Leff's PR & Media Spotlight, Podcast 3
Mitch Leff is president of Leff & Associates (www.leffassociates.com) an Atlanta-based public relations agency. In addition to public relations services and media training, Leff also offers two public relations focused web sites:
• Mitch's Media Match (www.MitchsMediaMatch.com) is a new online service for Atlanta and Georgia-based media that matches their story assignments and story concepts with local sources and experts. FREE for journalists.
• Leff's Atlanta Media (www.LeffsAtlantaMedia.com) is an online resource featuring a comprehensive directory of Atlanta media, plus media relations guidelines and prepared templates for commonly used press materials.
Making Your News Relevant
This week's podcast is actually a two-parter. In the first section here, we're going to talk about how you can make your news relevant. Our "bonus" section is an interview with Tom Haynes, the new anchor of Fox5's new 11 p.m. newscast, and his executive producer, Mark Shavin. So make sure you listen to the end!
I'm asked all the time by clients, "How can we get in the newspaper?" and "How can we get on TV?" Often that question is preceded by "How come my competitor is in the paper or on TV all the time?"
I can't tell you how many clients have come to me over the years with a new product or service ... and a firm conviction that they should be in USA Today this week and on CNN the next week.
What I've told clients for 20 years, and what I'll tell you today, is that the key to successfully placing your story in the media isn't a complicated exercise in quantum physics ... it's simply about understanding how to make your news relevant.
What do we mean by "relevant"? At its simplest, your story has to be something that someone will care about. Remember, the classic definition of news: Conflict and Change. News isn't about what happened yesterday, a product that's the same as its ten predecessors, or an event that no one cares to attend. News is about the new, the different, the shocking, the insightful. Yes, sometimes it's also about the funny, the gross, and the stupid.
So your first exercise is to sit down and think about your "product." When we say product here, we might be referring to your company as a whole, a new widget, a new service, or maybe a new executive. We'll call it the product for short.
Think about what makes your product different. What's new about it? How does it compare to the competition? What are its main selling points? Now, think about the most important element of your product that will make people care. Think about it the way you would think about it if you were a potential customer. It's sometimes hard to get that perspective if you've been involved with every stage of the product's development from conception. Bringing in some outside expertise, such as a public relations or marketing expert, may be just the thing you need to put your product in its proper perspective.
So you've got a clear picture in your head of your product's strengths. You start calling the newspapers and television stations, sending out emails, writing letters, mailing samples. You wait for the calls from interested reporters to start pouring in and ... nothing happens.
What's going on? Why doesn't everyone want to write stories about your great new product?
Part of the problem may be how you've "pitched" your story to the media. It's vital that you understand the dynamics of media and the types of stories that newspapers and television stations run.
News media vary in a hundred different ways, by size, by city, by focus, by frequency, by the quality of their staff. Every outlet you talk to is a little bit different. You can't say "Here's how this story should be pitched to newspapers" ... period ... and assume you'll have the same luck with every call.
For example, I've been pitching an author on a book tour around Georgia the last few months. We've been talking with reporters in Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, and Albany. Every market requires a slightly different pitch, a way to make the story relevant to the readers and viewers in that city.
It's very important to understand to know what else is happening in the world as you're pitching. For example, unless you had a political story or something unrelated but huge, Super Tuesday probably wasn't a good day to be calling local TV in Atlanta. The only thing TV reporters cared about that day was the election.
But here are some ways you could have been in the news that day or the day after:
• Perhaps you were a school that spent the day teaching your students about the political process
• Maybe you were the guy in charge of cleaning up all the campaign signs the day after the election
• Maybe you have an expert at your company who can talk about why the vote went the way it did
See the pattern here? Look for ways to fit your product into the news of the day. Don't just try and shoehorn in a story on your product. Your chances of that are limited ... almost nonexistent if you're pitching national media.
Look for a trend and be a part of that story. Maybe your company is one of several that have created innovative water-saving products. Media across the south are always looking for stories relating to water, and after six months of draught stories, they're looking for new angles.
Don't be afraid to suggest a story to a reporter that includes your competitors, or perhaps similar or complementary products. Most media will hesitate to do a story on just your product, but suggesting a few makes the story broader and the reporter will appreciate that you're thinking bigger.
Sometimes you'll be working with a company that has long periods between their hard news. Maybe you know it's going to be a year before your next big product announcement. So look at your executives and position them as experts on issues and topics relevant to your business. Say for example you're a sports agent and you know you won't be able to talk about any of your own clients for a while. You can still get out there and talk about a myriad of other sports issues, such as why that new Falcon got a $50 million contract, why players are still getting paid when they're injured, etc.
So that's a little about "making your news relevant." Stay tuned for our interview with Tom Haynes and Mark Shavin from Fox5.
Mitch Leff is president of Leff & Associates (www.leffassociates.com) an Atlanta-based public relations agency. In addition to public relations services and media training, Leff also offers two public relations focused web sites:
• Mitch's Media Match (www.MitchsMediaMatch.com) is a new online service for Atlanta and Georgia-based media that matches their story assignments and story concepts with local sources and experts. FREE for journalists.
• Leff's Atlanta Media (www.LeffsAtlantaMedia.com) is an online resource featuring a comprehensive directory of Atlanta media, plus media relations guidelines and prepared templates for commonly used press materials.
Making Your News Relevant
This week's podcast is actually a two-parter. In the first section here, we're going to talk about how you can make your news relevant. Our "bonus" section is an interview with Tom Haynes, the new anchor of Fox5's new 11 p.m. newscast, and his executive producer, Mark Shavin. So make sure you listen to the end!
I'm asked all the time by clients, "How can we get in the newspaper?" and "How can we get on TV?" Often that question is preceded by "How come my competitor is in the paper or on TV all the time?"
I can't tell you how many clients have come to me over the years with a new product or service ... and a firm conviction that they should be in USA Today this week and on CNN the next week.
What I've told clients for 20 years, and what I'll tell you today, is that the key to successfully placing your story in the media isn't a complicated exercise in quantum physics ... it's simply about understanding how to make your news relevant.
What do we mean by "relevant"? At its simplest, your story has to be something that someone will care about. Remember, the classic definition of news: Conflict and Change. News isn't about what happened yesterday, a product that's the same as its ten predecessors, or an event that no one cares to attend. News is about the new, the different, the shocking, the insightful. Yes, sometimes it's also about the funny, the gross, and the stupid.
So your first exercise is to sit down and think about your "product." When we say product here, we might be referring to your company as a whole, a new widget, a new service, or maybe a new executive. We'll call it the product for short.
Think about what makes your product different. What's new about it? How does it compare to the competition? What are its main selling points? Now, think about the most important element of your product that will make people care. Think about it the way you would think about it if you were a potential customer. It's sometimes hard to get that perspective if you've been involved with every stage of the product's development from conception. Bringing in some outside expertise, such as a public relations or marketing expert, may be just the thing you need to put your product in its proper perspective.
So you've got a clear picture in your head of your product's strengths. You start calling the newspapers and television stations, sending out emails, writing letters, mailing samples. You wait for the calls from interested reporters to start pouring in and ... nothing happens.
What's going on? Why doesn't everyone want to write stories about your great new product?
Part of the problem may be how you've "pitched" your story to the media. It's vital that you understand the dynamics of media and the types of stories that newspapers and television stations run.
News media vary in a hundred different ways, by size, by city, by focus, by frequency, by the quality of their staff. Every outlet you talk to is a little bit different. You can't say "Here's how this story should be pitched to newspapers" ... period ... and assume you'll have the same luck with every call.
For example, I've been pitching an author on a book tour around Georgia the last few months. We've been talking with reporters in Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus, Macon, Augusta, and Albany. Every market requires a slightly different pitch, a way to make the story relevant to the readers and viewers in that city.
It's very important to understand to know what else is happening in the world as you're pitching. For example, unless you had a political story or something unrelated but huge, Super Tuesday probably wasn't a good day to be calling local TV in Atlanta. The only thing TV reporters cared about that day was the election.
But here are some ways you could have been in the news that day or the day after:
• Perhaps you were a school that spent the day teaching your students about the political process
• Maybe you were the guy in charge of cleaning up all the campaign signs the day after the election
• Maybe you have an expert at your company who can talk about why the vote went the way it did
See the pattern here? Look for ways to fit your product into the news of the day. Don't just try and shoehorn in a story on your product. Your chances of that are limited ... almost nonexistent if you're pitching national media.
Look for a trend and be a part of that story. Maybe your company is one of several that have created innovative water-saving products. Media across the south are always looking for stories relating to water, and after six months of draught stories, they're looking for new angles.
Don't be afraid to suggest a story to a reporter that includes your competitors, or perhaps similar or complementary products. Most media will hesitate to do a story on just your product, but suggesting a few makes the story broader and the reporter will appreciate that you're thinking bigger.
Sometimes you'll be working with a company that has long periods between their hard news. Maybe you know it's going to be a year before your next big product announcement. So look at your executives and position them as experts on issues and topics relevant to your business. Say for example you're a sports agent and you know you won't be able to talk about any of your own clients for a while. You can still get out there and talk about a myriad of other sports issues, such as why that new Falcon got a $50 million contract, why players are still getting paid when they're injured, etc.
So that's a little about "making your news relevant." Stay tuned for our interview with Tom Haynes and Mark Shavin from Fox5.
