John Jantsch who last year I had the pleasure to treat to lunch at Guero’s in Austin has a good blog post up about journalists.
The post is about how to get journalists to cover you. The only thing I could add (because I was strictly an ebiz journalist for over 13 years and am a proud card carrying member of the Internet Press Guild) is that he says “most journalists have a blog now” and that’s not really so.
Alot of journalists don’t blog so you still have to really dig on the Internet to find out if they’re a good fit for your news and try to connect with them. Also because of the downsizing don’t neglect the freelance writers who write for many different publications. Business 2.0 just closed down and there are for instance, two outstanding writers from that pub who can literally contribute to any publication they want, so keep that in mind when you’re building a good list of journalists.
It’s almost just as important to have a good list of freelancers you can send news too as it is journalists employed full-time at one publication.
I would also add that anytime you send something to a journalist, not only do you let them know you’ve read their stuff by putting a link to a recent story and commenting on it in the body of the email, but you also keep your approach really short, sweet and to the point.
We’re not always “overworked” as John says, but when you’re looking through 200 to 300 email pitches a day, you can be “over-emailed” and suffer “email block” when it comes to reading yet one more story pitch. The biggest mistakes both pros and independents make in approaching journalists is sending way too long emails and “telling” instead of “offering” why a journalist might be interested in a story.
Also don’t be a buffoon and complement them inauthentically. Better to not complement at all, then to waste their time trying to kiss up to them.
And don’t stalk a journalist of course!
And I’ve put this link in before but for those of you who have not read it. I highly recommend Esther Schindler’s (IPG member) Care and Feeding of the Press. It is very insightful and helpful in terms of how to best reach out to the press.
Another caveat – the press will trust you, but only if you don’t assail them with unnewsworthy stories. So be sparing in how many times you email someone or even comment on their blog if your only intention is to get them to cover you. We’re pretty smart about that, espescially on the blog side, so be very mindful when you’re posting to a journalist’s blog.
Also keep in mind that they can use that post in a story once you’ve posted it. I frequently quote John Lociano’s blog when I write stories on Adobe and I know of other writers that have taken from the comments on a blog post and used those in a story with attribution.
So be mindful of that when you’re posting!
Again, ask not what a blogger or journalist can do for you – ask what you can do for their readers!
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