Grab a copy of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal and save the special section called “The Top 10 Trends in 10 Industries.”
It’s an annual section compiled by Journal reporters who tell you what’s in and what’s out with automobiles, beverages, publishing, restaurants, hospitals, movies, fashion, insurance, lodging and toys.
Did you know that when it comes to fashion, black is out, and bold, bright colors and prints are in? And that hospitals are starting to offer discounted rates–as much as 40 percent off list prices–to people who don’t have health insurance? And that restaurants are offering healthier kids’ menu choices? Red Lobster, for instance, is substituting fries as a side dish and offering instead steamed veggies and an appetizer of apple sauce or fresh carrots, and cucumbers with a ranch dip.
Why is it important that Publicity Hounds know thesse things? So you can use the trends as a springboard from which to pitch your stories. If you can show journalists that your story idea ties into an emerging trend, the idea might be more attractive to them.
As you page through the section, notice the numerous bar charts that accompany stories. Let them serve as a reminder to you to compile your own statistics on a particular topic, and offer them to reporters who are covering you. Suggest they use the information in a bar chart or pie chart. Journalists refer to these as “graphics” or “sidebars.”
Most of these 100 trends can also tie into a how-to article. Editors love these articles, which show their readers how to do something or how to solve a problem. The articles are also great publicity for you because they position you as an expert and pull traffic to your website. The two telephone seminars mentioned below were recorded, and they’re available as CDs, cassette tapes or downloadable transcripts that you can be reading within minutes. Click on each link to read more about what you’ll learn.
“How to Write How-to Articles for Newspapers, Magazines and Trade Journals” includes a template for how to write a how-to article.
“How to Submit Online Articles That Pull Traffic to Your Website” gives you step-by-step directions on how to spread your how-to articles all over the Internet–including the websites editors visit when they’re looking for articles like yours.