What To Do First: Email or Phone Call?

I was taught to always pick up the phone and call a reporter because it's more personal. More veteran (older) PR supervisors wanted me to do the same when I mentioned I was going to email a journalist. Picking up and dialing the phone was how so many PR - Reporter/Journalist relationships were built for many years. But now in 2011, is it better to send an email when reaching out to a reporter/journalist?

It will always depend on the reporter or journalist in question. You might be contacting a reporter who is 75 years old and hates email. Obviously a phone call is better in that case. But how many times have you as a PR professional unknowingly called a reporter who was on a tight deadline to pitch a story? Do you remember how annoyed they were when you called?

This topic was discussed in an ABA Journal article that also had responses to the question.

I'm a big proponent of emailing a reporter first because you give them a chance to read your pitch on their time, one that is good for them. If you do not get a response back, then follow up with a phone call. But maybe first contact doesn't have even have to be through traditional email: You can use Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter if you know how to use it correctly.

The main thing is know how the reporter/journalist wants to be contacted. At first you might not know how. There are websites and programs that try to provide this information for the price of their subscription fee. But you can also try contacting their news desk and ask if they know how.

For me, it usually email first. Times have changed and PR professionals have to change their communications habits as well.

How Stressful Are PR Jobs?

An article on Yahoo! Finance discussed a report that named "Public Relations Executive" as the second most stressful job in America. It feel right behind "Commercial Airline Pilot" and right above "Senior Corporate Executive". The author of the original report cited his main reason as: "Public relations executives are "completely at the mercy of their clients and buyers." I really don't buy it.

A PR job can certainly be stressful, but just as much as any other job. I believe PR jobs are only stressful if your no confident in your ability to connect with people. The success rate for PR professionals are similar to bating averages in baseball: It's a given that you're going to fail more times then succeed when pitching stories and you can succeed less then three out of 10 times and still be great at what you do.

It's how you handle your successes along with your failures internally that will decided how stressful your PR job will be. And that can be said for every job.

LINK: Perfect PR Pitches

As a guest writer for Ragen's PR Daily, New York Times tech columnist David Pogue shared his thoughts on what constitutes a good story pitch from PR professionals. (Click here to view)


The only way for PR professionals to know how effective they are at pitching is not necessarily to see how often their pitches get picked up by the media, rather to directly ask the journalists they are pitching. Sometimes a PR professional can throw the perfect pitch, but the journalist just doesn't have the time, space or ability to commit to the story. 


But as Pogue illustrates from a journalist's point of view, there is a need for pitches to be unique and have newsworthy elements. Just because you think your pitch relates to something that will interest the general public, doesn't mean it will interest the media. PR professionals have to assume that the journalists they are pitching have been previously contacted about something very similar to what they are trying to sell.

And Pogue is absolutely correct that pitches and press release not only have to be clear and concise, but also unique and interesting.

Want Better Measurability?

Any PR pro has been asked this question by a superior or co-worker when presenting or pitching an idea: "How many people are we going to reach?"

You can quote circulation or ratings, but the bottom line is that the ability to measure reach is limited with "traditional" media.

Social media changes that. Social media platforms and measurability are almost synonymous with each other because every platform has some type of count for friends, followers, connections, replies, link forwards, etc.

Now for the first time, public relations professionals have the ability to see in real time how many people are being reached with a specific placement. These “followers” on any social media platform usually have some level of interest in the subject they are following, so not only is placement on a social media platform as good as a specialty publication, the transparency exists of who actually is absorbing the placement.

In a numbers orientated business world, public relations professionals who reach out through social media platforms now have the ability to quickly and accurately measure the audience that is absorbing the information.

This is a new lifeline that PR pros would be foolish to ignore.

Using Social Media to Make Connections

Social media platforms offer an avenue of communication for public relations professionals to make contact with or reach out to journalists in any realm of publication. Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook or MySpace offer the opportunity for these connections to be made in non-pressure situations.

Instead of a potentially uncomfortable or ill-timed introductory conversation via a phone call (we've all had more then we would like to admit), connections between public relations professionals can be made through social media platforms. Then, when the situation presents itself, a public relations professional has a means to contact the journalist they are attempting to reach out to for a particular story or event.

Public relations professionals must be able to use social media platforms as a way of communication. Not only is it simple, quick and direct, it is now becoming a preferred way of communication as opposed to cold-calling.

Advantages of SM (Cont.): Social Media = Increased Contacts

More Outlets to Reach Out

Complementing the advantage of the social media news cycle are the advantages that social media platforms and blogs provide as additional media outlets to pitch products and/or stories to. Public relations professionals have been able to reach out to blogs for at least five years, but every day gives birth to more blogs that are accepted as legitimate sources for news and commentary just as a newspaper would be. As such, public relations professionals must stay on top of new, legitimate blogs as resource to reach out just as they would with new print publications.

As reaching out to bloggers has become a commonplace practice for public relations professionals, contacting Tweeters (a person on/using Twitter) is the next big step for public relations professionals. While Tweeter could be anyone, public relations professionals can concentrate on print/web journalists, bloggers or savvy social media users that have a large following to reach out to with story or product ideas. If pitched successfully, a Tweeter with a large following can deliver a quick news tidbit, opinion and/or website link about a company or organization. Depending on the size of the Tweeters following, this information is directly delivered to consumers as quickly as hard breaking news can be.

My Take: A Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. user makes a conscious decision to follow someone on that service and as such they tend to accept their opinions at face value. So if the Tweeter recommends a website or product, their followers are more likely to, at least, check it out or look at it then if they went to a third party news source that offers less interaction between author and reader.

Even with the limit of 140 characters on Twitter, a well-placed Tweet can provide as much or better exposure then a commentary in a print publication. Pound-for-pound, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms hold their own for product placement.

LINK: New Site Aims to Connect Reporters and Publicists

In an article published by the New York Times, journalist profiles a new social networking website called NewsBasis. The website aims to pair public relations professionals and journalists based on what is being pitched on the PR side and/or what resources journalists need for their stories.

As the article points out, there are some similarities to other websites/products that are already on the market, but there are some areas where NewsBasis stands out.

This is definitely something that can change the PR industry.

LINK: Pitching to Bloggers

PR consultant Susan Young discussed what she believes are the eight best practices when pitching stories to bloggers. Overall, she presents pretty good suggestions that even seasoned PR professionals can read for a refresher.

My favorite/most relevant tip:

4. Observe for a while. Watch their conversations and who they engage with. Follow them. Retweet their messages, a nice form of flattery. You’ll soon be on their radar screen.

It's alwasy better know the journalist before pitching them. Knowing them means both have a previously formed relationship and have a good understanding what they write about and to whom their target/intended audience is.