Journalists, PR Experts: I Want to Get on the News!

[EndGame]

Well, not me, but a friend/client.

Here's my question, I know there are many hundreds of Press Realease sites on the Internet that get their content on to news sites on the Internet etc, but I want to hit the mainstream main news channels, papers, magazines etc. Our news won't ever warrant first page treatment, but we want to hit the mainstream national news outlets, even if just in a small way.

We cannot afford Public Relations companies, and my experience is a lot of these comapanies over-state their capabilities and connections.

We've made some initial contact with local mainstream journalists, but it's not going to cut it. I need to make contact with journalists and editors at a higher level in the UK.

Is there anywhere or website where these types of people congregate? Are there any on or offline services, sites or sources that these professionals frequently use or refer to get leads to stories etc? And if so, how do I get in front of that journalist traffic?

Do I have to go to London, hustle, wine and dine important people etc?

If some one tells me what it takes, hard work or getting yourself in the right place at the right time, I'll do it. I just want to get familiar with how the press works and how to use that to the advantage of my business.

One example in the US is "Help a Reporter Out" (HARO) a site/newsletter that lists all of the experts and topics reporters need help on. If you fit the profile, you get in touch and share your experience to help give the editors and journalists content.

Anything equivalent on the Brit-side of the pond?

I hope my questions have made a bit of sense. I am typing like a maniac in my lunch break!

Thanks in advance for any and all help!

[mgkimsal]

HARO is primarily US oriented, but I believe I've seen some UK postings in there on occasion (maybe I'm mistaken?). Sounds like a good business opp for someone to take on in the UK - HARO is making a boatload of money daily ($3k is the rate for the daily email ad, IIRC).

[EndGame]

Yeah,

I guess you are right. You'd want a really diverse list of people and access to these people I think before journalists would bite. I also think you'd need a lot of media contacts.

Can anyone shed anymore light on this?

I know we have a few ex-journalists, editors and PR specilalists lurking in our numbers.

[EndGame]

Nevermind.

Think I am on to something with this: http://www.pressassociation.com/

Just thought I'd post it up there for anyone who was looking at doing the same.

[Dana_W]

Let me give you my perspective as a longtime newspaper reporter. The only thing that reporters and editors care about when considering whether to publish your story is whether your story is of interest/use to their local readers. You need to pitch your story in a way that is tailored to each news outlet that you want to approach. You also need to call the newspapers/TV stations/radio stations individually, find out who to submit it to, submit it to them, and follow up with phone calls.

Just publishing it online is unlikely to catch the eye of a reporter or editor unless your story is truly groundbreaking, original, unique, earth-shattering, etc. The purpose of online press release sites is to get traffic, backlinks, branding, online visibility, etc., but it really is not likely to get picked up by mainstream media.

[EndGame]

Hi Dana,

I hoped you would chip in on this.

I realize submitting online is not the best idea and thats why I was looking for a bit more information. The press association website looks cool and has some good training on offer.

I appreciate the input greatly.

[Steven Carl Kelly]

If you want to get noticed, you have to stand out. And to be honest, standing out isn't that difficult to do...

Years back I had a friend who opened a new single-location computer retail store. He came and asked me how to get his store noticed. Well, it was nearing tax time (April) and so I devised a little plan for him:

Each year the main post office in our city stays open past midnight on April 15th, tax deadline day, in order to allow folks to get their tax returns postmarked by the deadline. The local TV stations always do a "stand up" live report from the post office, showing the line of cars waiting to get through. Tax forms are available at the local post office, and when they had done those reports they'd always report that the post office was out of forms, "so don't come to the post office looking for any".

So I told my friend to plan on staying open past midnight on April 15. Yeah, a computer store open past midnight!

The plan was to load up tax software on all of his floor model PC's and allow people to come to his store even at midnight and print out any blank forms they may need or are missing. On his own, he decided to ask a nearby coffee shop to send someone over with a coffee cart to provide fresh, hot coffee for sale inside his shop.

During the week of April 15th, I wrote him a simple press release which he faxed to all the local radio and TV stations. I then told him to call the stations and ASK if they had received the faxed press release (this raised their attention).

The bottom line was that he and his store and the store's location were mentioned on just about all of the local radio stations, he did three radio interviews, and best of all: on April 15th during the 11:00 PM news, TWO TV reporters from two different stations did live stand up reports FROM HIS COMPUTER STORE! In both cases the local stations started out at the post office with a live report on the long lines, but when they got to the part about "the post office is out of forms, so don't come here looking for them" they'd throw it to the reporters LIVE at his computer store telling people where to come to GET the forms they need.

His store was swamped until like 3:00 AM, the coffee shop sold a TON of coffee, and he sold a bunch of copies of tax software on the spot, and quite a bit of hardware over the next few weeks, thanks to that free publicity.

[rconejr]

I totally agree with Dana. I've been a newspaper reporter a very long time and you really have to show them how it affects their local readers. The bigger media CNN, type want really earth shattering stuff or else you can sell yourself as an "expert" in a certain field and when they are doing stories related to that field they will use you but the big guys likely won't do a feature story on just your news unless it changes life as we know it. And online stuff doesn't really work.

You can also try Twitter. Search a director like Twellow for reporters and start communicating with them that way.

The real way is to create relationships with reporters that cover your field, keep in contact, send them tips they can use, even if it isn't about you. In short, become a news source for them and they'll learn to rely on you.

[EndGame]

Hi Steven.

Thats exactly the kind of story I want to be able to tell in a few months time! I am grateful for that insight!

rconejr, Thank you to you as well for the ideas and suggestions. I like the idea of positioning yourself as a good source of news in your particular field and becoming a reliable source for the journalist to tap. Establishing a relationship with these guys is something I have already thought of, but difficult to make first contact with some of the bigger guns. Will look into it though. Thank you!

[Dana_W]

Can you give a hint as to what your news is going to be about? I could give you some ideas as to good news angles.

[EndGame]

Hi Dana,

That's half the battle, we haven't created the story yet and need to play the cards fairly close to my chest at the moment. I thought this would be a useful discussion however as geting press attention can be so beneficial to any online or offline business.


With your permission, maybe I can restart this thread closer to the time when we are ready to roll with things?

[Dana_W]

Originally Posted by EndGame

Hi Dana,

That's half the battle, we haven't created the story yet and need to play the cards fairly close to my chest at the moment. I thought this would be a useful discussion however as geting press attention can be so beneficial to any online or offline business.


With your permission, maybe I can restart this thread closer to the time when we are ready to roll with things?

Sorry, just realized that I hadn't replied to you here. Yes, by all means, restart the thread then - or start a new one - etc.

At the risk of self-promoting - I now have a service where I will contact local news media in your area and promote stories. It's not cheap, and - just being honest - probably not suited to most internet marketing products. Why?

Because I wouldn't take on a project if I thought it had no chance of getting picked up by local newspapers/tv/radio. There is never a guarantee of getting picked up - but some stories have a better chance than others.

What stories DON'T have much of a chance? Well, for one, the fact that someone has a new product that drives traffic, or gets high Google rankings, or makes it fast and easy to create a new squeeze page, is generally not going to appeal to most mainstream media.

Online press release distribution can benefit those types of businesses because it provides credibility, backlinks, website traffic, SEO - but I'd never claim those type of businesses have a good shot of being picked up as a mainstream media story unless they have a shockingly new exciting angle.

[EndGame]

Hi Dana,

Thanks for the reply.

Does that service extend to the UK?

None of the press releases would have absolutely anything to do with an Internet marketing product.

Offline client's only.

[TheNightOwl]

Hey, EndGame, you got kids?

Get one of 'em to hide in the attic, and then, like, get a small home-made helium balloon and then... oh, nevermind... that'd never work!

[jazbo]

Every single editor and hack has an email address nowadays. Contact them, tell them what your angle is, and follow up by phone a week later. Easy and free.

[Fernando Veloso]

Shoot the message to a local friendly reporter and ask him to drop the message to a friend of him in a bigger company.

Reporters have connections in all kind of media: small/local ones and bigger/national ones.

I know for sure cause I have them from my radio days.

If you can't get to the big boys, ask a local one to pass the message privately to a big boy.

Just sayin...