The how-to-do-it e-newsletter for PR and marketing

Number 10, October 2009

Why I asked 75 editors what articles they want

As an editor of various newspapers and magazines over the years, I’ve always received a large number of contributed articles. And I’ve often wondered whether other editors received similar numbers.

So I conducted a survey in which I asked 75 editors on a wide range of newspapers and magazines how many contributed articles were pitched at them each week. The average turned out to be 22.

But there were wide variations. The editor of a well-known Sunday national claimed to get 300 offers a week, a national business magazine 250. Away from London, even the editor of a Welsh weekly paper was getting 40. But, then, the editor of a brides magazine told me she only got five and a finance magazine just four.

Despite the wide range of numbers – only to be expected in such diverse publications – the editors all agreed on one point. Only a tiny percentage of the articles offered ever made it into print.

I probed deeper. The Sunday newspaper editor said he used none of them, the business magazine fewer than one in a hundred. The Welsh weekly used a couple of the 40 pitched each week. The brides magazine used hardly any – about one in a 100, she reckoned – but the finance magazine took up about one in five of the offers.

You get the picture: most pitched articles don’t make it into print. Yet there’s no reason why more shouldn’t do so. Many of the editors I contacted had no rooted objection to using contributed articles – although a few publications didn’t plan to use any. The main reason was the articles offered simply weren’t good enough, they said.

It’s an important issue for PR to address. Which is why this issue kicks off with the 10 best ways to get your article accepted. It’s advice which draws on my own experience and that of the 75 editors. And, indeed, addresses the reasons the editors gave for why those articles aren’t good enough.

One top journalist who really knows what she wants from PR is Judy Yorke, who writes relationship, parenting and real-life features for the nationals. Judy spells out what she’s looking for from PR pros who pitch ideas to her in our Five minutes with… slot.

These days, I seem to be on the mailing lists for nearly a dozen e-newsletters. Some I read avidly, others I barely glance at. The e-newsletter is a great way to communicate, but there’s some real skill in making them work. Scroll down further and you’ll find Hazel Butters, chief executive of Prompt Communications, giving us a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how the agency puts together its weekly e-newsletter.

Finally, don’t forget the Worth Knowing slot in the right-hand column. This month, I’m featuring three good PR ideas I came across. Perhaps there’s an idea there to get your own creative juices flowing. Or, perhaps, you’ve had a good idea which we could feature next month. Look forward to hearing from you.

Peter Bartram
Editor

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10 best ways to get your article accepted

Peter Bartram draws on 30 years of editing experience - and the views of 75 other editors - to give the inside track on getting that PR article published

If part of your job as a PR professional involves writing and placing articles in newspapers and magazines on behalf of your organisation or clients, here are 10 tips to help you get more of the articles published.

1. Check the publication accepts contributed articles. There are thousands of newspapers and magazines (and websites) that accept contributed articles from PR people, but there are also a good number that don’t. In the past, I’ve edited magazines that don’t – but still been deluged with article offers from PR. A basic first check on this point saves a lot of wasted effort.

2. Analyse the publication’s coverage. If you really understand how a publication seeks to serve its readers, you’re off to a flying start. You obviously need to know the subjects a publication covers – but dig deeper and find out how it likes to cover them. That will help you craft your article idea to meet its agenda.

3. Look for regular columns. Many newspapers and magazines carry regular columns which rely on contributed material. Common examples are opinion pieces or an expert commenting on a subject. If there’s a regular slot, craft and pitch an idea specifically for it.

4. Consider the timing. In my experience, many PR people lose out on the opportunity to get a viable article accepted because they don’t think about the best time to pitch it. If your article can piggy back on an annual event, like Christmas, the budget or the school holidays, then pitch when the editor is thinking about how to extend his coverage of the event.

5. Send a synopsis. It’s by far the best way to pitch an article. (Editors do receive already written articles but there’s a suspicion these are “damaged goods” – they’ve already been rejected elsewhere.)

6. Give your article an angle. Other editors tell me - and they bear out my own experience - that many synopses are little more than a plea for free publicity tacked on to a bit of background information about the subject of the article. Editors are looking for articles that take a fresh look at a subject. So make sure your synopsis reflects that. The Workbook in my Writing for Publication Masterclass describes a six-step approach for writing a super synopsis.

7. Do your research. If you’re going to write a great a synopsis that has an editor commissioning the article, you probably need to do some upfront research. Don’t just rely on information already on file. Things that light up your synopsis (and, ultimately, the finished article) are unknown facts, fascinating anecdotes, real-life examples, stunning statistics and did-he-really-say-that quotes.

8. Grab attention with your intro. The opening paragraph of your article should make the editor want to read on. So don’t, as so many contributed articles do, begin with a piece of background information. Look at the notes from your research and choose one of those unknown facts, fascinating anecdotes, real-life examples, etc to get the piece off to a flying start.

9. Move the story on. Editors are invariably looking for articles which have something new to say about a subject. This is where you dip deeper into your original research. Keep your article moving at a good pace. And keep obviously commercial or self-serving puffs out of the copy. Your PR spin-off comes from dealing with the subject of the article on your terms.

10. Deliver your article on time. And, needless to say, to brief. The editor may be able to extend the deadline by “just a couple of days” but he won’t thank you for it. The PR writers who get invited to contribute another article are the ones who deliver a great piece to deadline.

Learn more about getting articles accepted. The Writing for Publication Masterclass in London on the afternoon of 12th November provides a detailed insight into writing the kind of articles that editors want. Full programme and online booking at www.writingforpublication.co.uk

Five minutes with... Judy Yorke

Judy Yorke specialises in relationship, parenting and real-life features for national newspapers and magazines. She and her husband Adrian Monti have formed a freelance agency, Monti Media (www.montimedia.co.uk.) Judy is a former features editor of Woman magazine and deputy features editor of Good Housekeeping.

1. What I want from PR people is…
…honesty and transparency. Please don’t tell me a story is exclusive when you’ve also offered it elsewhere. If you have pitched it unsuccessfully yourself, tell me so I don’t approach the same publication and end up looking like an idiot. Spell out from the start what you’re after – please don’t ask me for copy approval or for three different websites to be included after I’ve filed the copy.

2. The best way to get my attention is…
…tell me a great story with a case study who has already agreed to talk (but hasn’t yet to anyone else).

3. But please don’t…
…tell me you’ve got “dozens” of case histories which all fail to materialise, or appeared in the Daily Mail last week. Please don’t offer me a male case history for a women’s magazine or send me pictures unless I’ve asked for them – I don’t appreciate an unsolicited e-mail with 15 attachments that takes ages to come in and stops the e-mail I’m waiting for dropping into my inbox.

4. When pitching a story to me…
…please make sure you have a picture if I ask for it and that you know basic details of the case study – such as their age.

5. If you’re sending a press release, I want…
…it to be short and to the point.

6. The most successful PR people…
…don’t ring between 6pm and 7pm which is mayhem in my house (and that goes for every other journalist with young children!)

Pitch perfect! The Perfect Pitch Masterclass in Manchester on October 8th and London on December 2nd is an intensive half-day session which shows you how to pitch ideas to journalists successfully by e-mail or telephone. The course is based on what 75 editors and senior journalists say they want from PR. Full programme and online booking at www.perfectpitchmasterclass.co.uk

Case study: how to run an e-newsletter

Hazel Butters, chief executive of Prompt Communications, describes how a weekly e-newsletter showcases its skills

Each week, our team of consultants work together to produce an e-newsletter which updates subscribers on the latest news from the worlds of technology and media. Our PR, marketing and social media executives take equal responsibility alongside copywriters, designers and editors to cover the week’s major stories as well as the quirky ones.

The newsletter debuted on 3rd June 2005 and has grown in popularity every week with present, potential and past clients who want to keep in touch. We’ve always felt that it’s vital to talk to all our stakeholders at regular intervals. We like to do so in a tone and style we find natural and that reflects our company’s attitude and values. Just two weeks ago, one client e-mailed to say: “I just got the latest Prompt newsletter – it brightens up my Friday.” This kind of simple feedback alone makes our efforts worthwhile.

Of course, it’s only worth creating and distributing a newsletter if your company has interesting information to share and a talent for communicating it. Sometimes the value for us is in the factual information itself, but often it’s an opportunity to showcase our services. Everybody contributes in their own style and voice - from editing and research to design and distribution, from surveys and social media updates to vox-pops and video items.

From the start, our aim was to provide interesting news, insights and website recommendations about the marketing, technology and media industries. For a newsletter to be successful, it must be consistent. We’ve produced ours each and every week for more than four years. Our starting points were our core skills - communicating technology stories and press updates.

Although we’ve updated design and content along the way to keep things fresh, we’ve always evolved gradually and kept a degree of consistency. New sections are added from time to time, as well as cartoons, client news updates, facts and stats, and even humorous columns, such as “You Say Patattah”, a wry look at the differences in the language between US and UK English.

Our newsletter is a team exercise – every week there are discussions within the team– from London to Boston and San Francisco - about key stories, ideas for new sections, columns to develop. It’s also a valuable piece of marketing collateral. It showcases our ability to understand technology, write about it compellingly and work together.

Sharing responsibilities in this way encourages all of us to keep current with industry buzz, trends and opinions by browsing online news resources as well as print media. For every edition of the newsletter, our team starts by researching and writing short newsletter articles. From there, it goes into the editing process and is then coded into HTML. Each step is done by one of us, and jobs such as the HTML coding are circulated. After one final proof and a test e-mail, it is sent out to our growing subscriber database.

We use reliable e-mail marketing software to manage the recipient list and distribute the newsletter once it’s ready. After it's distributed, we can analyse the results of the e-mail blast to ascertain which areas were the most popular and whether anything could be optimised further to pique reader interest. To showcase past newsletters and further demonstrate consistency, we also post all past newsletters on our website as an archive. It’s easy to find and search, and helps to increase our corporate visibility on search engines and to encourage new sign-ups.

Our newsletter has resulted in new business, promoted new capabilities and reminded our clients each week that we can produce high-quality work regularly. The writing and analysis of technology stories demonstrate the knowledge base and technical understanding of our employees, which helps to reassure clients that we will understand their technologies, no matter how unique or pioneering.

See past issues of the Prompt Communications newsletter at www.prompt-communications.com

Contents
Why I asked 75 editors what articles they want 10 best ways to get your article accepted Five minutes with... Judy Yorke Case study: how to run an e-newsletter Worth Knowing
Diary dates:
Thursday 8th October: Perfect Pitch Masterclass, Manchester Business School. How to devise article and interview pitches that journalists really want to hear More: www.perfectpitchmasterclass.co.uk Tuesday 27th October: Perfect Proposals & Presentations Masterclass. London. How PR and marketing consultancies can improve pitches to win more business More: www.perfectproposals.co.uk Thursday 12th November: Writing for Publication Masterclass, London. How to write news stories and feature articles that editors want to publish More: www.writingforpublication.co.uk Wednesday 25th November: Perfect Public Relations Masterclass, London. Key skills for winning press, broadcast and online PR coverage that deliver more business value More: www.perfectpublicrelations.co.uk Wednesday 2nd December: Perfect Pitch Masterclass, London. How to devise article and interview pitches that journalists really want to hear More: www.perfectpitchmasterclass.co.uk Wednesday 27th January 2010: Perfect Press Release Masterclass, London. A journalist’s eye view on how to write releases that make it into print More: www.prmasterclass.co.uk
PR Success Monthly:
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Worth knowing:
Picture power Peter Bartram reviews some good PR ideas he came across last month When PR agencies do their own PR, it’s often a case of the cobbler’s children… (You’ll recall they’re the worst shod.) So full marks to Tyneside agency Sarah Hall Consulting for an innovative picture approach. The pic features Sarah smiling between two towers of children’s alphabet bricks reading “profiles and profits”. Tip: you’d be surprised how magazines and newspapers are always on the look-out for good quality contributed pics. In my magazine editing days, a good pic would often be the deciding factor on whether I used an otherwise marginal story. In the dark PR people are well tuned into the value of a survey for generating media coverage. (And don’t we editors know it.) I guess there must be hundreds of survey-based releases issued every month. Although I admit I’ve not counted them. Which means that the survey really does need to have something useful to say if it’s to grab those coveted column inches. One that got my attention last month was a study from a company called Psychological Consultancy that explores the “dark side” characteristics of leaders and managers. Trouble with many PR-generated surveys is that when you dig into the research you find they’re based on little more than interviews with a bus queue of people. This one has some real credibility – it says it’s a 10-year study. Tip: if you’re running a survey story, the survey must focus on a subject that the media wants to cover and be based on research that’s credible when it’s tested. Under the table Online PR is the hot topic these days. PRs are looking for ways to create the buzz that sends a campaign viral. Not easy with many business-to-business products and services. But Powwow Now, a firm that provides a conference call service, posted some YouTube videos which highlighted alternative uses for the boardroom table. Its excuse: there are now fewer face-to-face meetings, so we’ve got to put the boardroom table to different uses. Like table tennis. Not surprisingly, “Fun under the table” was the most watched (527 views when we last looked).

Contact details

We hope you find this newsletter of interest. If you have any queries or would like to make a suggestion about future content, please contact New Venture Publishing using the contact details below.

New Venture Publishing Ltd, 29 Tivoli Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 5BG, UK.
Tel: +44 1273 565505. E-mail: info@newventurepublishing.co.uk

The how-to-do-it e-newsletter for PR and marketing

Number 10, October 2009

Why I asked 75 editors what articles they want

10 best ways to get your article accepted

Five minutes with... Judy Yorke

Case study: how to run an e-newsletter

Contents

Diary dates:

PR Success Monthly:

Sponsored links:

Worth knowing: