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Pardon the pun, but the Bad Pitch blog is pleased to bring you 10 tips to improving your approach to media relations.
Now let’s be clear—the biggest media relations mistake people make is not taking the time to do their homework. This list is NOT a short cut to good media relations. It is a way to work smart vs. work hard (or work stupid).
All Hail Google: You should be reading everything your reporter writes. Google News Alerts bring it to you.
PRWeek’s Keith O'Brien turned a post from his blog into a PR Week feature story...do your key reporters blog? Search “reporter’s name” + blog on Google to find out.
Sometimes the reporter has his own posts within the site of his newspaper or magazine—anecdotal bits that will help you learn about, well, what he or she knows or is interested in. Either way, it pays to follow your reporter’s off the clock insights.
Social Study: Round out your online tracking with searches on Technorati and Feedster so you’ll know if your reporter is active online or if anyone else is discussing them. And don’t forget searches on Amazon/Flickr/YouTube/iTunes/MySpace/Bebo.
If you did this thorough due diligence for Fast Company’s Charles Fishman, you would know he has a book out on Wal-Mart and he did a podcast interview about it. And he's proud of his work—rightly.
LinkedIn: Some folks use LinkedIn more than others. For us, it’s like a pet rock. Everyone wants one, you get one and you realize “it’s just a rock.” But we’ve connected with journalists on it which can’t hurt. Your journos might be on it right now.
RSS-s-s: Organize all of this online intel onto one, Web-based screen using RSS feeds. Really Stupid Stuff not to do, right?
Step Away From the Computer: Give your mouse a rest and step out to Barnes & Noble and buy the damn publication. Sometimes sidebars, graphics, freelancers and editorial coverage cannot be found online. It’s also a lot more fun. We feel there’s nothing like a sea of mastheads and cover shots to get your media relations adrenaline pumping.
Analyze This: As Tom “Suri's Dad” Cruise once said, “sometimes you’ve just got to say what the f&*k” and stop what you're doing.
Take a hard look before you hit Send and head to lunch. Think about whether or not you're wasting the equity. The reporter will love you for that, and when you do hit send you can say "I really think you're the right woman for this angle." And you'll believe it.
Get Interpersonal: Just do it, Nike fans. Pick up the phone; meet them in person; put voices and faces with names. Anyone not willing to invest in this just does not get it and needs to go back to being a barista.
Source File: The first time you meet someone should not be a breathless e-mail pitch with “breaking news.” The higher the outlet the more important it is to establish a relationship without an immediate agenda. Source filing introduces your company and its experts. It says to reporters "We know what you want to learn and we'll teach you in a few minutes something you didn't know." So next time they think of a source—it's you.
It's a two-edged sword, use it handily and make valuable use of the media’s time. If you can't get a meeting without a pitch, what makes you think a pitch will land? Check out Laermer's Full Frontal PR for the full scoop on this tactic.
Be a Source: Take source filing a step further. Being a source means making good use of all the industry reading you’re supposed to be doing and coming up with story ideas. Some of them won’t involve your client. Send these to the reporter.
This is good karma and makes it about more than just "you, you, you." That may work on dates but heck, sometimes it's nice to just say "Hey I saw something you might like." How cool is that? Your self-importance goes out the window and you've helped someone with knowledge.
Go Away: Feel like you need to get a reporter’s attention but don’t have anything to say? Spend that energy getting in front of your client or its customers and learn something new—something the reporter might actually be interested in. Be a devil’s advocate here and make sure you’re not just drinking your client’s kool-aid.
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4 comments:
Do not "just do it" when it comes to picking up the phone. A lot of journos (myself included) HATE unsolicited calls. Hate hate hate. Unless you know the reporter and have a relationship with them, I strongly recommend against cold calls.
That was a very interesting list. How credible is this list anyway? If you don't mind me asking.
It's made my media relations efforts easier and more successful. And based on the feedback we've had elsewhere online, I'd say there's only one way to find out...give the list a try.
I agree with Joe up above (and work from the other side of the equation). Trying to "chat" with an editor under deadline is like juggling hand grenades, its just a bad idea.
But the other side of that is that many editors ignore email which leaves flacks in a vacuum. A simple response would alleviate alot of unwanted calldowns. And yes, I know editors recieve far too much email already. But I almost always get some response from folks like Walt Mossberg even if its a "sorry, I'm too busy to deal with this now".
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