Going beyond no
By Danny Sullivan
Any person working in technology PR has probably had to deal with a fair amount of rejection in their time. And no, I’m not trying to make some kind of controversial statement about the psychological make-up of the average tech PR practitioner (although wouldn’t that be interesting?).
I’m simply talking about news release rejection syndrome. It might sound something like this…
“You’re calling from who? About what? No, I can’t do anything with that.”
Show me a PR professional who says they’ve never had an approximation of that conversation, and I’ll show you Pinocchio.
Unfortunately, responding to that conversation with a mumbled “Okay, goodbye,” is as far as a lot of PR practitioners are able to go. And there is a good reason for this – they are often under-equipped in their understanding of the story to go any further.
It doesn’t have to be like that. What at first sounds like the utter rejection of your breaking news story may yet hold the promise of good quality coverage, if you have the ability to go beyond the words written on the pages of that release.
A knowledgeable, well-briefed PR person should be able to move beyond that initial exchange to explore additional avenues and opportunities that may exist for coverage. Perhaps these will not fall in the short-term, but gaining an understanding of your long-term opportunities is a highly valuable exercise.
Understanding and being able to discuss the whole story and not just today’s news should be a requirement for anyone trying to pitch a technology or business desk. Sure, it’s not going to save you from the rejection of your news release, but it’s going to give you the best possible chance of succeeding over time.
