Whether you are in business or in
PR profession, you have been taught that way to disseminate publishable information is by using press (or news) release. Companies with good intentions do it, and public relations firms do it. The practice of sending press releases has been pounded into our brains and rarely questioned. But, for 99% of my clients, that’s harder – not smarter – way for small business owners to attract publicity.Why?
By its very nature, a press release is designed for distribution to a wide range of media. It is not targeted to any particular format, media or editorial focus. Because it has to be written in very general terms, news releases do not usually fit a particular audience of reader. When reviewing a news release, an editor must search for a story angle in text of release that would interest readers. Most editors do not have time or desire to have to do this. There are plenty of other proposals in month’s “IN” basket prepared by writers who have already done this for them.
Does this mean that a news release will never generate a story? Of course not. Editors use anything and everything that fit needs of publication. Press releases can spark some well-deserved company feature stories. Yet, savvy business owners (like you and me!) are interested in minimizing effort while maximizing results. A press release is low on that list.
So what should you do instead?
If you want job done right, go directly to source—the writers!
BUT, not just any writer. I’m talking about writers who are already being published in magazines you want your company to appear in.
Here’s why.
Editors of publications develop strong relationships with their recurring writers. Confidence in writer’s ability to deliver what publication wants is established. The editor trusts writer to pitch a good, usable story. With each published story from a specific writer, editor relies more and more on writer to continue to feed publication good stuff. The writer becomes an important extension of publication’s staff.
When a writer and editor have a well-developed relationship, two things happen:
1 The editor is more likely to take notice of anything writer sends because that editor knows writer is very aware of types of articles publication uses.
2 When an editor is ‘stuck’ to find additional last-minute filler information for a specific topic, writer becomes a reliable last-minute resource.
So what are advantages to YOU for writing to writers instead of publications?
1. Writers who write for specific publications are paid by publications that print their articles! Since writers are paid by publication, it is FREE to you.
