How do I get (free) press coverage for my boss' pet issue?

February 25, 2009 10:21 PM

What's the best way to get some buzz going on a web article my boss asked me to write? The higher ups want to get an established columnist/journalist in the US to publish it, or comment on it. I've posted the article on our corporate site (if you must know, it's a defense of outsourcing) - so what's a guy gotta do to get some column-inches for a pet issue in an actual newspaper?
posted by micketymoc to work & money (8 comments total)

A few questions...
Is the article attributed to an official spokesperson for your company, either yourself or the marketing/pr director, or c-level executive? (i.e. why would a reporter perk up when they see the author's name/title/expertise?)
Is your company a known provider or knowledge leader in outsourcing? (are you the largest employer/provider of outsourced resources? Or somehow otherwise an expert in the subject)?
Is your story relevant on a local, regional, national or international level? (helps narrow down what kinds of media outlets might be interested in the story)
Is the article part of an integrated, cross-departmental push to channel the same message to media, customers, partners, investors, etc.? In other words, does your article push a company-wide initiative?
I'm probing here for context--what hook does your company and public statement offer a news outlet? Why should they care? And what do you get out of it? You may very well have a story here, or at least a source for quotes in but it's all about how you position it to the press.

With that said....
--you mentioned that the "higher ups want to get an established columnist/journalist...to publish it." No publication will simply publish an article posted on a corporate site. A journalist might use it as an impetus to write a story about outsourcing, either a state of outsourcing story or, better yet, how local company's (yours) are affected by or are affecting outsourcing trends. Or perhaps they'll be reminded to get in touch with a sr. executive at your company for a quote about outsourcing, should such a story surface down the line.
--working the angle with a journalist is the job for your company's pr or marketing folks (I pegged you as not that person....correct me if I'm wrong, apologies if I am). The article is an official company stance about outsourcing. If the journalist follows up with probing questions, perhaps to find another angle, you want to be sure the company rep is aligned with sr. management, the company's core values, and current messaging initiatives.
--you might have better luck if the article is repackaged as a white paper, and then promoted via a press release by the pr team. Depends on whether you can tie in a service or expertise that your company offers in the outsourcing arena.

Hope this is a helpful start.
posted by prinado at 11:56 PM on February 25 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Register publish whitepapers on their site and already have some on outsourcing. They often feature some on the front page.
posted by JonB at 12:02 AM on February 26

Does your company have a PR agency? That's what those guys are for. I'd reach out to them, or your in-house PR people.
posted by CRM114 at 7:35 AM on February 26

Is there a 'trade journal' for your industry? Most of these, such as Windows IT Pro in the networking world, are little more than PR masquerading as editorial content (no offense.) That might be an avenue to explore.
posted by snuffleupagus at 9:11 AM on February 26

I agree with the responses above, especially on repackaging as a white paper and consulting a PR company.

My company has been working on this type of situation for the last few years. A few things we found:

- our PR firm (small, 2 person outfit), has been positioning us as an expert resource in our field, so we get calls from journalists looking for quotes for articles. Eventually in some cases this leads to the same journalists wanting to do a larger piece featuring us more prominently

- we've used surveys of our customers (anonymous) to contrast the results with other surveys on the same subject; journalists seem to like it when we give them data to support the argument we're making, especially if the survey we are comparing results to is done by a reputable organization

- press releases get some attention, so if you could turn this into a press release it might also help; if you don't have a PR firm to send it out, you may have to pay for the wire sources - not sure what that cost is.

-a long shot would be to find an article somewhere that made a counterpoint and contact the writer to see if they are interested in presenting the other side of the argument

In my limited experience, getting free exposure on the first try is really difficult -- good luck!
posted by slo at 9:13 AM on February 26

Depending on the nature of the article, and if the author has any credibility as an expert on the outsourcing issue, you may have a chance at getting it published as an op-ed piece.

As an anecdotal example, my uncle is an immigration attorney who has had numerous op-eds published in the Seattle Times, Seattle P-I, etc. on issues pertaining to legislation that, if passed, would prove very lucrative to him. He's also an expert in his field, though, so YMMV. MefiMail me if you'd like to see the articles.
posted by Roach at 9:42 AM on February 26

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned but as it is a web article, I couldn't see why it would hurt to submit it to multiple social news sites like reddit and digg. It might not exactly get the professional world to be looking at it, but you'd be surprised how many people browse those websites.
posted by saxamo at 10:53 AM on February 26

What you are asking is exactly what PR agencies specialize in: Getting your opinion published/promoted in a way that is not straight advertising.

As to your specific situation, I would aim lower than a quality newspaper. Instead aim at getting published in a trade magazine. Most trade magazines are just advertisements wrapped around some public relations articles submitted by the advertisers in the magazine.

So find two or three trade magazine you want to be published in. Then read their author guidelines, submit a proposal/manuscript and phone them later that week. If you have the budget, say that you are thinking about advertising but would require some editorial support to get your boss to approve the spending.

If you don't have the budget, just keep trying. Just being persistent and persuasive has worked a couple times for me. However, be prepared to cut out the obvious self-promotional stuff and to link it to some current issue. Sometimes these trade magazines even publish their editorial calendar so you should build your article around a topic that they are going to be focusing on in 3 or 4 months. Be very flexible about changing your article to match their needs.

In my experience, unless you are topical or are willing to advertise, you should have many sticks in the fire (work concurrently with several trade magazines) because your article will always get pushed back in favor of some one who is willing to advertise.

Kevin
posted by FastGorilla at 11:14 AM on February 26