How to sell stories into journalists - hints and tips

If you have story to sell in to a journalist think about the process first - they are busy and have 100s of pr and business people every day trying to sell them something.

1) Ask yourself - what makes your story unique/interesting? why should they cover it?

2) Get the right contact details - research online or via media databses which are the best media outlets for your audience and who writes for them. Check out journalisted.com, a great online website that has 100s of journalists contact details listed.

3) Prepare a short email with the top 2 or 3 facts explaining your story - bullets work well. Think up a strong eye catching headline for the subject strap - without that you are already in the trash. Attach the press rel and imbed in the email. Attach any images with a caption but make sure they aren't too big. You can always send a higer res one later.

4) Ring the reporter or newsdesk first and try to sell in your story before you send it - you have approx 20-30seconds to do this and catch their attention before they say "send an email" many won't even take your call, so be prepared. If nothing else confirm their email address and that of the news desk.

5) Send your email to both to cover your bases.

6) Ring again later the same day and check it arrived and again try to get across your top 2 or 3 facts.

7)If you article appears - DON'T ask the reporter to send you a cut - find it yourself online or in subscriptions. Press cutting agencies such as Durrants are good and can be employed on a month by month basis. Set yourself up for Google alerts under key words.

8) If you like the article say thank you - send an email or even a small gift . something that can shared in the newsroom always works well and helps people to remember you. You can't beat face to face meetings with reporters to make long standing contacts but if you suggest it, make sure you have a strong story up your sleeve to justify their time out of the office.

9) Don't take any brush offs - or any other *** offs personally! - reporters are busy, stressed and have too many inexperienced PRs ringing them on deadline with irrelevant stories.

10) Remember timing is everything, don't send out your info on deadline days, last thing on Fridays or when a major event or story has just broken, unless it is specialist or trade media that's not affected.

Good luck and be patient. If your first story doesn't succeed, your 10th or 100th just might!