To Share or Not to Share Your Media Lists

Should you share your media lists with clients or even with colleagues?

This conundrum comes up now and again in groups like LinkedIn and others. Each time I see the question, I realize how the landscape, and media in general, changes from one moment to the next. 

Here’s the thing about media lists: They’re clearly more than a bunch of names, emails, and telephone numbers. It often takes years to build a media list. After all, it’s really all about the cultivation and maintenance of relationships. And those relationships are gold, right?

That said, there are certain situations in which you should feel comfortable sharing your list. But first, let’s make one thing clear: Every time you share even a single contact you’re putting your reputation on the line. Now imagine doing that with an entire list of names.

Yet you can always add a caveat when you share a name or a whole list: Please don’t use my name. Naturally, you’d want to phrase that properly when talking with a client, but each situation is different. There’s a difference between giving a colleague a media contact and asking that your name not be used, and doing the same thing with a client. The idea is to be honest. Some lists are just lists. Some lists contain names that have long-standing relationships to go along with them. The point is this: Each time someone asks for a list, consider how you’ve put the list together and what the client is going to do with the list.

Let’s face it: This is part of what a client pays for, but I have to say I haven’t had too many clients ask in the first place. On the other hand, sometimes it’s absolutely critical that a client have a list of media who, say, might be attending a client-sponsored event. One of your jobs is to make life easier for the client, and providing a list of media for this particular situation would probably fit the bill.

Remember, a list is a list. Sometimes I think those who are scouring the landscape for contacts don’t understand how media placements work. The care and keeping of a relationship with a journalist takes time, patience, restraint (you can’t keep bothering them, for instance), and some grace.

But I have to say that all bets are off when a client becomes greedy. Or perhaps the client becomes a problem and get abusive when things don’t go his way. This might be a good opportunity to remember why you were hired in the first place, and it might have been to simply pitch the person for a one-time project. In these cases, I believe the list is yours and yours to keep.

This is to say, as I mentioned earlier, that each situation is different. You might have a dream client who totally understands the value you and your lists bring to the table. In that case, it’s your call. Hopefully, hiring you isn’t just about who you know but rather how you know them, what you’ve done to help them, etc.

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