Won’t that ruin our shot at the Times?

Carly Martinetti was explaining why she often pitches smaller outlets before approaching her dream target, and I could practically hear our old bosses objecting.

If The New York Times sees that somebody else already covered the story, they won’t want it!

So I asked her about that during our Inner Circle Master Class earlier this week.

Her experience has been that earlier coverage can signal that a topic is gaining traction. She still gives the next reporter something extra to cover.

Carly, co-founder and CEO of Notably, often pitches her media list in reverse order of priority for each campaign.

C-B-A.

She starts with relevant outlets where a placement would be welcome, but a pass wouldn’t break her heart. Those are her C targets – maybe trade pubs.

Then she takes what she learns from that outreach and improves the pitch for B. Those are credible outlets where a hit would make her day.

By the time she approaches A, the placement that would make her client’s quarter, she has the strongest version.

She learned this after sending a pitch to a New York Times reporter that got nowhere, then improving it as she worked her way down to the trades. The later version landed coverage, and she wished she had a do-over for the Times.

I like that this approach gives you a reason to revisit something you might do automatically. Putting your dream outlet at the top of your priority list doesn’t necessarily mean it should get your first attempt.

Carly skips the sequence for quick-turn news when the pitch is essentially a quote and there’s little to refine. The C-B-A concept is for ideas whose framing can evolve as you keep massaging your angle.

The full Master Class went much deeper into building and sequencing media lists. Carly explained how she spots reporters who cover the right subject but won’t use the kind of source she’s offering. She showed how her team landed Forbes, Business Insider and The Athletic, then gave members AI prompts to accelerate the research.

This Master Class is only available for Inner Circle members, but we’ll open enrollment for a limited time soon. Register for our Wait List to be notified when you can join and get access.