VerveCast

As my second season of vegetable gardening nears its end, I’ve been reflecting on my experience. And I have to admit, this year was a little disheartening. Most of my tomatoes didn’t grow, and the ones that did stayed green. My jalapenos started to sprout their fruit, but they never developed into an actual pepper shape. (What is that about?) If it weren’t for my bountiful zucchini, my vegetable crop would have been a bust.

Anyway, after reading a few “PR is like ____” articles this week, I’ve been inspired to write my own. Four Ways PR is Like Gardening:

• Planting Seeds – PR professionals send out a lot of pitches and many of them don’t develop into anything. But if you don’t plant the seeds, there’s no chance of anything sprouting.
• Nurturing Sprouts – When your seeds start to grow, you need to nurture them. Cultivate relationships with your media contacts and check in on developing stories.
• Fighting Pests – “Pests” in the PR world are easy to come by. From unresponsive clients to looming deadlines, there are numerous obstacles to overcome to achieve the final product.
• Harvesting Crops ­– Getting to your fully developed product takes a lot of effort. But when you’re successful, there’s no better gratification than seeing your hard work pay off, and presenting a great media placement to your client.  

Both gardening and PR campaigns have their ups and downs, but the end product is worth the effort. You can bet I’ll be back in the garden come spring.

If PR is important to your client, make sure they’re on LinkedIn. That’s because a new survey from Arketi Group, says 92 percent of journalists have a LinkedIn account and use it to find sources for stories.

That number shows an increase from 85 percent in 2009. The study says those numbers are up because LinkedIn is an easy way for reporters to find people they’d like to interview.

“It comes as no surprise more B-to-B journalists are participating in social media sites, especially LinkedIn,” Mike Neumeier, principal of Arketi Group, says, “LinkedIn provides an online outlet for them to connect with industry sources, find story leads and build their professional networks.”

While LinkedIn appears to be the most popular social media site for journalist, they’re using other networks too. The survey reports 85 percent are on Facebook and 84 percent use Twitter.

If you want to secure more media coverage for your client, make sure they’re being more social.

Chances are, you’ve already been on the Internet this morning to check the latest SXSW happenings, to read reviews on the iPad 2 or to determine if your suspicion that your cat is trying to kill you is true.

Would it surprise you, though, to learn that nearly 80% of children under age 5 are also using the Internet?

Is anyone else as shocked by that statistic as I am? This report also noted that young children are using more and more media, and are getting pretty darn good at multitasking.

In fact, children between ages 8 and 10 spend about 5.5 hours each day using media, but that figure rises to a whopping 8 hours if you count when these kids are multi-tasking.

But think about it – they’re learning from the best. Us adults are constantly futzing with our Blackberries or iPads or watching a show on Netflix. Why would kids be any different if this is how they’re learning to behave?

Just the other day, a friend of mine posted on Facebook about her daughter Annie: “I handed my daughter her play phone and she goes ‘Oh, Annie’s iPod!’ Hahaha! She’s so tech savvy.”  Yup, tech savvy and still in diapers.

Image courtesy of ijpc.org

In a previous post, I discussed how important it is to Give ‘Em What They Want when it comes to working with the media. I recently came across an article in Ragan’s PR Daily that addresses not only giving reporters information they want, but also giving it to them how they want it.

The article refers to a study by PWR New Media, in which the company surveyed 200 journalists, the majority of whom work for print outlets. (Not the most comprehensive survey, yet still valuable.)

According to the study, when asked how they prefer to receive press releases, 87 percent said e-mail is the best way. Online newsrooms were a distant second at 3.5 percent, and 0 percent (that would be nobody) said they want to receive press releases via wire service or fax.

Although e-mailing press releases has served as the obvious method of delivery for the past few years, I’ve still witnessed many releases going out through wire services—and many companies requesting that their agencies distribute information that way. This study helps support my theory that wire services are officially dead. Reporters want one-to-one communication, personalized to their outlet and audience, not mass messages distributed to everyone and their brothers.

Some other interesting findings from this particular study:

• 87 percent said high-res images are very important
• 79 percent of journalists were either “much more likely” or “likely” to cover a story if it included high-res images
• 91 percent of journalists said that having easy access to relevant background, bios and supporting information is very important when researching a story
• 76 percent cited verbiage from a press release

What Makes a Good News Story? While everyone thinks they have a special story to tell, the media doesn’t always agree. Here are few things the news outlets consider when selecting the stories they will be covering for the day.

Timing
Timing is everything and if it’s happening “now” the story is likely to be covered. Viewers and readers want the latest information, so anything dated is quickly discarded. That’s why police shootings, fires and car chases make the headlines.

Significance
How many people does the story affect? The media is interested in higher numbers. A flu outbreak that impacts hundreds is likely to be covered over a flu outbreak that hits a dozen people.

Proximity
The media wants to cover stories that impact people where they live. It has more value if it stays closer to home. People here are more likely to read a story about higher gas prices in Wisconsin versus high gas prices in Georgia.

Prominence
If you’re a familiar name your actions are more newsworthy. If a business man falls on the ice and breaks his arm, few will notice. If a state senator does it, it’s news.

These stories appeal to emotion. They are covered to create an emotion, action, or simply to tell an interesting tale. They can be quirky, but need to be memorable. If it’s a unique story, it’s also more likely to be covered.

When pitching a story to the media it’s important to consider what angle you are going for. The more work you do to make your story appealing to the media, the more likely it is to be covered.