Part 1: Tips for Ensuring Your Clients Will Be THE Source Writers Want to Use Again
Sourcing for articles has been surprisingly difficult for writers lately. Here's how you can help that process run its smoothest on your end.
Happy Wednesday, Top Tier subscribers!
We have been noticing a trend lately that has been pretty frustrating. So we’ve polled some fellow writers recently and yes, it’s definitely a thing that’s been happening across the board: Sourcing for articles has been more difficult than ever.
Nicole even tweeted about it and the tweet went semi-viral, with 5.2k views and lots of writers chiming in. You can read that here if you’re curious:
https://twitter.com/NicolePajer/status/1821596818222018889
This also sparked a conversation among colleagues. Here are some things that have been happening to writers in this space:
Publicists sending writers sources, writers agreeing to use them, then emailing to set up an interview …. and … crickets.
Writers sending sources email questions, which the publicist says they will pass along and get right back to a journalist, by their deadline … then crickets.
Publicists saying their sources are on board with a topic that a writer has flushed out in a call for sources then their source flakes the day before the interview or the day before the email interview questions are due saying they don’t want to talk about that topic afterall.
Sources agreeing to do interviews, the publicist saying they are knowledgable about the topic, then acting like they don’t know anything about the topic and saying they aren’t really up on it during the interview, which is a huge waste of everyone’s time.
Interview questions being answered with one quick sentence or one word answers, which a journalist can’t even use.
Interview questions coming back clearly written by ChatGPT or plagiarized from another website or a source’s website.
And this one takes the cake as this is a completely new one for all of us: A source getting mad because a writer came back to them and asked them for follow-up quotes that their editor requested. (The writer tried to explain to this publicist that this was a direct request from an editor as a follow-up to their quotes that were going to make the story — hello, the more quotes the client submits, the more prominently they’d be featured in the story!). But the source was mad they were asked to give a few clarifying statements on their original quotes and flat out refused. WHAT?
When sources go rogue it leaves writers in a bind — and can damage the relationship between a writer and a publicist.
It’s the final moments of summer and people are traveling. Family is visiting. You’re getting new puppies that you’re potty training. The pool is warm enough to go in. There are summer sports and camps to cram into your schedule. COVID is going around and people are getting it again or for the very first time. Kids are going back to school now. Life is busy. We completely get it. But writers are just as busy right now too. And they’re over there jamming away on articles. And if your client agrees to be a source, that writer is counting on that to bring a story to life.
We figured this was a good time to offer some of our best advice on how publicists can help their clients be great assets to a writer’s story — after all, you don’t just want to nail THIS inteview, you want to become a go-to-source for future stories, too, right?
We have 16 tips in total, so we’re going to share half today and half next week!
If your source truly can’t make an interview happen, please don’t tell a writer that they can. We get that things come up, like people getting sick and that’s of course always an exception. But if a publicist commits a source to do an interview then the day before the source says they don’t want to do it, that leaves a writer in a huge bind. Please don’t make false promises on behalf of your clients. We get that you want to get the jump on getting them into a story but committing them before they agree is not a good practice. Make sure the client is truly truly on board before committing them.
If you agree on a deadline of when an interview will happen on the phone or when email questions can be answered by, please honor it. We get that sources have occasional emergencies. Life happens! But if we tell you that we need answers by midday Wednesday, we really really need responses by then — and we are counting on them in order to meet our deadlines. This means we’re going to sit down and write this story on Wednesday evening or crank it out on Thursday and that it’s probably due Thursday or Friday. If we’re counting on responses coming in by a certain date and time and then they don’t, we’ll miss our deadline.
If your source has something come up or sees email questions and decides they are not the right person to answer the questions, or simply don’t want to anymore — please let us know ASASP. The most thoughtful publicists who get put in tricky situations like having a source fall out will help us find someone else to answer the questions, whether that’s reaching out to another client that they have or even referring us to a colleague. So please, try to come prepared with a solution … we’ll remember that you didn’t leave us in a jam! But if you can’t, that’s fine too … just tell us immediately.
Communication is everything! If something comes up, shoot an email to a writer immediately and say:
“Hey I need more time to get back to you on your question but wanted to check in to let you know that I have an ask out for more details from my client — what’s your latest deadline to receive this?”
“These interview questions may not be up their alley. I’m checking and will let you know as soon as I hear back from them.”
“My client is on vacation this week and I want to get a phoner set up but let me get back to you when I am able to discuss with them.”
“My week is crazy and my inbox is slammed but saw your email, excited to work together on this and will circle back soon with some interview dates/times.”
“I actually don’t think my client is the right fit for this after all. Let’s hopefully work together on something down the line though! Please keep him in mind for XYZ, as this is their specialty.”
Take a quick glance at your client’s answers to email questions before passing them along. This can be a great quality control step to take before sending email quotes from a client back to a writer.
Nicole did an email interview recently and was only planning to use the one source — maybe a second if she found one in time — and was shocked to see that the answers that came back to her questions were one word or one sentence. She sent over like 10 questions that were pretty thorough with a lot of direction on each and was sent back a lot of “Nope,” “Yes, that’s right,” and one-sentence summaries. An article these days is a minimum of 800 words. There’s no shot in hell she can flush that out and make her article shine with maybe a collective 100 words total across 10 questions from this client. So now Nicole is left scrambling to find a replacement because her due date is (gulp) tomorrow!
So what can you do to avoid this? Have your client submit their answers to you per usual and review what they said. If you see something come back like the state that Nicole’s responses came back in, see if you can encourage them to flesh things out a bit more. Maybe even reach out to the writer with their responses as soon as you get them (which is hopefully before the due date) and tell her this is what they sent and see if she can offer some more prompts to help them dive a bit deeper. If answers are too short and brief, we can’t do much with them and they won’t be included in the story.
The same goes for making sure a client doesn’t skip too many questions to make themselves a valuable asset to the story. When we send interview questions over, we get that not every single one may be in your client’s wheelhouse. But for the most part, we have done our research and tailored these questions specifically to your client. It’s completely understandable that sometimes a few questions will be redundant and they’ll say (see question 2) for the answer to #4 because they addressed it within a different response. Or they may not feel qualified to answer one or two of the questions. But we’re seeing sources come back with like 3 or 4 questions answered out of 10.
Jill had this situation lately where she was relying on a source to be her main featured source in an article. When she got the questions back, the person only answered a handful out of 20 questions (the source had said they wanted to weigh in on multiple sections of a VERY long guide) and left most of the interview unanswered. When she asked the publicist, the response was, “Oh we were supposed to answer them ALL?” Yes, and the directions were crystal clear.
Before an interview, make sure your client understands the target audience of the article. First thing’s first: Make sure you tell your clients the outlet in which the article will be running and provide details on that publication’s demographic. We’ve had far too many instances of working on articles for senior publications and the source is suddenly focused on details that only affect women of child-bearing age or it’s for a woman’s publication and the source starts giving advice for men. The only way we’ll be able to use your quotes is if it matches our target audience.
Educate your client on the angle of the article before they agree, making sure they are comfortable with talking about the topic and feel like they have the right expertise to do so. Most articles have a very specific angle and that’s exactly what our editors expect us to deliver... we can’t cover every detail under the sun in 800 words. A seasoned journalist will be as specific as possible when sharing their assignment details with a publicist to ensure your source can deliver exactly what we need … so if you aren’t getting enough info, ask for more details! Understanding the angle of the article is key to delivering interview responses that align with the writer’s needs.
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Any questions on this topic? Our comment section is open and we ALWAYS reply!
Look for part 2 next week!
Want some additional advice more tailored to your specific agency and agendas? Book a consulting session with us:
We offer a variety of consulting packages. Contact us at info@toptierconsulting.NET for more information. Here are a few of our most popular sessions:
All Your Questions Answered Session
Have a bunch of questions you’ve been dying to ask two top-tier journalists? Here’s your chance to learn about what goes on behind the scenes. Book a panel with us and prepare your list. You’ll walk away with all of your questions answered, plus we’ll sprinkle in our best practices throughout the session to help give you (and your clients!) an edge in this highly competitive media landscape.
Pitch Perfecting Strategy Session
Ready to take your pitches to the next level? Or are you wondering why certain pitches aren’t getting much response? Learn how to take your emails from, “Here’s a client I represent,” to “Here’s a story idea you can’t possibly turn down.” Between the two of us, we receive thousands of pitches per week, so we have many tips — and examples — of what works and what doesn’t. From coming up with the perfect email subject line to improve your open rates to sealing the deal with your closing remarks, your word choices matter throughout the entire pitch. We’ll help you perfect them.
Become a Journalist’s BFF: Networking and Relationship Management Session
Some publicists seem to have a transactional “wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am” approach to their work, but highly successful publicists know that building long-term relationships with journalists is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Learn how to meet new journalists, and discover best practices for staying in touch, following up, and creating meaningful relationships. You’ll also discover how to become a writer’s go-to source, how to stand out when answering a writer’s call for sources (whether that’s on HARO, a FB group, Twitter, or Substack), how to avoid common writer pet peeves and more.
Press Package 101 Session
Looking to mail out samples of your clients’ products in hopes of landing coverage? Great, but there’s a list of things you should know before dropping them off at the post office — things like planning, packaging, and communications will make all the difference in your ROI. We’ll help you make your packages more enticing, while actually saving your clients money in the process. And we’ll discuss how to target the right audiences, how to handle post-delivery follow-ups, and more.
Press Trips Invites and Itineraries Session
The two most important aspects to pulling off a successful press trip is nailing your invites and itineraries. First, we’ll dive into journalist targeting and invitation etiquette do’s and don’ts. Then, you’ll learn how to build a press trip itinerary that will actually land you coverage. We’ll focus on striking the perfect blend between offering media the chance to experience a destination, while zeroing in on quality and unique experiences that can lead to coverage — and help you find that elusive balance between keeping writers entertained vs. not overbooking them.
Hosting the Perfect Virtual and/or In-Person Media Event Session
Events are efficient ways to connect with a lot of media in one setting. During these sessions, you’ll learn the ins and outs of how to create a media event that journalists will A) Want to attend B) Will stay engaged at C) Will work into coverage. We’ll teach you how to target the ideal attendees who are there for article ideas and not just the free swag. We’ll talk venues, guest lists, and what to say in your presentation, plus how to coach your clients to interact with media at events in the most beneficial way.
Your Custom Session
The above options are just a sample of topics, based on questions we get asked about most frequently. But if you have something you’d love to discuss that you don’t see on the list, we’re happy to create a custom session around it. Let’s dive deeper!
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Jill & Nicole
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