of PR.    

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