Creating,and,Pitching,Story,th marketing Creating and Pitching a Story to the Media
Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t
Public relations can be a cost effective and profitable way to gainnew and repeat business. Many business owners ponder how they cangarner the attention of a writer or journalist to cover a story ontheir business or ask them for an expert quote. When you have anewsworthy story to tell, you have to proactively pitch the story toprint publications, TV stations, radio stations and other outlets thatmay be interested in covering the story. There is a method to pitchingthe media that goes beyond writing and shooting off a press release viaemail or fax.Do Your HomeworkFirst, you need to identity the top five to ten publications ormedia outlets you would like to pitch. These are publications oroutlets you follow, that cover stories from the angle of the one yourepitching and that you have a chance of getting their attention. Forexample, you may want to be featured in People, but if yourstory is not the type of story they cover then dont waste your time. This list may change each and every time you pitch or there may besome overlap. Its all based on the story.Once you identify the media outlets, create a list. Think aboutindustry publications, local and regional media outlets such as localTV and radio stations.Having a list of media outlets is not enough. Now its time to takeyour research a level deeper and start to identify writers orjournalists that cover topics and stories similar to the story yourepitching. For example, if youre a caterer announcing that your bakedgoods are now going to be sold in the XYZ Bakery, then the localnewspaper food writer would have an interest in this story. The localbusiness writer for the neighborhood where the bakery is located mayalso have an interest.Why is this important?Because when you pitch, youre not really pitching to thepublication. Youre pitching to the person at the publication that cancover your story. Youll need to feed their ego a little, and show thatyoure pitching them for a valid reason by mentioning similar storiestheyve covered. In other words, youre showing them that you know whattypes of stories they cover, and your story falls in their realm.Pitch itSince time is of the essence, its acceptable to pitch via emailinstead of snail mail or fax. Its not acceptable to pitch via phone.You can follow-up on the pitch via phone, but if you start off with aphone call, youre just going to find yourself frustrated and fruitless.Newsworthy topics/stories worth pitching:Grand openingsNew locationsExecutive promotions/hiring new executivesLaunch of a new product/serviceSpecial eventsPitching to the media can be a full-time job. If you do it right,public relations efforts can pay off big because essentially its freeadvertising for your business. Stop pondering on how to kick-start PRfor your company. Think of a newsworthy story to tell, write a pressrelease, find outlets and writers and pitch it. Efforts dont turn intoa story every time, but you only have a chance for coverage if you makethe pitch. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;mso-style-noshow:yes;mso-style-priority:99;mso-style-qformat:yes;mso-style-parent:"";mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;mso-para-margin:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-pagination:widow-orphan;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}About the AuthorCopywriterand marketing consultant, Kristie Lorette, is passionate about helpingentrepreneurs and businesses create copy and marketing pieces that sizzle,motivate, and sell. Sheis also the author of Action Marketing: AStep-by-step Guide to Launch Your Business Marketing Plan. For moreinformation, visit http://wp.me/ptLrh-1.
Creating,and,Pitching,Story,th