Hiya 🌊! I’m Lucy from Hype Yourself. If you are new to this page, pop your email below to ensure you receive my posts sent every Sunday. 52 PR Tips challenge tasks are sent out every fortnight(ish) to help you with self-promotion, templates, expert tips and opportunities. Come and sit with us.
WELCOME TO THE 52 PR TIPS CHALLENGE - TASK 6
Do the work:
If you're pitching to a journalist, give them all the info they need in one go. But remember, journalists are busy so keep it short and sharp.
🙋🏻♀️ I see a lot people responding to press pitches publicly via #journorequest, Lightbulb or on LinkedIn. They fail at the first hurdle because they don’t do the work for the journalists.
❌ Saying “I would love to do this, come and check out my work” is rarely (if ever) going to land you coverage. ❌
✅ Instead, you need to give them the quotes, the link to your website, the headshot all upfront. If they don’t use it - recycle! ✅
This week, we are going to take a look at the following:
Why a press release doesn’t always work
A checklist of things your story needs
An example of ‘doing the work’
Why a press release doesn’t work
Caveat: a press release WITH a great tailored email pitch can work wonders.
The problem, for me at least, is that press releases make pitching to the press lazy 😴 It gets whizzed out, spray and pray style, to a long list of journalists.
This, to me, isn’t PR. Or publicity. It is spam.
The press release was created in 11906 to share a breaking news story. It was not meant to be the way we disseminate all information to journalists
Unless a journalist is a news editor covering NEW news, a press release isn’t always that helpful because you are forcing them to find the story
If you are a feature writer, you will want a feature pitch. You will want to know the real-life story if you are a real-life editor. If you are a shopping editor, you want an image, price, URL and description as you would feature it. If you are a business editor, you are going to want to know the…. (you get the gist)
I’ll stop being a negative Nigel and next up lets find ways to do it better.
A checklist of things your story needs
Relevance:
Answer the question, "Why now?" by showing the timeliness
Example off of the back of xx happening at last night’s Superbowl or ahead of Valentine’s Day
Newsworthiness:
Hype the most compelling bits, and don’t let your ego misalign you into thinking it is interesting. Unless it is super slick design going to a graphic design news site, no one probably cares about your new branding or Website.
Attention-grabbing headline:
Help the journalist to know what the story could look like in the paper. This applies to a title for a podcast pitch, workshop or panel event
Audience match:
Identify the target audience for your pitch e.g. if you are a b2b agency with trend angle on influencers it is unlikely to fit in the lifestyle section of a magazine. Prove how your story matches the end goal.
Additional Elements:
Do you have fantastic photography, b-roll, combative and punchy points of view, bespoke research, infographics, illustrations. Think - how can I make this more shareable?
TRICK: I will talk more on this in February’s micro masterclass but I always send imagery with my pitches so they have everything they need from me upfront
Business goals
Think LESS about how it can benefit your business and more how can it benefit theirs: 1) is it an exclusive 2) do you have your own audience you could cross promote or expose the publication to a new audience 3) why will their listeners, readers or viewers care?
Examples of ‘doing the work’
Instead of a blanket press release sent to a long media list, let’s consider how we could carve up the story for different desks.
CASE STUDY: I run a sustainable, boutique self-catering properties that are child-free and dog-friendly for the ultimate comfort and relaxation.
Pet Press
“I’ve seen you have written a feature in 2023 on the best self-catering breaks for dog-owners, and wondered if you would be revising it for 2024. I am the owner of XX hotel, other angles that might work for you could be:
2024 luxury dog travel trends
Top trips to take with your pet
For National Dog Lover’s Day
Regional - East of England - Business section local news / radio
I wondered if you would be interested in our business success story for the xx column in your business pages / on your business show.
Here are a few stats of business growth, from pandemic to now we have had an XX% increase supporting the trend of reconnection / childless retreats
Why our business success also supports wider local businesses
How our property is leading the charge in luxury self-catering stays
Quotes and stats from numerous local businesses we have boosted by XX% since stocking their products
Travel press
Are they a reviewer? Can you invite them to review?
Do they compile listicles, e.g., a list of the Top 10 - can you create a list of categories for them
New/trendy things you feature -forget honesty bars it is now honesty dining boxes”
Trend led - google searches for child-free self-catering breaks have increased by XX% post-pandemic
First-person / real-life desk
Following a diagnosis of XX, I decided to create the most pampering and luxurious self-catering properties that I wish I had
Why receiving a XX diagnosis changed my career and now I get to look after others
Hype Yourself house notes 🏡
I wanted to give everyone a taste of the fortnightly 52 PR Tips challenge. This edition of the prompt card challenge is the last of the three free samples.
From next fortnight, they will be back behind a paywall. If you would like to:
keep accountable with fortnightly self-promotion prompts
gain confidence in your promotion with unlimited Q&A access to my 20+ years of PR expertise in the comments.
have a nosey around my midlife relocation to France
and share the solopreneurship journey through my personal essays
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. My self-employed maternity leave self would like to thank you in advance.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ as bonus access to me, there is always a 1-hour live event each month, also available for replay
Over to you…
Stuck on where you could be pitching? No idea about what the destination could be for your pitch? Pop your question below for feedback.
Don’t forget to watch the pitching workshop if you have not already for email format tips.
See you next week for more behind the scenes of France.
Lucy x
https://www.newsmuseum.pt/en/spin-wall/first-press-release - History of first press release
Morning Lucy! I’m feeling bad writing this on a Sunday but it’s constantly on my mind (in a good way!) and I’ve just had a lovely relaxing morning before the ‘noise’ wakes up so feeling like it’s ok.
Anyway, I need to ‘hype myself’ and I know you’re the woman to help!
My membership - now called Wonder Club - is based on the premise that being more curious, more child-like, and embracing wonder and creative thinking on a daily basis, improves our wellbeing, our professional skills, and our relationships with our family/kids.
I’m starting a podcast called 3-Minute Wonders with quick playful ideas to do with kids, and part of the membership will have a Parenting Hub with a bank of ideas, so the parenting angle will be prominent. But as busy working parents (my target market) we also need to look after ourselves, which it helps massively with, and also is hugely beneficial for developing vital business skills, so I feel torn in which direction to aim it at. Or is it good as there’s multiple options in terms of PR?
Any ideas or advice, very grateful received. And merci in advance! Thank you Lucy.
Kate xx
And forgive my lack of manners first, please: Thanks for the wonderful tips and most importantly, congrats re: your baby and enjoy enjoy! I had twins and babies are absolutely irresistible until about whatever age they tell you to stop offering advice-- maybe age 27-- but they'll still be asking for $! (About 41% of parents in the USA are still helping financially. )