How To Make The Headlines

Home
United Kingdom
Hornchurch
How To Make The Headlines

Journalist & PR consultant helping you get featured in UK national press. Download the free PR pitching checklist https://www.caroldriver.com/freebies/

I offer clear, practical PR guidance to build credibility, attract opportunities & increase visibility.

30/05/2026

The strongest pitches I've ever read had one thing in common - they knew exactly which lines would appeal most to an editor.

That line is almost never the one the founder leads with. It's usually buried - three paragraphs in, said almost as an aside, because to the person living it, it feels obvious. But to the rest of us, it’s the story!

Part of my job is finding it. A mum who built a multi-award-winning beauty brand from a shea butter balm she made for her son during his chemotherapy treatment - that’s the human story. And that’s the client story that ran in Platinum magazine, on MailOnline and The Sun Online, in OK! - because it's the story a reader will want to read.

If you need help with that, download my free 50 headline ideas editors will love.

When you look at your business, what's the line you've been underselling? Get it here:
https://smpl.is/ak4av

29/05/2026

I did Lisa Johnson’s PR for a year, and in her testimonial, she called my PR strategy “thought out” -
As a business strategist, she's seen a lot of people talking about strategy without having one. The word gets used constantly in business - strategic this, strategic that - until it means almost nothing.

What she was describing was how I work with clients - having a plan built around where a client wants to be in 12 months or beyond, not just around what they want to say this week. It’s a decision about which publications build the right credibility with the right readers for that client. It’s a story that’s shaped over time rather than announced once and abandoned.

I'm speaking on Lisa's stage in September because this is the conversation I most want to be having with serious business owners right now. Not about hacks or shortcuts when it comes to PR, but about what a proper press profile looks like, how it's built, and what it does for a business over time.

Good editorial coverage doesn't just give you a clip. In a world where AI is shaping what shows up in search, third-party editorial endorsement carries more weight than it ever has. It's not just about visibility everywhere and being known for anything; it’s very much about having a credible result.

What's one thing about PR that you wish someone had told you earlier?

28/05/2026

Most of what I do is never seen.

The coverage is public, and the client is the one featured in the story. That's exactly as it should be.
But before any of that happens, there's a period of invisible work (as well as nearly 30 years of experience as a journalist).

This includes - reading a client's story until I understand it better than they do. Finding the angle that an editor will actually commission, which is almost never the angle the client first presents to me.

Writing a pitch that has to work in 30 seconds on a commissioning editor's phone. Knowing which title to approach first and which to hold back. And timing it right.

I think about this with new clients, particularly those who've worked with PRs before and been disappointed.

What they experienced wasn't necessarily a lack of effort on the PR’s behalf, but it could have been a lack of editorial judgement, of not just knowing how to pitch, but what to pitch, to whom and when. And that’s a skill that’s built over decades.

It really matters to me that clients are able to trust me with their story before it's public. That's the part I take most seriously. The headline is the end. The work starts long before.

What's the most underestimated part of your work that nobody sees?

27/05/2026

Three weeks into the Consistency Club, and I already have a waiting list for September!

The ten founders in this first cohort are a mix - some have never pitched a journalist in their lives, others have had PR before but want to do it properly.

What they have in common is that none of them had a strategy. This is what I’m creating for them.
I've been writing their individual PR strategies this week. I sent them to a senior journalist to sense-check. Her response: "This is definitive guidance, and it's incredibly clear. This is as close as you're going to get to giving nearly 30 years of experience."

Which is, of course, the point.

My aim for these ten founders over the next 12 months is that they eventually don't need me. That sounds like an odd thing to say. But if I've done my job properly, they'll understand how editors think, how to find the right journalists, how to pitch proactively - and how to keep doing it, month after month, without waiting for someone to post a request they happen to fit.

That's what the Consistency Club is built around.

Within the first two weeks, every member had the opportunity to pitch to a Forbes journalist. In just two weeks! And they’ve had relevant podcast ops too.

This isn’t me doing their PR - it’s for founders who want to DIY properly.

What do you want to be known for in 12 months' time?

Sign up here to the waitlist here 👇
https://smpl.is/ak4aq

26/05/2026

I turned down a piece of coverage last year on behalf of a client.

The journalist had come to us, it was a national title, but I said no.

Because the angle was wrong for this client. The piece would have positioned her as one of several voices in a round-up about a topic that had nothing to do with the thing she wanted to be known for. Her name would have appeared, yes, and her business would have been mentioned, but it wasn’t aligned with her PR goals.

Saying yes to this would have been an ‘easy win’ but would have been coverage for the sake of it - something I don’t support.

More PR is not the goal. The right coverage, in the right title, with the right angle, at the right moment - that's the goal!

Everything else is just noise and can even work against you.

The businesses I work with don't need more coverage. They need the right coverage, handled with the kind of editorial judgement that knows the difference.

Have you ever said yes to something and wished afterwards that you'd held out for better?

25/05/2026

That’s not a story. It’s a press release.

A lot of founders come to me with news. It could be a launch, a funding round, an award, a milestone. And almost every time, I say the same thing: that's not a story, it’s a press release.

They're not the same thing. Not even close.

News is what happened (and for example, if it’s an award, unless it’s a really big one, no one cares). A story is why anyone who doesn't know you, work with you, or buy from you should read about you and care.

When I was commissioning features as Femail editor at MailOnline, I wasn’t reading a pitch thinking what does this business want to tell me. I was thinking about whether a reader would stop what they’re doing and care enough to read the story. Will they remember it? Will they share it?

Whether or not a stranger would care is the biggest question a pitch can answer. But usually they’re written from the perspective of the person who is proud about their achievements - and that’s understandable - but that’s not what editors want.

The story isn't the launch - it’s usually the reason behind the launch.

Next time you're writing a pitch, try taking out everything about what has happened and then see what's left. If there's nothing left, you haven't found the story yet!

What's the strongest story angle your business has that you haven't pitched yet?

22/05/2026

I've just taken on ten new PR clients.

I've spent the past week doing a deep dive into their business, writing their individual PR strategies, story ideas, angles, and pitching templates. Everything is mapped out before I send them anything.
That is how this works when it's done properly.

I spoke to someone recently who had been in a DIY pitching group for months. No coverage. No clear angles. No understanding of what to pitch or where - just a lot of activity and a sum of money not doing what she hoped it would.

If you're not in a position to do PR properly right now, wait until you are. Don’t opt to do it half-heartedly, as it really is too important to do in a half-arsed way.

The next Consistency Club cohort opens in September. There's already a waitlist.

If you're serious about your business, sign up here 👇https://preview.mailerlite.io/forms/921792/187516123023934622/share

21/05/2026

Holly Matthews called me the best investment in her business that year.

I'll take that!

As well as earning national media for Holly, I also secured paid-for opportunities, so the PR investment did pay for itself.

One strategy that really worked well during our time working together was when Holly appeared on ITV’s Lorraine (her contact), and I watched it - from an editor’s perspective.

I pulled out the best story lines and pitched it to national showbiz editors - within a day, her stories had been picked up by more than ten national newspapers and online outlets.

That is the difference between having a PR who understands what makes a story and one who doesn't.

20/05/2026

Credentials don't get you added to a journalist’s contact book - usefulness does.

When writers are looking for an expert comment for a feature, they need three things - a credible expert who can answer questions quickly with something new to say (even on old topics). If you’re slow to respond, deliver AI-generated quotes that read like a press release, you’re not being contacted by that journalist again.

If you’ve made it as far as getting on the phone to a journalist or an email response, don’t waste it - give them content they can work with. Think about how much value you can add.

Can you talk about the topic in a different way, be more direct?

I’ve known PR clients to get a much bigger part of a story, and to be the first quotes used in a feature, because they’re saying things that are interesting - and quickly.

That's it. That's what gets you called back.

19/05/2026

A few months ago, a founder sent me a 30-minute video instead of a pitch.

I didn't watch it. No journalist would. No awards judge would. Nobody on the other side of an inbox, with 10,000 other things to get through, is pressing play on half an hour of anything from someone they don’t know.

This is what happens when brilliant people try to pitch without understanding what pitching actually is.

They share a stream of consciousness - their backstory, tangents, their passion, conversations they’ve had - because they believe if someone just understood the whole picture, they would get it.

But a good pitch doesn’t tell the entire story - it pulls out the most interesting parts (the parts that are relevant to that editor’s audience) - is not the whole picture. It’s the parts that make someone want to read the rest.

Knowing how to pitch matters more than most entrepreneurs realise - as it’s useful not just for PR, but for award entries, podcast or speaking applications, and investor pitches.

It’s a skill you can learn.

Download my free pitching guide as a starter for 10.
👉 https://smpl.is/ajy9m

Address

Hornchurch

Website

https://www.caroldriver.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when How To Make The Headlines posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Business in Hornchurch?