Selling That There Story

Selling ‘That There Story’

Now that you are more comfortable with the idea of working with journalists, have the perfect angle, and have answered the age-old question, “Who ya gonna call?”, how do you get it in the paper? You give that journalist exactly what he needs. Let’s get back to the reporter’s day and what is important to him. As we said, journalists are crushed for time, all the time, so if you can alleviate some of the pressure, they will thank you for it. Indeed.

How to Get, and Keep, the Reporter on the Phone

Consider the journalist’s day. In fact, let’s consider our friend Greg’s day. He’s a writer with News.com, one of the big websites for news. His job is to churn out two-and-a-half stories a day! That’s a lot, especially when you consider he has to find the right angle for his audience, research the background, interview people, and then write the story.

Also, it’s important to point out that the pressure is even greater with a Web news site. One of the benefits of sites like News.com is that they can report the news anytime, day or night, and are not confined to time-to-print. That said, to compete with the so-called papers of record, such as the Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, or Washington Post, to name a few, they have to report things as they are happening and get the scoop before these papers run it the next morning on the stands.

So what does that mean for Greg? It means that day in and day out, he must keep his ear to the rail, even more so than traditional reporters. There’s the daily research on the Web to see what others are covering, a visit to Business Wire (see Chapter 9, “That Internet Chapter”) to read the morning announcements, a roundup of Wall Street to see which companies are affecting the market, calls to trusted sources (like you, we imagine!) merely to find out the inside scoops and to stay on top of movers and shakers.

He has to read between the lines of every deal that is announced—most news in business involves partnerships— read the fine print in the general news, and spend hours on the phone trying his darndest to separate fact from fiction. And in the end, he still needs to actually write two-and-a-half stories a day before packing it in, just to come back the next day and do it all again.

Ah. It’s a tough life. The combined pressures of so many demands push down on Greg with enough force to make his cubicle buckle. A PR pro knows enough to respect the position journalists are in. And by understanding how to release the pressure valve a bit, you become one of Greg’s most trusted sources.

Matchmaker, Matchmaker…

But let’s take a step back for a moment and start with the fundamental question behind journalist/story matchmaking: Why Greg? To answer that, we need to do some homework. Consider your story. Which audience are you after—and, by extension, which media outlet is geared to the same type of consumer as your customers? More specifically, who in the media will reach your target?

Greg’s site covers technology business, so he and his 7 million readers with big budgets (the site’s readers are mostly executives and other corporate decision makers) aren’t going to give a darn about your new line of backpacks. But maybe you’ve embedded those backpacks with a global positioning system (GPS) and an avalanche beacon for cliffhangers and mountaineers. Some inventive circuitry brings your packs a little closer to Greg’s place, but we still need to dig deeper to ensure this is the right fit. The major criteria are that the story has to be technology related, and it has to include some aspect of a Fortune 1000 firm.

Perhaps the GPS tracking systems stuffed in your knapsack utilize a new biotech application; maybe they can monitor some aspect of its wearer’s health and give rescue teams a call should your body temperature drop or your blood pressure reach the sky. Yep, you have the beginnings of a tech story in the bag, and whenever you have circuitry making its way into what was formerly a simple aspect of life, you have a pretty compelling story for News.com.

But don’t heave a sigh of relief yet: The story’s still not bulletproof. Why should Greg cover a start-up manufacturer when 90 percent of new businesses sink as infants? Do we have any Fortune 1000 connections here? Is there some deal in the works that might affect a stock price or two—is the backpack the first tangible aspect of a whole new corporate strategy? Let’s say, for conversation’s sake, that your hiker gizmo was produced in part by Apple Computer, which bought into your textile company in an effort to expand its own innovative machinery beyond computers. There you go.

Any of these interesting, quirky angles make you legit in the eyes of Greg’s news-gathering site. And yet there is still one more step! Is our buddy Greg the right writer for this innovation? He’s not the only reporter at News.com.

To figure it out, let’s flip through the past three months of his digital broadsheet. Like any journalist, he should show something consistent in all of his stories, and you can find that common thread by going online and searching the publication’s digital archives. Perhaps he only writes about newly public companies or the venture capitalists that fund them. Maybe Greg covers West Coast businesses, e-commerce, or the government.

Then there’s his reporting style. It is gossipy, or is it just a collection of news briefs? Perhaps he only produces executive profiles. Maybe he pulls together letter-like journal pieces. There are lots of choices here, and you can’t sell him a story unless you know what he might be looking for.

After comparing a few of his pieces, you figure it out. Our man in News.com is, it appears, an editor for the e-business section, focusing on big companies and their new ideas and products. We have a hit—or the potential for one! Since we’ve read the past few months of his work, thanks to the Internet, we are sure he hasn’t covered every GPS-stuffed ski pole and avalanche-foiling parka. If he had, our backpacks would be greeted with a yawn and a quick bye-bye.

Walk a Mile in His Shoes

So now we’re into the pitch. We’ve confirmed that Greg is indeed the right person for the task. Now how do we go about con- vincing him to put aside all the other ideas and pitches he’s received this morning to dedicate the next five hours of his life to our packs? At this stage you have already learned the number one lesson in PR: putting yourself in someone else’s shoes. Getting Greg’s attention with this professional approach doesn’t equal ink just yet, however. Proceed with caution.

For example, now that you have Greg’s ear—for fifteen seconds—don’t steamroll him with a big sales pitch for which he has neither the time nor the interest. On the other hand, if you’re going to call him with a pitch or an idea, don’t do it halfway and leave it up to him to find the news angle inside. It’s all in how you phrase it, but in general, if you respect Greg’s time and needs, many of those two-and-a-half stories will go toward helping your cause.

Over the past couple of years, the New York Police Department has been doing a little PR of its own in an attempt to mend some seriously scorched bridges with the public. Now, just below the flashing lights and behind the back door where perpetrators file in and out, their patrol cars read “Courtesy, Professionalism, Respect.” The slogan for CPR suggests the circle of respect that civilians should show the police, and vice versa, in order for everyone to work together.

CPR works in PR, too. When you get Greg on the phone, remember the two-point-five articles knocking on his door, and ask if he can spare a few minutes to hear about a story that’s a custom fit for him, and him alone. If he doesn’t have a moment, find a time that works better, and make sure you call back at the appointed hour. Make a date. Hanging up without one is as bad as leaving a voice mail. And leaving a voice mail is as bad as taking a nap.

As they say in show biz, give it all you got! Your enthusiasm and newfound familiarity with Greg’s work will surely pique his interest (unless he’s in a bad mood; then call back later), and he will somehow find a few minutes to listen to your shtick. This isn’t the time to go into some formatted sales routine, because sales pitches that might work with regular people count for very little with journalists. No journalist wants to hear the exaggerated slant; it’s an instant turn-off.

A quick but important detour: Remember CPR. We’re up to the “P” part now. All together now: professionalism. Hard facts and concrete statistics win that coverage, not questionable numbers, hearsay, and spin doctoring. A journalist’s job is based on reporting the facts. As we said before, and it bears repeating, don’t make things up for the sake of getting your story in print. There’s nothing worse than someone calling your bluff in print (“reading your beads” is our favorite expression). What’s more, Greg, who trusted you, just got called on the carpet from his editor, and he’s angry and embarrassed. You can be sure that he won’t listen to your pitch again for a very long time, if ever.

It’s All in the Follow-Through

Anyway, back to the job at hand. Greg liked the story; he bit. You cannot rest now. Don’t hang up and start calling people or high-fiving your mate. Now the real work begins. Chances are, Greg’s going to need to speak to someone else besides you. Sometimes it’s an industry analyst (whom you’ve already lined up, right? If not, see Chapter 3, “Power Tools for Building Buzz”) familiar with the clothing industry or a fashion technologist who’s an expert on so-called wearable devices. Maybe you can give Greg the phone number of one of your investors, with that person’s permission, naturally. Or someone who just likes you and your company’s concept—say, for example, a contact you have at a local retailer (the Nike store?).

Our vote: Find someone who’s survived an avalanche or who knows someone who went up with an ordinary backpack and never came back! If you don’t happen to know any sherpas or Mount Everest veterans, get on the Web, check out the sites of a few adventure or mountaineering magazines, and find an account that’ll make your point.

In addition to these sorts of accounts, known in PR as third-party validation, Greg is also going to need some hard data, such as when the packs are going to be available, how many you’ve sold to date, the cost, how many different models of the pack exist and what the differences are, and how the GPS component works. Do not speak to him like a techno geek or a nervous Nelly (sorry, Nelly). Just be forthright and anticipate. Have the info close at hand. If he asks a zinger that you can’t answer or are uncomfortable answering right then and there, simply say, “Hey, I need to check on that and call you back.”

Offer help. Tell him, and mean it, that there will be a sample pack at his desk first thing in the morning. Reporters love the word “overnight,” and they are not referring to sleep-over parties. You could also e-mail him professional photos of the product or detailed documents that better explain the technology behind it all.

Professionalism is always about access. Once a journalist bites, you need to be there, close at hand, with whatever he’s going to need—and you have to be fast. We can’t stress enough the need for continuous follow-up. You must have ready all the materials Greg’s going to need, eliminating a chunk of research time for him. Stats, past coverage, quotes, phone numbers of contacts, and the times the contacts are available are all valuable and necessary. Don’t make him wait. Would you adore being kept waiting by someone who wants something very specific from you? Doubtful.

If the pitch has anything to do with your business, the number of an analyst familiar with the field and a summary of your business plan would be extremely helpful to Greg. This is a good way to ingratiate yourself with a media person with whom you hope to have a really long and wonderful relationship. It’s also a good way for start-up operations to prove how you actually make money and if your business model seems good enough to support your great products and service.

And if there’s someone else for Greg to speak to at your company, get that person ready. If your coworker, no matter how high up she is, says she isn’t available, your job is to make her available. If she has a prior commitment, suggest that she postpone it for an hour. In the movie Cast Away, a pre-stranded Tom Hanks drives into his Russian-based FedEx colleagues that their competitor is the clock. Live and die by this advice if you’re doing PR for yourself.

In short, access is a journalist’s friend, so give Greg access to everything—information, yourself, and your time. That can sometimes seem impossible, given the demands of your day, but you can manage it. We always tell people that you can talk to the journalist for a few seconds or minutes, but that if it’s anything more than a quick quote or help with background information, reschedule the discussion for sometime in the early evening or first thing the next morning, whatever is easiest for you. It’s crucial to block enough time to work with him, or any other journalist, so he can find the best part of the story with you.

You’ve come a long way at this point toward getting the press coverage you need, but just because Greg or any other journalist shows an initial interest, you’re not guaranteed space on the site or wherever their work lands. You need to mold his work—help him write the piece. We are not saying you have to “make the words appear” (we can’t tell you how many people still think PR people write the stories), just keep the dialogue going. Don’t let him get sidetracked.

Most reporters really appreciate your wanting the story to happen. If it’s a good enough story, then of course you’re going to make sure he follows through with it. That’s to be expected. Media professionals who say, “Leave me alone” will find themselves awfully lonely in the near future. News has a shelf life. Therefore, if you don’t keep pace with your favorite journalist, Greg, well, before you know it, he’ll move on to his next story. As a final check, go over all the information with him to ensure that what he’s reporting is really correct.