How to Profit from PR

Chapter 2: Three Basic Rules  

By J.D. Solomon
JDS Strategic Communications

The voice on the other end of the telephone was indignant. "You've sabotaged my business," he said.

It seems the local newspaper had omitted his company from its annual list of new businesses. His competitors had made it on the list and he was demanding to know why he hadn't. Here's how the conversation went:

Editor: "Did you contact us when you started your business by calling or sending a press release?"

Business owner: "No. I didn't think of it."

Editor: "When we were putting the list together a couple of months ago we ran notices inviting press releases from people who started a business last year. Did you see any of them?"

Business owner: "No. I don't always read the paper."

Editor: "Well, how did you expect us to know about your business?"

Business owner: "I'm an advertiser. I should have got in," he insisted .

Editor: "Sorry, but that's just not how things work."

The episode illustrates three basic rules of dealing with a newspaper:

Rule No. 1: If you want coverage of your business in the newspaper, you have to ask for it. Journalists are not omniscient. Don't count on them to find out about you and then be disappointed if they don't. Be aggressive about requesting coverage. Write. Call. Call again.

Rule No. 2: Read your local paper. It will only take 20 to 30 minutes a day; less if you just concentrate on the business section. You will learn what kind of stories appear on the business pages. That will help you tailor your pitch for coverage. You'll see which reporter specializes in your industry. You may even come across an invitation to submit a press release about your business.

Rule No. 3: Your advertising dollars have no value in the newsroom of any decent newspaper. Asking for news coverage of your business because you're an advertiser only gets reporters and editors angry and less inclined to write about you, even if there is a decent news story involved. Don't ask your advertising representative to "put in a good word for you" with the business editor. That kind of communication between the advertising and editorial departments is strongly discouraged, or outright banned, at most newspapers.

As unfair as Rule No. 3 may seem, it actually helps you. If advertisers called the shots about the content of the news pages, readers would quickly see that the newspaper was nothing more than a biased mouthpiece for the community's commercial interests. Then they would stop buying the newspaper and then you would have no one to advertise to.

Of course, not all publications maintain such a high ethical standard. Indeed, some do give favorable editorial treatment to advertisers. However, your interests will be better served if you assume your newspaper adheres to the prevailing ethics of the industry and then take advantage of any ethical lapses.

With this primer in mind, we are now ready to explore how you can profit from PR.

Next — Chapter 3: Good News vs. Bad