Public Relations Princess

Six Alternatives to Sending a Press Release

It's my firm belief that list-building services such as Vocus and Cision - while making reporter list building extremely easy - have also created a generation of very lazy PR professionals. It's nice to pull a minty fresh list out of that database. But that is the easy part. Now it's your skill and creativity that will get your news in front of those reporters. Yes, I said CREATIVITY.

Arguably, the worst part of being a PR Professional is facing that list, breaking it down, and digging in to pitch those reporters. But the most important thing is NOT writing the press release and blasting it out. First, you have to back up and say, "What is my message, and who would appreciate hearing it?"

If you have to, go ahead and write the press release. In fact, if that's how you organize your thoughts, or find your key message, be my guest and write it. But DON"T SEND IT!! Challenge yourself never to send another standard press release again. That is, unless someone specifically asks for one. Or your client forces you to write one. This is really, really sneaky. Even if you write it, don't send it.

Instead, here are alternatives that you SHOULD be utilizing instead of a press release.

1. Pitch email: More than 90% of reporters claim that they want to receive pitches via email. Since you're already emailing, just put your pitch in the form of a story, with bullet points emphasizing the most important details you want the reporter to know. Here is the key to a successful pitch email:
   
   • Google the reporter's name. After ensuring that she still writes for the news outlet, click on one of her recent articles. Make sure it is within the same genre as your pitch. In other words, if you are pitching a healthcare story, make sure that she covers that subject.
   • Write a one paragraph personalized intro for every email you send."I read your series on healthcare abuses in the nursing home industry..." Show some interest in the reporter's work.
   • The remaining portion of the email can be the same for every reporter. This is your brief opportunity to capture the reporter's interest with your pitch. Make it short, and make it interesting.
   • Write a subject line that gets attention and describes your pitch. "For your information" is not a good subject line.
2. Make a website posting (preferably a blog post): If your client has a newsroom or a blog, post your pitch material in the form of a web article or blog post. Use story-telling language, not a standard press release format. Tag the post with keywords and link out to the company's website or other information if possible. You can start a new blog on Posterous in less than 15 minutes.
3. Send a Tweet: Turn your key idea into a tweet. With a little practice, you'll be a pro at getting your message across in one or two tweets. Ideally, it would be great to send these messages to a reporter as a direct message, but if all else fails, go ahead and say "@JeffZeleny, did you know that the most outstanding pork tenderloin sandwich in Des Moines is at Smittys?" (of course, you'll want to come up with your own tweet material) If the reporter does not respond, follow up with an email pitch.
4. Send a Facebook message: I'm friends with a lot of local reporters on Facebook, but not so many national reporters. But even if you're not friends with a reporter on Facebook, you can still send them a message. Attach a link or photo if you have one.
5. Pick up the phone: Sometimes, a quick conversation to gauge a reporter's interest can save you a lot of time, especially when it seems as though a reporter is no longer covering that beat. If you keep your call brief and courteous, the reporter will be happy to point you in the right direction. If they don't answer or are on deadline, follow up with a pitch email.
6. If you're in the same city as the reporter, offer to meet them for coffee. Sometimes reporters are looking for any excuse they can to get out of the newsroom for a while.

This post really is not geared specifically for pitching bloggers. But my advice is to never send a blogger a press release. Bloggers are not traditional journalists. They aren't used to receiving press releases. In fact, most don't use them at all. Amber Naslund covers the sentiment well here. Plain and simple, press releases are just too formal. The quotes are absurd and aren't even used in most newspaper stories. I've never seen a blogger regurgitate a press release, especially not the made-up gobbelty-gook quotes.

PR pros have this incredible opportunity to be content creators instead of "content suggesters." Unless your client is absolutely hounding you to get in the Wall Street Journal, spend your time and energy telling your own story on your own website. Then use social media to build an audience (including media) and get your story out. My favorite homegrown content success story is Blendtec.

They created their own videos on their own site and used social media to tell the world. No boring news releases allowed. In fact, I wish I could hand Blendtec a stack of press releases to blend.

Anatomy of a Good Blogger Pitch Email

There is no doubt that the PR profession is profoundly changing. As the months slip by, I can't stress this enough: Press releases are passé. PR professionals are forced with a decision: Get with it, or get out of the profession.

A few weeks ago, I got in some hot water with some of my fellow PR professionals for being too tough on a agency employee for sending me an off-topic pitch. Since then, I've received my share of pitches. Copyblogger's Brian Clark really inspired me today, after reading this excellent monster list of recommendations on how to pitch properly.

Since it's never my intention to simply point out what's wrong with our profession - but to try to point out what is right - I'm including this recent email I received, along with my comments, to point out why it works.

Here is the headline and the first paragraph:

It was addressed informally, "Hi, Claire," but that's cool. She spelled my name correctly. Second, she included a crucial detail. Since I contribute material to PR Daily, she immediately made the connection that she was sending this and thought it would be suitable for PR Daily. To be completely honest, the subject line was ok, but could have been a little more exciting. But it was descriptive, at least. Don't waste that crucial real estate with a spammy note such as "press release" or "for your consideration."

She obviously took the time to Google my name, noting my connection to PR Daily. That is crucial when dealing with a reporter or a blogger. It does not take more than 2 minutes to Google each person. If you don't have time to research each person, that means you are spamming your pitch to WAY too many people.

Next, it's a marketing trends story. I occasionally write about that subject. The best part came next. She offered her company as an ongoing resource! And gave me the name of a real person to contact. Cool!

The email was informative, factual, full of good information. The marketing trend link took me to a web page with the information promised. She also took the extra step of including the information into the body of the email in case I just scrolled down to see it.

Appropriately missing was a news release. Why? Because this is NOT NEWS. It's information. It's a huge mistake to use a "news release" format to transmit INFORMATION. This is called a "pitch email," and it's highly effective because it meets the following criteria:

1. On target with what the blogger writes about
2. Personalized and researched
3. Explanatory
4. Valuable information
5. Timely

Well done! I'd love to hear your stories of some great pitches you've received. Thanks for reading!

Editorial and Advertising Departments Should Be Separate

Being a newspaper reporter looks like a fun job. You get to shape the day's coverage, talk to interesting people, sell ads for your paper....(screeching noise) What?

Yeah, you heard me right. Some unscrupulous newspapers have taken a turn for the worse. I guess it's nice to have a reporter return your phone call, but when they say, "Buy an ad" instead of "great story idea," it's a little depressing. I would rather hear a no.

The great thing about reading an article in the business section of the paper is knowing that the reporter who wrote it is a neutral arbiter of the story. They don't have any outside motivation to say anything nice about your book, product or service. They most likely will have done their homework and confirmed things that have been said to them in the pitch.What the reader gets, in most cases, is an unbiased story, told for their benefit. The purpose is supposed to be to inform the reader of a new business in their community, a new product that they may want to try out, or a problem that a business has solved with their product or service.

But what happens when the newspaper abuses its control and power? I say the iron curtain of separation between editors and reporters and the advertising department has become a sheer wisp of a cotton cloth blowing in the breeze.

Everyone knows that ad revenues are down. The news is depressing. But what would compel readers to buy more newspapers? I dare to say that compelling content is the cure, not more ads.

This week, I had the disconcerting experience of having a respected daily newspaper in Iowa try to sell an ad to me after I pitched them a very relevant and timely business story. I did not just fall off the PR turnip truck yesterday. I know a good pitch from a bad one. My client's story has already received enthusiastic coverage from many other sources, so I know it's a good one. My client's product is new, innovative, and knowing about it benefits the reader.

Advertising is not the best way to promote some products. Public relations and editorial content provides information seekers another resource. It is distinctly different from advertising, and newspaper readers know the difference.

I think this is exactly why social media has risen to prominence. Social media is all about content, which is one of the reasons it is taking over mass media as a resource for people looking for information.

Kudos to those newspapers and other media outlets that have resisted the urge to use their connection to PR professionals as simply another source of income. I hope that others aren't naive enough to fall for this bait and switch technique. It's unethical to say the very least.

Help a Reporter Out.com

There's this cool new service for reporters called "Help a Reporter Out." It's a simple concept. Reporters who are looking for source material for a story, or experts to comment on trends, can go to this Web site and type in their query. Several times a day, the Web site's owner, Peter Shankman, sends out queries to a database of thousands of PR professionals who can find the source material requested and contact the reporters.

I would love to see a reverse system start, kind of a story ideas repository that reporters could subscribe to and have queries that match their needs emailed to them.

Anyhow, I've answered a few of Shankman's queries and have had no luck so far, but he reports that many of my colleagues have, so that's encouraging.

Subscribe to the service, it's actually pretty cool.