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When I first started handling my own PR, I did it all wrong. What did I know? What I was doing seemed to make sense. I submitted back-to-school ideas in August; gift guide suggestions in November; Mother’s Day in April. That certainly seemed logical. I assumed that you pitch a publication right before it comes out.
What I didn’t know is that national magazines plan their publications at least four months out and regional publications plan about two months out. That means that my back-to-school idea needed to be submitted in late March/early April and my Mother’s Day idea should have been sent in January.
Even further out is the holiday gift guide. Gift guides of most national magazines are fully booked by July 1st. It’s hard to think about holidays when the flowers are blooming and it’s sunny and warm but if you don’t get your submission in by June, don’t count on seeing your product in any magazines when it’s cold and snowy.
What does all this have to do with an editorial calendar? All publications have what is called an “editorial calendar.” These calendars are actually designed for potential advertisers to know what is going to be covered in the magazine in a particular month. The great news for people like us trying to pitch a magazine is that it also lets us know exactly what the content of the magazine is going to be that particular month.
Knowing the themes of a magazine in a particular month lets you know if your story idea might be a potential fit. If you have a new anti-aging skincare line and you see that O Magazine is highlighting beauty products in their July issue, you should reach out to the beauty editor in March. If you are the author of a business book and you see that in September, Forbes. Magazine will be featuring business books, you should be sending a copy of your book to the business editor in April.
Plan out your own editorial calendar of what you could possibly pitch every month. Then, find the magazines that your customers read. This is so important because you will benefit from being in a publication that your customers are reading. Bottom line, getting publicity is about reaching more potential clients and customers.
Research magazine demographics and see which publications your customers are reading. Pull up their editorial calendar. (Most are easily found by Googling “Publication Name editorial calendar year” so Forbes editorial calendar 2022. If you can’t find it, go to the magazine’s website, click on the advertising tab, and look for “media kit”.
Once you have the calendar up, see where you can pitch your story ideas. Remember to count back four months for national publications and two months for regional publications.
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Transcript
Hey everyone, it’s Christina Daves with this week’s Free Publicity Friday PR Tip. This week I want to share some tips on how you can get interviewed in magazines. Before I give you that, make sure you subscribe to the YouTube channel and ring the bell so you find out when I put out these new videos every week.
So how do you get in magazines? How do you know what they’re covering? Magazines have what are called Editorial Calendars and they are actually used for advertising so you can sell ads based on what you’re going to put in the magazine. So the salespeople can say, “Oh, they’re going to be talking about health and wellness this month” or “we’re doing a special legal section” or, they’ll know what they’re covering. And you can find that in the Editorial Calendar. Just Google “editorial calendar and the name of the publication” that’s ideal for you, where your customer and clients are. See what they’re talking about and then pitch them related to what they’re going to be covering anyway. It makes it so much easier for you to get the yes, if you’re giving them a story on a topic that they’re already going to cover.
So that is this week’s Free Publicity Friday PR Tip. If you want to learn more, I’m super excited I just launched the PR Playbook and you can find it at www.YourPRPlaybook.com, which will give you tips like this to help you step-by-step landing in the media. And, if you’re ready to go to that next level and you want to set up call, go to ChatwithChristina.com and I’ll talk to you soon.