In January 2014, two friends and I stepped off a plane in El Salvador.
We would spend the next two months busing and hitchhiking across Central America as part of a research trip for a nonprofit called Beautiful Feet.
Before the trip began, we decided to broadcast our journey so that friends, family, and Beautiful Feet supporters could follow what we were up to in Central America.
I was the designated blogger. My friend Joey was in charge of creating videos.
Within days of reaching El Tunco (our first stop), a Florida radio station had seen some of our content and contacted us with a proposition: “Can our listeners follow along too?”
Our trip became a 5-part radio series. Every several days, Wi-Fi permitting, we’d have morning calls — during peak traffic hour, mind you — with the radio station to discuss our latest findings and funny mishaps.
Friends contacted us, “We heard you on the radio!” and more people learned about Beautiful Feet.
Since, I’ve learned that many companies would pay BIG money for that level of publicity. So how did we earn that publicity by accident?
I think the answer comes down to two things: luck and the power of telling untold stories.
“I’m a huge believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.” – Thomas Jefferson
Thanks to the web, there’s nothing novel about clicking publish. Anyone with a social media profile can wax eloquent about any thought they had over coffee this morning.
If you want your ideas and content to rise above the noise, you have to dig a little deeper.
Who is an interesting person you can interview?
What challenges have you overcome recently that you can discuss in public?
What adventure can you embark on?
Sometimes you have to look up from your computer and endure a little discomfort to uncover the stories and ideas that are most worth sharing.
As you do the hard work to find original stories, fellow storytellers — like radio hosts, bloggers, and journalists — might just want to help you get the word out.
—
This article was originally published on Lewis Commercial Writing. Catch the next article (and access our free content promotion checklist) by subscribing here.