The Publicity Hound’s Blog  

If you haven’t subscribed to the free media leads courtesy of PitchRate.com, you could be missing the chance to score a big hit in a top-tier media outlet, or reach your target audience with your message in a niche media outlet. You can read more about this media leads service that matches sources with journalists. 

Of the many leads posted at the site this week, here are four I’ve plucked out for Publicity Hounds:

Life coaches:

Dr. Dan, who has an Internet TV show, is doing a segment called Living Life Like a Rock Star. He’s looking for experts in self development, life coaches, leaders and anyone who is passionate about living life like a rock star.  ”We want to hear how you’ve created the life you have, what principles you live your life by, and what it is that you want to contribute to the world.” The deadline for responding is June 8.

Faith-based franchises:

Reuters.com wants to talk to operators and others who have worked with faith-based franchise companies. “How does it affect the culture of the company? How do customer perceive the business?” Deadline for responding is June 10.

   
Virginia brides:

Virginia Bride magazine is doing an article on do-it-yourself weddings and wants to know about trends. ”How popular are DIY weddings? What should a bride know before planning one? How can they save money without looking like they skimped on things? What shouldn’t ever be DIY when it comes to weddings?” Deadline for responding is June 11.

Business owners:

Blog Talk Radio is looking for successful business owners for a series its featuring during the entire month of June on Empowering You Radio. ”We are running a series during the month of June to discuss today’s business challenges and needs. I am looking for successful business owners who would like to chat about their needs, challenges and struggles. Focusing on finding solutions for the listener base and encouraging them to step out. No experts needed, I am looking for real people with real experiences to share.” Deadline for responding is June 8.

If any of these media leads are perfect for you or someone you know, you can get contact information, more details, and more leads at PitchRate.com.

Posted In: Business Promotion, Magazine Publicity, Media Leads, Pitching the Media, Publicity for Niche Markets
posted On: 5/31/2009: 12:58 pm: By Joan
Comments: 1 Comment

Karren Jeske, APR of Milwaukee, Wis. writes:

“My friend is an emerging fine artist in the Washington, D.C. area.

“He was recently featured in Elan magazine, a publication that showcases talented North Virginia artists. The magazine imcluded a photograph of one of his paintings on the magazine cover and included photos of six more inside.

“What are some creative ways that my friend could leverage this fantastic publicity? He has a few solo shows coming up in the next few months.”

Posted In: Business Promotion, Magazine Publicity
posted On: 5/12/2009: 8:35 am: By Joan
Comments: 5 Comments

The next time you’re ready to pitch a journalist, particularly at a top-tier media outlet, stop what you’re doing and take this important step.

Find out if the journalist blogs. Some journalists blog as part of their job. Others blog on the side because they’re passionate about a topic.

It will take only a minute or two, and the results can give you valuable clues about how to pitch the journalists and issues they think are important—information that 99 percent of the other people who are pitching them are too busy or too lazy to find out.

It’s almost as though you’re embarking on a treasure hunt. You’re not sure what you’ll find. But you could strike gold. I’m going to show you exactly where to look for those valuable nuggets. 

                 |
How to learn whether a journalist blogs

Let’s say you have a story that affects women’s health and you want to pitch it to Deborah Kotz, senior health writer for U.S. News & World Report. You Google ”Deborah Kotz blog.” Google returns to you a list of blog posts she has written. You click on the first one and end up at her blog, On Women.

On the right side at the top, you’ve found your first clue—her bio. It explains what she writes about, the kinds of pitches she wants to receive, and it even includes her email address: 

Next, it’s time to start looking for clues about other issues, topics or tidbits you can use in your pitch. Look for things specifically about her personal life. I spent just a few minutes reading her blog posts. She admits in her bio that she’s “often tapping out Oprah-esque confessions” about how the latest news relates to her personally, so this part was easy. I learned:

• She is married and has three children.
      
• She is Jewish, and her two sons have been circumcised in accordance with her faith.
                
• Her husband spends far more time helping kids with homework and studying than she does. He also coaches their baseball team and bathes them at night when she is making dinner. They take turns cleaning up the kitchen.   
     
• Deborah works about eight hours a day.
    
• 13 years ago, she interviewed for a job with a medical journal and was hired. She was pregnanat with her first child soon after landing the position, gratefully took her three months of three months of paid maternity leave and then negotiated a work-at-home deal.
     
• Last year, she thought about her risk of staying on birth control pills until she reaches menopause, and lamented the dearth of research on the long-term use of contraceptives by women.
    
• When it comes to bottled water, she’s a penny-pincher and won’t buy spring water in the supermarket.

If I had spent 30 minutes searching for clues, I’d find a lot more than that. But I’d never find that kind of  personal information on those pricey media contact lists.

Here’s why this kind of research is so valuable.

     
Make your pitch hit a hot button

If you’re a PR person or somebody who wants to pitch a story related to circumcision, pregnant women in the workplace, work-at-home-moms, housework done by men vs. women, child-rearing, birth control, menopause or dozens of other topics, Deborah already has given you valuable clues at her blog that you can tie into your pitch.  

If I were a PR person pitching a new study that relates to birth control pills, for example, I’d open the pitch like this:

“Deborah, I know from reading your blog that you’ve wondered about the risks of staying on birth control pills. Results of a new study on birth control, done by our university’s Health Sciences Department shows blah-blah-blah….”

Do you think that would get her attention more than a one-size-fits-all, impersonal pitch that I could deliver to 359 other journalists?
       
       
Another place to find clues

Don’t pitch just yet, however. There’s one more place where you can find valuable clues—in the comments that follow each blog post. Most bloggers allow comments and welcome getting them. Journalists are no different.

Some bloggers actively join the conversation by responding to people who leave comments, sometimes creating a nice back-and-forth conversation and sometimes dropping more clues. Deborah didn’t offer comments at the blog posts I read.  But that’s OK. You can still get her attention by leaving a comment, or several comments, over a period of a few days or a week. 

Choose blog posts that let you add something to the conversation. Don’t just write, “Great post. I agree completely.” Explain why you agree. Or share an anecdote. Or offer a resource that backs up the blogger’s position, or yours. You can skip this step of commenting, but it’s one more valuable way to start forming a relationship.  

Denise Wakeman and Patsi Krakoff, aka The Blog Squad, were my guests during a teleseminar on How to Pitch the Best Bloggers and Create a Publicity Explosion.  They confirmed what you already know if you blog: bloggers pay attention to people who comment at their blogs.
  
  
Journalists Twitter, too

If a blog can provide that much information, imagine what you can learn by following the journalist on Twitter, the micro-blogging site.

You can find out if a certain journalist Twitters by checking Harry Hoover’s wiki of Twittering Journalists. If you can’t find a particular journalist, do a Twitter search. If you can’t find anything when you type in ”Deborah Kotz,” try these variations: DeborahKotz or Deborah_Kotz.

If you hit gold, follow the journalist by clicking on “Follow” below their photo. But don’t expect journalists to follow you back. Some aren’t interested in following other people. They use Twitter primarily to find leads and sources for stories.

I couldn’t find Deborah on Twitter, but  her blog provides a handy roadmap with pitching clues galore, just waiting to be discovered by Publicity Hounds who are smart enough to do a little digging.

Do you research journalists’ blogs before you pitch? If so, share your pitching success stories here.

Posted In: Blogs, Magazine Publicity, Pitching the Media, Social networking, Twitter
posted On: 3/29/2009: 10:34 am: By Joan
Comments: 6 Comments

Street Report Magazine is looking for women DJs to feature in its ”DJs With Clout” section in the April issue.

The magazine is a Southern-based hip hop publication that gives exposure to independent artists. Send a press kit to Kim Ellis. She urges you to spread the word about this media lead.

Posted In: Magazine Publicity, Media Leads
posted On: 3/26/2009: 11:00 am: By Joan
Comments: No Comments

If you want publicity in traditional media for a food-related story, don’t miss these tips from Nancy Wall Hopkins, deputy editor of food and entertaining at Better Homes and Gardens.

Brian Pittman of Bulldog Reporter interviewed her. Here’s a quick summary, but please read the entire article. After each one of Nancy’s tips, I’ve also given you some of my own ideas on other ways to pitch, or ways to sweeten your pitch. These ideas also work well when pitching bloggers and in social media.

Nancy’s tip:

People are cooking more these days because of the bad economy. (I assume that means they’re eating out less.) 

My tip:

Pitch stories on how to save on grocery bills.  Restaurants, what are you doing to respond to this? Any special marketing promotions that have worked well? Are you altering menus, changing your hours or adding cooking classes to draw the crowds? (See “Publicity Tips for Restaurants, Chefs & Foodies.“)    

Nancy’s tip:

Consumers are using more cents-off coupons.

My tip:

Professional organizers, suggest ways for us to organize all those coupons and actually use them.  Consumer experts, are using coupons usually better than buying the store’s generic brand? 

Nancy’s tip:

People are still entertaining an average of twice a month but it’s casual and low-key.

My tip:

Pitch your local “grub club” or dinner group to the food columnist at your local newspaper. It might also make a fun feature story for your local TV station. If an upcoming dinner is tied to the holidays or a religious celebration, that’s a nice little extra.

Nancy’s tip:

Consumers are still very interested in health and prevention.

My tip:

This is a chance for health departments and others to pitch story ideas like how to wash produce and  avoid food poisoning. What about all those food allergies we’re hearing so much about?

Nancy’s tip:

PR people, leave the office for good old-fashioned face-to-face, desk-side meetings with journalists. This goes against advice that Steve Mullen of the Social Media PR blog wrote in his post 10 Dead or Dying PR Tactics. 

My tip:

When you visit, ask the Number One most important question you can ever ask: “How can I help you?”

Nancy’s tip:

Give exclusives.

My tip: 

Be careful because this can backfire, particularly if it’s a breaking-news story. The writer might be excited about the story and love the exclusive. If her editor isn’t nearly as interested and buries it way inside the magazine, you’ve blown a publicity opportunity.

Nancy’s tip:

Report on trends. Remember that magazines are restricting travel for some journalists so they rely on expert sources to keep them informed about trends and what’s happening at shows like the Fancy Food Show. 

My tip:

Report on trends even when the story doesn’t directly affect you. This positions you as a golden source. 

Nancy’s best take-away tip:

“It’s all about the relationship. The best PR people talk to me before pitching me to see what’s new with me and to ask me what’s going on.  They then tailor ideas to me that no one else is getting.  That’s how you build trust with us.”

My tip: Never forget it.

Posted In: Blogs, Business Promotion, Holidays, Magazine Publicity, Newspaper Publicity, PR Consultants/Publicists, Photos & Graphics, Pitching the Media, Publicity for Niche Markets, Social media marketing, TV Publicity
posted On: 3/25/2009: 3:05 pm: By Joan
Comments: 2 Comments