10 Ways to Build Strong Relationships with Reporters and Bloggers (and not annoy them)

By Abbi Whitaker, president

Earlier this week I wrote a piece entitled 11 things that annoy journalists and bloggers detailing some of the common habits that are prevalent among public relations professionals, but make journalists’ eyes roll in newsrooms across the nation. Now that you know what not to do, I want to point out what you should be doing. Good public relations delivers real news and develops real relationships. Sometimes we all need to take a minute to dial back the hyperbole, tone down the spin and get back to the basics of media relations. Here are 10 steps that will keep your pitches out of journalists’ digital trash cans, and help you become a journalist’s ally, not an annoyance.

A Good Pitch: Just like a good news story, a good news pitch takes a little research and legwork. Every day journalists see a slew of mass e-mailed, off-topic, long, error-filled pitches with no news hook whatsoever. Be clear, concise, customized, and add bullets and links that support a current news angle or trending topic, and you will stand out.

A Localized National Pitch: Every morning, in newsrooms across the nation, editors ask their reporters to get a local angle on a national story. A public relations pro with an eye for research and a knack for sniffing out a good news angle can capitalize in this by getting their clients in the local news when national news hits in a client’s area of expertise. A good example of this would be the recent Paula Deen Diabetic debacle. Take that nationally trending news story and pair it with a local doctor, a university professor and a local Type 2 Diabetic and pitch it to your local news outlet as your community’s response.  Provide some statistics (local and national if possible) and interview information.

A Pitch That’s Full of Facts: Of course your client thinks his product is “innovative, exciting” and my personal favorite “one-of-a-kind,” but chances are it isn’t. But what might make it stand out is some supporting information. We work with ShortStack, a Facebook application that creates custom tabs, and we often use infographics created from surveys and back-end user information. Then we are not just telling the journalists how many people use our platform, we are showing them why and how, and putting an actual number to it.

A PR person Who’s Read a Journalist’s Writing: This is PR 101. Read before you pitch. And, better yet, go back a year or so and make sure the journalists you are pitching didn’t already do a round-up on cloud computing services six months ago before you pitch it. This allows you to start the conversation with, “I read your round-up on cloud computing six months ago and I’ve been using SugarSync ever since. Since your last article there has been some great cloud computing apps developed for the iPad. Is it OK if I send you a quick e-mail with some of the apps that are easier for the non-techie business person to grasp?”

Infographics: Some journalists might disagree with this but I’ve gotten a great response from infographics as supporting press material. Our attention spans are so short these days it’s easier to get your message across in pictures — or maybe 140 characters.

Twitter Conversation: Let’s face it, we all love our Twitter accounts. I practically fall off of my seat when I get retweets, direct messages (not the spammy kind or auto responses) and a good conversation going among my peers. Journalists feel the same way. They like a good Twitter conversation about a story they wrote. They like to know you actually read their stuff. They enjoy engaging and responses to fans. It’s OK to pitch via Twitter as well — just don’t overdo it.

Desk-side Visits: Since I live in Nevada, which isn’t exactly a hot bed of top-tier national journalists, I have to scurry to New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles a few times a year. I’ve always found that journalists really appreciate this and are very open to a quick 15- to 20-minute desk-side visit.  I never leave press kits ( HYPERLINK “http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10650.aspx” see my previous article), I always know the sections that my clients fit into and I’ve read the editorial calendars.

Personality: This is my personal favorite. Journalists are people too — and most of them are snarky, witty and well read. They are bombarded by PR people that are always towing the company line and trying to stay on message.  It’s OK to crack to a joke and show a little of your personality every once in a while. That’s what helps develop relationships.

Good Content: We keep hearing that GOOD content is king ( HYPERLINK “http://theabbiagency.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/content-is-stil/” as I have written about before) and we should be paying attention. I’m not talking about a well written press release, but rather a strong. nicely put-together video two minutes long at the most, an expert column that targets a national issue in a non-promotional way or even a high-resolution set of images that tell a story. Bloggers don’t want the same content everyone else does but many of them have other jobs and they appreciate strong supporting material that helps enhance the story.

Drinks:  Another personal favorite. After a few drinks the personalities really shine through. Some (not all) journalists like to drink and they like to eat too. And most (not all) are not raking in high-dollar salaries. And some (not all) don’t mind meeting you for a quick drink after work. Don’t view this as an opportunity to pitch, pitch, pitch but rather as a chance to listen, observe and really get to know what the journalists covers and why. And never expect anything in return.

Abbi Whitaker is the president of Abbi Public Relations in Reno, Nev, which represents technology, government and business-to-business clients across the nation. You can follow her on twitter @abbijayne.

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