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An inside look at best practices and worst practices for pitching reporter's from BostInno's Greg Gomer, and WBUR's Curt Nickisch. Learn some of the basics of public relations online. Learn more from the experts by visiting http://intelligent.ly/learn.
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How to Pitch A Reporter With A Compelling Story
GREGORY GOMER@sliggity
CURT NICKISCH@CurtNickisch
Greg Gomer
Managing Editor of Streetwise Media, editing the top local startup news for BostInno.com. Greg is a savvy reporter deeply embedded in the startup scene, always turning up breaking news a few beats ahead. He's also just an all around great guy to know in Boston.
Curt Nickisch
Business & Technology Reporter for WBUR. Curt tells Boston’s best business and tech stories in ways that both biz-savvy insiders and business neophytes find intriguing and informative. As the Business and Technology Reporter at one of the nation's premier public radio stations, WBUR-FM in Boston, he seeks out the most relevant economy, finance and technology stories and craft them from conception to production for both broadcast and online media. His stories are heard and read not only in Greater Boston, but by millions countrywide on National Public Radio and Marketplace and internationally as well.
Day in the Life - Who we Are
• Who's your target audience?
• Identify the style of the content
• Long form, breaking news, etc
• Finding the right reporter at the publication
• Expertise
• Recent bylines
• Build a relationship with a karma email
Identifying the Right Reporter & Publication
• Announcements
• Funding
• Product Launches/Updates
• Competitors’ news
• Profiles
• When to profile
• News hooks?
• Times to avoid
• Expert Weigh-in
• Reaction towards news
• Data
• Shareaholic
• RunKeeper
• Trends
• How we improved using hot product X
Types of Content
•Press Wire
• Large reach, crowded and expensive
•Media Kits
• Cute, memorable, not super engaging
•Phone
• No! Ok, sometimes
•Using a PR Company
• When the time is right
•Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn
• Engage, Start conversation, Don't pitch
• All day, every day (with rules, of course)
How to Pitch - Identifying the Right Medium
Why now?
When to email
• Time
• Again?
• Urgency
Targeting multiple publications at once
Embargoes?
Ready to Pitch
Bad Embargo Example
Perfect Embargo Example
TO: Targeted reporter
CC: Other parties that can provide context/answer questions
Subject: Short, Sweet, Company Name, Teaser, Time Hook
Body: 3 paragraphs, 2 sentences each at most. Use bullet points
Tone: Be honest and humble. Write like a reporter. Have personality but don't make it personal.
Crafting Your Email
• Back to Basics
• Self-serving
• Unclear
• No calls to action
• No contact information
• Buzzword Bingo
• Boring
• Longggg
• No news hook
• Doesn't align with publication or reporter
The Good & The Bad, Starting with the Bad
Bad Pitch - Are You Serious?
Bad Pitch - Do you even know who you're pitching?
Forgot to Sell Example
• Catchy email subject line
• Factual
• Relevance: Understanding why the reporter’s audience will want to
read it
• Concise and clear - not just a brain dump
• Make writer’s job easy
• Hard hitting takeaway - Growth increased by x because of x
• Know your descriptor (Blankety-blank, the web analytics startup, …)
• Follow up, follow up, follow up
Now for the Good
Awesome Pitch - RunKeeper
Awesome Pitch - Shareaholic
Building Relationships Example
Profile Example
Why do you think people need to know this?
Work Backwards
Looking for users
Ensure the correct message, realize that may limit your stories
Gain awareness
Investors
If you don’t know, don’t pitch
Establishing Media Outreach Goals
• Ensuring distribution
o Send to network
§ make them tweet, like, etc
o If the story does well, the reporter will continue writing about you
• Company newsletter, consider putting it online under “press”
• Be ready for follow-on interviews from other outlets
o If it’s big news, clear your calendar for media storm
o Case in point: United Breaks Guitars
• Revisit goals
o be wary of pitching then to competitors, may be waiting period
o (if you’ve been in the Globe, the Herald doesn’t want you the next day)
• Continue relationship building
o follow ups & social media
What to do after the story goes live
Greg Gomer
@sliggity
Curt Nickisch
@CurtNickisch
Thanks!
Questions? Follow up
The Long Form Pitch
The Double Press Release
Love This Pitch
Short, but could be sexier
Short, Good, still didn't do story
Elaborate Pitch: Still Follows Rules
