It's Not About You

When you want a reporter to cover your story, you have to remember that it's not about you.

Well, wait a minute, you're thinking. It's my story. What do you mean it's not about me?

The story is not about covering you because you're you, though. It's about how you can inform, entertain or educate a reporter's audience. So, in other words, there has to be something about you that appeals to people on a large scale.

Even celebrities get they attention they get because someone cares about reading it. The stories mostly entertain and inform those readers about what the celebrities are doing. And because most of us aren't celebrities, it will take a little effort on your part to convince a reporter that their audience will care about your story.

Questions to ask yourself: How does my story benefit, entertain or inform people? Why would anyone care about this story?

The moral of the story: The more you can show that your story is something that people outside of your own family and friends will care about, the more likely it is that you will get coverage.

Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media relations consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc. With a background in print media, she has written thousands of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette consults with nonprofits and small businesses about how to get their programs and efforts in the news. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism.

Look for the Skeletons

There may be a few things worse than having a reporter finding some weird or potentially damning thing about your story that you didn't already know.

Like...war. Or poverty. Or littering.

There are definitely a few things worse than a reporter finding out that the program you are pulling (and pitching) for so wholeheartedly was in the middle of some great scandal three years ago. But if that happens, your only focus is going to be how to recover from that devastating punch.

Here a few tips to avoid that sensation:

•  Be sure that you have done your research regarding your claims.
• Make sure the people you have aligned yourself with have clean, credible backgrounds. Or if they were involved with something, make sure you know about it so that you can explain it and you're not blind-sided by the revelation.
• Understand that if there is dirt to be found, a reporter will find it. And ask you about it, so it's best to have some sort of prepared statement.

The moral of the story? Research is important. Make sure that you are asking the right questions so you know the answer when a reporter asks you.

Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media relations consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc. With a background in print media, she has written thousands of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette consults with nonprofits and small businesses about how to get their programs and efforts in the news. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism.

Say It in English

For those of us in professions where we routinely speak jargonese, it may cause a slight bubble of joy to explain whatever project is currently in the works.

But if no one outside your industry can understand what you mean, they are not feeling joy. In fact, as their eyes glaze over either in utter confusion or boredom, they may actually be in pain.

Though your knowledge of your industry and work may be impressive, save all the technical stuff for your next board meeting. When explaining your highly technical or complicated project to a reporter for a story, bottom line it.

What is special about it? How will it help people? What can you compare it to? I got this tip from a technology meeting I went to a few weeks ago that I thought would help as a pitch as well: "It's like ________ for  ________."  I.e., "It's like a file cabinet for your wallet." Isn't that much easier than saying, "It's a mini-organizer made for compartmentalizing your smaller items when you're in motion and have yet to experience the principles of inertia?"

The moral of the story? Consider that most of the time, your audience is not going to be in the same industry you are in. Make it plain. Say it in English. 


Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media relations consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc. With a background in print media, she has written thousands of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette consults with nonprofits and small businesses about how to get their programs and efforts in the news. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism.

Be the Perfect Source

I was browsing some of my old articles with a colleague recently and I came across a story. The headline: Clark County Would Be 'Flat Broke' If Tax Hike Ends.

My primary source in the story was then-Clark County Assistant Administrator Nathan Kennedy. And he -- as well as pretty much all of the folks there in the Clark County, Ohio Board of Commissioners Office -- was an awesome source.  He answered all of my questions as succinctly as possible. He was great with giving analogies and examples. And he just told like it was, which generated great quotes and headlines, i.e. the whole "flat broke" thing.

So if you want tips on how to be a great source that reporters can call over and over again, consider these things:

• Make your comments easy to understand. Remember that the person reading, watching or listening to your story most likely doesn't know the inner workings of your business or organization. Include the details later, but make sure you know how to summarize and give a great comment that can be referred to as a sound bite. It accurately captures the problem in just one or two sentences.
• Have facts and figures. How many times have I told you that reporters love statistics? Well, I'll say it again. We do. And Nate Kennedy's facts and figures led to this  lovely chart we published with the story.
• Be ready to offer solutions. One great thing about this particular story is that officials were willing to share how they were going to solve the problem. Don't identify a problem without some idea of a solution.

The moral of the story? Be a source that a reporter can feel comfortable calling and quoting. You will find that is makes for a much smoother relationship. And kudos to Commissioners Detrick, Hartley and Tackett, as well as Michelle, Megan and Lynn; you folks were the best.

Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc. With a background in print media, she has written thousands of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette consults with nonprofits and small businesses about how to get their programs and efforts in the news. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism.

How You Can Get on the News

As you may know by now, we host a media relations foundation workshop that starts folks off with some tips about how they should pitch their stories.

Last week, we had the pleasure of being on L.E.A.R.N. for Life Consulting's BlogTalk radio show, talking about what nonprofits and small businesses can do to get their stories in the news. Check it out here.

We had a great time with LLC's Heather Butts, who asked some awesome questions about obtaining news coverage. To talk a listen to get advice about networking with reporters, tools you can use to get mentions in the media and what questions you should be asking yourself BEFORE you pitch your story.

Enjoy!

Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc. With a background in print media, she has written thousands of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette consults with nonprofits and small businesses about how to get their programs and efforts in the news. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism. Be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

What is So Special About You?

For many reporters, whether you have a story comes down to one question: what is so special about you?

In other words, why would their readers, viewers or listeners be interested in what you're talking about?

If you cannot answer this question in a few sentences, you may need to rethink your pitch.

The moral of the story? Reporters cater to their audiences. You have to be able to show what about your story will inform, educate or benefit their audience.

Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc.  Her background is in print journalism and she has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette consults with nonprofits and small businesses about how they can get media attention for their programs and efforts. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism. 

Timing is Everything

I know that I have stressed and stressed the idea of contacting a reporter as early as possible (although a reporter on deadline is a different situation entirely.

Well, when you're planning an in-depth publicity campaign, this is even more important.

What do I mean by in-depth campaign? Well, let's say you commemorate a holiday every year at about the same time with an annual event.

If this is the case, you should be gearing up to contact the reporter at least eight weeks out. Why?

• You want to make sure that you have an advance (which is a story about your event, in advance)
  
• You want to get the word out and grab more attendees.
• You want to give the reporters time to cover it and plan.

The moral of the story? The rule of them is still: the earlier, the better...and it's always better to be too early than too late.


Bridgette Outten is a journalist and media consultant with The Write Vision Group, Inc.  Her background is in print journalism and she has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and online publications. At The Write Vision Group, Bridgette consults with nonprofits and small businesses about how they can get media attention for their programs and efforts. Meanwhile, she blogs on all things journalism.