 There's a value exchange required to land unpaid coverage with media and bloggers.
While understanding news values may seem kind of curious, getting familiar with what journalists are looking for can help anyone in developing a content strategy or SEO strategy. There’s a lot of content competing for people’s attention these days so knowing news values helps you identify hooks, angles and a strong pitch. 1. Impact How will this affect my readers’ lives? This is the real guts of the story, and it’s typically the lead that you’ll pitch to an outlet. 2. Timeliness Why are you telling me this now? How is this new? 3. Prominence What makes you an authority on this? Why is your expert worth quoting? 4. Proximity Does this story matter to my local audience? 5. How Bizarre Is there anything unexpected about this story? 6. Conflict What are the different sides of this issue, and what are their arguments? 7. Currency Is this trending? 8. Human Interest (my personal fave) Can people be inspired or influenced by this person’s journey? I hope this helps you understand that not all advertising and promotion comes at the cost of cash money - you can think of news values as your currency. Your personal knowledge and research can go a long way.
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 As your business grows, you may find that you attract media attention.
Sometimes though, that media attention isn't exactly what you had planned. The media did not get you. They missed the boat big time. They misquoted you, not once but several times. When I started out in PR, this happened to me too. So here I've put together My Top 7 Tips for Reputation Management 1. Have a strategic plan – tell your story your way 2. Put your values front and centre 3. Build relationships with storytellers who GET you 4. Sidestep unanswerable questions and tricky reporters with grace and confidence 5. Stick to 3 key messages. Rinse and repeat 6. Be more proactive and less reactive 7. Fully own your failures and accept them as lessons You don't get to control the story before it goes live but you can offer to fact-check it for mistakes and errors. Offering to fact-check not only means you are offering the journalist a friendly favour, but it gives you just that little extra control. If you're ready to take control of your communications, let's talk.   Want to know how?
Then read on... Not only did YOU Magazine let me take over the cover, but also the contents page, and pages 4-8 . (Read the full article here http://www.guardianonline.co.nz/you-magazine/) So how did I land that media coverage? Of all the techniques I teach and execute in PR (but also in sales and marketing) there is one that sits above the others. Above key messages, above storytelling and how to write a media release. ->Relationship building The formal description of Public Relations is building ‘mutually beneficial relationships’. Here are 3 easy steps you can get started with today: 1. Enjoy stories on social and media 2. Comment on stories that you like 3. Have a conversation with people whose content you enjoyed That’s it! In my eyes – this is the original influencer marketing. Building mutually beneficial relationships with industry partners, journalists, parallel organisations, and communities, creates opportunities for mass word-of-mouth and referrals. Offer others value first. I reached out to a particular journalist around April of this year, because I liked what she was writing about, her vibe and style. I did have a pitch for a client which happened to be a great fit too. This journalist and I had a lovely coffee! We started to become friends and naturally helped each other out with stuff. Then, she asked me to be Covergirl of You Magazine! I haven’t even started my official media outreach yet. But that story was a win-win for both me and the journo, do you see? Don't wait for the wrong media to find you. Find media that you like and can trust. When I landed lots of press coverage for Starla Cosmetics I phoned the editors of the magazines, made appointments to meet with them, and just met with them. I had no sales pitch I just went in for a chat. I not only landed instant coverage but sustained coverage over 2 years, every time I sent them a new story. If you want to learn how to find these awesome journalist friends then let's talk! Simply book into my calendar here: go.janicemckay.co.nz/scheduling With Heart, Janice McKay  The first mistake I see businesses do when they first try to pitch the media, is by pitching to an advertising contact.
They think that the advertising contact will pass their story onto the news department. Or they tell me that they’ve tried so-and-so media but all they got was a response to buy some advertising and it’s out of their price range. Sorry, it doesn’t work. You need to be pitching the content creation department. The writers, the journalists, the reporters, the editors – they control the value that consumers get when their media is consumed. They are the ones you want to know. The ad department is there to find sponsors to financially support the content. The next mistake people make when pitching to the media is that they are wearing their ‘sales’ hat. It is called pitching so it’s easy to see why you’d think you need to be salesy. But journalists hate it. Journalists do not exist to help you promote your business. That’s what the advertising department does. And sometimes they exist in odds with each other. You need to think like a journalist. Journalists are storytellers. Journalists think in terms of juicy, interesting, captivating stories. Worthy of being told by the campfire. Great stories are written with news values. The news values are: 1. Impact 2. Timeliness 3. Prominence 4. Proximity 5. How Bizzare 6. Conflict 7. Currency 8. Human Interest If you want to learn how to apply these news values to what’s going on in your business then lets talk! Book straight into my calendar for a 45-minute strategy session go.janicemckay.co.nz/scheduling With Heart, Janice  I was a newbie comms consultant and was introduced to him at a networking event.
His eyes were wide, as he strained to understand what I was saying. I uhhed, ummed and fumbled as I tried to explain how I make a living. His eyes went wider still. "So what do you actually DO?" he said. As a word-lover, this was my equivalent of a juggler dropping their ba… juggling apparatus. How can I be a professional communicator and not be able to explain what I 'actually did' in an understandable way? I realised I was creating key messages for my clients but I had never sat down and done it for myself. Time to create my key messages. Key messages are what you want to embed in the consciousness of your audience. They are: 1) Your Purpose – who do you help and how? 2) Your Unique Solution – how is your solution better? 3) Your Values – why are you changing the world? What do you stand for? Key messages are the basis for creating slogans, campaigns, social media content, news angles, headlines, elevator pitches and all the messaging you put forward. Messaging to establish clear understanding, consistency, reliability, and trust. People buy from people they trust. You can't trust someone with mixed messages. If you are ready to get your key messaging sorted once and for all, book a phone call with me straight into my calendar. go.janicemckay.co.nz/scheduling WIth Heart, Janice  It's scary - the unknown.
I've never been sporty. For some reason last year I decided to learn to wake-surf, surf, skateboard, and commit to skiing every week. And it all scares me so much, my palms are clamming up a little just thinking about it! I'm not a good swimmer. And every moment that I'm in the water behind the boat, holding the rope, waiting for the boat to start moving, my heart is pounding with fear. Every moment I'm looking down, hanging metres above the snow riding the icy chairlift my stomach is tied in knots. Why would I put myself through this? Because within those moments of fear are also moments of excitement - and a feeling of letting go to just - trust. I say encouraging words to myself. You got this. You can do this. And then off I go! Riding my little heart out. And the realisation that you are actually doing the thing you are scared of is the best confidence-building of all. So if you've got that scared/excited feeling right now about something - something great is probably on the other side of it. What are some things you have coming up that are freaking you out a little? Have you been taking risks lately?  The main street was often empty.
The retailers of Ashburton had been lobbying the local council for a year to fix major parking woes in the CBD. Elderly customers were walking into stores exhausted and in tears about the difficulty of the parking machines, and the fear of the $40 fine for not getting it right. The council had seemed peachy-keen to help in every meeting. But declined to make any progress. Despite the close competition between them, the retailers decided it was time to band together to create change. So they did and hired me to execute a public engagement campaign. I chomped at the bit. And it re-ignited my passion for retail and small business. Because I saw first-hand that they were forgotten about. And if they were forgotten about, so too were their customers – the public. So we ran a petition, a digital campaign, and the newspapers loved it. The engagement was so high that at the next council meeting – council had to take action. They finally agreed to a trial of free parking on the main street. Within three months the entire main street was fitted with Smart Parking digital technology that allowed for free parking for one hour, making it simple and easy for everyone. The parking fine revenue for council has remained consistent. Parking wardens can do their jobs more efficiently. And the main street is full, but with fast turnover of vehicles. It's a win-win-win-win. If you're ready to influence, make connections, push boundaries and get the support you should be getting, let's talk! http://go.janicemckay.co.nz/scheduling With Heart, Janice  For my first retail promotion to Store Manager it was my dream store.
It was the first high end shoe boutique of its kind in the city, 9 years ago. But the four team members certainly weren’t a dream team. The store had only been open for 3 months, and no one was happy. I was amazed at the amount of customer complaints that came through in my first few weeks. Not to mention the high amount of stock returns. The regional manager filled me in on the team. She told me which ones were doing better than others. The youngest, she said, was the troublemaker. The store wasn’t busy so I spent a lot of time with each team member. Time getting to know them, their expectations and goals. Two handed in their resignations. Half the team – gone. And the troublemaker seemed to be on her way out, one way or another. But the more I got to know this young ‘troublemaker’, the more I could see her hidden talent. She wasn’t a troublemaker at all, she just didn’t put up with BS! I nurtured her. We worked on her weaknesses and strengths and wow this girl (and the whole team) blossomed. She ended up becoming:
When you have systems to follow that allow you to nurture and lead your team – you can filter out the real troublemakers from the talents. I’m sharing my personal systems and techniques. Let’s talk, it’s free! go.janicemckay.co.nz/scheduling With Heart, Janice  Imagine you wanted to be the top weightlifter in the world.
How do you think you would train? Lots of weightlifting? Practice-makes-perfect right? What about playing with Frisbees? One of the top weightlifting trainers in the world throws Frisbees to his Olympian clients. Why? Because new sports science shows that two aspects push the athlete's performance into new territory and they are: play and variety. Variety helps the athletes build other muscles that they wouldn’t usually use but can then access to support the primary muscles used in weightlifting. Jumping for Frisbee’s develops not just strength but also power. Play gives their brains the ability access to endorphins (the fun, happy chemicals), which gives athletes that extra push, that motivational, magical X-factor. Sure, practice might make perfect. But if you want your team to perform even better, introduce variety and play. It’s time to stop viewing work, training, and people as industrial concepts. And embrace the less work and more play concept. Does that sound like you? Book your free 45-minute strategy session with me now go.janicemckay.co.nz/scheduling With Heart, Janice McKay  Goal setting is great.
Knowing your numbers and statistics is essential. Some businesses are so focused on numbers they seem to forget about their people. Their heart. But goals can include people, values and purpose, too. Think of it this way. If you’re only focused on losing weight it’s a struggle. The numbers are up, down and all over the place. You eventually lose motivation. But if your goal is to get fitter, stronger, more flexible or have more energy you not only feel more motivated, but chances are that your clothes feel a little on the loose side. The same goes in business. Yes, feelings have a place in business. Because after all, aren't feelings all we really have right now? If you’re only focused on making money it’s a struggle. But if you’re serving a greater purpose you’ll probably make money. So stop focusing so much on the numbers. Focus on people and you’ll get your numbers. Let me show you how Book your free 45-minute strategy session with me now go.janicemckay.co.nz/scheduling With Heart, Janice McKay |
Janice McKayCulture creator. Archives
November 2017
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