To Maximize Your PR, Get in the Reporter’s Rolodex

By Rusty Cawley

If you had to choose just one tactic above all others
for gaining consistent and positive attention from the
news media, here is the one you should choose: Get your
name in the Rolodexes of the reporters who can do you
the most good.

Why? Because if you can position yourself as an
informed, reliable, interesting source of information,
then you become a reporter’s best friend.

You see, reporters must have “third-party experts” who
can provide commentary on the event or the issue that
the news media is covering.

From the outside, this might seem an easy task. It
isn’t. Often, a reporter is on deadline and is
scrambling to find a third party. You will often find
reporters frantically surfing the Web or making phone
calls to find a third party who is informed and
available.

Often reporters will ask their peers, “Do you know
anyone who knows anything about this?” If your name is
in the Rolodex of any of these reporters, then you win.

You get the phone call. You get the interview. You land
the pithy quote in the news story that will position
you as an expert with the prospects you want to make
your customers.

But this will not happen spontaneously. You must get
into those Rolodexes. Here is the PR Rainmaker’s method.

First, you must identify the reporters who can help you.

These are the reporters who are most likely to be read
and to be trusted by your future customers and clients.
Some are reporters who cover your industry for the
mainstream media. Others are specialized columnists.
Still others are writing for the trade media that focus
entirely upon your business.

If you don’t know who these folks are, then make it you
business now to find out. Ask your current customers
whom they read and trust. Odds are your future
customers value the same reporters.

The quantity of names on your media list is not nearly
as valuable to you as the quality. Stick to reporters
who reach the audiences you want to reach.

Next, choose an issue for which you want to be known as
an expert. Don’t start with what you know. Instead,
isolate the issues that reporters are covering and your
audiences are reading. In other words, sell what they
are buying.

If you don’t know the subject thoroughly, then educate
yourself. With the ready access to educational
materials through the Internet, you can become an
expert on virtually any subject within a matter of
weeks. You simply must apply yourself.

Try to become an iconoclast. If everyone else is
zigging, then you should zag. Remember, the news media
are attracted to the unusual. If you are saying the
same thing as 20 other experts, then what good are you
to a reporter? You don’t want to be a crackpot. But you
do want to offer an opinion that is significantly
different than conventional thinking.

Once you have staked out your position, it is time to
print Rolodex cards that include your name, title,
company, phone number (direct dial, if possible),
email, mailing address. Also, include a line or two
about your qualifications.

Above all, the card should say something like: “Expert
in (fill in the blank).” Don’t include your position on
the subject. You don’t want the reporter to jump to
conclusions. Just market yourself as an expert in a
particular subject.

(Now, this doesn’t mean your card should be say, for
example, “Expert in Accounting.” That is far too broad.
Instead, narrow the focus enough to attract attention
from the reporter, while keeping in mind that the focus
must match up with the audiences you want to reach.

For example, if you are a CPA who wants to attract
phone calls from law firms and companies engaged in
legal disputes, you may want your card to say: “Export
in forensic accounting for civil lawsuits.” )

Print your Rolodex cards in at least two sizes, large
and small. Your printer can give you some guidance on
the most popular sizes. If you can afford it, include a
tab on the top of the card that announces your
expertise. This tab will not only make it easy for the
reporter to find your card in a sea of cards, but also
will constantly remind the reporter of your presence in
his file.

The next step is obvious: Get your cards out there.
They do you no good sitting in a drawer. Mail them out.
Hand them out. Whatever makes you comfortable. But get
them into the hands of reporters who can use them.

Copyright 2003 by W.O. Cawley Jr.

Rusty Cawley is a 20-year veteran journalist who now
coaches executives, entrepreneurs and professionals
about news strategy. He is the author of the popular
free ebook “PR Rainmaker.” To get your copy of his
latest free ebook, visit
http://www.prrainmaker.com/prestigepr.html

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