PR Notes- Criteria for Pitching Local Media

I write a significant amount of news-based stories each month for clients’ electronic newsletters and website content.  It has taken me a number of years to carefully cultivate local media relationships based on relevant content.  Obviously not every story meets the criteria for possible placement, so how do you decide which one to share with your media clients?  Yes, I consider myself to serve two separate clients for each account–the company and the media.  In my experiences the decision is organic versus premeditated.  Take for example a recent story for an interior design company and their client.  The client is a Seattle attorney.  Her Vulcan high-rise condo in the Denny Regrade area features 1800 square feet of open space within a building that highlights a contemporary industrial look with glass, concrete and metal.  The owner was so pleased with the interior design work and the pictures of the furniture and accessories so compelling that it immediately reminded me of a typical feature in the Pacific Northwest Magazine.  The magazine is a weekly insert in the Sunday edition of the Seattle Times, often highlighting unique living environments in the Puget Sound region.  The story is a potential great fit for both of my clients—the interior design client and the editors at the magazine.  Based on that, I sent the story to the editor—with a sentence identifying the PR hyperbole:)  At this point it really doesn’t matter what happens.  I have performed due diligence and ultimately strengthened relationships with both clients.  The next time you have an instinct to move a story to the next level, it’s probably a good time to act.