Shahni Ben-Haim has built an exceptional career in PR by focusing on one thing:
Crafting pitches journalists actually care about.
And while that may sound basic, it’s what makes or breaks your pitches.
“Sending generic, one-size-fits-all pitches is ineffective,” Shahni says.
Instead, she tailors every story to the journalist’s interests and their audience’s needs.
This personalized approach, combined with persistence and tying stories to timely trends, has led to wins like getting a fortune 500 company to notice her client.
For Shahni, it’s all about making every pitch count.
But her path to success wasn’t without its lessons. Here’s her story.
What’s inside
Mistakes made, lessons learned
Q: What’s the biggest mistake you made early on when pitching stories to the media? And what should you have done instead?
A: When I started my PR career, I quickly learned that sending generic, one-size-fits-all pitches is ineffective in connecting with the media and getting them interested in the story I was trying to pitch.
Establishing relationships with the media is an essential aspect of PR, although it doesn’t mean journalists are obligated to cover the stories I pitch them.
My role as an effective PR professional is to pitch media stories that include three critical elements.
The pitch must align with the journalist’s beat or area of coverage, and it needs to bring value to the journalist, which means, it must be interesting to the media outlet’s audience.
Sending blanket pitches to journalists did more damage to the relationships rather than build them up.
What should be done instead is to approach each pitch from the journalist’s point of view.
Researching journalists’ interests by reading their articles, following them on social media, and keeping up with what their audience finds useful can help with crafting a compelling pitch.
Ultimately, this approach has proven more effective and helped cement more coverage for my clients.
How to know what’s newsworthy
Q: How do you know when a story is ‘newsworthy’ enough to pitch?
A: A story is newsworthy when it offers something fresh, timely, and relevant to a specific audience.
I consider whether it ties into larger industry trends, solves a unique problem, or provides exclusive insights or data.
Stories that elicit an emotional response or have a strong human-interest angle also perform well.
Let’s break down a media win
Q: Can you walk me through your latest story that made the news — from initial idea to getting featured?
A: The latest story I worked on that made the news was a thought leadership article for a client.
It all started when my client wanted to amplify a compelling case study they had — it showcased the success of their unique solution.
I thought it had a lot of potential to resonate with a broader audience, so I pitched it to a journalist at an outlet I felt was a good fit.
At first, the journalist didn’t think the story aligned with their readership.
But instead of dropping it, I took the time to explain why it was relevant and how it tied into trends their audience cared about.
That persistence paid off because my contact ended up sharing the pitch with their editor.
The editor then reached out to me directly with interest in the topic and requested an article diving deeper into the concept behind my client’s solution.
While the final article didn’t focus on the original case study, it still led to a great media placement and positioned my client as a thought leader in their field. It was a win all around!
Getting journalists’ attention
Q: What’s your process for getting the attention of journalists that actually works?
A: My process really comes down to three key steps: research, personalized outreach, and relationship building.
First, I research journalists and media outlets. I read relevant previous articles and even check social media profiles to get a clear sense of their interests.
I do all this so that when I pitch to the journalist in the next step, I can make my pitch as personalized as possible.
If I am pitching through email, I craft curiosity-provoking subject lines and tailor the content of my pitch to show exactly why the story would resonate with their audience.
And though this isn’t a part of a step-by-step process, I constantly prioritize building genuine relationships.
I do this by engaging with journalists outside of pitching. I keep up with them by commenting on their articles, sharing helpful information, or staying in touch.
It’s important our interactions feel authentic and not purely transactional. So that when I do have an interesting story they may find interesting, they’ll see a familiar name pop up and be more compelled to see if the story fits.
Surprise media successes
Q: Which story of yours got the most unexpected media attention and why?
A: One story that got way more media attention than I expected was about a client’s role in digital transformation.
When we were brainstorming angles, we realized that while their focus was specific to their industry, the broader topic of digital transformation could appeal to outlets beyond their niche.
I explained to the client how effective PR strategies require us to expand coverage into other verticals they may not see as “impactful” to help build brand awareness.
But what drew journalists in was tying the story to AI, which is a hot topic right now.
I thought it would do well, but I didn’t anticipate the level of interest it generated. It ended up striking a chord with general tech-focused outlets and industry-focused media.
It was a great reminder of how powerful it can be to connect your story to broader, cross-industry trends.
And the best part was seeing how the expanded outreach and media coverage positively impacted my client.
Driving results through PR
Q: What’s the biggest (business) result you’ve driven for a client by getting them featured?
A: One of my clients was featured in a prominent industry magazine targeting their direct end users. This feature generated interest in the client from a Fortune 500 company.
This single piece of coverage gave them the credibility they needed to approach more clients and grow their business significantly.
Refine your approach to media relations
Shahni’s insights point out an important truth for PR pros: building media relationships and crafting relevant, compelling stories are true drivers of success.
It’s not about mass outreach or chasing every opportunity, it’s about being strategic, thoughtful, and persistent.
Focus on delivering value to both journalists and their audiences, staying attuned to their needs and aligning your stories with broader trends.
This approach isn’t just about securing media coverage; it’s about creating lasting impact and establishing credibility for your clients.
Leaps is an AI tool that makes capturing insights from your subject matter experts (SMEs) easy — no meetings or calls needed.
It then transforms those insights into Q&A article (you probably just read one on this blog) or detailed content outlines for thought leadership, contributed articles, and more.
Fun fact: We used Leaps to gather insights from the expert featured in this article (yes, without calls!) and to outline this very piece.
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Hi, I’m Victor Ijidola, co-founder @ Leaps, an easy way to get insights from your SMEs — no calls needed — and turn them into detailed, expert-led content briefs and outlines. If we're not connected yet, I'd love to meet you! 🙂
