Become More News Worthy

– Posted in: Biz Booster Hot Tip! Marketing Your Act
Become More News Worthy

Become More News Worthy - by Jeri Goldstein     

Do you struggle to become more news worthy?

What is news worthy to you—may just not be news worthy to the editor, the program director, or the producer. They are looking for items that will interest the largest segment of their readers, listeners or viewers. Or they are looking for items that will interest an important niche segment of their customers.

So you must begin viewing your communications to the media from their perspective.

Here’s an example that may be near and dear to you, a CD release. This is of course great news to you and something that is very important to your career. But, to the media, it is another CD release among many.

What is unique about this release? Now this is certainly something you might consider before you even start thinking about doing the next CD. How can your marketing campaign for this new CD become more news-worthy?

News-worthy means it has an impact beyond your own income and business well-being. It impacts your local community or the greater world community. It may involve community organizations, businesses, charities, schools or well-known community members.

If you are not already a household name in the entertainment world, then your CD release may not be news-worthy.

Unless the local or national media you are trying to reach specifically serves its community with CD reviews, such as Billboard Magazine, you need to be more thoughtful about creating news-worthy communications with your media contacts so you can gain broader coverage.

Here’s a practice exercise:

  1. Pretend or use a real CD release situation and write a press release.
  2. First, make a list of a few ways in which your CD can have an impact on the larger community. Maybe there’s a local or national charity or organization or cause or event with whom you are affiliated or care about. Perhaps a song on the CD has a specific message that can be used as the news item. Perhaps there is a theme, like the environment, business, kids, or maybe you partnered with some organization to release the CD and it partially benefits that organization. Dig deep and come up with something beyond the CD Release itself.
  3. Now write the press release with the lead being about the point of interest, the organization, the charity, the cause partnership. For example, “River Bend Community Center Gets Musical Boost.” Instead of “Joe Smith releases second CD, ‘Around the Bend.’ The first has community interest and sparks greater readership by a more general population.

In the later paragraphs you can talk more about the CD details, the musicians and yes, even yourself. First, make it about the unique collaboration or item of interest. Now you are beginning to create something the media can wrap their headlines around and to which they may dedicate extra print space or air time. Items like this may even spark interest in lengthy interviews and larger, prime photo placement.

By the same token, promoting a gig to the media in any market deserves some extra attention to your understanding of that community and how your gig and your promotions might become more integrated into community events. Perhaps the venue itself has some specific items of interest that you could tie your marketing into to become more news-worthy.

Once you have the gig confirmed, it is time to explore the surrounding community and discover how you can maximize your gig by finding community tie-ins. When you begin to make this practice part of your gig-marketing template, you will begin to get more media coverage that will impact your audience growth. You will become more news-worthy.

When you plan ahead and think from the media’s perspective, you have a much better chance of getting more coverage for your events and projects.

What have you done recently to become more news-worth?       

Leave me a comment below or on the Performingbiz Success Strategies Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/PerformingbizSuccessStrategies.

I can’t wait to hear about your success.

Thanks to Carol Ehrlich for this week’s Biz Booster Graphic Image, “Become More News-Worthy.”

Now, Thanks to the Band Curfew from the UK for providing the Biz Booster theme Music, Futuredance. Check them out at www.curfew.co.uk

And for more career boosting tips, articles, books, resources, tele-seminars and online courses, visit me at Performingbiz.com

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