Journalists

Talking More

Garth Beyer

When I pick up the phone to pitch to journalists I don’t know… When I type up an email to send to a CEO I’ve never met… When I attempt to write a personal note on a LinkedIn invite to someone inspirational, but has no clue who I am… fear tends to creep up on me.

If you think cold calling is tough when selling, consider how tough it is to connect cold, to establish a relationship with someone who knows nothing about you.

Here’s what gets me through it.

Before I reach out to anyone I’ve never met, I remind myself the more people I talk to, the easier it will be to do, ask, and connect with people later down the line.

If you had to guess which scenario feels better, would you rather dial the number of a journalist who has never heard of you before or would you rather dial the number of a journalist who you’ve talked to before, if even once.

Or… would you rather send an email to someone saying “Hey, I’m friend’s with John Appleseed. He’s spoken highly of you. Would you have time to chat for a few minutes?” That’s certainly better than “Hey, would you have time to chat for a few minutes?”

The more people you talk to now, the more times you put yourself out there to warming a cold connection, the easier things will fall into place for you in the future.

The quickest way to dissipate the fear is to dive straight in it.

 

Stay Positive & Who Are You Connecting To?

Grow A Pair

Garth Beyer

I feel like I’m somewhat qualified, if not required to finally say that.

In the past, I thought telling someone to grow a pair was ignorant, rude and insensitive. Now, though, I wish someone would have told me earlier on. This realization came after I took a phone call earlier today.

An acquaintance of mine sent me a message on Twitter asking if I could spare a few minutes to talk to him about connecting with professionals. He’s in NYC this weekend and set up meetings with an NBC correspondent and a couple of other journalists. (Most need to be told to grow a pair and go make these connections, alas, this friend did not. If you are someone who needs to be told to grow a pair and go schedule meetings with your idols, then be prepared to get told to grow a second time. Read on.)

Without questioning further, I told him I had time this afternoon. He called. He called because he grew a pair and realized that he could use all the help he could get, he realized that while experience is the best teacher, you can still be prepared for the lessons.

He explained his worries, his largest concern being that he would make the NBC correspondent feel as though she wasted her time. A real, natural human concern.

I talked him through it, gave him the rundown of what to expect, ideas for what to ask and the single best way to make her not feel as though he wasted her time. (If you want to know, call or email me.)

Once I hung up, a particular AC/DC song began playing in my head. This acquaintance, this, now friend, has the biggest of them all.

1. Grow a pair and meet with your idols and other professionals in your field of interest. Face to face.

2. Grow a pair and send an email, direct a tweet, make the call to those that can help you get the most out of that experience.

3. Remember that these people you are connecting with didn’t get to where they are now by never growing a pair.

 

Stay Positive & Go Ahead, You Know What To Do

10 Tips To Turning Your Beat Into A Book By Bill Lueders

Garth Beyer

The next few days will be dedicated to posting ruminated-on content gathered from the Turn Your Beat Into a Book event I attended.

Bill Lueders was on the panel and offered this advice:

  1. Don’t write a book on your beat.
  2. Start by thinking about audience.
  3. Writing a book is easier than getting it published.
  4. Write for a press. Most press have a larger mission you need to fulfill.
  5. Not state or local interest. Aim for international interest.
  6. Be flexible on how you define success.
  7. Don’t expect to make money.
  8. Be a reader. 30-50 books a year.
  9. Inaudible. Sorry.
  10. Be emotionally strung, crush indifference.

Lies, Damned Lies and the Internet

Garth Beyer

We may as well give up the attempt to know anything about the fate and fortunes of our armies in any quarter whatever; and all in consequence of the infernal invention of the Internet. It is one of the worst plagues and curses that have ever befallen this human race. It covers us all over with lies, fills the very air we breathe and obscures the very sun; makes us doubt of everything we read, because we know that the chances are ten to one it is false; and leaves us uncertain, at last of our own existence. Men say it brings intelligence quick; yet every event announced by it is always so obfuscated by these quick-coming reports, all destroying one another, that the true story is generally longer in being ascertained than it was before.

On July 10, the editors of The Richmond Enquirer summarized their experience using the electronic telegraph. It just so happens the above paragraph is exactly how they summarized it other than the single use of the word “Internet.” Simply exchange “Internet” with “electronic telegraph” and there you have it.

Don’t mind me. Just putting technology in perspective.

source

 

Garth’s Biff With Social Media “Experts”

Garth Beyer

What do cracked clay vases, my grandma, the sowing machine and specialization all have in common?

They are old, antique, and are either stuck up in the attic or in the grave.

 

You can no longer become “successful” by focusing on one area of life. Painters can’t become successful without knowing different construction and electric techniques. Teachers can’t become successful without knowing parenting and counseling strategies. Fitness trainers can’t become successful without knowing basic psychology lessons and communication skills. It simply can’t be done. Success can’t be reached on one path.

Every boss, every consumer – the entire world expects the very best of you, the very best in a variety of ways.

Well, you can see why there is some contradiction in being called a “Social Media Expert”. What is social media? How many branches of social media are there? Do you think it’s even possible that a person can be an expert in every one of those branches? If so, I wouldn’t want to be refereed to as a social media expert, I would prefer to be called a billionaire.

Sure, Peter Shankman makes a great statement on social media experts “being an expert in Social Media is like being an expert at taking the bread out of the refrigerator. You might be the best-bread-taker-outer in the world, but you know what? The goal is to make an amazing sandwich, and you can’t do that if all you’ve done in your life is taken the bread out of the fridge.”

However, I think Shankman has it wrong. The goal is still to make an amazing sandwich, but Social Media experts not only take the bread out, but all the other ingredients, and put it together and try to make an amazing sandwich. The problem is that the sandwich always sucks because they can’t be the best at every process of sandwich making. I repeat, there is no such thing as a social media expert.

Sympathies to the original “Twitter Sandwich”

The point is, that we can all say we are experts and professionals in social media, but the truth is the only thing we can all say that we are is journalists. We can write about social media all we want, it simply makes us more of a journalist. This post just made me more of a journalist if I may say so.

 

Stay Positive and Spice Up Your Sandwich With Variety

Garth E. Beyer