Tips And Tricks From A Publicist - " Do I NEED A Publicist To Get On TV?"

teaser of Tracy's upcoming book GET REPPED : Build Your Brand With Effective Public And Media Relations

By Tracy Lamourie

"I see experts quoted on TV all the time. How does that HAPPEN? How do I get there?"

If you've ever wondered... read on for some tricks and tips from a publicist ! 

The reality is that the expert you saw on air probably had a publicist reach out to the reporter with a story idea - and as a result - they were the one featured.  

Can you do that on your own? Do you need a publicist? Is there a reason that your story might be more likely to be featured in news media if it has the name of a publicist attached to it?

The answers to the above questions :

 Yes, sometimes. Not necessarily. And yes.

Theoretically, and sometimes in practice, you CAN do some of what a publicist does on your own.

If you are a compelling writer, if you understand what a newsroom is looking for, if you have an effective strategy in place AND you have the time to spend, after all, there is nothing stopping you from looking up the contact information for the local newspaper and sending in your story.

Sometimes it even works! You might be lucky enough to hit the open ear of an editor or reporter at just the time they are looking for a story like yours... but that can also be an unlikely scenario. We've heard of more than one occasion where a super enthusiastic business owner was deflated and confused by a response from a reporter that said "get a publicist to send us this!" and while as a PR expert I appreciate the business, I also have to say that it's a little disappointing to hear that from an editor - because it's NOT necessarily true that you need a publicist to get every single message to the media.  

So why might that editor - and others in the newsroom who would agree with him- have said such a thing?

One thing that most business people - or entertainers - don't understand is this : 

No matter how awesome your business, entertainment project, or other initiative is, the first response of a busy news room editor when you tell them about it is often “Buy an ad!” - after all - they KNOW the value of space in their paper, radio show, or television program… (and if you aren’t sure what that marketplace value is - call up the ad department for an education - you’ll likely unpleasantly surprised at what straight advertising to a large audience in a major media market can actually cost.)

 Very often that kneejerk response where their first impulse is to direct you to the ad Department that you might face when sending information into the newsroom can be alleviated by hiring a publicist. Whether that publicist has personal relationships with local media or not, the simple fact that an email is coming into a newsroom from a reputable PR company lends it an important credibility - as much as a PR professional is paid to serve clients, the media also views them as an important partner bringing newsworthy stories important to their particular audience demographics to their attention.

So the first step for a business looking for media attention is to - stop right there.  

Hold up. Don’t contact the media. Not yet. Before you reach out, stop thinking like the entrepreneur or business executive that you are, and put yourself in different shoes. Train yourself to think like a news editor, to evaluate every potential media outreach through their eyes before you even think of pressing send on that email.

Ask yourself this question : 

Is this truly EDITORIAL, or is this ADVERTORIAL?

This is likely the MOST important concept you need to understand when it comes to your media messaging - so let's unpack this a little. 

The first thing to remember when asking yourself “What is EDITORIAL?” is that editorial is specifically and intrinsically NOT advertising. Editorial, in essence, is the NEWS part of the newspaper. The part covering the topics and stories of interest to its readers.  It’s never going to be talking about a sale you have, or how you are better than your competitors. You may be suggesting the idea through a press release or a media advisory, but ultimately it is the writer or journalist, and then the editor determines what the article says.  The value of this is astronomical compared to an ad anyone with a deep pocket can buy - it is valuable third party “Social Proof” that makes all the difference! You cannot pay for this, money does not get you in.

 In contrast ADVERTORIAL is when the company, or subject of the piece, is paying to be featured, and the company or subject writes the content. The advertising we see every day - the kind that anyone with deep pockets can buy to say whatever they want.  How to get advertising is easy - you just buy it. That’s not what we’re talking about in this book.

So the most important thing you need to understand before anything else, is how to evaluate whether the potential piece of information you are thinking of sending to the news departments is hard news, a lifestyle or general interest piece, or better directed at the advertising department.  

So once you have taken a tough look at it with the same criteria a newsroom would use to determine if it is in fact news, and still believe that it passes the very important "Is this REALLy Editorial or is it ADVertorial?" question, you can move on to the next part. Perfecting your messaging, and then determining who best to send that message too for maximum effect and the best chance at media coverage.

You’re convinced what you have to share isn’t a glorified ad. It’s real news, of interest - but to who? Is this a mainstream, truly NEWS-y news story? Is it the kind of thing you might expect to see in an old school 30 minute television news broadcast (22 minutes, not counting ads?) Or is it more of an interesting story, but not so much hard news? 

Some things are NOW kind of news - tomorrow or the next day it will be old news, less relevant, or maybe not at all relevant. With this kind of news it is especially urgent that you get the message to media in a timely manner or the moment will pass, they will decide it’s old news - “if you had sent this to us yesterday we might have covered it…”

This is a good place to introduce the concept of the “topical” press release. The topical press release is a great opportunity for experts to get into mainstream news - without necessarily having done anything newsworthy themselves.

If you have a credible background on a topic, something you can hang your proverbial hat on to claim expertise on an issue - because you work in the field, because you wrote a book about it, or because you have insight others don’t have because of whatever experience, pay attention to news stories.  

If you see something on the news, or read about it in the paper, have a thought about it and might turn to your spouse or a friend to say something about it that you know because of your special knowledge or expertise - like I say to my clients - that might be something that you can expand into a topical press release.

A topical press release creates an opportunity to insert your two cents - your words and opinions on the matter - into an ongoing media conversation. If there is a news story is likely to continue past that days broadcast or paper, media needs to keep talking about it, and often they need to find other interesting things to say, and other voices bringing other perspectives to the broadcast is often of interest to media. 

Tune in for the next exciting installment of Tips And Tricks From A Publicist! (A Teaser from GET REPPED : Build Your Brand With Effective Public And Media Relations, the highly anticipated upcoming book by Tracy Lamourie. international award winning publicist and founder of Lamourie Media)