Make Headlines: How to Grab Media Attention for Your Business
What makes the news? That question might best be answered by asking, “What isn’t newsworthy?”
Your CFO’s 25th birthday isn’t likely to make the papers -- unless she was told at the age of 18 that she had a year to live, and she’s now perfectly healthy and running marathons. And your local Webmasters Group’s monthly meeting probably won’t be front-page news -- unless you’re announcing that one of your members has just won national recognition for innovative site design.
In other words, it’s what makes your story stand out from thousands of others like it that helps it win media attention. Sometimes, of course, a story is so big it doesn’t seem to need any help landing in the paper. We see those on the front pages all the time: war news, major crimes, record-breaking heat waves, medical breakthroughs and so on.
Just as often, though, news articles or features -- also known as human-interest stories --make it to print because someone involved with the story worked to promote it. He or she contacted the reporters and editors responsible for filling the news pages and sold them on the idea that this would be a great story for their readers. These are the stories about the customer service rep who’s just celebrated her 10th year of providing free computer tutoring to local schoolkids, or the customer Website that just help reunite a brother and sister who have not seen each other in 45 years.
How can you tell if your story is newsworthy? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you’ve got something worth promoting:
# Is this a first of some kind? Maybe your new hosting business is the first in town to offer storefront as well as online sales. Or maybe one of your part-timers is the first local high school graduate to go four years with perfect grades and perfect attendance.
# Is this a milestone? Has your father, who keeps your business’ books, just turned 100? Or did you bring sales to record-breaking levels during the past year?
# Does this affect the community? It could be that your business and others are launching a campaign to clean up a blighted playground nearby. Or maybe you’re donating Web space to help the park district stay online despite its budget crisis.
# Is this a story of someone defying the odds? Maybe doctors told you 10 years ago that your son would never be able to attend a mainstream school, and he’s just designed an award-winning software program that you’re marketing to public libraries. Or maybe the Web design service you started at home while raising three young children has just won the city’s top small-business award.
# Is this about someone who decided to fight City Hall? You have to be careful here: Lots of people get turned down for city fence permits every month – it’s no big deal. It doesn’t mean they can take their fight to the local newspaper, even though a few always try. A legitimate little-person-against-the-big-guy story requires some unusual characteristics. Maybe your office’s proposed addition meets all the city’s building requirements and should have been granted a permit, but your co-owner has been feuding for years with your next-door neighbor -- who happens to be the mayor. Make sure there’s a real case to complain about before pitching a story to the local editor.
# Does this story pull the heartstrings? Is this a hero story, maybe about your VP of marketing, who pulled a drowning dog from a pond while he was on his way to work one day? Is it a sad story where readers might be encouraged to offer their help: maybe about an out-of-town business colleague whose entire collection of Christmas presents for his family was stolen from his hotel room?
# Finally, is this simply something people should, or want to, read about? The easiest test here is to ask yourself, “Would I read this story if it didn’t involve me or anyone I know?” Is this a story that will make people want to visit a special event? That will make them laugh? That will make them angry? That will make them proud?
To help decide if your story is newsworthy, run it past some of your relatives, friends or co-workers. Not everybody has to like your idea, but you’ve got a better chance if at least a few of them find it interesting. Be honest with yourself and make sure the positive folks aren’t just being polite. Remember, the people you know probably all read newspapers, listen to the radio and watch the TV news – they’re your potential audience.
One more note: understand that, while all newspapers and media editors consider these questions when deciding what gets attention, bigger publications and media outlets always have more story ideas to choose from than small ones do. Smaller local weeklies, community-access cable channels and hometown radio stations often provide the best opportunities for publicity, so target them first. Many times, the larger outlets will pick up later on interesting stories that have already received attention from small-town publications and stations.
About the Author
Shirley Siluk Gregory is senior analyst with the ebi Group, an analyst organization that specializes in market research and data resources for Web hosts and other technology companies targeting the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market. Check out the ebi Group’s Website at ebigroup.com or email Shirley at shirley@ebigroup.com.
Your CFO’s 25th birthday isn’t likely to make the papers -- unless she was told at the age of 18 that she had a year to live, and she’s now perfectly healthy and running marathons. And your local Webmasters Group’s monthly meeting probably won’t be front-page news -- unless you’re announcing that one of your members has just won national recognition for innovative site design.
In other words, it’s what makes your story stand out from thousands of others like it that helps it win media attention. Sometimes, of course, a story is so big it doesn’t seem to need any help landing in the paper. We see those on the front pages all the time: war news, major crimes, record-breaking heat waves, medical breakthroughs and so on.
Just as often, though, news articles or features -- also known as human-interest stories --make it to print because someone involved with the story worked to promote it. He or she contacted the reporters and editors responsible for filling the news pages and sold them on the idea that this would be a great story for their readers. These are the stories about the customer service rep who’s just celebrated her 10th year of providing free computer tutoring to local schoolkids, or the customer Website that just help reunite a brother and sister who have not seen each other in 45 years.
How can you tell if your story is newsworthy? If you can answer yes to any of these questions, you’ve got something worth promoting:
# Is this a first of some kind? Maybe your new hosting business is the first in town to offer storefront as well as online sales. Or maybe one of your part-timers is the first local high school graduate to go four years with perfect grades and perfect attendance.
# Is this a milestone? Has your father, who keeps your business’ books, just turned 100? Or did you bring sales to record-breaking levels during the past year?
# Does this affect the community? It could be that your business and others are launching a campaign to clean up a blighted playground nearby. Or maybe you’re donating Web space to help the park district stay online despite its budget crisis.
# Is this a story of someone defying the odds? Maybe doctors told you 10 years ago that your son would never be able to attend a mainstream school, and he’s just designed an award-winning software program that you’re marketing to public libraries. Or maybe the Web design service you started at home while raising three young children has just won the city’s top small-business award.
# Is this about someone who decided to fight City Hall? You have to be careful here: Lots of people get turned down for city fence permits every month – it’s no big deal. It doesn’t mean they can take their fight to the local newspaper, even though a few always try. A legitimate little-person-against-the-big-guy story requires some unusual characteristics. Maybe your office’s proposed addition meets all the city’s building requirements and should have been granted a permit, but your co-owner has been feuding for years with your next-door neighbor -- who happens to be the mayor. Make sure there’s a real case to complain about before pitching a story to the local editor.
# Does this story pull the heartstrings? Is this a hero story, maybe about your VP of marketing, who pulled a drowning dog from a pond while he was on his way to work one day? Is it a sad story where readers might be encouraged to offer their help: maybe about an out-of-town business colleague whose entire collection of Christmas presents for his family was stolen from his hotel room?
# Finally, is this simply something people should, or want to, read about? The easiest test here is to ask yourself, “Would I read this story if it didn’t involve me or anyone I know?” Is this a story that will make people want to visit a special event? That will make them laugh? That will make them angry? That will make them proud?
To help decide if your story is newsworthy, run it past some of your relatives, friends or co-workers. Not everybody has to like your idea, but you’ve got a better chance if at least a few of them find it interesting. Be honest with yourself and make sure the positive folks aren’t just being polite. Remember, the people you know probably all read newspapers, listen to the radio and watch the TV news – they’re your potential audience.
One more note: understand that, while all newspapers and media editors consider these questions when deciding what gets attention, bigger publications and media outlets always have more story ideas to choose from than small ones do. Smaller local weeklies, community-access cable channels and hometown radio stations often provide the best opportunities for publicity, so target them first. Many times, the larger outlets will pick up later on interesting stories that have already received attention from small-town publications and stations.
About the Author
Shirley Siluk Gregory is senior analyst with the ebi Group, an analyst organization that specializes in market research and data resources for Web hosts and other technology companies targeting the small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market. Check out the ebi Group’s Website at ebigroup.com or email Shirley at shirley@ebigroup.com.
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