To get free publicity, "Sell The Story -- Not the Store"

by George McKenzie

Imagine yourself sitting down in a meeting room to
listen to a presentation by a speaker.

The speaker begins by saying. "Statistics show" and
then proceeds to prattle off a list of figures aimed at
making a point. Before long, though, you’ll probably be
thinking about all the other places you’d rather be.

Now imagine that the speaker begins by saying "Once
upon a time"

You automatically start paying attention because you
know you’re about to hear a story.

People love stories. And they’ll stop what they’re
doing if they think they’re going to hear a good one.

The greatest teachers of all time have taught their
lessons through stories, anecdotes, examples. Even
parables.

And you’ll start getting loads of free publicity from
the media if you understand that they’re really in the
storytelling business.

Joan Stewart is a former newspaper reporter and editor
with more than 20 years experience. She says that
during her career, she got hundreds of calls from
people saying, in so many words, "Cover me, pay
attention to me, give me publicity."

Of course, what they really wanted was free advertising
for some product they were selling. And when Joan would
ask, politely of course, why the public would want to
know more about it, they’d launch into details about
how wonderful their product was and all the features it
offered.

Among professional sales people, this is called
"selling features instead of benefits."

Among news decision-makers this is called, selling the
store, not the story.

In other words, people who want publicity often try to
sell their product (the store), when they should be
trying to sell a story connected to their product.

Getting media coverage on any given day is something of
a crapshoot. But you’ll increase your chances
enormously if you offer the media stories that contain
one or more of the following elements:

They’re controversial and/or timely.
They raise eyebrows.
They affect large numbers of people.
They deal with pocketbook issues.
They feature dogs and kids.
They show David beating Goliath.
They highlight milestones, records, and firsts.
They introduce new ideas and technologies.

When I worked as a TV anchor at KMSP TV in the Twin
Cities in the late 70’s, one of our competitors, WCCO,
ran a great promotion campaign that I’ve never
forgotten because it reduced the nature of news to its
essence.

They boasted, "We tell you what you need to know, and
what you like to know."

When you’re pitching an idea to someone in the media,
ask yourself "Why is this something people need to know
or would like to know?"

If you have a good answer to that question, you'll find
it easy to "sell the story, not the store" to news
decision-makers. And when you accomplish that, they'll
get that story on the air or in print--where thousands
of potential customers will see it.

About the Author

During his 31 year broadcasting career, George's
TV reports have appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, ESPN.
George offers a free 7-day mini course to anyone who
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