Journalists Speak

With the buzz about social media and its applications for brand building, thought leadership, employee relations and (yes!) lead generation, the tried-and-true practice of media relations often gets overlooked. At Strategic Communications Group (Strategic), cultivating relationships with influential journalists continues to be a staple of our integrated communications work on behalf of clients.

This past week my colleague Karen Miller participated in a teleseminar titled “How to Pitch Reporters.” It featured writers from the Wall Street Journal, New York Times and the Associated Press who shared best practices, as well as cautionary tales.

Beyond the typical gripes about PR practitioners (i.e. please read the publication before pitching us), the journalists shared some good insights about how they are also tapping into social media to identify stories and manage the reporting process.

With Karen’s permission, I have included below her notes from the teleseminar.


Reporters:

-Lisa Belkin, Contributing Writer for the New York Times Magazine, and author of "Life's Work, Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom"

-Shelly Banjo, personal finance reporter for The Wall Street Journal Sunday. She also writes two columns related to Gen-Y, called "Starting Out" and the Journal Women's "Fast Track."

-Abby Ellin, Former NYT columnist, frequent NYT contributor, author of "Teenage Waistland: A Former Fat Kid Weighs in on Living Large, Losing Weight and How Parents Can (and Can't) Help."

-Megan Scott, Reporter for the Associated Press


-Good to send email with no pitch and just list clients you have that may be on interest to them at some point as a way to establish a relationship

-Don’t want to be contacted via Facebook or Twitter

-Facebook is creepy, don’t want to be your friend on Facebook, it’s a business relationship, difficult to respond to Facebook messages from a Blackberry

-Right to the point in pitches in the first sentence is best

-From a pitch want to know something they don’t already know

-Point out if others are doing what you’re pitching, need multiple sources

-Recent profiles in competitors make most reporters not want to talk to you for awhile (“I want virgins”)

-Contacting multiple reporters at one time: prefer to get exclusive offers, if ccing the world make sure not to include everyone’s name in the TO: field

-Subject line best practices: idea – put reporter’s name in subject line or at least topic of email

-Best pitches: specificity of how it could be a story

-They do check Junk Folder, if don’t respond means it is not a good pitch, bugging a reporter with follow-up is not good

-If don’t hear back in a week, move on

-AP & NYT: only go to event if covering them, wining and dining doesn’t work, not allowed to let publicists by a cup of coffee or dinner

-Physical press kits: electronic is preferred

-Pdf or in body of email: either is fine, some wanted both, a lot is being read on Blackberrys or iPhones

-Don’t send pictures unless requested

-Press releases don’t work well for these reporters, can’t remember last time they did a story based on a press release

-Don’t like cheesy mailers, waste of money is painful

-Get a lot of ideas from blogs

-SEO is money well spent, first thing reporters do is a Google search, important to come up high on the page

-Blogs are very important right now, the reporters are big fish eating the small fish, but over time reporters will become the bloggers

-Reporters do pass pitches to other reporters when they think it’s relevant, but get irritated when you just pitch everyone within one paper

WSJ's Exclusive Club

At a networking event last week I reconnected with a marketing consultant I have known for years. Our conversation turned to an upcoming executive breakfast sponsored by the National Capital Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).

“I’ve tried to join ACG in the past, yet the group has denied me membership,” the consultant explained.

ACG is predominantly comprised of corporate dealmakers, and private equity and investment banking community that supports merger/acquisition deal flow in the Washington, DC region. It is difficult for vendors to join and when a slot does open up, a consultant must also secure at least three new corporate members.

That’s how Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) became a member more than five years ago. In fact, to the best of my knowledge we are the only public relations agency member of ACG National Capital.

And you know what…I like it that way. It makes for better networking at ACG events and our participation in the group is validation of our expertise in financial communications.

The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) decision to limit participation to only subscribers in its soon-to-be launched online community is a savvy move. I also like their requirement of full identification disclosure, thereby reducing the personal attacks that occur when people hide behind a pseudonym.

Will this limit the number of participants in WSJ’s social network? Absolutely! Yet, like my view on Strategic’s involvement in ACG National Capital, that is a good thing.

Staying True to Telecommuting

About two years ago Strategic Communications Group (Strategic) implemented a flexible work policy for a majority of its professional staff. More than a work from home program, our approach is to empower employees to work where they want and when they want, using the results they produce and client responsiveness as benchmarks to evaluate performance.

For us, this has been a home run decision. I believe it has helped Strategic recruit and retain exceptional performers, establish relationships with a set of consultants who deliver tremendous value to our clients, and (most important) given each of us a healthier work/family balance.

We have also picked up a myriad of lessons learned along the way, including:

--Align the company’s business model and infrastructure (i.e. technology, office space, etc.) to be consistent with a flexible work environment.

--Identify the skill sets and personality traits a person must have to be successful in this environment, and then recruit accordingly.

--Require face-to-face interaction among client teams on a monthly basis to spur creativity and collaboration.

--Invest time and resources in professional development programs, including guest speakers, seminar attendance, book clubs, etc.

--Utilize social media as a platform to facilitate relationship building. Strategic’s Facebook fan page is a recent example (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Silver-Spring-MD/Strategic-Communications-Group/11060295377?ref=mf)

My expectation was that in time more companies would embrace a flexible work environment as a means of creating an environment in which employees are best set up for success. Imagine my surprise when I came across a recent Wall Street Journal article that reported on how a number of organizations were actually reducing the flexibility they offer employees, citing a need for greater collaboration and mentoring.

While I understand the rationale, I believe AT&T, Intel and HP are making a poor decision. Yes…it takes work, effort and investment to build culture, collaboration and mentoring in a flexible work environment.

It’s absolutely worth it though. Trust in high-quality professionals and the results are exciting.

Some Companies Rethink the Telecommuting Trend
Wall Street Journal
http://www.ocala.com/article/20080302/BUSINESS/803020331/1009/NEWS&template=storydetails