When first starting out in PR, pitching stories for clients can be nerve-racking. When my account supervisor gave me my first assignment, I was excited but also nervous. Finally, I was given the chance to contribute to the coverage I monitored for on a daily basis, but I didn’t want to mess up. What if I couldn’t produce any results? What if I said the wrong thing to the reporter? What if I ended up on the Bad Pitch Blog? Sure, if I were pitching a new Apple product launch it would seem like an easier task, but even that’s not a slam-dunk in PR.

Thankfully, I work with a team that helped me learn the ropes of pitching. For the other newbies out there, I’d like to share with you my four biggest tips on pitching journalists:

1. Research. Before you even formulate your pitch, make sure you understand what you’ll be talking about. Also make sure you know the journalist to whom you will be pitching the story. Is this a relevant story to their beat? Doing the appropriate research ahead of time will make your pitching efforts more prolific.
2. There’s a phone at your desk for a reason. Use it. Journalists get so many e-mails that your pitch may get lost in the jumble no matter how compelling it may be. A simple phone call gets you 1-on-1 time with the journalist. They can give you instant feedback, too. Maybe they want more data or an interview or aren’t that interested in writing about the topic. You’ll know right away.
3. Show your worth. If a reporter is interested in more information or an interview with a spokesperson, then it is your job as the PR liaison to make sure that happens. Prove your worth to your client by expediting the process and making sure they are fully briefed before speaking to the reporter. Prove your worth to the reporter as well by making sure they have everything needed to write the story and hopefully develop a  good relationship with them.
4. Remember the immortal words of Chumbawamba. “I get knocked down, but I get up again. You ain’t never gonna keep me down.” Don’t be discouraged just because one reporter told you they aren’t interested in covering your client. Keep trying, and when that placement comes through, make sure you give yourself a little celebration.

• Andy Hoffman – Executive Producer, Fox Business Network
• Mark White – Executive Producer, Bloomberg TV Morning Programming
• Alisa Roth – NY Bureau Chief, American Public Media’s “Marketplace”
• Lisa Murphy – Business Reporter, WNYW-TV
• Gregg Greenberg – Reporter, thestreet.com

Each panelists offered insights into best practices for securing opportunities at each outlet, as well as what to avoid and how to make the most of a relationship with a reporter or booker.  We both felt that the advice provided would be beneficial to any new public relations professional and could help them secure multiple opportunities.  The best practices provided could be applied to a variety of verticals and outlets, not just the few that were represented on the panel.

Here are some of the best practices the panelists recommended every PR professional should follow:

• As always, know the media outlet and reporter before you pitch. Do your homework people!

• Know the outlet’s audience and use the pitch as an opportunity to explain how it relates to them.

• Find out if they accept b-roll. Local news stations have experienced such significant cutbacks that having b-roll footage or all the aspects of the story in one place, close to the station, could make the difference between getting your client on.

• Know how and when the reporter likes to be pitched. This is an oldie, but a goodie.

We’re interested to hear what you think—any interesting insights to share on how to work with the business media?

When I probed him a bit about this, he explained that these pieces hadn’t really moved the needle on his business. Sometimes as PR professionals, we forget that while the Today Show or Wall Street Journal may  be the “holy grail” of coverage traditionally, these outlets may not be the best way to reach our clients’ target audience. May PR professionals operate in a vacuum, rarely considering the marketing, sales and business goals as part of their PR strategy. PR should be yet another tool for growing a business.

Just a reminder that we can always benefit from revisiting the basics.

A fun time was had by all and I am really looking forward to the next speaking engagement with TEBC.

For those interested in learning more about these awesome kids, check out the TEBC blog at http://teenentrepreneurbootcamp.blogspot.com/

An internship in any industry is vital to getting a foot in the door and a leg up on your competition with respect to obtaining a job. It helps determine if this field is the right one for the student or job-seeker, as well as provide the necessary introductory training for the intern to learn the basic skills of said profession.

In public relations, an internship is often the key to a successful career in the field as it encompasses most of the duties a person finds in an entry-level position, and not just administrative tasks. From learning how to use media-centric databases, performing client research, preparing clip reports, coordinating and working special events and helping with social media projects among other tasks, interns really get a taste of the many skills and communication methods that are required to become a solid PR practitioner.

Additionally, a public relations internship can help an applicant determine if he or she wants to work on the agency or in-house side of the industry. As my colleague Regina wrote in an earlier post, positions on either side can be very rewarding depending if you have the right skill set and personality to match the position. An internship is very useful in helping students and job-seekers navigate the waters of in-house and agency life and determine what side is the right fit for them.

Most importantly, public relations internships provide interns with skills that contribute to their overall professional success and not just within the industry. A few examples include:  learning the fine art of networking through helping with and staffing special events; becoming well versed in social media platforms, such as LinkedIn and Twitter, that can help their job prospects; and enhancing their written communication skills through press release, pitch and letter writing.

I know my media relations internship in college certainly paved the way for me to become a strong PR practitioner. Let me know how your internship helped you in the comments section below.

PR Newswire hosted a fascinating seminar in midtown Manhattan this afternoon which I was fortunate to attend. The focus was to give a behind-the-scenes look at Fox Business Network and hear from the people who decide what goes on the air. Moderated by Andrew Meranus, Director of Agency Vertical at PR Newswire, the panel consisted of Andrew Hoffman, Executive Producer at Fox Business; Ray Hennessey, Director of Business News; Cheryl Casone, Business Correspondent and Pippa Bark, Business Producer (Money for Breakfast). The room was filled to capacity and the conversation was lively and informative.

Fox Business went on the air October 15, 2007 after months of anticipation and fanfare. Reaching more than 30 million subscribers, the channel has strived to, as Ray Hennessey noted, “Be the business news channel you watch with the sound on!” The aim was to create a channel that brought Wall Street to Main Street and make the message engaging and understandable for the average listener. The channel has aggressively staked its mark on the media landscape by taking the best talent away from other networks, going after offbeat and non-traditional financial stories and being more open to ideas from outside.

Much of the session covered helpful tips and advice on how to pitch the channel. Key points were:

• Know who you are pitching to. If you are sending an email blast, make sure that you have read what you are sending and it is relevant to that reporter. Useless, generic emails that appear to be part of a blast pitch will not only get deleted, but will cause you to be automatically deleted by the reporter whenever your email appears.

• Pitch stories that can help people make, spend or save money. These are the types of stories that they want and will get the most attention.

• Personalize the story. The producers/bookers/reporters will not consider anyone for an on-camera segment unless they can see or hear the person beforehand. They want to see how the person looks and performs on-camera. Television is a visual medium. If they are an “expert” then they must have appeared somewhere before.

• Make the pitch short and sweet. Two or three sentences that tell the story and the person being pitched, with video or background links are best. Anything longer will get deleted.

• Pitching the website is the same as pitching the channel. There is no difference. An on-camera segment can make the website, and a good web story can lead to an on-camera segment.

• Pitch Fox Business through their bookers and associate producers. This is the most effective way to establish initial relationships within the channel.

• Familiarize yourself with the channel, the shows and style before pitching. Nothing is more annoying than people who pitch to the wrong show and are not familiar with the subjects covered.

Other tidbits given were:

• Read the on-air talents’ blogs. Most of the on-air talent host blogs and they give insight on what is top-of-mind. Referencing a particular post can be a good way to get a dialogue started. Ray says that unlike their competitors, they consider blogs to be news sources and are a source of breaking news. He feels blogs can provide a more honest and un-sanitized viewpoint and they have covered them on the channel.

• Be honest about where your interview guest is appearing. Nothing is worse than booking a guest on Fox Business and then the same person appears on multiple outlets that same day without their knowledge. If your spokesperson will appear on other shows or channels, full disclosure is in order. More often than not, the segment will go on as scheduled. If there is no disclosure, the segment can be cancelled and the guest as well as the PR agency can be permanently blacklisted.

• Statistics and studies are welcome. They are always interested in any studies and statistics that come out. If they can be presented in a visual way then there is a better chance of the story being covered.

Finally, no story is too small or quirky that they wouldn’t be interested in hearing about it. If a company has an innovative solution but is considered a “penny stock” on the stock exchange, they will cover them if they find the story compelling enough. They are about building and maintaining relationships that will help them maintain their competitive edge as well as provide them with a resource pool that is reliable and available when they need it. It is this kind of thinking that not only benefits the PR practitioner but also illustrates a clear understanding and appreciation of the symbiotic relationship between PR and the media.

–Walter Ocner

Although the most popular videos on YouTube sometimes seem to be aimed at entertaining catatonic teens, there are real opportunities for business value in every interaction. Although there is  of discussion in the PR industry around the death of the press release at the hands of search engine optimization/marketing, I don’t buy into that. (However, it may mean the death of AP Style in the press release.)

In 2007 we already saw a few CEOs use YouTube as the platform of choice to issue public apologies, quiet public dissent and launch new products. Could it be that YouTube will be the new format of the press release in 2008? 

Sheldon Gilbert is the founder and CEO of Proclivity Systems, the developers of  the Proclivity platform, and one of our clients. Proclivity is a predictive engine that can anticipate and forecast consumer shopping behaviors online - essentially predicting what people are going to by, when and at what price.  He is profiled in this month’s Men’s Vogue in a section called ‘Life Studies’ in an article entitled The Start-Up CEO (p. 164).

Although the story includes details on the company and it’s flagship product, Proclivity Mail, the outlet is still Vogue. Sheldon participated in a photoshoot with photographer Julian Dufort, and was dressed to the nines by fashion editor Justin Arroyo. The writer, Michael Mraz, explored Sheldon’s personal history from his birth in St. Lucia to his studies at Yale and the career path that led him to write an algorithm that became the foundation of the company’s technology. He also had Sheldon share some of his favorite objects from his past and present to be included in the story.

Although Vogue may not be a direct path to Proclivity’s target audience, it has a broad circulation and reaches are large number of influencers in the fashion industry. (Proclivity is focusing on large online retailers as part of its sales efforts.) In this case, leveraging Sheldon’s dynamic background, personal appeal and fashion sense, made him a great fit for Vogue. Surely, a product-focused pitch would not have gotten the editor’s attention.

Our client, Absolute Software, makes a product called Computrace LoJack for Laptops. The product is installed on a computer, and if it is lost or stolen, Absolute can locate the computer and works with local authorities to recover it. Walter (go Walter!) in our office sent the reporter information within an hour of her initial request and …… yesterday the story was published online and in print.

Although trying to to get a client in the WSJ can take months of work, in this case, we were prepared and ready to take advantage of an immediate opportunity – that’s more than luck. Being able to respond quickly and effectively can increase your chances of getting coverage in any publication – but if hundreds of PR folk could be responding to a request, its best to get your story at the top of the inbox.

Panelists Penny Crosman, Senior Editor, Wall Street & Technology, John Falcone, Senior Editor, CNET.com, Peter Kafka, Managing Editor, Silicon Alley Insider, and David Lidsky, Senior Editor, Fast Company, all shared their insights and anecdotes on how PR professionals can get their attention and get some ink (or bytes) for their clients.

I am very grateful to the journalists for coming out to share their time and educate the PR folk about the inner workings of their publication, the editor’s credo and/or their personal proclivities.

John enlightened us on how to get our products reviewed on CNET - noting the all important factors of having a name, being able to explain what it does and how much it costs. David commented on the importance of knowing journalists and building relationships before you go in for the hard pitch. However, he cautioned practitioners not to exploit Facebook or other social media sites as an all access pass to reporters personal lives (it can creep them out, or anyone for that matter). Although he’s an advocate for professional purposes and has found LinkedIn useful in his own story research.

Penny reminded us not to call to confirm that we’ve sent a press release (do you leave a voicemail to confirm that someone received your email?) and to know the focus of a publication before pitching. Peter shared some of the challenges of a start-up publication/community/new business venture and how the accelerated pace moving from from print to online to blog can sometimes defy the space-time continuum.

Peter also introduced me to New York Tech MeetUp. Hope to see some of my tech enthusiast colleagues there at the next one in November.