Most online course creators think if they build it, the students will come. They spend weeks recording videos, designing quizzes, and polishing landing pages. Then they wait. And wait. And wait. Nothing happens. No sales. No sign-ups. No buzz. The truth? Your course isn’t invisible because it’s bad. It’s invisible because no one knows it exists.
Press outreach isn’t optional - it’s your biggest growth lever
Public relations for online courses isn’t about flashy ads or paid influencers. It’s about getting real people - journalists, bloggers, podcast hosts - to talk about your course in places your ideal students already trust. A single mention in a respected education blog or a feature in a local news segment can bring in hundreds of sign-ups. And it costs far less than running Facebook ads for months.
Think about it: if a journalist writes, “This new online course helped 300 nurses get certified in six weeks,” that’s social proof with authority. It’s not an ad. It’s a story. And stories get shared. They get saved. They get clicked.
But most course creators treat press outreach like a magic trick they don’t know how to pull off. They send a generic email to 50 bloggers saying, “Check out my course!” and wonder why they get zero replies. That’s not outreach. That’s spam.
Start with who you’re trying to reach - not what you’re selling
Before you write one email, ask: Who actually needs this course? Where do they hang out online? What publications do they read? Who do they listen to?
Let’s say you created an online course teaching small business owners how to use AI tools for invoicing and scheduling. Your ideal student isn’t a tech CEO. They’re a solo entrepreneur running a bakery, a freelance designer, or a local plumber. They read Small Business Today, listen to the Side Hustle School podcast, and follow local chamber of commerce pages on Facebook.
Now you know where to look. You don’t pitch to tech magazines. You pitch to local business journals, entrepreneurship blogs, and podcasts that focus on solopreneurs. You don’t talk about your software’s features. You talk about how your course saved Sarah, a florist in Wellington, 12 hours a week.
People don’t buy courses. They buy outcomes. And journalists don’t write about tools. They write about people.
Build your pitch like a story, not a brochure
Here’s the formula that works every time:
- Who is the person your course helped?
- What problem were they stuck on?
- How did your course change their life?
- Why is this story unique or timely?
Example pitch subject line: “How a single mom in Christchurch doubled her freelance income in 8 weeks - without a degree.”
That’s not a course promo. That’s a human story. And journalists eat that up.
Your email body should be short - under 200 words. Start with: “Hi [Name], I came across your article on [topic] and thought you might find this interesting.” Then tell the story. End with: “I’d be happy to connect you with the student for an interview or send over screenshots of their results.”
Never say: “Here’s my course link.”
Always say: “Here’s a real person who changed their life using this.”
Target the right outlets - not the biggest ones
You don’t need to get featured in The New York Times. You need to get featured where your students are.
For professional upskilling courses, target:
- Local news websites (e.g., Stuff.co.nz, Radio New Zealand business sections)
- Niche industry blogs (e.g., “Digital Marketers NZ,” “Teaching Tech in Schools”)
- Podcasts with under 10,000 listeners - they’re hungry for fresh guests
- University alumni newsletters - even small ones
- LinkedIn newsletters written by educators or industry leaders
Use Hunter.io or LinkedIn to find the right contact. Look for writers who’ve covered similar topics in the last six months. Don’t cold-email editors you’ve never seen write about education tech.
One course creator I know landed a feature in a regional New Zealand business magazine by emailing a journalist who’d just written about remote work. She didn’t mention her course until the third sentence. She led with: “You wrote about how freelancers are struggling with time management. I’ve helped 400 of them fix it - here’s how.” The journalist replied within 12 hours.
Make it easy for them to say yes
Journalists are overwhelmed. They get 50 pitches a day. Your job is to make their job easier.
Include:
- A short, compelling bio of the student (with permission)
- Before-and-after stats (e.g., “Went from $1,200 to $3,800/month in income”)
- High-res headshots of the student (not stock photos)
- A 90-second video clip of the student telling their story
- One clear call to action: “I can connect you with the student for a live interview on Tuesday.”
Don’t make them dig. Don’t make them search. Don’t make them ask follow-up questions. Give them everything they need to write the article - in one email.
Follow up - but don’t annoy
Most people send one email and give up. That’s not persistence. That’s laziness.
Wait 5 business days. Then send one short follow-up: “Hi [Name], just circling back on this. I know you’re busy, but if this isn’t a fit, I completely understand. No pressure.”
If they don’t reply? Move on. Don’t spam. Don’t tag them on social media. Don’t call. You’ve done your part.
Some will reply weeks later. That’s fine. Keep your list of targets. Reuse your best stories. A pitch that didn’t work in March might land in August when the journalist is covering a different angle.
Track what works - and double down
Keep a simple spreadsheet:
| Outreach Date | Outlet | Contact | Story Angle | Response? | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-09-15 | Wellington Business Weekly | Lisa Chen | Single mom doubles income | Yes | Feature published - 87 sign-ups in 4 days |
| 2025-10-02 | EdTech Podcast | Mark Tan | AI tools for teachers | No reply | - |
| 2025-10-20 | LinkedIn Newsletter - NZ Educators | Jamie Lee | How I quit my job after course | Yes | Newsletter feature - 214 sign-ups |
After 10 pitches, you’ll see patterns. Maybe stories about career changers get the most traction. Maybe local news outlets respond faster than national ones. Use that data. Stop wasting time on what doesn’t work.
It’s not about volume - it’s about resonance
One solid feature can do more than 100 cold emails. A single podcast appearance can bring in more students than a $5,000 ad campaign.
Press outreach for online courses isn’t about being loud. It’s about being relevant. It’s about telling human stories that connect with real people who are looking for solutions. And when you do that, the media doesn’t just cover you - they champion you.
Start small. Pick one outlet. Find one student story. Send one email. That’s all you need to begin.
Do I need a big budget to do press outreach for my online course?
No. Press outreach costs almost nothing. You don’t need a PR agency, paid tools, or fancy graphics. The only things you need are time, a compelling student story, and a well-written email. Most successful outreach comes from creators who spent under $50 - mostly on a LinkedIn Premium trial to find contacts.
What if I don’t have any student success stories yet?
Start with your first 5 students. Ask them for a short video or quote after they finish the course. Even if they only got a 10% improvement - like saving 3 hours a week - that’s a story. Don’t wait for perfection. Wait for proof. Real results, even small ones, are more powerful than polished marketing claims.
How long does it take to see results from press outreach?
It varies. Some pitches get replies in 24 hours. Others take 3-6 weeks. The first feature might bring in 50 sign-ups. The third might bring in 300. Don’t expect a viral hit right away. Treat it like planting seeds. Keep sending pitches. Track what sticks. Within 3-4 months, you’ll start seeing a steady stream of traffic from media mentions.
Should I pitch to big publications like Forbes or The Guardian?
Only if your course fits their audience. Forbes gets hundreds of pitches daily. They’re unlikely to cover a niche course on, say, “Digital Scrapbooking for Seniors.” But they might cover a course that helps 5,000+ people switch careers - if you frame it as a trend. Focus on relevance over reach. A local radio feature can be worth more than a generic mention in a national outlet.
Can I use press outreach for free courses?
Absolutely. In fact, free courses often get more media attention because they’re seen as community-driven or socially valuable. A story like “This free course helped 200 unemployed teens learn coding in 6 weeks” is exactly the kind of thing local news loves. You don’t need to sell to get coverage - you just need to show impact.
Comments
Henry Kelley
This is the real deal. I tried the cold email thing for months and got crickets. Then I pitched a student who went from flipping burgers to running her own meal prep biz using my course. Got picked up by a local radio station. 147 sign-ups in a week. No ads. Just a real story.
Stop selling. Start sharing.
Victoria Kingsbury
Honestly? This is the most actionable PR advice I've seen in years. The 'story over brochure' framework is gold. I've been pitching to Forbes for 18 months. Turns out my ideal students read 'Midwest Small Business Digest' and listen to 'The Solo Hustle Hour'. Duh. Changed my entire strategy. 3 features in 6 weeks. Game changer.
Tonya Trottman
You say 'don't say here's my course link' but then you do it in the example. Classic. Also, 'Christchurch' is in New Zealand, not 'Wellington' - you mixed up the cities. And you say 'under 200 words' but your sample pitch is 217. Grammar matters. You can't expect journalists to take you seriously if you can't proofread your own damn template.
Also, why are you assuming all journalists want human stories? Some want data. Some want trends. Not everyone's a narrative junkie.
Rocky Wyatt
I've been doing this for 8 years. You think this is new? Nah. This is just the same old PR crap wrapped in buzzwords. Most of these 'student stories' are fake. They're coached. They're edited. They're not real. And journalists know it. You think they don't get 20 of these a day? They're tired. They're jaded. And they're not gonna fall for your 'single mom in Christchurch' fairy tale again.
Just pay for an ad. It's faster. Less emotional labor.
Santhosh Santhosh
I am from India and I have tried this method with a free coding course for rural youth. I targeted local college newsletters and one small-town newspaper. The story was about a girl who learned Python and started teaching her siblings. I sent the email with her photo, a 60-second video of her explaining how she used to struggle with math, and a quote: 'Now I can help my brother pass his exam.'
It took 22 days. But they published it. And then another paper picked it up. Then a regional radio station. Total sign-ups: 892. No paid ads. Just one real story. I cried when I saw the article. Not because of the numbers. Because someone finally saw her.
Veera Mavalwala
Oh honey. You think you're the first person to figure out that people don't buy courses, they buy transformation? Newsflash: every damn PR agency in the world has been using this since 2017. You're just now catching up. And don't get me started on 'local radio stations' - half of them are run by retired accountants who still use WordPerfect.
But I'll give you this - your student bio template? Chef's kiss. That's the only part that didn't sound like a LinkedIn bot wrote it. Even the grammar police can't hate on that.
Ray Htoo
This is brilliant. I just used this exact method on a course about composting for apartment dwellers. Pitched a guy who turned his balcony into a mini-farm. Sent the journalist a 90-second video of him holding up his first harvest of kale from a 2-gallon bin. He replied in 3 hours. Published in a regional food mag. Got 203 sign-ups in 48 hours.
And the craziest part? The journalist asked if I had more stories like this. Like... I'm now a resource. That feels better than any ad spend.
Natasha Madison
Who funded this? Who are the real players behind these 'student stories'? Are they all bots? Are they all paid actors? I’ve seen this pattern before - fake testimonials, fake media hits, fake urgency. This is a psyop. The media doesn’t care about you. They care about clicks. And someone’s selling you the illusion that this is organic.
Wake up. This isn’t PR. It’s manipulation dressed as storytelling.
Sheila Alston
I'm sorry, but this is just another example of how we've normalized exploitation in education. You're turning real people's struggles into marketing bait. 'Single mom doubles income' - that's not a story. That's a trauma packaged for clicks. Where's the consent? Where's the ethical framework? What if that mom doesn't want to be public? What if she's still in debt?
You're not helping. You're commodifying pain. And that's not PR. That's predatory.
sampa Karjee
This is amateur hour. You mention Hunter.io and LinkedIn Premium as if they're revolutionary tools. I've been using Apollo.io, Lusha, and Clearbit for enterprise outreach since 2021. And you think a 'regional NZ magazine' is a legitimate target? That's not PR. That's PR for people who don't know what PR actually is.
Real press outreach requires CRM pipelines, media tiering, and influencer seeding. Not 'send one email and hope'. This is a blog post masquerading as strategy.
Patrick Sieber
I love this. Just sent my first pitch yesterday - local Irish newspaper, story about a guy who used my course to retrain as a welder after losing his job. Sent the photo, the video, the stats. Didn't mention the course until the third paragraph. Got a reply in 11 hours. They want to do a 3-part series.
Best part? I didn't pay a cent. No agency. No ads. Just a real person and a well-timed email.
Kieran Danagher
Funny how everyone thinks 'storytelling' is some magical new tactic. It's the oldest form of persuasion known to humanity. The fact that course creators need a blog post to figure this out says more about the state of online education than it does about PR.
Also, 'don't say here's my course link' - yeah, but you literally included one in the example. You're not fooling anyone.
OONAGH Ffrench
The key is not the pitch it is the preparation
Find the journalist who cares about the same thing you care about
Listen to their past work
Understand their audience
Then write like you are speaking to one person not broadcasting to a wall
Everything else is noise
Shivam Mogha
One email. One story. One yes. That's all you need.