Tips for getting press

Lots of things don’t work when it comes to getting press, and I think I’ve tried a number of them. I have however had the opportunity to get a lot of great advice about press over the years, and the bits that work are worth remembering:

1. Make an event/project/happening that’s newsworthy and match your project to appropriate press. Print journalism has a hard time doing press about other publications, and TV will be wary of featuring anything so quiet as print, or so non-visual as a website or album. Think about what makes sense and direct your energies wisely. Also remember, it’s not just the event or project but the personality that needs to be press-worthy. Stories need protagonists!

2. Power in numbers. 1 arts group doing a thing will have a hard time making a splash (if your scene is at all bumping) but get yourself some appropriate allies who make your concept more interesting, give the press a little more to talk about, and you’ll have a way better chance. Example of the difference: 1 band trying to get press for a new album versus, 1 band putting together a launch party with another band, a dance group, a local cause they want to support, a designer styling their outfits, or even with just a concept for the night and album that somehow catches the imagination and provides a narrative - remember, and I can’t stress this enough, the press don’t just tell news, they also exist to tell stories, and it’s your job to give them a story so good they really want to tell it. The other clear benefit of teaming up is you can all go about promoting your project in your own ways, through your different networks. Friends of friends is how about 80% of press gets done, from what I can tell.

3. Write a short press release. 3 paragraphs is good. Don’t use too much of anything general like “great, amazing, awesome, glorious, best night ever, so much fun” don’t make it sound like a sales pitch. It should read like a newspaper article, all ready to go. Trim anything that doesn’t convey actual information and stack it with real, interesting, personal details. Ask yourself - what makes this heart-wrenching for you? What is the gut-reason you are doing the project? Get to the odd little heart of the matter and leave the jazz hands aside and you’re more likely to write something that will connect with a journalist.

4. Follow up calls. It’s hard to shake the sense that this is a really annoying thing to do, but shake it we must. Journalists get bombarded, that’s their job, they’re ok with it. Following up to make sure they know your story and they know how much you care about it is something they appreciate, since it can help them sort the gold from the chaff. Crucially - Be prepared before you make your call, whether you get a person or an answering machine (more likely) you will have about 3 minutes to get out details in a way that is memorable and narrative and story-suggestive. Make them want to call you back, but give them enough that for a short article they might not have to.

Read Nadine’s great post about getting press, especially the bit about prepping for phone calls here: In.Sight - The Art of KISSing.

Last heads up - beware of Name Dropping. Use the names of people or groups involved in your thing sparingly, use them like salt or spices, crucial but not the meat (or tofu) of your message. 9 times out of 10, names that are ‘big’ to you and your community are not on the radar of press, it’s nothing personal, it’s perhaps to do with the state of the world today but there are too many cool communities, too many amazing talents, too many wildly different styles these guys are covering, too many hundreds of things popping up every day for any journalist to keep it in their heads. Don’t expect any name alone to get you a reaction, make sure your concept has a hook all it’s own.

What this comes down to is: do the hustle after press, but don’t stress it. Focus on making sure you’re doing something you really care about, something that works and gets people involved and excited and the press will follow. Tell a story that is worth knowing. The other cool feature of going this way is you can get press before you have a big name if your concept is compelling enough. What’s compelling? Well, that’s for you to determine, but I figure it usually has something to do with large font stuff like The Human Condition…. Ok? Good luck!