think like a reporter

i recently read a report from publicityinsider.com entitled “the ultimate pr and publicity secret.”  it was a bit drawn out, but it was fantastic in its simplicity. the overall message in bill stoller’s report is that business owners need to “think like a reporter.” simple, right? yet how often do we, pr practitioners actually do this? the sad truth is that we don’t do this often enough. to think like a reporter we need to understand how to:

• separate real news about your client from promotional puffery
• deliver a sharp story angle that will be of real interest to the news reading or viewing public
• deliver this angle in a professional, courteous way.

here are some truths that you ignore only at your own risk:

• reporters don’t care about helping you
• reporters are hassled all day by pr people and they’re pretty much sick of it
• reporters don’t care about your client’s web site, book, products or life story, unless…

…you are providing something that helps make their job easier – that is, a really good story. in that case:

• reporters love you
• reporters are happy to take your call
• reporters are fascinated by your client’s web site, book, products and maybe even life story

so what’s the bottom line? when you design your public relations campaign, develop your angles, develop your media materials and begin contacting the press, always think: “what can I do at this step that will make this more useful to a journalist?” That means:

• developing story angles from a reporter’s perspective, not a business owner’s
• conducting yourself in a manner free of hype, clichés and puffery
• using proper etiquette when contacting a reporter or editor

keeping in mind this report was written for business owners, there is still a lot of good, basic information included here…information we learned long ago and have either forgotten entirely or are it’s so basic that it’s often overlooked. either way, it’s a good idea to return to the basics of good public relations.

putting relationships back in public relations

there’s a lot to be said about building relationships. it requires an introduction. it requires building trust. and it takes work to make the relationship last. this is true for all relationships, whether it be a friendship, romantic relationship or media relationship.

walk in the shoes of a journalist for a day and you’ll understand why relationships matter in the pr industry. you arrive for work, fire up your computer and open your email only to find countless emails from pr flacks that arrived overnight. what do you do? delete, delete, delete.

now you’re n deadline and are writing diligently to get your story to your editor. ring ring!!! who is it? it’s the pr flacks who sent you the emails overnight following up to make sure you’ve read their emails. some are friendly. some won’t take no for an answer. some have a good story to tell. most have no clue what you write about.

this is why we need to rethink how we (pr flacks) approach media.

first, media databases serve a purpose. they help narrow down a nearly endless list of journalists into a manageable group. but this does not mean you can spam these journalists with news releases. no, it goes much further than this. it requires time and commitment.

the best way to approach a journalist is to read what they write. sounds simple, doesn’t it? but it’s hardly ever done.

study what the journalists write about and how they cover the topics. understand where they’re coming from. then put yourself in thier position and ask, “would i write about this company or its widget? is there a story here, one that my readers would like to see?” if the answer is no, delete them from your list. if the answer is yes, pick up the telephone.

you need to call the journalist to introduce yourself and your client. let them know you’ve followed their writing and understand and respect their perspectives (at the very least this will gain you brownie points).

you have to be open with journalists. make yourself available to them and provide them with information when they ask. do this with the understanding that it could take several months before they write about your client. afterall, there is no guarantee in pr.

if you do this you will create lasting relationships that will make your job much easier. the journalists will respect you. your clients will love you. all you have to do is read, listen, learn and deliver. just remember, think like a journalist.