Test of Timeliness

Recently the business college for which I do marketing communications presented its third women's leadership forum/luncheon, where more than 250 attendees gained from the wisdom of a female Navy helicopter commander.  I had the news release about the event ready for distribution about a week in advance of the event, and we already had a commitment for a story from the Toledo daily newspaper. In meeting with the university's director of media relations, he said he would alert the local television stations about the event about  9 a.m. the morning of the event, as they would not be deciding what they would cover until about 10 a.m. that morning.  (Keep in mind that the event started at 11:30 a.m.)
His wisdom paid off, as two of the three local TV stations came out to cover the event, each getting a few minutes of one-on-one time with the captain.

Whether or not the women's leadership forum would have attracted the TV cameras anyway is a moot point: the lesson here is that the news media, and television in particular, cares about timeliness.

(Be sure to read the next blog article, Patriot Pricing, for a very timely offer.)

I have often advocated that making yourself available to the local news media is an excellent  - - and cost free - -  way to promote your investigative business by enhancing your reputation as an expert. In light of breaking news about national scandals, terrorist activities, cases of high visibility fraud or marital infidelity, etc., the local media will initially focus on feeds from the national networks. But the time will soon come, and the opportunity instantly exists, to provide a local angle to a national story.  True, you may not have any particular knowledge about how a particular politician was caught with his hand in the cookie jar (or elsewhere),  or the exact location of a security cameras which had  footage of a terrorist bomber; but could you speak about what steps are typically taken in uncovering fraud, or how security cameras work and can provide such awesome clear images of a crime….even a crime that may occur in a local business' facility? 

Could you speak about such issues for three minutes with a local reporter?

Opportunities for media visibility can arise at any time.  You should be willing to take timely advantage of them by sharing some expertise you already  have.