Treat reporters like your best customers.

We advise all of our clients to behave this way.

But the power behind this guideline was never more apparent than in two recent meetings. In the first, a client said to the reporter of a major business publication, “The Reynolds Group told me to treat you like our best client, so I read many of your articles and will present today several industry trends that I think will be of particular interest to you.” The expression on the reporter’s face was clear: Here’s a guy took the time to study my work. I’ll take the time to listen.

In the second, the CEO of a company conducting an agency review asked us to elaborate on that principle. After we did, he said it never occurred to him to treat reporters in that fashion. “But I can see the value and why it should guide my actions,” he said. “These reporters are gateways to lots of potential customers.”

We couldn’t have said it better. And though we’re occasionally disappointed when the time and attention we spend on media don’t pay the dividends we expected, we wouldn’t behave any other way.

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It’s Not Who You Know (by Mack Reynolds).

I’m asked often by clients or prospective clients about the depth of my relationships with editors, producers and reporters. They heard from some practitioners that being BFFs with a journalist will somehow lead to glowing stories.
I wish PR counselors would stop saying that. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it simply isn’t true. Besides, it demeans what many of us do for a living.
Case in point: I’m related to a network news producer and very good friends (though not BFFs) with a reporter for a network morning show. Each has worked with me on stories — but neither did so because I was a buddy. In fact, both probably reject more of my ideas than they accept. The truth is, reporters have a job to do: uncover interesting, educational or entertaining stories and deliver them to their respective audiences. No reporter will stay credible — or keep his job — if he develops stories that aren’t important, just to help his friends.
Of course, it helps to know a journalist. But it’s better to understand him. And it’s far more productive — for reporters, PR people and their clients — to study hard a reporter’s work. Then bring him stories that will suit the interests of his constituents and aid the client. That’s a relationship that can lead to more coverage.

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Filling News Holes

We expect to see heydays for corporate self-publishing. We hope we PR people take them seriously.

People clamor for reliable news and information. Conventional media’s shrinking news holes cannot be filled long-term solely by e-zines and blogs. Web-only publications will find it tough to attract enough advertising dollars to maintain healthy staffs. Though many laid-off print reporters have migrated to the web, most bloggers are hobbyists and part-timers with limited time and resources. Creating good, accurate an insightful stories is hard work. This could be why Technorati reports that 90+ percent of blogs haven’t been updated in the past 120 days.

I see great opportunity here for companies to self-publish. Not puffery, of course. That only alienates readers. But there is a market for balanced, company-produced stories that describe issues, products, services and plans — all while engaging reader-customers, like never before. Company-generated stories can first appear on corporate Web sites, then be pushed through Twitter and Facebook. Savvy PR writers will find roles for independent third-parties and experts to voice opinions — just like good news reporters. This is opportunity to attract a following that once was reserved for many conventional publications. Let’s hope we treat it properly.

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