One of the keys to getting free publicity is to make the journalist’s job easier. Not because they are lazy, but because they are almost always overworked and on deadline.
This means streamlining the communication process as much as you can.
In my work as a journalist, I’ve had several people pitch me stories who then told me I could find out the background information I needed by reading several pages of their web site, they weren’t sure just where, but if I hunted around, I could find it.
More than one got testy when I told them I didn’t have time.
Think about this situation from the standpoint of human nature. Forget about journalism for a moment. Imagine that someone asks you to do them a favor. When you agree, they put all kinds of conditions on you as to how the favor must be performed and when, so that they are not inconvenienced.
How would you feel, especially if you had several things of your own that you had to accomplish before the end of the day?
Now, journalists are not doing you a favor. They are looking for good stories, but they have a lot to choose from. Who is more likely to get their story in the paper, the person who is helpful, or the person who puts up roadblocks?
One time I asked the spokesperson for a nonprofit a question and she told me to go read her 96 page white paper. There was no way I was going to do that, not to find one simple piece of information that she could have told me over the phone. Guess whose story didn’t appear in the paper.
So do whatever you can to make the journalist’s life easier and you’ll find yourself getting more and more free publicity.
Adapted from the book, You Can Be Famous! Insider Secrets to Getting Free Publicity
