Fire Your Publicist / DIY Marketing Workshop

On February 16, 2019, in Latest News, by The Somerville Times

Have you ever hired a publicist and been disappointed in their performance? Did you get ripped off? Did they make promises they couldn’t keep? And then blame it on you and your product, nonprofit, or company? Or have you simply looked into getting a publicist, and been blown away by how much they charge for campaigns? If any of this applies, and if you are looking for real tips on how to get exposure, then this workshop is for you.

Presenters Chris Faraone and Jason Pramas are the editors of DigBoston and co-founders of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. With more than 40 years of combined media experience between them, they have written for national and local outlets, from the Boston Phoenix to Esquire, BuzzFeed, and In These Times.

A lot of professional publicists started off in the media. But Chris and Jason are still deep in the industry, and pull no punches in their assessment and presentation of the media landscape. In order to know how to game the media, you need to understand how it works, and this is a crash course like none other.

We have taught this class before — in the past, we have called it HOW TO PITCH REPORTERS AND EDITORS — and it has been a major success every time. Here’s the kind of information we’ll be sharing:

“Pitch something in ten different ways. The founder of your company- Where’d they go to school? Do they have an alumni magazine? Most people never think about those.”

It’s also important to tailor the pitch to the outlet with appropriate age, demographic, and sections for your product.

For best results, pitches should borrow a trick from paper newspapers: putting the biggest news “above the fold.” If you can focus the most attention-grabbing bit into a subject line that doesn’t break, you’ve written a good subject line.

Don’t pretend to be a journalist. “Fake content and pilfered writing” are as loathed as they are easily spotted. Instead, [BINJ Projects Coordinator Emily] Hopkins suggested a different approach. “Better to do it short and sweet. Distill it. Use bullet points, and have a maximum of 200 words. If you have more, use links or an attachment.”

Thursday, Mar 14 from 6:30pm – 9pm

at Somerville Media Center (90 Union Square, Somerville, MA 02143)