Easy Does It

Controlling the pace is the next step to advancing the conversation in the direction you want it to go. If you carry on in a hurried proclamation, you’re going to make the journalist (or anyone else, for that matter) uneasy and hurried, too. Take your time. Be relaxed, cool. If you take the urgency out of the call, the person at the other end feels a bit more “breezy,” too.

Next, relate the story to the journalist in plain English, minus the trade or industry jargon. And remember to whom you’re talking. In other words, there’s a reason you have that journalist there with you, and not a reporter in a different department or on the opposite side of the country. At the other end of the phone is the match for your story! Let her know that, and why she’s the perfect fit for your story.

You might have heard of a junior New York business magazine called Empire NY. We reached out to muster some great coverage for its 2002 launch; our goal was to let sassy business types know this stylish pub was there, waiting to be devoured. The first people we called were reporters and local broadcast media with a metro beat. The opening line of the pitch wasn’t, “We’re launching a new magazine, Mr. Producer at NY1 News. We think you’ll dig it.”

It went more like this: “Hey, Mr. Producer, we’ve got the New York story of the week for you! Do you have a few seconds? It’s absolutely worth it. Yes? Great! Empire NY, a new magazine just for New York, is about to canvass the city on Thursday, and it’s got everyone talking already. It’s about money, power, and celebrities, and the publisher can tell you and the viewers about it Wednesday morning—before it hits the shelves and all the media writers pick up on it.”

Let’s highlight a couple of things here. First, it’s all e-n-e-r-g-y and a ton of hype. But there’s nothing wrong with hype, as long as you’re smart about using it (see the Dean Kamen parable above). Money, power, and celebrities are New York’s (or anybody’s) three favorite things, and no one can turn them down. Also, the pitch conveys a sense of urgency, as in, “Move it, Mr. Producer.” Mr. P. was told he could speak to the publisher before the media writers get their hands on a brand-new magazine. That gives him something special to latch on to, particularly since magazine launches are pretty rare in these digital days. We made him feel as if he’s getting something extra; let’s call it a scoop!

Last, notice that we gave the producer a specific time and date. This is critical, because it is primarily a call to action. If you don’t set dates and times, nothing happens. You need to close, not let things hover in the air. “We will see you Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. at Coffee Bar Dolce.” That’s it.

Nothing’s worse than leaving a good pitch unresolved with the media because they move on to the Next Big Thing. Then you spend the next month trying to reignite their interest. The second reason you have to make a date is that you’re more likely to get a yes, assuming this time works for Mr. P. The discussion becomes about scheduling only, not the magazine.

And once you’re scheduled, you are good like gold money. You want the opportunity to get the product in front of him to answer questions, rather than haphazardly meander around the details over a brief pitch call. If the time you offer is out of the question, try another one. What about asking Mr. P. what time is better—mornings, afternoons, the end of the week? You’re rounding third base, getting them to wave you home. Pitch … Bunt … Steal ….

You’re outta here! Okay, it didn’t work. What happened was that Mr. Producer wasn’t so easy, and he wanted to hear what’s really so great about this magazine with the funny title. Mr. P. explained calmly that he already gets Crain’s New York Business every week, and that suited his business tastes just fine. This is where the prep work pays off. Even though we like Crain’s, we needed to kinda pan it to close the deal.