In addition to my work in marketing/PR, I also am freelance A&E writer in Seattle. At a minimum, I receive 25-30 emails a day from PR People about an event in the area, or sometimes in Chicago (huh?) that I should cover. Sadly, more than half of them end up in my trash folder. This slideshow from HubSpot offers some great tips on how to target (or not annoy) journalists. The most important takeaway? Tailor tailor tailor. We (journalists) love to see that you did a little bit of background research on us. A little flattery never hurts.
It didn’t take me long to figure out that anyone who works in PR is caught in the vast space between fact and fiction, perception and reality, and needs to constantly manage executive expectations while also maintaining effective and fruitful relationships with journalists. Ronn Torossian, a brash public relations expert in his own right, once said of his field: “PR is a mix of journalism, psychology, and lawyering — it’s an ever-changing and always interesting landscape.”
Leave a Reply