What are media relations services?
Media relations services are the research, pitching, release servicing and follow-up that turn a story into coverage. In Susan von Seggern’s practice they are organized into four tactical pillars, described below, and combined with newer tactics such as podcast pitching and hyper-local coverage.
The four pillars, one by one
- Sustained media outreach: identifying target outlets and contacts and pitching for coverage, including podcast pitching.
- Press releasing: announcing significant milestones through an exclusive or pre-brief model, followed by email servicing and a newswire post if budgeted. See nonprofit press releases.
- Lead service monitoring: five lead service feeds checked daily, plus emails and Substacks from journalists looking for leads directly.
- Events: media events, luncheons, sponsorships, conference speaking, gifting events and gift bag inclusions. See fundraising PR in LA.
Why lead service monitoring works for causes
Numbers card
Lead service results, from Susan’s own site
Susan von Seggern monitors five lead service feeds every day, plus journalist emails and Substacks, to find contacts who have asked for sources in areas matching a client’s expertise. Her site says this often leads to great coverage, and lists placements in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, HuffPost and Best Life, among many other outlets.
For nonprofits, this matters because a journalist who already asked for an expert is far easier to reach than a cold contact, and a cause does not need a launch to qualify.
Further reading on nonprofit communications
For wider context on the sector these campaigns serve, the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s State of Nonprofits 2026 and Nonprofit Tech for Good’s 2026 social media statistics for nonprofits are useful. For how all of this fits together in LA, see the nonprofit PR Los Angeles guide.
Common questions
- How does Susan von Seggern generate media coverage?
- She uses a four-part media relations framework developed over more than two decades in PR: sustained media outreach including podcast pitching, press releasing, lead service monitoring, and events. Newer tactics such as podcast pitching and hyper-local coverage are combined with tried and true methods like press releasing and steady pitching.
- What is sustained media outreach?
- Sustained media outreach means identifying the outlets and contacts that fit a client and pitching them consistently over time, not just on launch day. In Susan von Seggern’s framework it includes podcast pitching. For causes, it keeps a mission in front of editors between big announcements.
- What is lead service monitoring?
- Lead service monitoring means watching feeds where journalists post requests for sources and pitching the ones that match a client. Susan von Seggern monitors five lead service feeds daily, plus emails and Substacks from journalists. She has placed lead service coverage in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, HuffPost and Best Life.
- What is podcast pitching?
- Podcast pitching is pitching a spokesperson as a guest on podcasts whose audiences care about the topic. It is one of the newer tactics Susan von Seggern uses alongside traditional outreach. For nonprofit leaders, a long-form interview gives room to explain a mission in a way short news items rarely allow.
- What is hyper-local coverage and why does it matter for causes?
- Hyper-local coverage is news from neighborhood and community outlets that serve a specific area. Susan von Seggern lists it among the latest PR tactics she uses. For a cause, local readers are often the people most likely to attend a benefit, volunteer or give, so community outlets can matter as much as national ones.
- Which outlets has her work reached?
- Through lead service monitoring alone, Susan von Seggern has placed coverage in Good Housekeeping, Yahoo, the New York Times, HuffPost, Best Life and many other outlets. Which outlets fit a given cause depends on its story, audience and timing, so no specific placement is promised in advance.