{"id":1424,"date":"2010-05-28T08:30:33","date_gmt":"2010-05-28T13:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisatener.local\/blog\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2024-09-30T09:00:47","modified_gmt":"2024-09-30T13:00:47","slug":"how-to-get-reporters-to-quote-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/2010\/05\/how-to-get-reporters-to-quote-you\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Reporters to Quote You"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Your book writing coach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A good number of my clients come to me with amazing credentials and great ideas, but little platform–they often don’t have a huge mailing list. They don’t necessarily speak to thousands of people dozens of times a year. And they haven’t been on Oprah<\/em>…yet (a few of my clients have been–but not the majority!).<\/p>\n

If they’re looking for a traditional publisher, I often suggest they sign up for the reporter queries on PR Leads<\/a> and helpareporter<\/a> (also known as HARO)<\/a>.\u00a0 As more people find out about help a reporter, it’s gotten doggone competitive to be chosen as the expert the reporter quotes in their article.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dr. Craig Malkin has a 75% success rate in responding to reporter queries on HARO and PR Leads<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My client, Dr. Craig Malkin<\/a> has a 75% success rate with the responses he’s sent through queries from PR Leads and HARO. Before I suggested these do-it-yourself PR methods, he’d never had a stitch of publicity. On his first query, he ended up quoted <\/a>in Match.com’<\/a>s Happen Magazine<\/em> online. Not bad for a rookie.<\/p>\n

How does he do it? I interviewed Craig to find out his secrets.<\/p>\n

Book writing coach<\/strong><\/span> (aka me):\u00a0 What do you do when you respond to a PR Leads or HARO query? What goes through your mind in terms of how to present your information?<\/p>\n

Craig<\/strong><\/span>: I spend time with each query to make sure I\u2019m absolutely clear about what the journalist is asking for. Then, I try to think like a reporter.<\/p>\n

What quote <\/strong>would make the story stand out<\/strong>? Is there a new spin<\/strong> on old information that could make the idea more interesting? I try hard to come up with tips <\/strong>if I can, because journalists absolutely love them.<\/p>\n

I make sure I\u2019m packaging facts<\/strong> in a compelling way, and I always try to craft at least one catchy sound bite<\/strong>. Journalists have precious little time, so I know my best shot is to give them something that\u2019s extremely easy to use.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to being quoted, less is always more <\/em><\/strong>(case in point). If I know, for example, that research proves we can be affected by our friends\u2019 moods, I might say something like, \u201cDepression is contagious.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not famous (yet), so I want to make it painful <\/em>for reporters to delete my e-mail; I figure they\u2019ll take a snappy quote from an unknown expert over a flat one from a celebrity any day, because they want their story to stand out.<\/p>\n

It works most of the time.<\/p>\n

Book Writing Coach<\/strong><\/span>: Do you start by saying who you are or by answering the question\/query?<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/strong>
Use Dan Janal's formula for successful queries--Craig does.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Craig<\/strong><\/span>: I always use the same formula, recommended by Dan Janal<\/a> of PR Leads<\/p>\n

1. Who I am (including media experience)<\/p>\n

2. What I have to say (the quotes)<\/p>\n

3. How to reach me<\/p>\n

Book Writing Coach<\/strong><\/span>: How much info do you give? Do you often give more than one answer or tip?<\/p>\n

Craig<\/strong><\/span>: I let inspiration dictate how much I write. If I\u2019m being asked for tips, I always send a minimum of four. Don\u2019t be afraid to send more (as long as they\u2019re short), but bear in mind, if you send too much, reporters will probably get overwhelmed and skip even the best quotes.<\/p>\n

Book Writing Coach<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0 How do you make it visually easy to read?<\/p>\n

Craig<\/strong><\/span>: I put my best quotes in italics and a different color.\u00a0 Often they have only a minute to look through hundreds of e-mails, so you want your best stuff to stand out. I also break the e-mail into three to four very short sections.<\/p>\n

Book Writing Coach<\/strong><\/span>: Can you give an example of\u00a0a query you responded to for a national website, magazine or newspaper and what you said that grabbed the journalist’s attention?<\/p>\n

Craig<\/strong><\/span>: Here\u2019s one that landed me an interview with Marie Claire.<\/em> You\u2019ll notice it’s extremely brief, with a few lines set off in blue italics.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

My name is Craig Malkin.\u00a0 I\u2019m a clinical psychologist who taught and trained at Harvard Medical School. I\u2019m currently writing a book about how we control attraction.<\/p>\n

Despite the saying about absence making the heart grow fonder, distance rarely cranks up the heat. Don\u2019t count on the strength of your love, alone, to keep you connected. If you can\u2019t rely on seeing each other, you have to work to keep the connection alive in other ways. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When you’re away from one another, exciting, new people and experiences may be a dime a dozen. You\u2019ll need to preserve some excitement with your partner if you want your relationship to compete with all that novelty.<\/p>\n

Schedule regular phone calls, IM, or text check-ins that both of you can look forward to and expect. It doesn\u2019t have to be daily, but it should be scheduled, to ensure that it happens\u2014and more than once a week. If you enjoy spicing things up with sexy notes or creative video chat\u2014even better.\u00a0 Exciting experiences strengthen attraction.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

If either of you feels reluctant to schedule times to connect\u2014with or without the spice\u2014consider taking a break. You\u2019re going to have hard time keeping up the connection without these moments together\u2014and that leaves a lot of room for destructive insecurity and jealousy.<\/p>\n

_________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Book Writing Coach<\/span><\/strong>: Wow, that’s a superb query. Catchy soundbites, but it’s substance, not fluff. What’s some of the biggest publicity you’ve gotten through HARO or PR Leads?<\/p>\n

Craig<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0 I\u2019ve been quoted and interviewed twice for Match.com\u2019s, Happen<\/em><\/a>. I\u2019ve also been interviewed and quoted by Marie Claire<\/a>, The Atlanta Journal Constitution<\/a><\/em> and, in December, I\u2019m slated to appear in Women\u2019s World<\/em>. I\u2019ve also almost landed a quote in Woman\u2019s World <\/em>twice\u2014as a result of which I made a connection with a reporter who liked me enough to agree to be mentioned in my book proposal as a media connection.<\/p>\n

Book Writing Coach<\/strong><\/span>: Any words of caution….something to be aware of?<\/p>\n

Craig<\/strong><\/span>:\u00a0 Do your research before you respond. I learned that lesson the hard way. In one case, a reporter copied every thing I wrote and passed it off as her own. In another, I was all set for a pod-cast interview, and first the guy forgot the time, then he kept interrupting me because he wanted to hear different answers. Try to get a sense of who you\u2019re talking to if it\u2019s not a big name media outlet. At least do a Google search<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Book Writing Coach<\/strong><\/span>: Thank you, Craig.<\/p>\n

And, dear Reader, do you have any tips or secrets to share that helped you get quoted or featured in a magazine, newspaper or online article?\u00a0 Please comment and share your tips, as well as your questions. Craig and I are both happy to respond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A good number of my clients come to me with amazing credentials and great ideas, but little platform–they often don’t have a huge mailing list. They don’t necessarily speak to thousands of people dozens of times a year. And they haven’t been on Oprah…yet (a few of my clients have been–but not the majority!). If…  Read more<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1,16,17,28],"tags":[43,215,216,144,217,218,219],"class_list":{"0":"post-1424","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-book-publicity","7":"category-more","8":"category-pr","9":"category-public-relations","10":"category-writing-coach","11":"tag-author-platform","12":"tag-book-publicity-2","13":"tag-craig-malkin","14":"tag-dan-janal","15":"tag-haro","16":"tag-pr-leads","17":"tag-publicity","18":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279387,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions\/279387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}