Press Releases Are a Colossal Waste of Time: Mail the Media
a Letter Instead
By B.L. Ochman
I haven't sent out a traditional press release in the last
10 years. But I have placed stories about my clients in The
Wall St. Journal, New York Times, ABC News, The Today Show,
Good Morning America and just about any other major media
outlet in the United States.
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Here are some tips for writing letters that get read:
Say Why You are Writing
Begin with your reason for writing, i.e. "I am writing
to suggest a story about..." "I'd like to recommend
an interview with..." Too many times, the reason for
the letter is hidden several paragraphs into the letter. Editors
are busy. If you don't give them an immediate reason to keep
reading, your audience is over.
Explain Your Premise in No More Than Two Sentences
Explain what makes your idea newsworthy. Why is this a good
person to interview or a good story to cover? Describe your
idea's relevance to current events, its connection to or beginning
of a trend, its likelihood to interest a broad cross section
of the audience.
How would you explain the story pitch to your friend if you
were in the elevator on the way out? Would it take you a page
and a half worth of words to make your point? Not if you wanted
your friend to keep listening. Be equally kind to journalists.
Explain Your Story Idea in One or Two Paragraphs
Explain how the story would work, what it involves, what role
you will play in assisting the reporter.
A friend, who is also a journalist, recently told me he gets
a three-foot stack of snail mail and over 150 e-mails a day.
He shared this story with me. "Let me tell you about
a letter that typifies the ones we journalists never finish
reading. I got one the other day that started off by saying,
‘I've been on the Joe Franklin Show, this show, that
show, been talked about by so and so, I've also done this
and that.’ The next line was ‘I'm not a status-oriented
person.’ There were about eight more pages, but I didn't
bother to read them. I just laughed, showed the letter around
and threw it away."
Timing Can Be Everything
Timing is incredibly important. Your chances improve when
you can say, "This is a hot topic and I have a great
source." Let's say you're an ophthalmologist and the
president is going to have eye surgery. You stand a good chance
of getting a phone call for your opinion if your e-mail arrives
just as the reporter is thinking of whom to call. Your pitch
only stands to become a story if it is likely to make a lot
of people stop and read or listen. I think of it as the "Hey
Martha" factor—editors look for stories that make
one say, "Hey Martha, look at this!"
Watch Your Superlatives
 Don't
make the company or person you are pitching sound hard to
believe. He or she probably didn't do whatever you're writing
about single handedly. Describe the actual role. Be very careful
with hype words like "first, only, greatest, biggest."
Someone almost always did it before, as well or as big. Reporters
are trained to look for conflict, lies and exaggerations.
List Topics the Person Can Address
Give the top three or four areas of expertise your client
can address. Do it in bullet form.
Get It All into 350 Words Or Less
Mark Twain said, "If I had more time, I would have written
less." Edit. Edit again. When you are done, edit again.
Here's another tip. Once you get a reporter interested, she
will ask you for more information. And then you can give her
mountains of background you've researched. Because another
thing my friend shared with me is this: Most reporters hate
to do research.
If your letter is going via e-mail, include a URL where a
company fact sheet, management bios, relevant photos and other
articles that have been written about the company can be found.
Reporters may deny this but I have found that few of them
want to be the first to write about a subject. There's a definite
pack mentality in play. Understanding it will increase your
placements.
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