PR Tip by: Lizzie Shaw Public Relations
The “quiet” time as the year draws to a close is a great time to look ahead and start getting organized for your PR push into the new year. You want to be able to hit 2012 like a tidal wave!
A great way to do this is by calendaring out the 2012 pitch year:
Make a 12 month calendar on 1 page (this is a visual aid so you can “see” your whole year ahead); you can find great calendars online – iCal and Google Calendars are great; there are many more, of course.
Make sure each month block has room for 5-10 pitch ideas.
Now, consider your target media’s lead times:
Magazines (national/glossy) – 4-6 months
Magazines (local) 2-4 months
Newspapers 1-2 weeks (unless breaking news)
TV news 2-7 days (unless breaking news)
Blogs/online 2 days-3 weeks
Radio 1-2 weeks.
An exception to keep in mind is that most media outlets start compiling for Holiday Gift Guides as early as end of May or beginning of June – even shorter-lead magazines and papers; so it’s a good idea to calendar inquiries for mid-May; ask your outlets when they are actually starting to compile for their Holiday pitches.
So backing into the correct dates, enter your pitch ideas so that you’re readyto pitch when your outlets are ready to listen. Once you’ve made your reference calendar, you can schedule everything into your actual calendar and you will be organized and ready to go.
Now get to work on those fabulous pitches!
For more on Lizze Shaw Public Relations http://lizzieshawpr.com
