Does it need to be new to be newsworthy?

My name is Monica Rosenfeld. I’m a professional speaker and the founder of WordStorm PR. Last week I was delivering a workshop to a great group of entrepreneurs and got asked a really good question. Does my product or service need to be new in order for the media to find it newsworthy? I’m going to address that question in today’s video.

Essentially your product or service does not need to be new in order to get media attention. We work with clients whose products and services have been out there for years and still get them regular media exposure. To give you an example right now we’re pitching the story of our Melbourne back surgeon and client called Dr Wong about something that happened to him four years ago. You see four years ago he was entering the hospital his place of work when he was attacked by a mentally unstable person. He had horrific injuries and a massive rehabilitation to get back to work and where he is today. Four years ago this story was covered all over the media. But we’ve been pitching it in the last couple of weeks and mainstream media including many TV programs are interested in running the story. This is because it’s an interesting story. It will engage the audience and help media outlets get ratings and larger readership numbers. And it’s great publicity for Dr Wong because he has the opportunity to talk about how four years later he has changed the way he views his patients and has incorporated a much more compassionate energy into his surgery practice.

You see pitching something new is where most people fall short when they come to pitch their story to the media. A typical pitch to a journalist is, “I’ve got a great new app”, “I’ve got a new gadget”, “I’ve got a new professional service that I’ve just launched”, but there’s nothing newsworthy about something being new. Thousands of people are starting new businesses every day. What is newsworthy is the expertise that you can give the journalists around that product or service that will add value to, engage and inspire their audience.

I hope I’ve given you some food for thought. Feel free to ask me any questions make any comments you wish and if you think this would have been valuable to anyone you know. Feel free to like comment or share. Thank you and I look forward to seeing you next week.

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