I’ve lost track of the number of interviews I’ve done in the past year. But there’s not much point in investing all this media time unless it provides business results. Lots of businesswomen are obsessed with gaining PR, but you don’t want PR for the sake of PR. You want to be focused to ensure that you gain the right kind of PR and that you come across in the right way.

Here are five keys to gaining the right kind of media attention.

Five Keys to Gain Positive Media Attention

1. Ask reporters to email their questions.

Sometimes they’ll do this and sometimes not, but if you respond via email you can massage your thoughts and get them exactly the way you’d like to read them.

2. Use strong words to make your quotes come alive.

Whether you’re writing or speaking, your quotes are much more likely to be picked up if you use powerful words.  Think of the difference between a car being “in an accident” vs being “demolished”

3. Don’t hide strong emotions.

Reporters themselves, may feel outraged or delighted about something, but they can’t state their own emotions, so they’ll be more likely to use your quotes if you show these emotions.

4. Be specific.

The worst thing an author can do is refer to her book as “the book” or “my book.” While she is clear which book she means, the audience has no idea. The same is true of other products. Use the specific name of your product or service.

5. Shoot for repeat performances.

The real value of media is to get on the same radio show or be interviewed by the same publication over and over. To do this, you have to be interesting, genuine and flexible.