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Add a Local Hook to Your Story

Daily newspapers use a variety of national news sources to fill their pages with news. Their readers, however, are oftentimes looking for a local hook to a national story. As a publicist, if you can localize a national story with a local hook, you are much more likely to land a story in a local paper.

For example, in my work with Hinckley Yachts, we have been pitching the local editors in the cities where Hinckley has displayed their boats in boat shows. We have landed big stories in Palm Beach, Florida and Detroit, Michigan, among others. So rather than calling an editor in Florida to tell them about a boat that is built in Maine, we call an editor to tell them about a boat that is being exhibited at their local boat show.

In our work with the Maine Office of Tourism, we have been providing information to newspapers throughout the state about the local winners of statewide tourism awards. So the local paper in Lewiston received a release about a Lewiston resident who won an award rather than hearing about a Bangor resident who won an award.

One particularly powerful technique is to latch on to a national trend and provide an example of how that trend is playing itself out in your local community. Editors love that type of information. For example, there is currently a big return to volunteerism in an effort to build communities and put meaning into people's lives. If you represent a charitable organization, then be sure to highlight your volunteers to the local newspaper editors. Point out the national trend toward volunteerism and how it is impacting your local community.

...more of Nancy's Tips