Talking with Journalists
It’s actually quite the fun job when you are a PR person. You laugh a little, joke a little, tell your personal story, and build some interesting relationships.
I just got off a call with a freelance journalist who I’ve known for a few months now. Since I’ve known her, she hasn’t published anything on our little custom dress shirt venture, but we got on a call for a story she is working on which will feature us.
Sure, it was a long time building the relationship, but it was good to know her anyways to use her as a resource for a story I wrote in HuffPo where I needed some journalist sources.
But it really is the neatest thing when you think of a journalist as a friend because they can be a great asset to you and your company, although you can’t think of them purely in this way. Journalists are people too! Same and how bloggers are people too.
When you talk with journalists to tell your story, it’s a lot less about trying to sell them a slim fit dress shirt or explaining the difference of slim fit vs. athletic fit dress shirts, and why we sell affordable dress shirts and not luxury dress shirts.
It’s a lot more about talking through who you are as a person, what you are trying to do, what you have done, and goals for the future.
It’s not a hard sell. Instead, it’s more of a soft sell because you open yourself up in a way that shows you are a real person doing real things, and are not just some greedy money-hoard.
Talking with journalists shouldn’t feel stressful and your words shouldn’t be forced. Be natural, be real, and the story will sell itself.