One of the Workshop's recent e-newsletters

If you’re like me, there are days when you feel like you’re drowning in email. So how can organizations put together effective e-newsletters that stand out despite the mountains of information in our inboxes each day? Let me offer a few basic tips to get you on the right path.

1. Avoid the spam filter – As reporters told us at a recent panel, certain words in an email subject line elicit an automatic ‘delete.’ The same is true with the spam filter. Avoid words such as ‘money’ and ‘discount’ and ‘great offer.’ Here’s a list of 20 that businessknow-how.com says are definitely no-nos.

2. Make sure people opt in. My colleague Demetrio who manages our emails, among other things, firmly believes that people must opt-in to our bi-weekly newsletter before we add them to our list. I agree with him. People don’t like be signed up for things without their knowledge. And, the flip side of this, make sure it’s easy for people to opt out if they don’t want to receive your e-newsletter anymore.

3. Your subject line is so important! Because we’re all buried in email, it can be tough to grab the reader’s attention as she scans her inbox. Make sure your subject line is short and catchy. If it’s funny or quirky or moving, you have a better chance of getting people to open the email. Don’t waste precious space with words like “December Update” or “56th Edition.” Make every word count.

4. Make it look nice. If your subject line is strong enough to get people to open the email, make sure it’s simple and easy-to-read once they have it open in front of them. If the design is bad or the e-newsletter is too cluttered, they might give up before they even attempt to read any of the important information inside.

5. It’s the content, silly. In the end, all of these things above matter, but if the content is no good, these other things won’t save you. Go back to Communications 101-what’s the goal of your newsletter? who’s your audience? what does your audience want to read about? Use these answers to write something great for your readers!

These are just a few of the tips we’ll be discussing on our panel “Get Your E-Newsletter Opened and Read” at our annual Making Media Connections conference. We’ll be hearing from some nonprofit experts, as well as an e-newsletter designer, about why their newsletters work so well. And I’ll share some of the Workshop’s growing pains as we worked to revamp our own e-newsletter earlier this year. We hope you can join us! Register by April 30 and save 20 percent.

Chicago’s freelance journalists are talented, hard working and widely published. As experienced journalists who know how to frame and tell your story, they can be your passports to reaching new and desirable audiences.

Among Chicago freelancers, you will find a world  of expertise on subjects such as housing, immigration, race, LGBT issues, civil rights, women’s issues, health, religion, community organizing—even the most arcane of local lore. Many freelancers are former reporters and editors who have worked at Chicago’s most respected publications and at an impressive array of independent media outlets. These writers, editors and photojournalists have long, established relationships with local and national editors and producers, allowing them the ability to pitch stories that can command the attention of select readers with specific interests.

While some freelance journalists are specialists, others are generalists who take on assignments across a range of subject areas. And though most get hired to report and write, others provide another valuable and essential service: editing. Freelance editors help non-writers by bringing clarity and style to their prose.

Experienced freelancers are more then savvy, knowledgeable wordsmiths. They understand the editorial workings and needs of different media franchises, knowing how to craft pitches that appeal to  and meet  the requirements of editors and producers. Because freelancers often work “free” of the philosophical directives of a particular publisher, they have more latitude in taking on topics that might otherwise be rejected by some editors and producers who must follow a certain mandate from management.

The freelancer’s role in promoting news that matters should be embraced. Their ability to craft sharp, insightful stories offers one more way to connect readers with information they can use.

Have you found success telling your story by working with freelance writers? Let us know what your experience was or share us some of your tips.

If you interested about finding out how to find freelance journalists or would like to engage with some about how to tell your story, register for our upcoming Making Media Connections Conference this coming June 8th and 9th. Make sure you check out the panel discussion “Pitching Freelance Journalists” on Thursday, lead by 2011 Terkel Awardee and freelance journalists Kari Lydersen!

You’ve done the hard work–you developed a communications strategy, wrote media materials and pitched reporters. And voila! The local television station wants to interview your organization about your issue. Here are 11 tips to improve your spokesperson skills.

1. Practice, practice, practice. I can’t stress the importance of this one enough. Some call in the three Rs–rehearse, role play, repeat. Review your key messages and materials beforehand. Know what you want to say in the interview. Ask a colleague, friend or partner to quiz you as if he were the reporter.

2. Be prepared for hard questions. Draft tough questions in advance, and think through how you’d answer them. Then ask your colleague to ask you those questions. The saying ‘practice makes perfect’ exists for a reason.

3. Keep it simple. Remember, most broadcast interviews will be edited down to a sound byte here or a couple seconds there. Keep your answers short and simple. Don’t use jargon. And as I’m fond of saying, use the Grandma Test. If your grandma can’t understand what you’re talking about, then you’re probably making it too complicated.

4. But don’t answer with just ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Use every question as an opportunity to tell your story. If the reporter asks you, “Was it disappointing when the legislation to support more affordable housing wasn’t passed?”, you could just answer ‘yes’ but you’d be missing a chance to promote your message. Expand on why, talk about what else can still be done, discuss the impact of that legislation. Use the opportunity to drive your message home.

5. Body language and facial expressions matter. How you sit, how often you smile, when you make eye contact – these things matter for television. Make it easier to convey expertise and authority by practicing good posture. Smile to put the interviewer and the audience at ease. Make eye contact with the reporter to develop a relationship and to convey the fact that an engaging conversation is happening.

6. Don’t fidget. We all have tics that come out when we’re nervous–we rock back and forth or we keep our arms crossed or we play with our hair. If you practice (see tip #1), you can identify these “tells” and address them in advance to appear calm and comfortable during the interview.

7. Paint the picture. If you’re talking about the need for more funding for schools, can you show the camera tattered books? Can you walk the reporter through a school in disrepair? If you can’t take the television crew on location, use colorful, descriptive words to paint the picture for the audience.

8. Tell the human story. Offer the reporter someone who has been directly impacted by your issue. Ask that person to be available to be interviewed as well. If they aren’t able to tell their own story, have a compelling example ready for the reporter. In your own words, tell them why your organization makes a difference for someone.

9. Dress for the camera. Solid, bright colors work best for television. That said, avoid an all white shirt if you’re fair skinned or an all black shirt if you have darker skin because they’ll wash you out. Avoid busy patterns–they don’t translate well on the screen. Pick a nice solid color (you’ll see a lot of blues, yellows and purples on TV reporters). If you plan to wear a dark suit or a blazer, where a colored shirt or tie underneath. And, think about where they can clip the mic. Do you have a lapel? A turtleneck won’t work. Finally, avoid anything that will distract from your message such as sunglasses or large hats.

10. If you don’t know, don’t make it up. If the reporter asks you a question you don’t know, it’s okay not to know. You can answer the question in a couple different ways. 1) “I don’t know the answer to that. Let me check on that when I get back to the office.” This works especially well if the interview is being taped. Or 2) “I don’t know the answer to that question, what I do know is…(and then promote one of your key messages).” The second technique is called ‘bridging’ and you’ll see skilled spokespeople do this regularly.

11. If the audience remembers one thing… Know your key messages in advance of the interview. If your target audience sees the story on the news the next night and only remembers one thing about it, what do you want them to remember? This is your key message, and you should use every opportunity during the interview to make that point.

The Community Media Workshop conducts media, messaging, social media and spokesperson trainings for hundreds of nonprofits each year. If you’re interested in learning more about how to become an effective spokesperson, shoot me an email at nora@newstips.org

Long-time WGN reporter Wes Bleed talks about the shifting media landscape

When you’re trying to get media attention, think like a reporter. Easier said than done? Well, here are a few tips from Chicago reporters about what not to do.

Last week, Chip Mitchell of Chicago Public Radio told our Professional Media Relations participants that if he sees certain words in an email subject line, the email automatically gets deleted. Words to avoid? ‘Anniversary,’ ‘awards,’ ‘benefits,’ ‘fundraisers,’ and ‘annual’ to name a few.

Why, you might ask yourself, do these words result in the big, fat delete button? They seem harmless, and as nonprofits, we often have benefits or annual events we want to promote. But, as I’ve been chanting to my nonprofit clients and friends for years, your annual report is not news! Your annual dinner is not news! Unless someone famous will be speaking or you’re releasing new information at your annual event or fundraiser, it’s probably not going to be of interest to a reporter. The event is likely very important to other audiences you want to reach–donors, volunteers, community members. But, the media is not one of those audiences.

The takeaway? Be thoughtful about what you pitch to reporters – make sure you have news – and make every word in your subject line count.

Once you’ve actually interested a reporter in your story, what should you avoid during subsequent phone calls and interviews? Former WGN radio reporter Wes Bleed, now at Mack Communications, writes about what you should and should not say to a reporter on the firm’s blog. There are some good tips here, including, “Avoid saying ‘no comment.’ It looks like you’ve got something to hide.”

One my old coworkers at Valerie Denney Communications used to say, “Only gangsters and corrupt politicians say no comment.”

To throw in my two cents, I always imagine reporters’ inboxes overflowing with emails, and based on what I’ve heard from busy reporters, it sounds like that’s not too far off the mark. Make your email stand out. If you don’t receive a response, follow up with a phone call! Once you have the reporter interested in doing your story, make sure your spokespeople are prepared for the interview.

Happy pitching everyone.

Despite Twitter and blogs and all of the fancy new online tools we can access these days, nonprofit communicators still need to know how to pitch a reporter on the phone. Here are seven tips on how to make the call and make the news.

Pitch Your Story By Phone

To get a story in the media, you can’t rely solely on the written word; you can’t merely send an email or a fax or a press release. You also must “pitch” your stories through phone calls to selected editors and reporters.

As difficult as it may seem, “pitching” your stories is necessary to getting media coverage. Phone calls humanize and personalize your stories, so if you have a newsworthy story you believe in, get on the phone and tell the media about it.

Set aside time right after you have sent off your media alerts or press releases to make phone calls to those journalists you really must reach. Making “cold” calls to people you don’t know can be difficult, but most reporters and editors don’t and shouldn’t mind getting them; they depend on and encourage citizens to phone in story tips. Here are some tips to make this task easier.

1. Call at the right time

If possible, call a week before your story will break to give reporters time to prepare for it and inform their editors. Call when the reporter is not likely to be “on deadline,” usually early in the day the first few hours of their work day. Even then, always ask journalists if they have time to hear about your story. Don’t ask if they got your release; even if they did they may have forgotten or misplaced it. Assume they know nothing about your story and say something like this:

“Hello I’m Joe Smith from the Citizens Energy Campaign, and I have a good story for you about our campaign to cut energy costs. Is this a good time to talk?”

2. Be prepared

Know whom you’re calling and know your story. Don’t make anonymous calls to the media and try to explain your story to receptionists and desk clerks. Call directly or ask by name for the reporter or editor you’re trying to reach. Then, be able to present it in 30 seconds. Tell the story the way the media might tell it to their audience. If necessary, write a script that quickly gets into the heart of the story and practice the pitch before you make the call. Emphasize the newsworthy elements—the conflict, the unprecedented angle (“It’s the first…”), the significance of the story to the writer’s readers and its connection to other issues in the headlines or news peg. You might say:

“Our group is fed up with the recent increase in utility costs granted by the state commerce commission. So we are starting a petition campaign to get lower costs. But this is not just another petition drive; this time we’re starting at shopping malls in the communities of the utility commissioners. We want them to feel the heat from their own neighbors. We kick of the campaign Saturday at Ridgewood, near the home of commission chairman I. M. Connected.”

3. Make calls in front of a computer

Even if you already emailed or faxed media alerts or press releases to reporters and editors, be prepared to email the information again after your pitch call. Journalists often lose or misplace your releases in the newsroom clutter, and it’s easier to send a fresh copy when the story is on their minds.

4. Be ready with specifics

Have detailed examples, statistics, and stories to back up your pitch, and be prepared to give out numbers of people who can be interviewed to tell these stories. Let your spokespeople know in advance to be available the day or week you’re pitching in case a reporter wants to speak with them. Know your issue so well that you can answer most questions then and there.

5. Be persistent but don’t be a pest

Most journalists cannot promise to do your story at the time of your call. When they say they will “look into it and do what they can,” that’s about all the commitment you can get. If you push further, you can alienate the journalists and drive them away from you and your stories.

6. Offer to do more to make their job easier

Journalists often have too much to do in too little time; they are more likely to do stories that are easy for them to research and report; offer to do whatever you can to make this job easier.

7. Be pleasant and upbeat—not frantic, moralistic, or nagging

Your story may have serious ramifications and be emotionally stirring, but don‘t let that infect your pitch. Journalists like enthusiasm, but they do not like sermons with their story ideas.

Watch our latest video, and learn how CAN TV can help nonprofits tell their stories and raise awareness about their issues.

People To Pitch: Tiffany Bosely, CAN TV from Community Media Workshop.

The 24-hour news cycle and shift to publishing content online means communications professionals better be ready to scramble if they want to get news.

I was reminded of this important tip at today’s Publicity Club of Chicago luncheon about Chicago radio news. Charlie Meyerson, news director at WGN-AM, stressed how critical it is that communications professionals respond as quickly as they can when a reporter needs something. Online stories, Twitter, email – these tools have sped up the news cycle.

Phil Rosenthal, panel moderator and Chicago Tribune columnist, agreed. A few years ago he might have a couple hours before he had to file his story, meaning he could wait a couple hours for you to respond with an answer to his question or a source. Now, he might be waiting, finger hovering over the keyboard, to push ‘Publish’ on his blog post. Online news means we have to act faster and be better prepared when we’re pitching a story or trying to respond to something happening in the news.

Other panelists included John Dempsey, news anchor at WLS-AM; Ron Gleason, director of news and programming at WBBM-AM; and Anmad Omar, news desk editor at WBEZ-FM.

As I listened to the panel, I was also reminded that some things don’t change no matter how much newsrooms shrink or new media grows. A few other pointers from panelists that nonprofit communicators can’t forget:

• Always return the phone call. Even if you can’t answer the reporter’s question or find the right source for them, give them the courtesy of a call back and tell them what’s going on. Don’t leave them hanging.
• Don’t waste their time. Know what they cover and what they might be interested in.
• Don’t spam them. They get A LOT of email. Use an interesting subject line. Send them information that’s relevant. Don’t email them over and over about stories that aren’t news or don’t work for their outlet.
• If you have breaking news or something that relates to a story that’s breaking, pick up the phone.

Nonprofits are working hard to raise their online profiles. Twitter, Facebook, RSS feeds–these are just a few of the digital communications tools that nonprofits must start to embrace. Which brings me to blogs. Lots of nonprofits are trying them, and I want to highlight some of the good ones. We can learn important lessons from our nonprofit blogging friends.

This week, I kick it off with The Neighborhood Writing Alliance’s new blog “Every Person is a Philosopher.” The Neighborhood Writing Alliance provides opportunities for people in Chicago’s under-served communities to write, publish, and perform works about their lives. The blog is another way for the organization to share stories about their work.

A few things this blog is doing really well:

1) Updating regularly! It’s so important to update your blog often, and this usually requires multiple staff members contributing. We’re nonprofits so we’re all stretched for time. Pick one person to manage the blog, but ask multliple staff to contribute. (I know the problem well — I’ve been swamped so I haven’t posted to the NP Communicator blog since Nov. 18! Yikes. But I keep reminding myself to update as often as I can. A couple times a week is a good goal. If you can update every day, even better.)

2) Varied content. The new blog includes excerpts from people’s writing, profiles of staff and volunteers, photos from an event and guest posts. This keeps the content fresh and interesting and gives you opportunities to reuse content that may be found in other organizational publications.

3) Tapping friends to help out. Guest posts that relate to your subject area are great! It gives your organization another post and shares another perspective on your site. If the person works for another organization, ask if they’d be willing to include a post from your nonprofit on their site or blog in the future. Content sharing online is a great way to spread the word.

If you want to learn more about blogging, we’re offering a blogging workshop with Blogger and former Chicago Tribune Reporter Teresa Puente. Learn more here.

Photo by Keith Ellison on www.flickr.com

Last Friday, a Google search of  “LeBron James Media” produced 108,000,000 links and 1160 related articles. On Yahoo.com there were 10,857 stories posted.

If, during the past two weeks, you lived in the forest with no phone, internet, television or interaction with other human beings, you might have missed the story. Here’s what happened: James dominated the 24-hour news-cycle with his impending free agent decision. When it was all said and done (after a well-publicized hour-long special on ESPN), James’ career decision had been given the attention of a world-changing event rather than the simple business process it began as.

What are the lessons behind the LeBron James PR show?

Steve Buckley, at the Boston Herald, drew on lessons from Vince McMahon of WWE fame, to help explain James’ media mastery.

McMahon, an impresario who turned a regional dog-and-pony pro wrestling circuit into what today is known as World Wrestling Entertainment, has known for years that it’s easy to bypass the meddling media middle men and bring your product/message directly to the public. All you need to do is set up your own network, and then use it as a stage on which to play out all your story lines, plot twists, interviews and “breaking news.”

While nonprofits can’t set up their own media outlets, they can deliver their stories and issues to the public directly through available technology. By using social media applications, nonprofits cut out the “middle man,” taking the heart of an issue to a local (or worldwide) audience.  Rather than waiting for a press conference to be covered, nonprofits, like James, can take control and tell their own stories by tying them to a timely news peg.  Write your press releases with flair. Know your story, conflicts involved, and be transparent. Know who your sources are and be prepared to rise to the occasion when pitching reporters or when they come looking for you.

It’s true that James owns a PR company that’s focused on creating an iconic image of James, and it’s also true that most nonprofits will never have the star power of a famous pro basketball player to entice the media. But, nonprofits can tell their own stories and be clever and creative about using the range of tools now available to talk directly to their audiences.

Lesson: First, control the issue. Don’t allow the issue to control you.

James’ media strategy did have its critics. Phil Rosenthal at the Chicago Tribune wrote the outcome would have been better if James’ communications team had seized control from the start.

If James and company had been on top of this, his Web site would have tracked his whole courtship process. He could have kept an ad-supported video diary, including behind-the-scenes video of meetings with franchises.

Of more importance from a business standpoint, fans would have been invited to register to vote for their team and receive updates through e-mail and Twitter, creating a valuable marketing database.

Just one problem: James has owned the domain LeBronJames.com since 2002 but hasn’t done much with it until recently. Until Tuesday, James also had not used Twitter to address the public directly. So much for a New Media offensive.

Do any of these missteps sound familiar? Has your organization attempted to use social media tools in the past, only to fail to put the necessary time into the endeavor because of busy schedules? Perhaps constant Twitter, Facebook, and blog updates are just too much to juggle when you’re already swamped trying to provide services to a community or support to your colleagues.

But don’t underestimate the importance of tending these tools. Posting regular online updates about your organization’s journey, creating a digital archive of past articles on your website, or asking clients for input could give you a powerful platform to engage your audience and keep them coming back.  In other words, use your work to create brand recognition.

Lesson: When given an opportunity to connect, don’t hesitate.

LeBron’s decision to wait to give his answer until his ESPN event was also seen as a big public relations failure by some.  Michael Flood McNulty of OpposingView.com wrote:

LeBron James created a publicity circus unlike any other Thursday night — this was his choosing, not the media’s so don’t blame the messenger — and he humiliated his hometown fans in the most public way possible…

LeBron James alienated a lot of people tonight. Actually, alienated is the wrong word. He stunned and hurt a lot of people tonight.

What’s one of the first rules of communications? Who’s your audience and how can you reach them? Whether you’re trying to educate a specific group about an issue you’re working on or you’re trying to get people to take action, how you say it and when you say it and the channel you use to convey it are so important.

Lesson: Don’t forget your audience. Be thoughtful of what they need to hear your message.

Raymond Guyton, right, of Hold Up the Light, showed off his unique light bulbs as he pitched a story on National Prayer Day to WBEZ culture reporter Lynette Kalsnes during the Workshop's Professional Media Relations training in February.

Been meaning to post this list for about a month now, ever since the final session of Professional Media Relations, our core annual “soup-to-nuts” training for nonprofit communicators. After five weeks of the class, the participants have found an idea, honed it, practiced it,and in the final session, they pitch it to journalists from around the area.

For years now area reporters have been gracious enough to join us for three hours on a Friday morning to share some thoughts about what kinds of stories they are looking for and how they like to get information. When it works well, they get good story ideas from the session.

This actually seemed like our best year yet in terms of folks in the session finding the best stories coming out of their organizations and getting to tell them to journalists, then journalists finding stories that worked out for them. Another highlight from this year’s session was a list of tips that WBEZ Reporter Lynette Kalsnes offered. Here they are:

1. What is the news element? A newspeg [can you believe there's no Wikipedia entry for news peg? We'll get to work on that, meanwhile hit the link for a decent definition--essentially the peg is what makes this story news, now] makes it more likely your story will get covered.
2. What is unique about the story? If there’s something new or interesting, that makes coverage more likely. Spell it out. Read the rest of this entry »