What is a media consultant? It’s someone who helps businesses with their media needs. This can range from writing a press release to getting them interviews with the local and national media.

Many companies are on the lookout for media consultants as they know that good media exposure can work wonders for any business. When a business advertises it’s viewed as just that – advertisement. However, when a business gets media attention then it’s free advertising that works much, much better than traditional paid advertisement would.

For this reason, media consultants are in high demand. Here are some of the services you can offer:

* Press release writing and distribution. Offer press release packages for your clients which include the writing and distribution. A simple press release can lead to great media attention.

* Media page and kit development. You can develop a client’s media page and web kit to make it easy for the media to find them.

* Media interviews. You can contact related or local businesses to line up interviews for your client. You can also line up interviews with traditional media outlets.

* Contacts and development. You can contact related businesses for your clients and help to work out partnerships – perhaps your client can become a regular blogger on a high profile site, for example.

* A good media consultant will offer a range of services – from getting the client interviews to advising them on what to wear for a TV appearance.

To get your business off the ground here are a few tips:

# Build a website which really showcases your talents as a consultant and more importantly shows potential clients how you can help them achieve media success. List your expertise as a media consultant and include case studies along with a list of the services you offer.

# Show samples on your website of press releases you’ve written, campaigns you’ve worked on and media kits you’ve produced. The more tangible results you can show your clients, the better. Many clients don’t know a lot about the media and giving lots of examples will help them to see how your services are important.

# Educate clients about the media. This step will help you stand out as an expert in your field and make it easier to get clients. Show your clients why media attention can help their business and explain how the different types of media work.

Being a media consultant can be very rewarding. The pitfalls can sometimes be the need to educate clients about the media and the importance of your services. If you can strike a good balance with this then you should do well.