Earlier this month, our Fishies participated in a professional development session where we had the chance to connect with freelance writer Nicole Pajer to discuss best practices for working with her and other freelancers. Nicole has written for several top-tier publications such as The New York Times, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, and Rolling Stone, giving her expert insight on all things media. During our lunch and learn, Nicole offered a ton of forward-thinking tips and tricks for how to make our pitches stand out, securing interest from writers, and forming meaningful relationships with them.
Here are some of the many takeaways from our chat with Nicole:
- Always highlight the timeliness of the angle. When reaching out to writers, it’s important to always call out what makes the news timely while tying it to current trends and conversations happening in media.
- Reporters and writers are always looking for new sources — and where they get those sources may vary. From newsletters to social media and query platforms like Help A Reporter Out, there are so many ways to connect with the media and grab their attention with an intriguing, timely pitch. The best PR pros monitor all these places for opportunities.
- Forming and maintaining relationships with media can make a huge impact. We discussed establishing personalized, helpful pitches for reporters, following up with new, useful information, and following through with sources we offer. While a reporter you have a relationship with won’t always cover your story, they will at least open your email and are more likely to respond with feedback.
- Include specific, relevant talking points that sources can speak to if the reporter is interested. It’s important to not only make our source stand out, but also to show why our source is a credible one for the topic. Including a few bullet points about your source’s credentials and some high-level insight on the topic can help a writer quickly determine if they want to use your source.
