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By now you’ve figured out that this is not a blog for PR experts seeking to dissect the esoteric nuances of elite public relations theory.  I’m just not that eloquent, or interested.  Instead, I tend to go back to basics, and tailor those thoughts to my little corner of the world—the title and mortgage industry.  In other words, I’m assuming that most of the 12 of you (Hi Mom!) who do read my little blog are business people—folks worried about business results who know just enough about PR to be dangerous.  Well, except my mom.

 

I admit it.  Media relations, a passion of mine, is not always at the top of the wish-list when I meet with clients and prospects.  Let’s face it.  The title industry is a wee bit secretive, a wee bit lawyer-driven, and more than a wee bit cautious when it comes to trusting the evil reporter to tell its story in nothing but the most positive tones.

 

But what we forget, sometimes, is that this cynicism on the part of the journalist is exactly what makes our corporate message more credible when it appears in a trade publication or other segment of the media.  If the readers (our customers and prospects) believe they’re getting the truth, and nothing but the truth, they’ll believe it when an editor tells them something great about our company.

 

Many of us hate that, to get a story into our customer’s favorite industry publication, we have to trust that our story will shine through, even though we don’t get to actually write the story, or even edit it.  We take a risk.  Our warts may show.

 

That’s the rub, isn’t it?  You get more credibility out of one good story in a trade pub than any amount of flyers, sales letters or e-mails.  But you run the risk of getting dinged, too.  Risk is not a popular element in the mortgage industry, to be sure.  Well, not anymore.

 

While that’s understandable, I’m here to tell you that now’s the time—if you’re up for a little risk and a big reward—to go the media relations route.  Why?

 

• Everyone’s clamming up.  My sense is that trade pubs across the board are working twice as hard, with half the staff, to get the players to talk.  They’re dying for story ideas and good experts/sources.  Industry pros are retiring to their bunkers until the last horseman of the economic Apocalypse (Consolidation? Devaluation?) retires from the field.
• Media relations costs you nothing but time and effort.  You don’t pay to get published.  In fact, I highly recommend you don’t TRY to pay to get published. 
• Media relations can be powerful, and lets you reach prospects you didn’t know were out there.  A good story on a Web site or in a magazine or newspaper doesn’t require you to build a list.  It doesn’t require you to find a good designer or printer.  And (sigh), it doesn’t always involve a good copy writer.  That would be the editor, if you do it right.

 

So how do you do it “right?”  Well, first you find a seasoned media relations consultant.  Start with a plan.  Just as you would with any other marketing.  What do you want people/prospects/customers/shareholders to know about you?  From there, here are a few ideas:

 

1. Target the pub that will get that story to the people you want to know it.  If you’re selling a product to mortgage lenders, you want a publication read by…mortgage lenders!  Check the ad materials if you’re not sure.  They’ll tell you who they reach.
2. Put your key message together.  Just like marketing, what’s the one sentence you want people to remember about your company after they read the article or quote?
3. Get to know the pub.  This is critical.  Just like you, editors and writers are pretty sure that what they’re doing is important.  Are you impressed by a vendor who knows nothing about you when he/she pitches you?  So…don’t ask for the chance to write a contributed article if the magazine doesn’t do contributed articles.  Don’t pitch a story about origination technology to a publication that doesn’t discuss technology.  Or, if you do, find a way to realistically tie your story INTO what the pub does write about. 
4. Tie your corporate message into what the pub writes about.  Don’t just deliver some spoken copy right off of your last flyer.  Too often, I’ve heard pitches that go something like this.  “Hi, I’m Joe Jones.  I’m EVP of Really Big Thoughts for XYZ Corporation, the Industry’s Leading Producer of Leveraged Turnkey Widgets.  Our product has been known to cure cancer and change religions.  I’d like you to write about it.”  What did Joe do wrong here?  Similarly to a bad sales pitch, Joe just talked about himself and his product.  No acknowledgment that the pub he’s pitching has a goal a bit loftier than promoting Joe’s product.  No attempt to meet the publication’s needs.  Just a cold pitch.  Joe’s not getting published today.  (Editor’s Note:  If your product really, truly does cure cancer…you can disregard this point.  But only if it really cures cancer.)

 

Folks, take some time to figure out what your target pub is writing about.  That’s likely what its readers want to hear about.  Does your message tie into that subject?  Does it do so in a credible fashion?  As hard as it is, you need to put the pom-poms down for a moment.  If you can’t, have a lawyer (they’re always happy to poke holes in an argument) or seasoned PR expert take a look.  Does your message have a real angle into a hot topic?

 

And then, it’s time to pitch (the story, not your product).  Short, sweet, tight.  Lead with how you can help the editor, not vice versa.  Offer an expert for interviews.  Offer a story idea.  Offer a contributed article.  Make sure your pub DOES contributed articles.  And be brief.   If you can, have a written pitch (article abstract, speaker bio) to back up what you’re saying, something you can “leave behind” with your prospect—the editor.

 

I could easily make this an 8,000 word blog, but I’ll hold off for now.  My suggestions here are just to get you started, not to carry you through a complex media campaign. Bottom line is that public relations is really about common sense.  The media is really not as scary as some seem to believe it is.  And media relations involves a lot more selling than many acknowledge.  Just remember that you have to sell the editor, meet his/her needs, to make the sale to your prospects.