Breakthrough Skills for the Modern Day Artist A career seminar by Impulse Artist Series &

Spacetaker

by K.C. Scharnberg

•  Marketing and promotion is a necessity of life.

•  It’s a frame of mind •  Media relations – the way to free

editorial coverage (valued at 3x more than an advertisement)

•  Timing – current; in relation to something that’s happened recently

•  Significance/Impact – the number of people affected; who, what, how affected

•  Proximity – the closer the story to home, the more newsworthy

•  Prominence – well-known things, people or organizations get covered because they are well-known

•  Human Interest – stories that appeal to emotion

•  Press release, Calendar release, Media alert

•  Pitch •  Media List •  Photos •  Website •  Tenacity

•  Calendar release - basic who, what, where, when, why, how much & for more info

•  Press release - more details about the event, about you and your background

•  Media alert - an alert for media only typically used to alert them of a unique coverage opportunity

•  1-2 pages maximum (400-500 words)

•  “For Immediate Release”

•  Date

•  Media contact name, email & primary phone

•  Title that encompasses what the release is about in one line (must stand out, catch reader’s attention)

•  Strong lead paragraph that states the who, what, why, when, where & how – gets to the crux of the release in a short, to-the-point opening paragraph; contains the hook (the reason this event is important, interesting or unique, etc)

•  Where to find more (web address, blog, social media links)

•  Boilerplate info

•  ### or -30- at the end

•  Important to read what the arts & feature writers are writing about

•  Craft a unique pitch for each different media outlet or writer

•  You need a list of media contacts that make sense for your field of work

•  Update regularly – Look on media outlet website or call

•  Keep up with social media messaging of media outlets and writers

•  Have 6-8 high resolution photos available to send at a moment’s notice – 300 dpi (print resolution) – Variety – horizontal, vertical, action,

portrait, serious, fun, etc. –  Include photo credit –  Include caption

•  2.5 to 3 months out – Distribute calendar release; Set up Google Alerts

•  4 to 6 weeks out – Distribute press release & begin pitching to your targets

•  2 to 3 weeks out – Post event to online event calendars; Send personal invitation to select media to attend

•  1 week out – final follow ups to online writers, include photos

•  1 to 2 days out – Distribute media alert to TV news desks and daily and weekly print photo desks

•  Follow up, follow up, follow up!

Common Mistakes to Avoid •  Poor timing - not starting early enough, missing deadlines

•  Spamming - only write and send a release when you have a newsworthy story to tell

•  Not Bcc-ing

•  Sending your press release as a pdf attachment; paste release in body of email; include URL to image download

•  Not being available or answering a reporter immediately

•  Not following up

•  Working in a vacuum

•  Being successful in media relations means building relationships with reporters and editors over time. It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

•  Don’t only email them when you have something you want them to cover. If they do cover you, send a thank you.

•  Make sure you always deliver on what you’ve said you can or will do.

•  Finally, supplement any media relations campaign with other promotion efforts (social media campaign, your own blog posts, team up with other people or organizations that can promote you/your event, print & distribute flyers/posters, etc)

•  http://www.prsa.org •  www.deirdrebreakenridge.com •  The Definitive Guide to Social Media Releases

www.briansolis.com/2008/02/definitive-guide-to-social-media •  Putting the Public back in Public Relations – by Brian Solis

@briansolis & Deirdre Breakenridge @dbreakenridge

–  Spacetaker - www.spacetaker.org/culture_guide –  Eventful -  http://www.eventful.com –  GHCVB - http://www.visithoustontexas.com/events-list –  Chron.com - http://www.chron.com/entertainment/calendar/submission.html –  Houston Community Newspapers -

http://www.hcnonline.com/calendar/submit/ –  Houston Press - http://www.houstonpress.com/feedback/SubmitAnEvent –  KHOU.com -

http://www.khou.com/community/calendar/event-submission-form –  Houston Going - http://www.houston.going.com –  Houston Backpage - http://houston.backpage.com/Events/ –  Upcoming - www.upcoming.org –  Yelp Houston - http://www.yelp.com/houston –  KUHF - http://www.kuhf.org –  Artshound - http://www.artshound.com –  Do713 - http://www.do713.com –  CultureMap - submissions@culturemap.com