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About this lesson
When contacting editors and journalists, you need to get it right on the first attempt. You should use this checklist before sending your press release to editors and journalists.
Exercise files
Download this lesson’s exercise file.
Checklist for Contacting Journalists.pdf205.3 KB
Quick reference
Checklist for Contacting Journalists
When contacting editors and journalists, you need to get it right on the first attempt.
When to use
You should use the checklist below before sending your press release to editors and journalists.
Instructions
Read through this checklist to avoid the most common mistakes companies make when contacting editors and publishers:
- Double-check the spelling of the journalist or editor’s name.
- Use the headline of your press release as the subject of the email.
- Send every piece of relevant information with your press release and attach photos and/or videos.
- Be professional throughout the submission process.
- Paste the press release into the body of the email not as a PDF.
- Stick to the deadline you have been given.
- Only contact editors and journalists when it is really crucial.
- 00:05 Now whether you're a communications expert or you're just getting started.
- 00:09 The points that we're going to cover in this lesson will help you to avoid some
- 00:13 of the most common mistakes that companies make when contacting journalists.
- 00:17 So let's start off by going through a typical do's checklist of things
- 00:22 we need to make sure we need do.
- 00:24 When you're emailing a journalist or an editor,
- 00:27 try to make sure that you've spelled their name correctly.
- 00:30 Also, insure that the headline of the press release
- 00:34 is also contained in the subject of the email.
- 00:37 Especially if it's a catchy headline.
- 00:39 Then, send every piece of relevent information with a press release
- 00:43 including the photo attachments and the videos at the same time.
- 00:47 Because you have to imagine the typical work flow of a journalist.
- 00:51 If I have to flick backwards and forwards between various emails to find bits and
- 00:56 pieces that they need, they may give up on the progress.
- 00:59 And also try to be professional throughout the submission process.
- 01:03 Now equally there's a couple of notes that we can mention here.
- 01:07 Try not to send the press releases as PDF,
- 01:10 instead if you can paste it into the body of your email that's better.
- 01:14 Also we don't actually have to be persistent or
- 01:16 we don't have to nag journalists or editors.
- 01:19 All they need to do is give us the submission date line, and
- 01:22 we're going to try and stick to that.
- 01:25 Also, try to avoid generic emails as far as you can.
- 01:29 Be specific and mention the editors by name that you know.
- 01:34 So that they feel that the correspondence is in fact personalized.
- 01:37 There's a couple of final suggestions that I would add.
- 01:41 Try to submit the press release to many reputable publishers and
- 01:46 editors, especially those that are in your field.
- 01:49 Of course, you're gonna need to be selective and
- 01:52 Cautious whom you leak information to.
- 01:54 There's no guarantee that the information will be kept secret until
- 01:59 the agreed time of the press release.
- 02:01 You may certainly opt for using free services.
- 02:04 Such as PRweb and PR Newswire or RSS as well.
- 02:09 But bear in mind that the basic services that they offer don't
- 02:13 actually include syndication or spreading of your press release.
- 02:17 Those would typically incur an addition charge.
- 02:21 Getting in touch with publishers that are WOW List published and
- 02:24 established in your field.
- 02:25 Will get us much better results, as well as of course then,
- 02:28 giving the pressure release a personal touch.
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