{"id":96972,"date":"2014-11-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/pr-seminar-dealing-press-coping-christmas\/"},"modified":"2014-11-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-17T00:00:00","slug":"pr-seminar-dealing-press-coping-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.72point.com\/us\/pr-seminar-dealing-press-coping-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"PR Seminar: Dealing With the Press and Coping With Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who took the time out of their busy morning to join us for our first ever northern 72Point seminar on Thursday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was nice to renew a few old acquaintances, catch up with our best clients from that part of the world, and also network with a whole host of people who we haven\u2019t previously met.<\/p>\n

The high-point for me was the bacon rolls, while the low-point was the moment I unwittingly \u2018brought the house down\u2019 during Sam\u2019s talk in the form of causing the collapse of one of our banners.<\/p>\n

I have obviously apologised to Sam!<\/p>\n

I hope everyone who was there took something from it. We will find out soon I guess, once we receive your feedback via our online poll<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I did explain during my talk that I would happily pass on the hints and tips which I discussed at length, so here is a transcript of the interesting bits<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

If you do have huge pressure to sell in stories in the run up to Christmas, call news desks early<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

When I worked on desks we would start at 6.15am<\/p>\n

But bear in mind conference is at 10.30am or 11am, and in an ideal world the news list will be complete by 10am or 10.15.<\/p>\n

That means the busiest and most fraught time of the morning is between about 8.30 and 9.45am.<\/p>\n

And guess what happens at that time in the morning. That\u2019s when PR people call up.<\/p>\n

People always say to me that journalists need PRs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s not necessarily true.<\/p>\n

Specialist reporters do. News desks don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is always more than enough happening around the world to fill 39 news pages, especially considering their over reliance on citizen journalism, social networking sites and Sky News, for their content.<\/p>\n

So if you don\u2019t want to be shouted at, ring up between 7am and 8am.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether you ring up or not, you must get your story over in the A.M.<\/p>\n

After this most stories which arrive on news desks will either be spiked \u2013 which is effectively the waste-paper basket \u2013 or they will be cut very short to fit into a specific space on a page.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because later on in the day, is not the quality of the story which is the defining factor.\u00a0 Space on the page is.<\/p>\n

If you have to create a festive tale, be different. Forget \u2018Dads get socks for Christmas\u2019, for example. It\u2019s dull and is probably the most common Xmas PR tale.<\/p>\n

Try and think outside the box and try and ensure your story isn\u2019t just a stat. There IS a difference.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Six out of ten dads will be asleep on the sofa by 2pm isn\u2019t a story.<\/p>\n

\u2018Six out of ten dads will be asleep on the sofa by 2pm \u2013 after consuming six pints of lager, three glasses of champagne and a creme-de-menthe\u2019 \u2013 is a story, because it has the crucial five Ws and the H elements.<\/p>\n

This sort of story then becomes about Christmas, booze and dads, not just Christmas. And we all like a drink at Christmas so it flicks a little switch of resonance.<\/p>\n

This sort of intro also gives you somewhere to go with the subsequent paragraphs.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When did dad start drinking? What was on telly when he started? How long before that did he get up?<\/p>\n

Did he sleep through the Queen\u2019s speech?<\/p>\n

How much does he drink over the entirety of the festive period etc etc?<\/p>\n

AND this sort of story does not have to be told in a negative way. It\u2019s all about the tone.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another thing to bear in mind is that the MailOnline DO run Xmas stories<\/strong>, quite a few in fact.<\/p>\n

So if you have one which you think will sit nicely on what is now the world\u2019s biggest free news site, write it in the style they prefer.<\/p>\n

Include up to six bullet-pointed sentences at the top of your copy.<\/p>\n

This way you have a chance of them copying and pasting the copy \u2013 which they seem to be a huge fan of at the moment \u2013 without changing much of it.<\/p>\n

Getting your story on a news wire is also important.<\/p>\n

Up until around five years ago I would have said that if you were placing your story on a news wire you wouldn\u2019t really have needed to call up and actively sell it in as well.<\/p>\n

But these days there are so few people working on newspapers that it\u2019s likely your story may be missed or overlooked, so I would say call up anyway.<\/p>\n

It can do no harm, and might make the difference between success and failure.<\/p>\n

When you call avoid introducing yourself.<\/strong> It won\u2019t make a difference. They are busy people and they are under immense pressure. They don\u2019t want to make friends.<\/p>\n

So when they pick up the phone and bark at you, bark back. Just say \u201dI\u2019ve got a story for you\u201d. This will stop them in their tracks and they will take the time to listen to you.<\/p>\n

Then read the intro of your story. Don\u2019t use the words press release or survey and certainly don\u2019t mention a brand.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once you have read them the intro, if they haven\u2019t turned the story down or hung up, read them the second paragraph.<\/p>\n

If they then give you their personal email address, you are in. There is now a chance they will use your story.<\/p>\n

If they say: \u2018Send it to news@the-sun.co.uk\u2019, that\u2019s the bin, or it certainly was when I worked on the paper.<\/p>\n

And remember if you get a bauble in the Daily Star give yourselves a massive pat on the back<\/strong>, because this time of the year any news coverage is GREAT news coverage.<\/p>\n

Have a wonderful Christmas.<\/p>\n

Thanks for listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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