7 Ways To Get Featured on Forbes, Mashable, Inc, Techcrunch, Entrepreneur and others for FREE

Table of contents

Open Table of contents

• 1. Make sure you’re ready for the press
• 2. DM contributors directly — but on the right platforms
  • Outreach tips that still hold
• 3. Use Connectively (formerly HARO) to get some easy PR
• 4. Hire a professional PR agency
• 5. Be patient and reach out to a lot of reporters
• 6. Warm up before going cold
• 7. Be so good that reporters reach out to you
• The most reputable press sites to target in 2026
• Closing thoughts on PR
• PR Marketing — 2026 FAQ
  • Is HARO still a thing in 2026?
  • Do brand mentions in press actually help with AI search results?
  • Does Facebook outreach to journalists still work?
  • How long does a PR campaign take to show results?
• The shorter version
• Updated for May 2026

1. Make sure you’re ready for the press

When you pitch people your story, make sure it is something worthwhile to cover.

“Why is this story relevant or exciting?” — “Why would the readers care?”

If you can’t answer that in a very straightforward way, refine your pitch first.

Also have a press release or one-paragraph blurb ready to send. And build a “Press” tab on your site so writers can instantly find logos, graphics, and prior coverage. It doubles as social proof for readers and clients.

If you’re still crafting your story, keep these in mind:

• What makes you or your company unique? (read how to sell anything)
• Are you taking advantage of any trends going on in the industry?
• What insight do you have that other people don’t?

Once you have a solid pitch, move on.

2. DM contributors directly — but on the right platforms

In the early days I DM’ed writers on Facebook and it worked. In 2026, Facebook graph search for contributors is largely dead — the feature was deprecated years ago, and most journalists are not reachable through Facebook Messenger for cold pitches.

The better channels now:

• LinkedIn — most contributors list their beat in their headline; a well-researched connection request with a one-sentence pitch gets replies.
• X (formerly Twitter) — journalists still use it actively to source stories. Search “[Publication] reporter” or find a specific journalist’s handle, then engage with their work before pitching cold.
• Email — sites like Hunter.io or the publication’s own contributor page often surface journalist emails. This remains the highest-conversion channel for cold outreach.

Here is a more detailed breakdown on how to effectively message contributors.

Outreach tips that still hold

• Read the journalist’s recent articles before reaching out — make sure your story is genuinely a fit.
• Lead with a 2–3 sentence pitch, not a life story.
• Give them at least 24–48 hours before following up. Most are working through hundreds of pitches.
• Don’t pitch the same story to competing journalists at the same publication simultaneously.

3. Use Connectively (formerly HARO) to get some easy PR

HARO (Help A Reporter Out) rebranded to Connectively in 2023. The core concept is identical: journalists post queries looking for expert quotes, you respond, they cite you. If Connectively’s feature set has changed further by the time you read this — verify current.

Once you’re signed up you receive daily digests with queries across business, tech, health, finance, and more. Writers at sites like the New York Times, NBC, Forbes, and Bustle use it to source expert commentary.

The secret to getting featured on a query:

1. Be concise and answer exactly what was asked. A generic non-answer is an instant delete.
2. Be quick. Deadlines are real. If a query is more than a few hours old, someone else may have already been selected.

Responding should take 10–15 minutes. Save strong answers in a doc — similar queries repeat, and you can reuse them with minor edits. You can also hire a VA to monitor and draft responses, but make absolutely sure they understand your voice. You don’t want your name attached to a take you don’t hold.

2026 bonus reason to do this: brand mentions from authoritative outlets are increasingly a signal in AI search (Perplexity, ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews). A Forbes mention doesn’t just earn a backlink — it trains AI models to associate your name with credibility in your niche. That is what practitioners are calling a GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) signal.

4. Hire a professional PR agency

This one isn’t free, but it earns its keep if your time is genuinely worth more than the retainer.

A PR agency handles the relationship-building, pitch cycles, and follow-up that this whole post describes. For executives scaling a company, that trade-off is usually correct.

If a full retainer isn’t in the budget, use smaller publications for leverage and work your way up.

5. Be patient and reach out to a lot of reporters

Volume matters in PR outreach. I’ve built a list of thousands of reporters over the years and use it every time I want to get traction for a new project.

A few tactical points for email outreach in 2026:

• Personalize the subject line. Generic blasts get filtered or ignored.
• A/B test your message and subject lines to see what resonates before scaling.
• Use a CRM or tool like Streak to track open rates and follow-ups.
• Persist until you get a “yes” — but respect no-reply signals. Two follow-ups is usually the ceiling.

AI writing tools can help you draft and vary outreach at scale, but the final pitch still needs to sound human and specific to the journalist’s beat.

6. Warm up before going cold

The “anonymous female email” tip I originally wrote about was a specific tactic from my Flux days. I’m skeptical it generalizes — and in 2026, many journalists have spam filters and publication submission portals that catch volume plays quickly.

What actually works better now: warm up the relationship before the ask.

• Comment thoughtfully on a journalist’s article or X thread.
• Share their work before you need something from them.
• If they have a newsletter, subscribe and mention it when you reach out.

A cold pitch from someone who clearly read the journalist’s last three pieces converts far better than a mass email from an unfamiliar address.

7. Be so good that reporters reach out to you

There’s nothing better than inbound media interest.

To get there:

• If you’re building in public, share your metrics and lessons — not just wins.
• Publish sharp takes in your space. LinkedIn is especially strong for B2B founders right now.
• Do podcast guesting. A well-placed episode on a mid-size show often drives more inbound than a single Forbes mention.
• Launch something remarkable. A genuinely novel product or a well-executed PR stunt (think Fortnite’s blackhole event) will attract journalists without any outreach.

The AI agent space I operate in generates a lot of media interest right now. If you’re building something real in a trend category, the outreach burden drops significantly.

The most reputable press sites to target in 2026

• Business: Forbes, Inc, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, VentureBeat
• Tech: TechCrunch, The Verge, The Next Web, Wired
• News: ABC, CNBC, CNN, NYTimes, Reuters, BBC
• Marketing/Social: Digiday, Marketing Brew, Social Media Examiner
• Finance: Financial Times, The Economist, MarketWatch, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Seeking Alpha
• SEO/Marketing: Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Roundtable, this blog
• Note on Mashable and HuffPost: Both still publish but have gone through ownership changes and reduced contributor programs. Check their current submission guidelines before pitching — they are not the same publications they were in 2016.
• Buzzkill but true: a small, highly engaged niche publication in your exact vertical can outperform a generic Forbes mention in terms of actual leads and backlinks.

Closing thoughts on PR

“Build and they will come” doesn’t apply when there are hundreds of competing products that do almost the same thing.

I consider PR marketing one of the highest-leverage guerrilla strategies for early-stage founders. The cost is mostly time, and the returns — backlinks, authority, AI citations, and customer trust — compound.

A solid press strategy is incremental, consistent, and always aligned with your company’s core voice. A Yahoo Tech feature once drove over $30k/month in recurring revenue for Flux Charger sales. One good placement can change trajectory.

If you found this post useful, share it with a founder who’s staring at a blank PR outreach doc.

Now read:

• How to make more sales and why your sales funnel sucks
• Use SEO for brand exposure in addition to PR
• What is SEO and why it matters for your press strategy

PR Marketing — 2026 FAQ

Is HARO still a thing in 2026?

HARO rebranded to Connectively in 2023. The platform still connects journalists with expert sources using the same email-digest model. Check connectively.us for current pricing and feature details — the free tier’s scope may have changed.

Do brand mentions in press actually help with AI search results?

Yes, increasingly so. Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT appear to weight entity authority when deciding whose opinions and sites to surface. A mention on an authoritative outlet is now both an SEO backlink and a GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) signal. Building a consistent press footprint across reputable publications makes your name and brand more likely to appear in AI-generated answers in your niche.

Does Facebook outreach to journalists still work?

It has dropped off sharply. Facebook deprecated graph search and most journalists are not reachable through Messenger cold pitches anymore. Use LinkedIn, X (Twitter), or direct email in 2026. Journalist emails are often findable via Hunter.io or a publication’s contributor page.

How long does a PR campaign take to show results?

For outreach-based campaigns, expect 2–8 weeks from first pitch to published piece, depending on the publication’s editorial cycle. Connectively/HARO responses can land a mention in days when timing is right. Authority compounds slowly — a sustained 6–12 month effort produces meaningfully more inbound than a single sprint.

Related reading: How to sell anything · SEO tips for brand exposure · What is SEO

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The shorter version

If you’re reading this because the workflow it describes is eating your week, that’s the kind of loop I build AI agents for. Two build slots open at a time.

Updated for May 2026

The fundamentals in this post still hold — Ansoff, BCG, integrated marketing, land-and-expand, NYOP, TOMA frameworks are durable. What changed since the original publication is how the implementation surface looks in 2026:

• The distribution channels assumed in 2020-era marketing posts (organic Facebook reach, free Twitter virality, paid Instagram CPMs under $10) are gone or transformed. Re-cost any tactical recommendation against today’s CPMs.
• AI Overviews ate the top of the SEO funnel — TOFU content strategy from the 2022 era now needs a GEO layer (see the SEO updated note).
• Land-and-expand as a motion is healthier than ever in B2B SaaS; PLG → enterprise progression is the default path for almost any 2026 startup.
• Integrated marketing communication in 2026 means the brand voice shows up the same across paid, organic, AI-cited, podcast guesting, and the newsletter — because models like GPT-5 and Claude 4.7 are increasingly summarizing the brand, not just individual pages.

If you’re using this framework for a 2026 plan, the strategic skeleton is right; only the channel-mix data points need a fresh source.