Lesson #84: Customized pitches for traditional media
When your press releases have been written and distributed online, think about the kinds of customized pitches you might want to deliver to reporters, editors, TV producers and radio talk show hosts.
You’ve heard me say throughout this course that the media want a customized pitch that appeals to their audiences–not necessarily a one-size-fits-all press release that can be picked up by hundreds of other media.
Here’s an example of how you can do that. Let’s say you’re a not-for-profit and you’re sponsoring a black-tie fund-raiser for the local shelter that takes in women who are victims of domestic violence.
You can write a press release about the event and post it online. You can also:
1. Pitch a story to your local women’s magazine about the fund-raiser, and
offer them interviews with women who have used the shelter, as long
as the women are not identified.
2. For the local daily newspaper, you can pitch a story to the food columnist
about the five-course meal that will be served at the event, along with
recipes from the chef.
3. For your local weekly newspaper, you can offer interviews with several of
the volunteers who are working behind the scenes to make the event a
success–people who live in the towns the newspaper covers.
In each instance, those media would use the press release to learn the essential facts. But each media outlet would also have its own version of the story. In Lesson 49, you learned how publicist Kathi Petersen used nine different angles to write nine different press releases about the same event. You can still pitch different angles to the media, even if you’ve only written one press release.
In “Secrets of Perfect Pitching to Reporters,” I give you the inside track on how to pitch with substance and style so that reporters know that you have what they want, and so they keep coming back to you again and again. I explain the kinds of pitches that really caught my attention during my 22 years in the media, and the kinds of pitches journalists think are worthless.
Opportunity #84: Weather-related event
Is your not-for-profit raising money for victims of a hurricane or flood? Is your hardware store being cleaned out of snow shovels and salt during a snow storm? Do you have tips on how people should take care of their lawns and gardens during a drought? Any weather-related news or advice is worthy of a press release, and chances are good the media will cover it because weather happens 365 days a year.
Don’t forget to let local newspapers and TV stations know about how the weather is affecting your business, school or event. See “Special Report #37: How to Tie Your Product, Service, Cause or Issue to the Weather.”
Tomorrow: We’ll start Week 13 and you’ll get your last few
tips–now that you know what you’re doing!
Need help with publicity?
The Publicity Hound’s Resources List includes products and vendors that can help with many aspects of your publicity campaign. You’ll find press release distribution services, publicists, audio experts, ghostwriters and more.
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