If you’ve spent any time on LinkedIn lately, you’ve probably seen marketers like Neil Patel discuss earned media. Patel co-founded NP Digital, an agency that lists digital PR and earned media among its core services, and he often points out how a single media placement can do more for a brand than months of paid ads.

That’s not just a LinkedIn talking point; it’s the real answer to a question a lot of business owners are quietly searching for: how do you get featured in Forbes, FOX, or MSN, without a national brand or an in-house PR team?

The short answer: through earned media coverage, you don’t pay to run an ad; a real publication chooses to include you because it’s newsworthy and genuinely accessible through structured PR packages built specifically to land that placement.

What Is Earned Media, Exactly?

Earned media is any coverage of your business that a journalist, publication, or platform publishes because they decided it was worth sharing, not because you paid for ad space. A feature article, a quote in a roundup piece, an “expert contributor” byline, or a mention in an industry roundup all count as earned media.

This is different from the ads you’re used to buying:

• Paid media: ads you pay for directly (Google Ads, social ads, billboards, broadcast spots)
• Owned media: content you fully control (your website, your blog, your social profiles)
• Earned media: It’s third-party coverage you didn’t pay to appear in and can’t fully control the wording of, but which carries far more trust because of that.

That third-party trust is exactly why so many businesses want to know how to get featured in Forbes.

Why does a Forbes, FOX, or MSN Mention Matter More Than You Think

When your business runs an ad, people know you paid for that placement, so they read it more skeptically. When Forbes, FOX, or MSN publishes something that mentions your business, readers assume the publication vetted it, even if it was a contributed piece.

That single shift in perception is worth more than the mention itself.

This plays out in a few concrete ways:

• Instant third-party credibility: you can’t manufacture it with your own website copy
• A shareable asset: “As Featured In Forbes” badges on your homepage or proposals carry real weight with prospects.
• SEO upside: a link back to your site from a high-authority domain like Forbes or MSN is exactly the kind of backlink that’s difficult to earn any other way, which is part of why SEO and PR increasingly work together rather than as separate strategies
• Longevity: unlike an ad that disappears the day your budget runs out, a published article stays indexed and is easy to find for years

How to Get Featured in Forbes: The PR Package Process

This is the part most business owners don’t realize is possible without an in-house publicist: structured PR packages built specifically to land your business a mention in major outlets.

Here’s the general process:

1. Angle development: a publicist works with you to find the newsworthy hook in your business (an expert take, a local trend, a founder story, a data point) because publications don’t run straight advertisements, they run stories.
2. Pitching: a publicist pitches that angle to editors and contributor networks at outlets like Forbes, FOX, and MSN. They match it to sections or contributor programs that cover small business, local news, or your industry.
3. Placement and publishing: once accepted, your quote, feature, or contributed article goes live on the publication’s site.
4. Spreading the word: once it’s live, you share the piece everywhere else: your website, your proposals, social media, and your email signature.

This is exactly the kind of work covered under The Press Room’s Public Relations services, and it’s worth reading why PR still matters more than ever if you’ve been treating it as optional.

Earned Media Isn’t a One-Time Win, It’s a Pipeline

The businesses that get the most value from a Forbes or MSN feature don’t treat it as a single press hit. They treat it as an ongoing pipeline, because media mentions compound. Each one makes the next easier to land, since publications and contributor networks come to see your business as a credible, recurring source. For the deeper mechanics of how that pipeline is built and sustained over time, this breakdown on increasing your media mentions is a good next read.

Press releases still play a role here too; they’re one of the more traditional tools for getting a specific announcement (a launch, an award, a milestone) in front of journalists and databases that outlets like MSN pull from. If you haven’t used one in a while, these press release strategies are worth revisiting.

Is It Right for Your Business Right Now?

Earned media tends to pay off fastest for businesses that already have something to say: genuine expertise, a strong founder story, a local angle, or a point of view on where their industry is headed. If that’s you, a PR package is likely to move faster and land better than starting from zero on outreach yourself.

If you’re in an earlier stage and still building out your core marketing foundation, it’s worth pairing PR with the rest of your strategy rather than running it in isolation. This is where working with a full-service advertising agency that can coordinate PR, SEO, and paid efforts together tends to outperform any single channel run alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get featured in Forbes?

The realistic path is becoming one of Forbes’ contributors or being quoted by a journalist actively sourcing expertise, not a cold pitch to the main newsroom. A PR package handles this by identifying the right angle and the right contributor program for your industry, then pitching on your behalf.

Can you pay to be in Forbes?

Not directly for genuine news coverage. Forbes doesn’t sell news placements. What you’re paying for with a PR package is the strategy, writing, and pitching work to earn a legitimate placement, not the placement itself. Anyone promising a guaranteed, purely paid Forbes feature is describing sponsored content, which is labeled differently and carries less credibility than earned coverage.

How do I get into Forbes magazine?

Same underlying process as the website: a compelling angle, matched to the right section or contributor, pitched by someone who understands what editors are looking for. Success here is rarely about who you know; it’s about having a newsworthy story ready when the opportunity comes up.

Getting Started

Earned media isn’t about luck, and it isn’t reserved for national brands. It’s a repeatable process: angle, pitch, placement, sharing, and it’s exactly what a structured PR package is built to execute for you.

If you’re ready to see what getting featured in Forbes, FOX, or MSN could do for your credibility (and your search rankings), book a free consultation and we’ll walk you through which package fits your business.