PR people spend huge amounts of time pitching the most influential writers at top-tier media outlets, and too little time finding freelancers who already have built strong relationships with those same newspapers and magazines.
Finding freelancers isn’t always easy. But once you know who they are, they can be your secret weapon to publicity. Here are four reasons why pitching freelancers is critical to a PR campaign:
–The vast majority of freelancers sell stories to several media outlets. So if they interview you for one story on a certain topic, and you’ve helped make their job easy, they’ll probably return for another interview for a different article they’re selling to a different publication.
–Most freelancers already are well-known by the media outlets they write for. They don’t have to put up with the gatekeepers like you do. They can deal with assignment editors and reporters directly.
–If you have a great story idea, all you have to do is pitch the freelancer, who’s usually easier to talk to and much more responsive than staff members. It’s now THEIR job to pitch the journalists and follow up.
–Freelancers can’t pay their bills unless they’re continually pitching ideas and selling stories. That means they need great sources just like you to keep the ideas flowing.
On Wednesday, some of best, brightest and PR-friendliest freelancers will explain their inside tips, techniques and practical methods for breaking into some of the biggest publications with your story ideas during a 90-minute telephone seminar sponsored by Bulldog Reporter.
The veteran contributors and the influential publications they write for are:
–Eileen Gunn, Contributor, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, Worth, Smart Money, Business 2.0, Working Mother, Self, Glamour, Parents and The New York Post.
–Helen Chang, Contributor, Time, BusinessWeek, San Francisco Chronicle.
–Dave Lieber, Columnist, Ft. Worth Star Telegram; Contributor, The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday Magazine, INSIDE magazine; Stringer, The New York Times.
–Aliza Sherman-Risdahl, Contributor, Entrepreneur, Home Business, Minority Engineer, Professional Woman, SBResources.com, SLNN.com, WomenEntrepreneur.com.
–Kerri Fivecoat-Campbell, Freelance Committee Chair, Society of Professional Journalists; Contributor, Associated Press, World, Entrepreneur, The Kansas City Star.
That’s five people who write for more than two dozen publications and websites. It would take me months, maybe even years, to get the inside track on all those journalists.
Read more about the teleseminar and how you can take a major shortcut working with freelancers at http://tinyurl.com/986je
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