A beginner-friendly guide for the female solopreneur who’s never done PR before

If you’ve ever thought PR was only for celebrities, venture-backed startups, or entrepreneurs with the budget to spend thousands of dollars every month on a publicist—this post is for you.

Because in 2026, visibility without credibility is the fastest way to burn out.

You could put all of your efforts into your social media and see some gains, but what we’ve seen in our own brand at The Power Table, plus after talking to hundreds of our members inside our community, 

Most entrepreneurs with growing personal brands and businesses are diversifying their efforts.

And real, earned media—is no longer optional if you want your personal brand to be trusted, remembered, and paid at a higher level.

In this blog, we’re breaking down what PR actually is (it’s not as scary or difficult as you think), why you need it, and how to land your first featured opportunities in 2026.

What “Earned Media” Actually Means 

Earned media is visibility you didn’t buy and you didn’t create on your own.

It’s when someone else features you, quotes you, interviews you, or invites you onto their platform because of your expertise—not because you ran ads, paid for a spot, or created your own content.

Examples of earned media:

• Podcast interviews
  
• Guest articles or expert quotes
  
• Being featured in online publications, magazines, and journals
  
• Speaking invitations
  
• Being referenced as a source
  
• Roundups, panels, or expert collaborations
  
• Awards such as The Power Table 100

Here’s the key difference most people miss:

You can’t fully control earned media—and that’s why it’s powerful.When someone else puts their credibility behind you, your authority multiplies instantly.

Earned vs. Owned vs. Paid Media (And Why You Need All Three)

Before we go any further, at The Power Table, we want to clearly state our position and tackle a common misconception:

There is no “bad” type of visibility.

New entrepreneurs often hesitate to pay for any kind of speaking slots, magazine features, ads, or other paid media. 

(We’re going deeper in this blog post, “Should you PAY for visibility features?” where we’ll talk about how to spot good and bad opportunities! It’s coming soon but the TLDR is that not all paid features are worth your money and not all free or earned features are worth your time. Each opportunity should be carefully considered and you should weigh each decision against your current visibility goals.)

Most experienced, strong personal brands use earned, owned, and paid media—sometimes at the same time, sometimes at different seasons of their business.

The mistake isn’t using one type.
The mistake is relying on only one.

Here’s how they work together.

Owned Media: What You Control

Owned media is any platform you own and control.

This includes:

• Your website
  
• Your email list
  
• Your blog
  
• Your podcast
  
• Your social media accounts*
  

*Technically, you do not own your social media accounts or content, but for the purposes of this article, “owned” means content and features that you create for yourself. Because your social media accounts or the platforms themselves could be shut down at any time, it’s important to have owned media with long form content such as your email list, blog, or podcast. 

Owned media is where you:

• Share your perspective
  
• Build consistency
  
• Develop your voice and thought leadership
  
• Nurture leads over time until they are ready to buy
  

This is often where solopreneurs start—and that’s a good thing.

But owned media has a limit: People are left to make a decision on whether to trust you solely based on your word alone, and at this point, most consumers struggle with trust because they’ve experienced “overpromised and underdelivered” from someone else online.

It’s got nothing to do with you.

And everything to do with your visibility strategy.

Paid Media: What You Amplify

Paid media is visibility you pay for. This one is very straight forward. 

This includes:

• Ads
  
• Sponsored posts
  
• Paid placements
  
• Boosted content
  
• Paid speaking
  
• Sponsoring events
  

Paid media is useful when you want to test offers or messaging through ads, expand your visibility and brand awareness faster than you can solely with owned content, or you want credibility and specific features have strategically made this a part of your plan and your marketing budget for your business or personal brand.

It doesn’t have to be “inauthentic.”
It can be strategic.

It can get eyes on you—but it doesn’t automatically create belief.

At The Power Table, we’ve used all forms of paid media in the past for different goals such as brand awareness around our conference, paid features, and sponsoring events to get in front of the right audiences. But relying on paid media alone would be a mistake and it doesn’t work without a clear, consistent message, strong social media and organic content, the community we’ve built over the last few years, and the earned media we’ve built up. More on that below.

How These Three Work Together (The Real Strategy)

Think of it like this:

• Owned media builds depth with your community
  
• Paid media builds reach beyond your own
  
• Earned media builds trust with your community, collaborators, event hosts, sponsors, brand partners, and just about everyone
  

In a healthy visibility strategy:

• Owned media shows your body of work
  
• Earned media confirms your credibility
  
• Paid media accelerates momentum when needed
  

You might:

• Use owned media to refine your message
  
• Use earned media to establish authority
  
• Use paid media to scale what’s already working
  

Or you may lean heavier on one depending on your season.

All three are valid. All three are useful.

But if your goal is long-term credibility for your personal brand in 2026, earned media is the piece most solopreneurs are missing—and the one that creates the biggest shift when added in.

Why PR Feels Intimidating (Especially If You’ve Never Done It)

Over the years, we’ve noticed that most female solopreneurs avoid PR and earned media. And we have to admit, it wasn’t a part of our visibility strategy at The Power Table for years (even though it should have been).

A lot of female founders miss out on because:

• They think they’re “not big enough yet”
  
• They don’t know who to pitch or what to say
  
• They assume PR and media opportunities are out of reach
  
• They confuse PR with being salesy or self-promotional
  
• They believe PR comes after success—not before it
  

Here’s the truth:

Earned media doesn’t make you an expert. Earned media simply documents that you already are one.

If you’re actively working with clients, building something real, and forming opinions in your industry—you’re already PR-ready.

What PR Does for Your Personal Brand 

Done well, PR and media features become a compounding asset, not a vanity metric.

PR helps you:

• Build trust faster with cold or lukewarm audiences
  
• Adds excitement for your hot audience and current clients
  
• Shorten your sales cycle
  
• Raise your prices with confidence
  
• Get invited into better rooms
  
• Attract aligned opportunities (instead of chasing them)
  
• Create proof you can reuse everywhere
  

Let’s talk through an example. One podcast interview or magazine feature can turn into:

• Website credibility
  
• Dozens of pieces of repurposed content
  
• Sales page validation
  
• Speaking credibility
  
• Partnership leverage
  

PR doesn’t just give you exposure. It gives your brand receipts and third-party validation for what you already know – that you’re great at what you do.

Why PR Belongs in Your 2026 Visibility Strategy (and not “Someday”)

Audiences are savvier. AI-generated content is everywhere.

The average attention span online is 8.25 seconds (down from 2.5 minutes in 2004).

Despite the short attention span, people are also deeply craving depth, stories, and real conversations that don’t feel like they could have been created by AI.

Implementing PR and media as part of your visibility strategy in 2026 is one of the most powerful ways you can

• Stand out online without churning out loads of content you wouldn’t even watch yourself (yet you created because you felt pressured to post).
  
• Build authority without burning out (because PR adds more weight to your messaging, offers, and services, so it shortens the sales cycle)
  
• Prove expertise without over-explaining 

And the best part?

You don’t need to “go viral” to win. You need to be visible in the right places.

How to Start Landing Earned Media Opportunities

If you’ve never done PR before, start here:

1. Own Your Expertise (Before You Pitch It)

In order to effectively get features and opportunities, you need to start with clarity about your brand’s messaging and about you personally as the founder and personal brand. Most PR and earned media will be centered around you and the stories you tell, so take some time to make sure you’re clear on the following questions:

• What do you help people with?
  
• What problems do you speak or educate on confidently?
  
• What is the story or reason behind why you do what you do?
  

If you can explain your work clearly, you’re already ahead. If you’re not, this is one of our areas of specialty inside The Power Table Mastermind. We focus on visibility & personal branding and we’ll help you figure out what to say, how to position yourself, and how to get the opportunities you know you’re meant for.

2. Start Where You’re Most Comfortable

Getting media or earned features doesn’t have to begin with major publications.

We recommend that most personal brands and entrepreneurs begin with:

• Podcast guesting
  
• Speaking on Panels
  
• Guest trainings in other people’s communities
  
• Collaborative content such as LinkedIn or Instagram LIVEs, or guest articles and blogs
  
• Local and regional publications such as magazines or news outlets
  

These “smaller” features often convert better anyway, and we recommend leaning into forms of storytelling and content you enjoy. If the idea of speaking on stages or podcasts make your skin crawl but you love to write, look for publications or guest contributor opportunities! If you love to speak, lean into stages, podcasts, and live video. The beauty of entrepreneurship is you get to choose how to make it work best for you. 

3. Document What You’re Already Doing

Another common misconception is that you need a dramatic story to get noticed, but this certainly isn’t true and you don’t have to tell your story in a way that feels inauthentic to what you’re doing.

You need:

• Consistent proof of your work
  
• Clear messaging
  
• Examples of results
  
• Real conversations you’re already having
  

You want to think of earned media as simply another layer of what you’re already doing with your social media, speaking, blog or podcast, etc. It’s going to be on the same topics, just with an added layer of credibility. 

4. Follow Up & Follow Through

Keep in mind that media features often take weeks to months. It can take time for applications or emails to be read and for publications to be released.

Try to focus on quality over quantity and know that PR is a long game but even one high quality opportunity can send you clients and additional opportunities for years to come.

The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything

One thing we’ve noticed about working with female founders is that the question of any kind of feature whether that’s an award, speaking, or a media feature, is that imposter syndrome and self doubt comes in so fast. You might have read this article and thought, “Why would anyone feature me?”

Girlfriend, there are people in the world who need your gifts because your story, your life experience, your frameworks, your way of thinking, and your values are so similar to theirs that you might be the only person on earth who will ever truly be able to see them and help them. 

So instead of worrying if you’re qualified, start asking, “Who would this help if they heard my perspective?”

Adding PR to your visibility strategy isn’t about attention, ego, or bragging. In fact, it’s completely the opposite. It’s about contribution and expanding your impact. 

And when you approach visibility that way, doors open faster than you expect.

Final Thought: PR Is a Long Game—but a Powerful One

We’re not going to end this article and say go pitch 100 media outlets today and wait to hear back. Focus on one aligned opportunity at a time and stay consistent with pitching and building relationships throughout the year.

If 2026 is the year you want to:

• Be taken seriously
  
• Be trusted faster
  
• Be positioned as a leader
  
• Build a personal brand that lasts
  

PR should be a part of your 2026 marketing and visibility strategy.Remember, it’s not about chasing validation—but because your work deserves to have a bigger impact beyond your own content.

Looking for support with PR and media pitching?

At The Power Table, we work with and highly recommend Lyndsey Akers of Akers & Co. for PR coaching and strategy! Lyndsey is one of our highly esteemed brand partners, one of our speakers at Power Table LIVE in 2026, and we’ve worked with her for nearly a year on our PR journey for the community, which has successful resulted in a Times Square Billboard and nearly a dozen national and local publication features (both digital and print).