When entrepreneurs think about building a business, they usually ask the obvious questions. Can I do it? Will I love it? Can it make money? Far fewer stop to ask another question that can have just as much impact on long-term growth, as well as profit margins, ease-of-sale, and growth potential:
Will this business naturally create stories people want to talk about?
Every business owner eventually understands that to make more money, they need to be seen by more people. They know they need to evolve from “best kept secret” category to “must have” commitment. If they have the money, they can hire an ads agency or a PR firm. If they have time to do this on their own, they can work the algorithm game.
But if you structure your business with built in publicity angles, being seen, sought and cited becomes almost automatic.
Every business has the potential to earn publicity, but not every business produces news on a regular basis. Some founders spend years trying to manufacture interesting stories while others seem to generate them simply by doing the work they were already planning to do.
The difference isn’t usually the quality of the business, but its infrastructure. Here are five business structures that seem to create publicity almost effortlessly. Choose one or three, work it into your regular rhythm, and you’ll soon see the media coming to you, versus you chasing them.
1. Membership Culture
You don’t have to have an actual “membership” offer to benefit from having a membership culture. No matter what you sell, if you focus on your clients, members or patients as brand partners, you’ll never run out of stories.
In hosting the most intimate and highest level “meet the media” event in NYC each year, I’ve learned one primary tip: the media wants human interests stories way more than they want to interview experts or feature products or books.
So, consider your people. Every client or patient milestone, success story, annual award, community initiative, graduation, certification, or impact report becomes another opportunity to tell a meaningful story. The smartest businesses ask, “What’s happening inside our community that’s worth sharing?”
One of the best modern examples is Peloton. Yes, they sell bikes, but the real engine behind the brand is its community. Member milestones, instructor relationships, live events, personal achievements, and transformation stories create a constant stream of content that members proudly share themselves.
When your customers become part of the experience instead of simply buying one, your business develops a steady stream of authentic stories.
2. Events Structure
Whether you host conferences, retreats, workshops, or community gatherings, events naturally create momentum. Every event has multiple story angles before it even begins. Speakers are announced. Awards are presented. Partnerships are formed. Local economies benefit and localities are featured.
One event can generate months of legitimate publicity when viewed through different lenses. That may be one reason live experiences continue to grow in importance. In the Summer 2026 issue of Inc. magazine, Ali Donaldson observed, “The only trend with as much currency as AI these days is IRL.”
She’s right. As more of our lives move online, real-world experiences become more valuable; and more newsworthy. Businesses that bring people together aren’t simply creating memorable experiences. They’re creating conversations that often extend well beyond the event itself.
The perfect example of event-driven publicity is South by Southwest. Months before the event begins, media outlets are covering keynote speakers, startup launches, celebrity appearances, local restaurants, hotels, transportation, economic impact, fashion, technology trends, and predictions about what attendees can expect. Long after it’s over, journalists are still writing about the biggest announcements and takeaways. The event itself isn’t the story—it’s the hundreds of stories it creates.
Do you think your brand can’t benefit from events or that your budget can’t sustain a large event? You don’t need 100 people and a hotel venue to generate event-driven media placements. You could host a “net-walking” event for business owners in your area, throw an intimate “dinner with entrepreneurs” at a new restaurant in your area or host a small panel of local reality tv stars for a girls night out. The media likes to cover what’s happening in real life.
3. Operational Stories
Most companies organize employees around a central office, which can make economic sense, but businesses built around a distributed workforce, having employee tentacles in many states and tell a very different story.
Instead of asking employees to come to the work, they bring the work to the people. That creates opportunities to talk about workforce innovation, economic development, rural communities, military families, caregivers, and other groups that traditional employment models often overlook.
One company that illustrates this well is R. Riveter, whose distributed manufacturing model allows military spouses across the country to build handbags from wherever military life takes them. The products are certainly part of the story, but it’s the structure of the business that continues to capture attention.
Every time they spotlight one of their Riveters, they’re also creating a local story. A military spouse in Colorado, Florida, or North Carolina instantly becomes someone local reporters can feature, often alongside the small businesses and community where she lives.
Sometimes the way a company operates is more interesting than what it sells, and the media isn’t in the business of selling your wares. Stories of your people, though, or your process, is media gold.
4. Physical Transformation
Some businesses produce visible change every single day, and too many leave these stories for their website testimonials section.
Builders transform empty lots into neighborhoods. Contractors turn outdated homes into dream homes. Concrete companies reshape backyards. Landscape designers create outdoor living spaces. Dentists transform smiles. Professional organizers bring order to chaos. Even service businesses like HVAC companies can tell compelling stories about restoring comfort during extreme weather, improving indoor air quality, or helping families reduce energy costs.
A service business that does this brilliantly is the entire home renovation industry. Shows like Fixer Upper, Property Brothers, and This Old House became wildly popular because people are fascinated by transformation. Local businesses can use the exact same principle. Instead of showing only the finished project, tell the story behind it. What problem was solved? What unexpected challenge arose? What can homeowners do to recreate this as a DIY project?
Transformation is naturally compelling because people instinctively respond to before-and-after moments. We enjoy seeing progress. The media knows that we’re gluttons for DIY tips and tricks shared by professionals. Businesses that create visible transformation often have more stories available than they realize. Think about how you can showcase the transformations you create and how the viewer or reader could do some of it themselves.
5. Data Driven Details
Do you want to be your market’s media darling? Begin seeing patterns long before everyone else does. Solicit information and then compile it into a report.
I recently met with a brand new coach who is starting a membership community. This could be a recipe for frustration, but we intentionally designed a ten-question “survey” for top CEOs on life fulfillment. I can’t share all of the details of that one little data-driven strategy, but I can share that he has already had ten conversations with CEOs who expressed interest in being a client and he’s scheduled to meet with top news outlets in a couple of months to share the findings.
Anyone can do this. Recruiting firms could share hiring trends. Accounting firms can share changing financial behaviors. Marketing agencies can talk about changes in consumer behavior.
When you either hear from enough clients or customers, or survey enough of a particular market, that perspective can become annual reports, industry surveys, predictions, rankings, and trend analyses that journalists actively seek because they help explain what’s happening in the marketplace.
This allows you to stop pitching yourself or your business and give the media something they can’t get elsewhere: boots-on-the-ground insight, trends and perspective.
Great examples include the annual reports published by McKinsey & Company, workplace research from Gallup, and consumer trend reports from Pew Research Center. Reporters reference these organizations because they aren’t simply sharing opinions; they’re sharing data that helps explain what’s changing. You can begin compiling interviews now, to create an industry- or geographical-focused report of your own.
The Best Publicity Begins Long Before the Pitch
Good publicity isn’t always the result of better pitching. Sometimes it’s the result of better business design. Businesses that bring people together, build communities, create visible transformation, operate in unexpected ways, or uncover meaningful trends don’t have to invent stories every month. Because their business structure naturally produces them.
