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Hire a Journalist

journalistI owe the idea in this post to a conversation I had with David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

Most every business these days is really a publishing business of some sort, whether they think that way or not. The need to produce lots and lots of educational content has become standard operating fare in today’s Internet search driven marketing world. But, publishing content in blog posts, ebooks and articles, while considered compulsory, is not the easiest thing to do for some.

A smart move that businesses should consider these days is to hire a journalist, rather than a marketing person, to act as their primary content producer. If you think of your business as a publishing business, the need for journalists becomes obvious.

  • An experienced journalist will usually look at content in the objective, source driven, and factual way they’ve been trained – precisely the way that marketing content must be viewed and communicated these days.
  • An experienced journalist knows how to start with the kernel of an idea and develop an entire story quickly – another key success factor in more is more publishing business.
  • An experienced journalist, particularly one that’s worked in your industry, may possess key contacts throughout your industry and with publications that cover your industry – making them much more than a content production machine.

The good news, for you at least, is that there is a growing pool of very experienced journalists finding themselves without a publication to write for as traditional publishing operations downsize and go out of business, so now is a great time to snap one up, even if just for a few hours of work a week.

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  • UrbaneWay

    John, Good Morning
    You are spot on here. The directional flow of marketing has shifted, and with that the deck chairs also must shift, along with a different training and marketing model.

  • http://www.puredriven.com Patrick Garmoe

    Good morning John,
    For this reason exactly, I'm very bullish on future employment for journalists. I spent 10 years in journalism and was laid off, and couldn't be happier, now doing content creation and social media strategy for a digital marketing agency. I keep trying to convince my fellow laid off former colleagues in journalism that this is the dawn of a whole new market, not just the shrinking of an old one. One other factor that makes journalists a great hire – they enjoy writing lots of content, unlike many people in a traditional advertising structure.

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Patrick – so great to hear from your perspective – what a great way to look at change. Boy, that enjoy point is a biggie. To many people the blank sheet of paper is the scariest thing you can put in front of them.

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Hey Eric, you're right this is merely a symptom of the wholesale change in the way that people get information.

  • http://www.grizzard.com/author/epratum/ Eric Pratum

    Solid idea. I just pointed out over on HeroicDestiny.com that I think there is a large mass a people, who know a lot and could add a lot of value to online conversations, but they generally have a lack of motivation for blogging alone. Journalists are trained content producers. Whether they're focusing on editorial, reporting facts, or whatever else, they have a definite leg up on a person, who knows a lot about a specific industry, but lacks the know-how or motivation to write about it.

  • http://www.consultantlaunchpad.com Peter Osborne

    John,
    This is a terrific idea…for reasons you list and others.

    Journalists understand and respect deadlines. The good ones — particularly former business reporters — will understand your financials and business drivers and be able to help crystallize your brand messages and fine-tune your business plans. And they'll be able to get to the heart of what differentiates you and explain them in a way that resonates with your various constituencies (including your own employees).

    Thanks for this valuable post. As a former journalist, it really resonated with me and will hopefully lead to more business.

    For the journalists reading this who are wondering how to take the next steps from full-time employment to project work and consulting, I recently created a website designed to help you (and others in the same boat) make the transition. I invite you to take a look at Consultant Launch Pad (http://www.consultantlaunchpad.com) and take advantage of the free resources we've put together.

    Peter
    [email protected]
    Twitter: @consultantlaunc

  • jessicaswanson

    Love this idea! Obviously, there all small business owners must be content driven in today's competitive marketplace. But, as you pointed out, they aren't always “writers” by trade (or have time-constraints). This is a brilliant way to get that important content out in front of your target market!

  • http://www.TheESuite.com Dennis Baker

    Excellent ideas here John,

    I think early on, there is real value in being deep in the details of one's business. However, as the business begins to grow, the owner or CEO of the business needs to free themselves up to move on to bigger and better things and “Manage” the business.

    Hiring a journalist could be an Excellent way to do that.

  • http://www.darcangelo.com/blog Rich Kleban

    Hi John,
    Count me among those who couldn't agree more. I'm a former journalist now in charge of business development and marketing for a regional accounting firm. Today's small business needs to provide value to its customers, and we all know that content is king. There are many talented journalists out there just waiting to help your business thrive in today's new media world. Give one a try. You won't be disappointed.

  • # jeffyablon

    John, that point is . . . wonderful. Or problematic. Or both.

    I think the real issue is that marketing has become ABOUT good communications (“become“, Jeff, really?) in a way that it never was. I'm talking, of course, about SEO.

    To do SEO you need, besides the requisite technical understanding, to understand good writing. Traditional marketing writing, though jazzy and pithy, isn't the same as being able to tell a story using lots of words in a way that people wish to read. Now add to that statement the fact that the writing needs to be search-engine friendly.

    Journalists are in fact the right people to pull that off. That's the “wonderful” part.

    The problematic part is the expense. Assume a budget dictum that leaves you able to hire a marketer/marketing person/team, OR a “journalist”, but not both. In this context the former is a bad idea. The latter is also a bad idea, though, because many journalists (presumably MOST of the available ones) have egos that run in a particular way that is likely to hamper their success. It sounds like this:

    MY WORDS ARE BRILLIANT AND I DON'T WANT YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS TAINTING MY WONDERFUL WORK.

    So yeah, a journalist instead of a marketing person is a great idea. But unless you find someone with a journalist's sills and a business person's mindset (i.e., someone who gets both the editorial and the publishing perspectives and is willing to find a way to meld them), the problematic will eat the wonderful.

    Of course, that's what my company does, so this was self serving. Or great marketing. Or great journalism. <wink>

    Jeff Yablon
    President & CEO
    Answer Guy and Virtual VIP Computer Support, Business Change Coaching and Virtual Assistant Services

    Answer Guy and Virtual VIP on Twitter

  • http://www.bulldogconsultant.com Peter Osborne

    Boy, we wouldn't want to have big egos in corporate America, would we?

    While I understand Jeff's point, I would argue that there's an even higher number of big-ego marketing and advertising types who relentlessly defend the sanctity of their copy without regard for the business case. And most have never seen the inside of a newsroom.

    There's good and bad everywhere. Reporters spend their lives having great copy whacked to fit a small space and weak copy polished to something they're proud of. It's happened to them in newsrooms and it's happened to them in the corporate world by CEOs and Communications Executives who can barely put together a sentence.

    In the new world order, you have a great opportunity to hire a former journalist for a project and see if they display an irritating level of ego (and if their strengths outweigh that). One way to find them would be to go to LinkedIn, search on Business Journalists and then see which ones are available and have business experience (like Jeff, that's a self-serving suggestion since you'll find me pretty quickly).

    But even if you skip over my name, you'll find a lot of others who can help you achieve your goals. Good luck!

  • http://www.pointacrossmedia.blogspot.com Todd Johnson

    John,

    Great points. I think you are spot on about companies using the skills of journalists to their advantage.

    There's one key thing journalists bring to the table that all companies need: the ability to tell a story. Good storytelling is taken for granted these days. I wrote about the big storytelling opportunity for Boeing this week at http://www.pointacrossmedia.blogspot.com.

    Todd Johnson
    CEO and Executive Producer
    Point Across Media

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Good marketing is certainly telling stories

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Yes, that comment confused me too as I've yet to meet a journalist with much ego, in fact maybe some could use a little more – I was referring the often over worked, under paid journalist, Those are the folks that can and should remake themselves in the new world of markteing.

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Jeff – I am certain that we could find cases where this would not work, including examples of journalists that are as you describe, although I don't know of them, but I know we could find that in any field, so I still believe this is a tremendous approach for companies ready to more their marketing message into the world of story and mind of the prospect. Oh, and good SEO is more than leaving links in blog comments too.

  • http://www.bluepencilconsulting.com Kate Victory Hannisian

    Peter, excellent points. As someone who spent many years doing business journalism and now helps clients create content that ranges from blogs to books, I will second your point that the good journalists/business writers learn early on to put their egos in the backseat and concentrate on serving the story and getting the point across clearly. We're used to being edited and and squeezing copy to fit — a process that leaves no room for falling in love with your words — and that translates into writing for the business world.

  • Rieva Lesonsky

    Speaking as a journalist (with several corporate clients) this makes a lot of sense. Hopefully we can also point out when the hyperbole kicks into overdrive, likely resulting in customers who simiply will dismiss what you have to say.

  • Kathleen Garolsky

    I like the idea your pointing here.Keep up the good work..

    -kathy

  • http://www.eyesandfeet.com Lux

    This certainly makes a lot of sense. Any ideas, John, on how/where one could look for journalists – for a few hours a day? I mean – is there an online resource you could point us to?

  • Rieva Lesonsky

    If you're looking for freelance journalists, try the jobs listings at MediaBistro.com: http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/, elance.com or JournalismJobs.com: http://www.journalismjobs.com/.

  • http://www.officedeskreviews.com Lloyd Burrell

    # – “An experienced journalist knows how to start with the kernel of an idea and develop an entire story quickly – another key success factor in more is more publishing business.”

    Excellent point here. Your knowledge about your business, your niche and, generally, about marketing, is not enough. What a journalist can do is shift his or her style according to context and needs. In the past years, blogging has created the questionable idea that anyone can write, whereas professional writers are just like any other professional; they have their secrets and abilities that lead to more adequate and effective products.

    Lloyd Burrell
    Publisher
    http://www.officedeskreviews.com

  • dallonchristensen

    This is an excellent idea, especially when so many journalists are freelancers regardless of the economic climate.

    I have two questions regarding this idea.
    1) If you have a good journalist who wants to understand your business, but does not have a good grasp of it yet, what are some good “coaching points” you can discuss?

    2) I know that the relationship can and probably should be like a relationship with a financial planner – I oversee the strategy as the owner, and the journalist does a lot of the tactical work. How do you know where you should make the handoff to tactics?

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Thanks Rieva

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Look for some forums where journalists hang out – http://journobiz.com/forums/

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    Not to mention the awful angst aligned against the approaching anchor.

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    1) I would show them a handful of industry blogs to read and I would have them interview you and your staff as though they were writing a piece about what makes your firm great.

    2) It's probably an ongoing and gradual thing that will be determined by how comfortable you feel, but my guess is that it's faster than you think

  • http://www.eyesandfeet.com Lux

    Ditto! Thanks Rieva, and you too, John! Cheers, Lux

  • # jeffyablon

    John, Peter:

    (hmm . . .more John, maybe).

    Journalists DO need to know when to sublimate their egos, or they don't get to stay journalists for long. But to take that statement and hold up the apparent restraint that such an act requires as lack of ego is either naive or (wow, here's that topic again) self-serving.

    I know loads of journalists, and (like everyone) OF COURSE they have egos. We could joke about it (Roland Headley, anyone?) or be more serious (Dan Rather, perhaps?), but without their egos journalists couldn't BE journalists. It's the editor's job to be dispassionate . . . and of course even the editor has an agenda.

    Perhaps I wasn't clear enough: I actually was agreeing with the journalist point, and was going further, although obtusely: the real deal is that journalists possess the requisite skills to BE marketers, but the discussion means very little unless the person managing the thought process/change knows how to combine the two skill sets and harness the resulting power. That's where it becomes problematic.

    John, as to your not-so-gentle dig about leaving links in blog posts: of course you're correct; just doing that isn't SEO. But it sure is a component of SEO.

    Assuming you were chastising me, my response is this: A) I've participated in the discussion here and it's not only OK but APPROPRIATE to leave a 'calling card' in case people want to know who the heck I am, and B) you as the 'editor' have made a decision to leave posts intact; you could have nuked the links but chose not to.

    And that's the real point behind ALL of this: when you're responsible for a presentation of thoughts/facts/opinions, be it at a magazine, a blog, a forum, or whatever, you need to understand what message you're trying to get across and what the ancillary issues are, formulate both a strategy and a policy, and stick with them until you have a reason to change them.

    Jeff Yablon
    President & CEO
    Answer Guy and Virtual VIP Computer Support, Business Change Coaching and Virtual Assistant Services

    Answer Guy and Virtual VIP on Twitter

  • wordsdonewrite

    I couldn't agree with this more, John. And, yes, I'm a former journalist turned PR/Communications pro! :->

    One great resource for hiring journalists is The Journalism Shop (http://bit.ly/dhcpnj). Some of the country's most talented journalists can be hired there (and news photographers, too). I know about this site because I worked at the LA Times for many years and The Journalism Shop was started by several top tier folks who were laid off from the newsroom. All incredibly knowledgeable people.

    And, heck, you can hire me, too! Anyone on Twitter can vouch for me ;->

    Thanks for reminding everyone that the foundation for great content is the ability to tell a story. Something that all true journalists can do with much more grace than traditional marketers.

    -Amber @wordsdonewrite
    http://wordsdonewrite.blogspot.com

  • http://twitter.com/mktingassist giles shepherd

    Got to agree with this and no i'm not a journalist. Good for blogging and innovation research. One of the challenges though is finding good, reputable and experienced journalists – any one can say they are one….

    tips on finding them appreciated. cheers giles

    http://www.marketingassist.co.uk

  • http://www.optimise-firstfound.co.uk Andy @ FirstFound

    I'd still prefer a copywriter than a journalist. Simply because there always needs to be an underlying sales message in your blogs.

  • http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog ducttape

    We can just agree that perhaps it's a matter of personal taste then

  • http://www.stonebrookservices.com Beth Sager

    It's a great idea to hire a journalist, but it is all about time and money. The sad fact is that most small business owners lack both. With a limited budget, you have no choice but to fill the content pipeline yourself. That, of course, takes time. It takes time away from the other aspects of running your business like servicing customers. The problem being if you don't market, you don't have customers. It's kind of like the chicken and the egg. Although, I just read they figured that one out recently. Maybe that means there's hope for small business owners as well!

    Beth
    Stonebrook Business Services
    http://www.stonebrookservices.com

  • http://www.vgsllc.com Miakel

    Thanks for the post, very insightful. Traditional publishing is almost gone out the window, but internet publishing is extremely important.

    http://hubpages.com/hub/Premier-Team-International

  • http://www.providentpartners.net/blog Albert_Maruggi

    since we are paying homage to David Meerman Scott let me add, Marketing Edge Podcast with the man

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  • Rachel

    Hi John, thank you so much for your post and the hope of life after journalism.

    I have been working as a journalist for almost 10 years on a daily newspaper in the Middle East. I would now like to relocate to the UK and have a career change. I like the sound of marketing or copywriting. Do you or anyone out there have any tips on how i can break into this field and how to approach employers, since i don't have any experience?

    Any tips would be appreciated.

    Rachel

  • Michael Blumfield

    As a former journalist who went back to school in 1993 to get an MBA, I found the toughest part of my transition into marketing was letting go of the journalistic ideal of “the truth.” The newsrooms that I'd worked in were always hostile to the business side of the paper. They were viewed as the enemy and their concerns about pleasing advertisers were mocked. Of course, there's good reason for that wall between journalists and advertisers. But as a marketing communications person, you better embrace your role–helping the organization sell–or you won't do anyone any good.

    Now I'm happy to help my clients sell. In fact, I get far more satisfaction of seeing big hits on an e-newsletter than I did writing a front-page story. Not only do I know that the e-newsletter big hits mean I'm helping the business, I know that people are actually reading what I wrote! (So much for the tough-on-your-ego angle.)