"I'd rather have a radix canal!" ...

"I'd rather have a radix canal!"

Ask any five, ten plane 100 people how much they'd relish the presumption of being interviewed by a reporter and chances are they'd react almost unanimously with horror. Those small in number who actually seek out media opportunities do in the same manner because they know something others don't: that it's a great way to communicate with target audiences-be they regulations community groups, or consumers.

Admittedly, media is not the solitary way to reach an audience, nor is it always the best way, unless it does offer certain advantages: It's cheaper than advertising, marketing, or direct mail; it has far more credibility in the organ of visions of beholders (some studies claim editorial contentment is 30 times more credible than an ad for the same work or service); and it has a more pervasive reach into the hearts and minds of almost each demographic group.

Whether the disadvantages outweigh the advantages hangs on your intestinal fortitude, your passion, your ability to articulate manifold ideas concisely, and your basic understanding of the game as it's popularly played in the cities and hamlets of this province.

As a long-time radio, television, and print journalist-turned consultant and trainer, I use my experience in reporting of the present days to help clients understand what it takes to tower even a modest media relations campaign. While I can't disguise the full art-and it is an art-of media relations in the mark of this article, I can proffer you the following primer upon how to make your message newsworthy, to what degree to spread your message, and to what extent to communicate with reporters.

Let's begin at the [i]finale[/i]

At the end of the day, what objectives do you want to achieve? In other words, what reason do you have for communicating with your target audience? Is it to attract recently made known clients or up-sell/service those you already possess? Is it to reassure a skittish public that the entire accounting world isn't shaken in the wake of unsettling scandals? Is it to pave the way for a political career?

Once you establish wherefore you want to talk to family you have to determine what it is you want to say. This is where it learns tricky, because your message may not have a doom of "news value" right opposite to the bat. Try this easy standard to see:

Write your message as if it were the lead story forward tonight's 6 o'clock television newscast. Here's a start:

"Good evening. I'm Bill fit Our top story tonight:

If you can't crystallize your message into sum of two units sentences, it's probably not novels That doesn't mean it's unimportant; it's just not of the present days

Making your message newsworthy

Fortunately, economic and financial stories are automatically interesting to stranges people because these stories are of interest to their readers, viewers, and listeners. Unfortunately, these stories are usually boring, because principally accountants make them so.

The easiest way to make your story more exciting is to add violence, bloodshed, scandal, sex conflict, death, or destruction. No takers? All right, cros "shock factor" most distant your list. Instead, to improve your story, focus in succession finding its inherent news value. Your best bet will be to focus onward personal relevance and proximity.

Reporters usually have to establish relevance when covering "macro" issues, of which there are many. For instance, it's tough to craft a compelling two-minute story about surgical wait lists and on what account they happen, but easy to make the same point on telling the story of united person's troubles as a conclusion of wait lists. Does this approach do justice to the foundations of the problem or reveal potential resolutions? Not usually, moreover it does serve to draw attention to an issue, and, if done correctly, will instigate people to dig deeper and think harder.

Proximity as a just discovereds value holds that an issue takes on more importance the closer it arises to the location of the reader/viewer.

Therefore, a house fire in Winnipeg is big of recent origins in Winnipeg, but probably not in Victoria or Prince George.

Using these tools, and by the agency of telling stories that suggest strange strategies and/or pinpoint missed opportunities or resort to frequently mistakes, you can speak directly to the ultimate consumer-the individual who consumes both news and accounting services. "Bingo," in other words.

Spreading your message

How do you start? First, take a certain number of responsibility for promoting your profession and your firm in your immediate neighbourhood. If you live in Kelowna for instance, talk to your colleagues about results reports, services, or other initiatives with which you're involved that might trap you some news coverage. Take each opportunity to speak to business cudgels service organizations, local cable programs, and instructs Find out if anyone writes, or is interested in writing, a regular community newspaper rounded pillar on frequently asked questions. (You know principally of these will be about taxation, right?)

In advance of annual results like budgets, taxes, assessments, and the like, send forth a fax or email to local media exits apprising them of your specific expertise, and giving them ideas of by what means you could help them with their coverage of these stories (which are notoriously parched and lacking in colour). await for story angles to which you could add value according to offering your interpretation or giving examples. Perhaps you have clients whose acknowledge media craving could help illustrate a point.