Wrong Way to Get Your News in Print

A new business magazine debuted in Charleston, West Virginia this week. It is called WV Inc., and it's modeled around Inc. magazine (which I love, by the way). The local mag was a success, pretty much the consensus opinion. Legions of skeptics and doubters were watching closely. So, kudos to Jack Bailey, Mike Stuart and company on a successful launch!

In the magazine, I read a story about "How to Get Your Story Covered in the Media." The author got it all wrong, in my opinion. As I read it, I was literally shouting things like "no way" and "he's got to be kidding."

The problem with the article is that it laid out the old way of dealing with the media. The old way is a numbers game. You pitch lots of stories, sending out tons of press releases, making tons of follow-up calls and using pressure tactics to "close" reporters on covering your stories.

This is wrong for two reasons. First, it doesn't work. And second, it is horribly laborious. I guess if you are billing by the hour, it makes sense to rack up hours of work, with little regard for effectiveness. You pitch 50 stories in the hope that 3 or 4 get picked up by the media.

That is not what my clients want. They want results, not activity.

The way we work: we pitch 5 stories and get 4 or 5 picked up by the media. If you want to know more about our media relations approach, read here and here.