When you pitch a story to a magazine editor and the editor declines, sometimes all it takes is a little tweaking to change the editor’s mind.
That’s what happened when Tina Lancy emailed the editor of Go, Airtran’s inflight magazine, last November. She pitched a story about College Assistance Plus, the Rochester, New York-based consulting firm she works for that helps high school students find the right college at the right price.
He liked the story idea but said it wasn’t a good fit with his audience because Rochester isn’t on Airtran’s route.
“I told him this isn’t a Rochester story,” she said. “This is a story that affects business travelers who have college-age kids and families everywhere because high school students everywhere are looking for colleges. I also told him we are selling franchises in many cities the airline serves.”
The franchise angle caught his attention. In March this year, Go featured a story and photos about College Assistance Plus that took up three and a half pages. The feature generated a whopping 40 applications for franchises.
“Not everyone who applied bought,” Tina said. “But our company is still working off those leads.”
Tina didn’t stop there. When she pitched the editor of Entrepreneur magazine, she included in her pitch information about the story in Go, a non-competing magazine. Mentioning other major hits in non-competing media often works in your favor and lets journalists know you’re already media-savvy.
Entrepreneur wrote a short story about Tina’s company in the November issue, which has been on newsstands for about a week. That story already has generated nine more applications for franchises.
Tina, by the way, considers herself a publicity puppy. She has no formal training in PR and is self-taught. If she can do it, so can you.
If you’re targeting inflight magazines like she did, but you’re working off an old media list, you might be pitching editors who are long gone. “Special Report #29: Fly High with Publicity in the Inflight Magazines” offers updated contact information and lots of pitching tips for 42 inflight magazines. Only $37. Order at http://tinyurl.com/6uz9g
Share Your Two Cents