Tennis Marketing Guide
Avoid
5 Common Mistakes When Pitching the Press
by Marsha Friedman
For the past
23 years, Marsha Friedman has been at the helm of one of the
most successful boutique PR Firms in the U.S. As the founder
and CEO of EMSI
Public Relations,
she is highly respected and widely regarded as an innovator and
pioneer in the PR pay for performance model.
All the manpower shortages today
at newspapers and magazines have made it much easier in
some ways to break into print and for getting print coverage.
In other ways, it has gotten harder.
If you send an email with your
credentials and a brief sample of a free, original article, tips
list or other content you can provide, editors may just leap
at the opportunity. That is, if they believe it will appeal to
their audience and if the quality is very good. (They dont
want to spend as much time editing your piece as it would take
for them to write it themselves!)
Print publications with online
outlets present even riper opportunities: They need new content
throughout the day to satisfy the continuous demands of their
audience.
On the other hand, if your aim
is to get a reporter to write about you, the job just got tougher.
Todays print media have sharply reduced their staffs in
the past few years. Some have even cut back on the frequency
of publishing. That means more competition for less time and
attention.
Unfortunately, a lot of people
(including some professionals) pitch themselves, their books,
products or companies in ways that pretty much guarantee theyll
get no response. Todays editors are busier than ever; theyre
looking for pitches that are clear and concise, and content thats
clean, accurate and ready to use. Too often, thats not
what they get.
What are some of the common mistakes
people make when pitching to print editors? Take a look:
- Pay no heed to deadlines: Newspapers
are generally daily or weekly; magazines may publish weekly,
monthly, quarterly or annually. Both plan their feature content
ahead of time. For papers that may be from a few days to two
or three weeks ahead of publication. Magazines may be working
on their May issue in February. Either way, working in advance
is vital. If youre hoping to time your story idea or article
to coincide with a season or special event, consider when youd
like to see it published and work backward from that date. It
also helps to comb the publications website for information
on deadlines and policies regarding unsolicited material.
- Dont read the publication:
You cant tailor your pitch or article to suit the needs
of the publication if youve never read it. Once you understand
what sort of content it uses, in what format and in which sections,
you can customize your piece. Say you, as the owner of a childrens
art gallery, want to provide back-to-school tips for helping
inspire creativity. You can A) Send an article full of tips to
the main editor listed on the website, or B) Read a few issues
of the newspaper or magazine and find out if and when it publishes
a parenting page or an arts page, and who the editor is. (You
can also see if it uses a question-and-answer format, bulleted
tips, or longer articles.) Youll also likely win the respect
of the editor, who will give you bonus points for taking the
time to do your homework.
- Be oblivious to the news: If
you dont know todays issues, trends and breaking
news, how can you offer up something timely and current? Most
publications look for a news hook a way to
give a piece context because it relates to something happening
now. There have been lots of news features on the Mormon religion,
for instance, since Mitt Romney began campaigning for the GOP
presidential nomination. Romney being Mormon gives publications
a reason to write about that religion. Hes a great news
hook. Does your business offer solutions for people to help beat
the recession? Do you write romance novels, and can you tie that
expertise into advice for brides-to-be like Jennifer Aniston?
If its in the news and you can speak to it, dont
hesitate to get your pitch together and send it off today.
- Be as verbose as possible: No
editor wants to wade through page after page of narrative, waiting
for you to get to the point. Sometimes a simple email with a
few sentences describing your story angle and how it relates
to a timely topic is enough. However you choose to present the
information, do it in a way that respects your contacts
time. Brief is best.
- Hide the important information:
If editors have to search for dates, your contact information,
or local relevance, theyll likely give up even if
theyre initially interested in your pitch. Think of the
information you would need if you were considering writing a
story or publishing what has been provided. The vital information
should be present and clearly visible.
Even if you dont make these
common mistakes, catching the interest of an editor can be difficult.
Remember to paste your pitch into the body of your email
dont send it as an attachment, which may get it flagged
as junk mail. Follow up with a polite phone call (Just
wanted to make sure you received my email regarding an article
I can write for you). And dont give up!
Yours far and wide,
Marsha Friedman
P.S. If you want help spreading
your message to the media so that more consumers learn about
you, give us a call at 727-443-7115 ext. 211 or simply reply
to this email.
EMSI Web Site
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