Publicity Hounds need to stay abreast of emerging media trends.
For example, the proliferation of blogs, online discussion rooms and other Internet sources of news have made newspapers less relevant than ever.
This excellent article in The Washington Post explains more reasons why. You’ll have to register at their website to gain access.
The article has several implications for Publicity Hounds:
–Don’t abandon newspapers. They’re still vital to your PR campaign and even though they’re ailing, they aren’t dead yet.
–If you’re targeting the 18-to-30 crowd, pay attention to all those free tabloid newspapers that are springing up in cities all over the U.S. You should be pitching your stories to them.
–Expand far beyond traditional print and broadcast media. You should be pitching your stories to blogs and online newsletters that reach your target audience.
–Contact people and companies whose websites also reach your target audience. Offer your how-to articles and tips that can be posted at their website, with a link back to your site.
–Pitch to niche publications that are read by audiences you want to get in front of. Those include trade journals, print and online newsletters, and the plethora of second- and third-level free publications I wrote about last week. You can find many of these f~reebies at local bookstores.
If you want to write a how-to article but you either can’t write or you don’t have time to write, check out "How to Write How-to Articles for Newspapers, Magazines & Trade Journals." It’s a recording of a teleseminar I conducted, and it includes a template for a how-to article that you can download if you buy the CD or cassette tape. It’s also available as an electronic transcript, and the transcript includes the template.