Get Featured in East Bay Times

Being local does not make East Bay Times easy to get into. A community newsroom has limited reporters and limited hours, so stories about businesses, practices and organizations often wait behind news that has to run today. A guaranteed placement removes that uncertainty: the piece is arranged with the publication in advance, you approve the draft, and it publishes on eastbaytimes.com inside a written window, usually three days. It is a real article on the site that you can put in a proposal, a deck or a profile.

What East Bay Times covers

Readers in California have plenty of national and international news to choose from. East Bay Times does a different job. Local news publications concentrate on a defined area and report what is going on inside it, from civic affairs and the local economy to community events, schools, sports and the arts. The common thread is place: each story matters to someone nearby.

Local reporting treats a community as a set of people and places with names. In that setting, an opening, an expansion, an award, a new hire, a charity drive or a new service is news, provided it is told with facts. Owners, professionals, nonprofits, event organizers and creative people with a local tie are all familiar subjects of this kind of coverage.

Who reads East Bay Times

A local audience is small compared with a national one, and far more relevant to a local business. Readers of a publication like East Bay Times live, work, shop and vote in the community it covers in California. Many of them are deciding where to spend money, whom to hire and which organizations to support close to home.

That matters for anyone whose work depends on local reputation. Real estate agents, advisers, physicians, attorneys, contractors and restaurateurs all win business through familiarity and word of mouth. A story in East Bay Times adds to both, and it can be shared on your site, in your office, in proposals and across your social profiles.

Why coverage in California matters

A business that serves California benefits from being seen where people in California already get their news. A feature in East Bay Times places your name in front of nearby customers, suppliers and referral sources who can act on it without leaving the area. It also adds a local reference point for anyone in the state who researches you before making a call or signing an agreement.

Coverage in California is commonly sought by service businesses, restaurants, medical and legal practices, real estate professionals, contractors and nonprofits that depend on local customers. It also suits companies from other states that are opening an office, a store or a franchise location in California and want to introduce themselves to the community.

Out-of-area companies and longtime locals face the same test: is there a reason for people in this community to care? For a newcomer, it may be jobs, a new location or a service not offered nearby. For an established name, it may be growth, history or community work. Either way, specifics carry the story.

We start by choosing one of the angles below. Most businesses and practices have two or three that would work, and the best choice is usually the one with the clearest local connection and timing.

What weakens a pitch

• No local connection. If the story could run unchanged in any town, readers of a community publication have little reason to stop on it.
• Sales copy presented as news. Readers come for information about their community, so a list of offers and slogans reads as out of place.
• Vague claims. “Best in the area” and “top-rated” mean little without something a reader can verify, and everything we write must be true.
• Too many messages. One opening, one milestone or one person, told clearly, is stronger than a tour of every service you provide.