Let's Talk About: How to Best Maximize Face Time (Virtual or In-Person) With a Journalist
Spoiler: The goal is a 2-way conversation, not a monologue of your key talking points
Happy November, subscribers!
Yesterday, I attended a virtual travel conference, where I had 14 back-to-back-to-back meetings with publicists representing various cities/countries/regions around the world. Talk about a whirlwind speed-dating type industry event — it lasted 5 hours and I was BEAT afterwards.
I hadn’t done a conference like that before, and learned a valuable lesson: Schedule a little break for yourself. I went straight through the 5 hours without a break, as each of my time slots was filled up and it didn’t occur to me that I should block one off for sanity’s sake ahead of time. I’m such an overachiever, I guess … but I wouldn’t do it that way again :)
Some of these 1:1 meetings were excellent … but some didn’t go quite as smoothly as they could have. As you can imagine, the publicists largely drove the direction of the meeting, but I noticed that those who made it a more collaborative conversation vs a monologue about their destination did a much better job of connecting with me and getting me excited about featuring/visiting their client.
I walked away with a handful of tips I thought you all could benefit from — yes, writers know you have goals and talking points you want to prioritize, but if it isn’t tailored to that writer’s beats/audience, then it’s not going to benefit you or your client in the long run.
Here’s a list of 6 proactive steps you can apply to ANY virtual or in-person meeting with a writer (no matter the industry your client is in, from beauty to tech), whether it’s a desk side or event, that will help increase your ROI and build better/long-lasting relationships:
Oh, and I’m offering a discount on annual subscriptions to my industry insights this month, in honor of Friendsgiving, so sign up today (applies to both groups and individuals):