Getting press in a niche is mostly a matter of knowing who writes about that niche and what they're currently looking for. Most people don't know either, so they never pitch, or they pitch the wrong person and get ignored.
The idea is a small, curated version of Help a Reporter Out, built for one industry, living in a Google Sheet. A list of the people who cover the niche, a way for experts to submit pitches, and examples of what's worked.
It's one of the 100 business ideas in Google Sheets I put together, and it's a good one if you already know your industry's media landscape.
The idea
Create something that can be used by companies or individuals who are looking to establish themselves as experts in their niche or industry. The idea is to create a customized, curated version of the popular Help a Reporter Out platform that focuses specifically on a niche or industry.
HARO works because it connects people who need quotes with people who have them. But it's enormous and generic, and for a niche expert, most of it is noise. A micro version cuts the noise. Every request in it is relevant, because the whole thing is about one industry.
A micro HARO could be used by businesses and individuals to connect with journalists, bloggers, podcasters, and newsletter writers who are looking for sources or experts to feature in their stories. It works in both directions. Writers get a pool of vetted sources. Sources get a list of writers who actually cover their thing.
The Google Sheet includes a database of media professionals who cover the niche or industry, along with their contact information and areas of interest. It also includes a submission form where businesses and individuals can submit their pitches or ideas for stories.
Then add the layer that makes it a product rather than a directory. Great examples of how people got press in that niche. Stories, case studies, and insights for people trying to promote themselves. And templates or formats people can use to shape their pitch and tell their story.
Pick a niche where you already know a dozen writers by name. Pet products, indie games, craft coffee, B2B fintech. If you can list the ten most-read newsletters in your industry without looking anything up, you're qualified to build this.
How to build it in Google Sheets
Tabs
- Media Contacts: Name, Outlet, Type (journalist, blogger, podcaster, newsletter), Beat, Contact Method, Twitter, Recent Story, Accepting Pitches, Last Updated.
- Requests: open requests from writers. Writer, Outlet, What They Need, Deadline, Status.
- Pitches: responses from the Google Form. Timestamp, Name, Expertise, Pitch, Request ID, Status.
- Press Examples: Who Got Covered, Where, The Pitch They Sent, Why It Worked.
- Templates: pitch formats with blanks, one per common request type.
Features to use
- Google Forms intake for pitches. Responses land in the Pitches tab automatically, and you never have to copy from email.
- Data validation dropdowns for Type, Beat, and Status so the database stays filterable as it grows.
- FILTER on a Find a Writer view, driven by a Beat dropdown, so a coffee roaster sees only writers who cover coffee.
- Conditional formatting on the Requests tab so anything with a deadline in the next three days stands out.
- Apps Script onEdit trigger with MailApp, so that when you mark a pitch "Forwarded" the writer gets an email with the pitch text. That's the matchmaking step, automated.
- Protected ranges on Media Contacts so subscribers can read and filter but can't edit your research.
Start with 50 contacts, five open requests, and ten press examples. That's enough for a paying subscriber to get a result in the first week.
Who pays for it, and how to sell it
There are two sides, and one of them pays. Experts and small businesses who want coverage pay for the contact list, the open requests, and the templates. Writers pay nothing, but they're the reason the experts pay, so recruit them carefully.
This is a subscription product. The contact list goes stale and the requests change weekly, so the value is in the updates. Charge monthly or yearly for access. A one-time sale of the contact list alone is possible on Gumroad, but it's a worse business, because nobody comes back.
Sell access through OnlySheets. It takes payment and shares the sheet with the buyer automatically, which matters when you're updating one master sheet every week for everyone.
The service on top is pitch writing. For a fee, write the pitch for a subscriber and send it to the right three writers yourself. The sheet is the product, and the done-for-you pitch is the upsell.
For the first ten customers, do the matchmaking by hand and in public. Find one writer in your niche with an open request, find one expert who fits, and connect them. Then post the resulting article and say how it happened. Do that five times, and the people watching will ask how to get in.
Related ideas from the list
- Media to Pitch Contact List, the contact database half of this idea sold on its own.
- Feature Article Ideas and Where to Pitch Them, the same buyer, coming at press from the story side.
- Influencer Contact List, a curated contact list with the same subscription mechanic, for a different kind of coverage.
Want the other 99? This is one idea from my list of 100 business ideas you can build in Google Sheets. Get all 100 business ideas as a free Google Sheet.
And if you want to learn how to package and sell spreadsheets, my course Selling Spreadsheets walks through exactly that.