I’ve written the following in an attempt to be constructive – so that I get sent information that’s genuinely useful, and research trips are as fruitful as possible. It’s an attempt to explain what sort of approach works best for me so that PR approaches can be more personalised and effective.
Main clients: In the last year or so, my main clients have been Australia and New Zealand magazine, Vtravelled.com, Roundtheworldflights.com, MSN Travel, National Geographic Traveller and ABTA Magazine (UK) plus the Sun-Herald, Ninemsn, Voyeur: Virgin Australia in-flight magazine (Australia). I’ve also done the odd piece for the Independent, Mail on Sunday, the Sun, Telegraph.co.uk, Emerald Street, Backpacker Essentials and Vacations & Travel amongst others.
Interests: I’m a generalist (albeit one with particular strengths in Australia and New Zealand). On the whole, I’m not interested in what’s hip. I’m interested in what’s good, what’s unusual and what’s fun. I prefer to experience rather than see; I’m more history than art, more activities than cultural (in the people in silly costumes dancing sense), more stories than style. I love trying to understand what makes a destination tick, how it feels and what contributes to that feel.
That said, I often end up doing strictly formatted city guides, but I’ll tend to lean towards inclusions that I find good, unusual and fun rather than supposedly cool.
Press releases: Unless I’ve specifically asked to be put on your mailing list, I don’t want to be on it. Almost every press release I receive is instantly deleted. I don’t get stories from press releases. If it’s on a press release, everyone else is getting it. Including the people I might try and pitch the story to. If they’ve already got it, they’re not going to pay me to write about it.
What story angles am I interested in? A good question to ask is: “Would someone come from half way around the world specifically to see/ do this?” If yes, there’s a chance I’ll be interested. “This is the only place in the world you can do X” is far better than “You can now do X in this destination too”. If it can be done closer, cheaper or better elsewhere, it’s probably not a story. I love odd museums, innovative ways of exploring places, routes that can be tied around interesting people and the unexpected. Essentially, what makes somewhere special, not me-too stuff you can do anywhere.
What story angles am I definitely not interested in? Cruising, skiing, golf, spas, ziplines, segway tours, staff changes at hotels, shopping, hotel or restaurant openings. Also, no special offers – freelancers can’t sell stories about them to editors.
How best to approach me: As a human being, not a representative of X or Y. I’m on Twitter all the time (as @MrDavidWhitley) and I’m far more likely to give the time of day to someone who joins in conversations rather than pimps their client.
By e-mail, forget the sell. Just let me know you’re there. “We’ve got a hotel in place X and would be happy to have you stay if you’re in the area” is FAR better than constant bombardment about what’s happening at that hotel. I do note such things down, and I’m more likely to look for stories in areas where I know I can get assistance if required.
It certainly helps if I get the impression you’ve actually read a few things I’ve written too.
If repping a destination, I’d genuinely love it if you picked out five strong story angles that might work (see above) and sent them to me. Proper ones though, not whatever happens to be going on there. Something happening isn’t a story per se. Narrow it down, and use a bit of editorial judgement, and I will read it. More to the point, I might steal the ideas and pitch them out.
And send me your client list too – I do keep them for reference.
Oh, I don’t live in London. I’m not interested in meeting for lunch.
How I work: I tend to find one or two stories first, then look for others in the destination or nearby destinations. I’ll book the flights myself, then fill out the itinerary from there. I’m not someone who needs – or wants – much babysitting. I’m much happier with a VIP entrance pass/ letter of introduction than a fully organised itinerary.
I also arrive well armed – I’ll usually have at least one (preferably two) recent guidebooks with me, annotated with notes from web research. The information I get from you may well be useful, but it’s not the only source I’m working from.
For almost all stories I write, I’ll have identified the story before I’ve any contact with the PR. I’m looking for assistance in getting the story done and done well; I’m not looking to promote your client. But our interests may coincide.
Press trips: I don’t do group press trips. They’re crap for many, many reasons. I will set up individual ones though, tailored to the commissions I’ve got and angles I suspect I may be able to sell later. Generally, all I need is somewhere to stay – preferably on a complimentary basis in order to keep my costs down – and facilitation for doing the relevant stories. Sometimes that facilitation will be arranging a particular interview, sometimes it’ll be getting on a particular tour, sometimes it’ll be working out how best to combine two things most effectively.
I’ll say what I want/ need in order to do the story. Please don’t add extra things in that you think may be of interest. This isn’t maximising my time – it’s wasting it. The more free time I’ve got, the better. This includes meetings with yourself, marketing people at hotels and any local dignitaries. Give me the right contact details, and I’ll ask if I need to ask something.
If you absolutely insist on such meetings (and I’d really rather you didn’t – it’s usually a waste of everyone’s time), let’s do it over breakfast before I start exploring for the day. At a push, dinner. Not lunch. I’m not structuring my day around a pointless lunch appointment.
Also; the itinerary should be finished and agreed upon before I leave home (not necessarily the same thing as when I arrive in your destination). Any arrangements should be made in such a way that any problems that may arise can be sorted between myself and the person I’ll end up dealing with face to face. That means a confirmation number that works in the hotel/ tour operator’s system and the name of the contact person I can drop at the time, or a letter confirming the terms. “Trust me, it’s sorted” is when something will go wrong.
Guides: Unless I specifically ask for one, I don’t need a guide to show me around. Give me the information that the guide would give me in advance and I’ll sift through it. I’m a better reader than listener and not the greatest multi-tasker – I struggle to observe properly when I’m having to take part in a conversation. A three hour guided tour is generally three hours that could have been spent better. The exception is when it’s a guided tour that’s available to the general public too. If it’s replicable, I can write about it. If it’s put on specially for me, I can’t.
Recommendations: I’ll often ask for recommendations (hotels, restaurants, bars etc). I’m generally after a few edited, personal choices that help narrow the field down. I don’t need a link to a webpage telling me all the hotel/ bar/ restaurant options in town. Chances are I’ve already found that. I need discerning help in cutting it down.
Hotels: Cards on the table, most of the time, I just need somewhere to stay and I’m not particularly bothered where that happens to be. If it’s free, brilliant – that keeps my costs down. For most articles, I will have to pick somewhere as an accommodation option to put in the factbox at the bottom. That will usually be the one I stay at myself, unless I decide it’s just not good enough/ incredibly poor value and not worthy of recommendation.
Basically, if I’m hosted by a hotel, that hotel is getting first dibs at going in the article. I never expect hosting – it’s just something that’s welcome if it’s possible.
It may sound counterintuitive, but I’d prefer to stay in your basic, standard double room; the cheapest one. That’s what I’ll have to price and use as a comparison point.
On other occasions, I’ll be doing a formatted destination guide in which I need to include a number of hotels. I’ll need to inspect them. I prefer to do this by turning up and asking the receptionist if I can see a couple of rooms. I don’t need or want to meet the marketing manager. It’s a waste of everyone’s time, again. If the format really does require a full tour of the facilities, that’s obviously a different matter, but I will state that when I first approach.
Sometimes, I’m looking for a particular type of hotel that will fit the story (perhaps for more than just a factbox). I’ll make that clear from the outset, though.
Media rates: Please don’t offer a ‘media rate’ for a hotel. There will be somewhere else in town that’s cheaper, I can guarantee it. I also know that the media rate is probably the same or higher than the one I can find at your hotel using an online booking site. I’m fine with “we don’t regard the opportunity to host as worth taking up” – that’s refreshingly honest. Pretending you’re doing me a favour when you’re not is just taking the piss and will do nothing but annoy me.
Guaranteed inclusion: I never guarantee inclusion of anything in the final article. Sometimes I’ll drop things for relevance, or because they’re just not good enough (see Hotels, above). Occasionally, the editor will cut things – and that’s beyond my control. I’ll not approach anyone or anything for hosting if I don’t intend to include it in the final piece, however. And I try to filter out anything unsuitable at that stage.
Tour operators: I’m not going to spend ten days on your tour for the purpose of one story. Sorry. I need at least one story for every two days away to make anything like a reasonable living.
Will I blog/ tweet about it? I might blog about it, but any destination content on my blog tends to be vignette-ish, something I noticed whilst there kind of stuff. It won’t be on a particular product. Or necessarily something you want writing about. As for Twitter, I tweet in a personal capacity (albeit often about things that are relevant professionally). I’m not going to pimp your stuff, and I’m not going to include your promotional hashtags. I’ll tweet as I always do – whatever I feel is worth sharing/ entertaining.
Sending published articles: Once it’s published I’ll send a link to the webpage or a PDF version over to the person/ people I co-ordinated the trip with. I’m not going to promise to send a copy to every Tom, Dick and Harry that had minor involvement at some point. I’ll send to my point of contact and ask them to distribute as necessary. Beware – it can sometimes be over a year before the actual piece comes out. If you’ve not heard from me within six months, there’s a chance I’ve forgotten (I try not to, but it happens). Feel free to drop me a line.
