Traditional media outlets are, sadly, a thing of a bygone era. It has become almost an improbable proposition to start and sustain a pricey print publication, or an expensive-to-produce television show. Journalism is evolving, some would say dying;  and we have not hit rock bottom yet.

With the number of major news organizations downsizing and/or folding altogether, public relations professionals have to begin to develop a stronger roster of new media contacts  to get their clients’ stories told. As a PR2.0 professional, I am always on the lookout for the New Influencers: professional bloggers (many with journalism backgrounds), freelance writers who write for both the Web and print publications, and new media producers.

Though media database services like Cision and Vocus are great tools that still very much have their place, scrappy PR2.0 professionals realized long ago that Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter have made it much easier to find and connect with journalists. In the same democratizing way,YouTube, Vimeo and other free video sharing sites have destroyed the barrier between the would-be television producer and the audience, and   Wordpress and Blogger made it possible for anyone with content to easily publish that content on the Web. Producers don’t need tons of money or the backing of major networks to get a show up and running: all they need is a camera, a YouTube account and a great story to tell.

Which is where we come in. Read the full story

Today’s How to Pitch is all about beauty and relaxation. If you represent a client in the beauty or spa industry, you need to know about Jacqui Pini and her Gannett-backed blog Indulge.  Jacqui writes about high-end cosmetics, the latest spa treatments, and international beauty trends, so if you have a client or two in this industry, you’ll want to really read her pitching preferences.

Even if you’re not in the beauty industry, her tips are great for anyone who is trying to draw media attention to a product, so please read on.  Here’s how to pitch a beauty writer: Jacqui Pini.

Mopwater: What is your name, news organization, current city and beat? What types of stories do you write? How long have you been with your news organization?

JP: My name is Jacqui Pini and I am a news editor and blogger for a Captivate-a leading alternative media company that delivers more than 54.5 million impressions a month, and is backed by the Gannett News Company.  I summarize news, business, sports, lifestyle and entertainment stories. I also write one of Captivate’s lifestyle columns called “Indulge,” where I cover the latest spa trends and high-end beauty products from all over the world. I have been with the company for 4 years and prior to that I was a TV news producer for a station in West Palm Beach, Fla. I have been interested in journalism my entire life and I have a Master of Science in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University.

Mopwater: What kind of stories and products are you most interested in covering, and in what context?

JP: For Indulge, my favorite stories involve anything new, unusual and interesting in the world of spa treatments, beauty trends (for men and women), relaxation and more. Expert interviews are a great way for me to get important technical information to a reader in a fun, personal way.  I also like to cover new products before they hit store shelves – because who doesn’t want to be the first one to report the scoop on a new product? Finally, I have a fondness for studies and reviews, which I like to elaborate on and editorialize on the results.

I truly believe public relations professionals are part of what makes all of the above topics happen. They play a major role in helping journalists bring value and something new to a reader.

I update Indulge 2-3 times a week, but here are a few recent ones:

Hollywood Hairstylist Sally Hershberger

Best Websites to Buy Beauty Products

Eyelash Extensions…Going to Great Lengths

Anti-Aging Around the World

Mopwater: What’s the best pitch  you’ve gotten  recently?  Why did this pitch impress you?

JP: I just received a pitch from one PR exec that was especially well done. It came the morning after the Golden Globes and she sent me a brief email about her product (which was new to me), named a few celebrities wearing her product at the Golden Globes, had an expert stylist available for comment and had attached 1 photo of the product. I wrote her back right away and told her I was interested and wanted some comments from the stylist and she had the information to me within an hour. This is what I liked about this pitch:

• It was a new and interesting product
• The pitch was brief and had everything I needed
• She was responsive, but did not hound me
• The pitch was timely
• She had an expert available for comment
• She included just 1 photo so my email was not overloaded

Overall, she made covering her product very easy and interesting for me. Read the full story

The Dos and Don’ts of Working with Freelancers

Happy Hump Day. As promised, I spoke to Sarah Caron, a “real live” freelance writer to get some thoughts on how best to work with freelancers. Sarah divvies up her writing time between Parenting/Children, Cooking/Food and Technology.  You can check out her blog for more of her insights.

But after chatting (typing) with Sarah, I noticed that there’s a pretty common thread coming from reporters, whether they are freelance writers or staff reporters. Always remember that writers are people. Always respect the writer’s time. Never practice spam-pitching (pitching off topic, sending releases blindly). Media relations are all about the relations! So develop relationships with your media contacts, this includes freelance writers.

Sarah Caron’s  Dos and Don’ts

Do Take Time to Read the Writer’s Former Work

As with any writing professional, PR people really need to take the time to understand a writer’s role at publications and who they are writing for. This can easily be done with a little research or even just asking the writer.

Don’t Pitch Off Topic

Freelancers can be an excellent resource for PR professionals, especially if they write for multiple publications online and in print. However, it’s important that the PR pros take note about what the freelancer writes about and only sends along pitches that really fit their topics of interest. Trying to twist a subject to fit the writer’s interest seldom works if it’s not a natural fit. One important thing to realize though is that there are different types of freelancing: there is contract work, where you write on a regular schedule for a publication. There is also one-off work, which is most often garnered through pitching. And pitches take time. Read the full story

Freelance writers are really a publicist’s secret weapon.  Building relationships with freelancers can be a great way for PR pros to get coverage for their clients, because freelancers often write for multiple publications. And if a particular publication folds, a freelancer will often have relationships with editors at other outlets that publish similar content. The main downside to working with freelancers is  they are often much harder to reach than staff writers or editors, because they don’t have a permanent home at any given publication. But hard to find or not, freelancers present an awesome opportunity for publicists.

Why They’re Great

Freelance writers are generally passionate about the subjects they cover. They have to be since they are usually working outside the comfort and security of a staff reporter position.  Freelancers, generally speaking, are self-motivated go-getters who hustle their content to editors until they get someone to buy.

They’re a great resource because they’re often hungry for content. Since freelance writers aren’t on staff, the more they write, the more money they make. Simple as that.

Freelancers can write for more than one publication.  A business writer could easily freelance for Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and their local Business Journal.  Many often do.  This bodes well for publicists and people looking to get coverage because you can go “multi-outlet” shopping when working with a freelancer.  The down side is that you could work with a freelancer on a story for months only to have them pitch it without success. But that’s the gamble. Read the full story

Marketplace. Morning Edition. All Things Considered. Fresh Air. News and Notes. The segments that make up the programming for what we fondly know as National Public Radio-NPR for short.

NPR is headquartered in Washington, DC (near my Shaw/Convention Center neighborhood, no less) and describes itself as an “internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming.”  But  how does one get covered on the ubiquitous news radio network ?  While the news organization’s Web site has what appears to be some pretty helpful advice about getting your story on, NPR has hundreds of local affiliates, so it’s a little more daunting than the Web site makes it appear.

Jamila Bey to the rescue!  Jamila is a full-time freelance journalist and frequently works as an editor and producer for NPR- her former full-time employer before she went freelance. She also co-owns Tactical Productions Company and does sound and video production for music and fitness organizations. Here’s how to pitch Jamila for NPR.

Mopwater: What types of stories do you write and produce?

JB: I write stories that focus on either fitness, African-American and women’s issues, free thought and separation of church/state issues, and within the last year- parenting stories.  My background, however, is that of a political reporter, but I haven’t been in the daily government grind since the election of 2000!

A recent story I pitched and produced, but I didn’t report, was for NPR’s show, Tell Me More with Michel Martin.  There was a hilarious commentary in TheRoot.com about the absurdity the author felt about celebrating Kwanzaa.  We brought her in for an interview about the “True meaning” of the holiday and a consideration about what it means today.  I LOVE stories with a twist of some sort.

Mopwater: What kind of stories are you most interested in covering, and in what context?

I like covering fitness and protest stories best.  I love the fact that they both lend themselves to the obvious before and after.  However, one story I produced for NPR really stuck with me.  Zimbabwe in turmoil was the title, and I found a journalist there on the ground to talk about the nation  that was once known as “Africa’s breadbasket” is now facing famine and political breakdown. When I work as a radio producer, I will often call and do a lot of reporting of a story and then hand over my notes and questions to the on-air host.  In this case, Michel Martin.  I enjoyed this story because it allowed us to get a very good sense of what was happening in Zimbabwe and a good historical perspective as well. You can listen to the story here. Read the full story

Peter Shankman’s service Help a Reporter Out (HARO) has revolutionized the way publicists and PR practitioners find and respond to reporters’ queries. Based on the premise that “everyone’s an expert at something,” the thrice-daily free email service delivers dozens of queries to a subscriber’s inbox every day. All you have to do is sign up, check your email, and scroll.

But such services have also given any and everyone with an email address access to media contacts. As an advocate of free services, I believe the democratization of media relations is great. But as a former reporter, I know that in the wrong hands, such power can be potentially hazardous.

Dealing with the media requires a certain brand of etiquette, and that may escape an artist or small business doing its own PR.  And that’s completely understandable. That’s why there are professionals that do this sort of thing.

I recently caught up with Jennifer Thomas, a Florida-based travel columnist and editor of an online travel magazine.  She regularly posts queries on HARO.  Should you ever find yourself responding to a posted query, here are 6 tips from Jennifer on how to respond:

1.PITCH ON TOPIC. I know this sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how often I receive pitches that have zero to do with my query.

2. ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS POSED IN THE QUERY. Please do not say “I have an expert for you, click here,” or “I wrote about this, visit my blog at X”. I want to hear what you have to say about the query and how you think you or your expert fits in. Do not make me work for it. There are too many people responding to posted queries, so those who actually take time to provide relevant information will likely receive follow up questions or be included in the article.

3.MEET THE DEADLINE. If a deadline is included in the query, please, please, please, respond in a timely fashion.  Just today, I am still receiving pitches responding to a specific query from 6 days ago. The article has already been written. If by chance you or your client fit perfectly into a story, then start off by saying “I know your posted deadline has passed, but I have a great source for you. I’ve included specific content below in case you might still be working on the article. If not, I appreciate you considering this client for any future article opportunities.”

4. PROVIDE THE WEB SITE FOR MORE INFORMATION. You’d be surprised how many pitches I receive, particularly for consumer products, that do not include the Web site. I then have to ask for the Web site, which could be a huge delay if the client contact is not immediately available, or I do a search on my own for the appropriate Web site and it may or may not be the right one the client/source wants me to include.

5. USE CONTACT INFO WISELY. I don’t mind being added to press lists for additional press releases or unsolicited pitches personally. Often this received proactive content might spark a story idea for me. So, bring it on. As a general rule though, only pitch me 2x a month per client unless you have a brand like Oprah.

6. KEEP FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS TO A MINIMUM. If I’m working with you/your client on a story and it is evident that I am including your information, please keep follow up to a minimum. I personally do alert my sources when an article has posted, but that’s not needed…it’s just polite on my behalf. That’s what Google alerts and the pr firm’s searching is for. I ignore the continuous “do you know when it’ll be posted” or “what is your circulation” type questions. Reduce the back and forth please…I am on deadline!!