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7-Figure Small with Brian Clark
Confessions of a Pink-Haired Marketer
Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing
Get More Clients With Smarter Email Marketing
Hack the Entrepreneur
Members Only
Rainmaker.FM Elsewhere
Site Success: Tips for Building Better WordPress Websites
StudioPress FM
Technology Translated
The Digital Entrepreneur
The Missing Link
The Showrunner
The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience
Youpreneur with Chris Ducker
Zero to Book
Copyblogger FM: Content Marketing, Copywriting, Freelance Writing, and Social Media Marketing
hosted by Darrell Vesterfelt and Tim Stoddart

How to Newsjack Your Way to Free Media Exposure with David Meerman Scott

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Previous Episode:Steven Pressfield and the War of Work More Episodes Next Episode:Answers to the 3 Biggest Email Marketing Questions We Get

All Episodes:

March 30, 2020

The Advantage of Email Marketing, Featuring Nathan Barry of ConvertKit

March 15, 2020

How to Write Content That Resonates

March 9, 2020

How to Conquer Your Fear of Selling, with Leah Neaderthal

March 2, 2020

How to Build Remarkable Products to Grow Your Business, with Ramit Sethi

February 17, 2020

What You Should Talk about on Your Podcast, with Tara McMullin

February 9, 2020

How to Win at Search in 2020

February 3, 2020

How to Turn Pro as a Freelance Writer

January 27, 2020

Marketing Segmentation and Personalization with Brennan Dunn of RightMessage

January 20, 2020

Podcasting Still Matters, with Pat Flynn from Smart Passive Income

January 13, 2020

The New Look Copyblogger in 2020

January 8, 2020

New Year, New Copyblogger

October 23, 2019

The Self-Reliant Entrepreneur with John Jantsch

October 2, 2019

Consistency Will Take You Further

September 25, 2019

The Past, Present, and Future of Online Learning

September 16, 2019

How to Get More of the Right Things Done

September 9, 2019

Why the Future Is Still Email

September 3, 2019

What’s Next for
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August 26, 2019

How Smart, Nimble Companies Are Using Webinars Today

August 19, 2019

The Clarity Method: A Conversation with Tim Brownson

August 12, 2019

Digital Business Trends and the Latest on the Rainmaker Platform

August 5, 2019

4 ‘Naive’ Business Principles for Enduring Success

July 8, 2019

How to Write an Epic Blog Post, Part 3: Polishing and Promotion

July 1, 2019

How to Write an Epic Blog Post, Part 2: Getting It Written

June 24, 2019

How to Write an Epic Blog Post, Part 1: Thinking and Research

June 17, 2019

3 Almost Magical Headline Ingredients for More Traffic, Engagement, and Shares

June 10, 2019

Lessons Any Business Can Learn from an Impressive Influencer Marketing Fail

June 3, 2019

13 Ways of Looking at a Headline

May 27, 2019

The 7 ‘Bad’ Habits of Incredibly Successful People

May 20, 2019

Writers: How to Move from Making a Living to Driving Revenue

May 13, 2019

Choose the Right Frame to Boost the Power of Your Content

May 6, 2019

How Copywriting Teacher Belinda Weaver Reenergized Her Email List for Massive Engagement

April 29, 2019

3 Reasons Why Really Good Writers Sometimes Can’t Find Great Clients

April 22, 2019

3 Slightly Embarrassing Emotions that Drive Effective Copywriting

April 15, 2019

Get 10 Content Marketing Boosters in 20 Minutes

April 8, 2019

Becoming the ‘Chief Empathy Officer’ of Your Copy and Content

April 1, 2019

One of the Most Important Marketing Decisions You’ll Ever Make

March 18, 2019

What Nobody Wants to Hear about Content Marketing

March 11, 2019

Getting Your Big, Scary Projects Finished: A Conversation about Growing Gills

March 4, 2019

When Is It Time to Bring in a Professional Copywriter?

February 25, 2019

Using Content to Systematically Move Prospects Toward a Purchase

February 18, 2019

Understanding the Lifecycles of Your Website, with Pamela Wilson

February 11, 2019

5 Ways to Manage a Stress-Induced Creative Slump

February 4, 2019

3 Ways Strategic Content Can Drive Measurable Business Outcomes

January 28, 2019

The Social Media Platform Every Content Creator Should Be Using in 2019 (Nope, It’s Not Facebook)

January 21, 2019

Real Talk about Generating High-Quality Content

January 14, 2019

A Conversation with Paul Jarvis about Staying a ‘Company of One’

October 29, 2018

The 3 Plus 1 Foundational Elements of Effective Persuasion

October 22, 2018

5 Essential Copywriting Techniques from Copyblogger

October 15, 2018

5 Ways to Recover Your Professional and Creative Confidence

October 8, 2018

5 Stinky Sardine Secrets to Make Your Content More Fascinating

September 24, 2018

The Mindset ‘Hack’ that Frees Your Creativity and Makes You Happier

September 18, 2018

How to Kill Your Sales and Mess up Your Business: Lessons from a Used Car Salesman

September 4, 2018

The 7 Things Writers Need to Make a (Good) Living

August 27, 2018

Are You Making These Social Media Marketing Mistakes?

August 20, 2018

Fix These 7 About Page Mistakes for More Traffic and (Possibly) Better SEO

August 13, 2018

7 Ways to Boost Your Creativity

August 6, 2018

A 10-Step ‘Checklist’ for Your Content Marketing Site

July 30, 2018

The 3 Keys to Publishing Strong Content … Even If You Aren’t a ‘Great’ Writer (Yet)

July 23, 2018

Fix These 3 Points of Failure to Get Better Results for Your Content

July 16, 2018

Big Changes at ConvertKit: A Discussion with Founder Nathan Barry

July 9, 2018

3 Skills to Master to Become a Marketing Badass this Year

June 18, 2018

The Quiet Power of Conversational Copy

June 11, 2018

5 Rules of Thumb to Relieve SEO-Induced Stress

June 4, 2018

How to Use the GDPR to Make Your Business Stronger than Ever

May 14, 2018

‘Good Karma’ Selling that Works: A Conversation with Tim Paige

April 30, 2018

How to Get More Comfortable (and Effective) at Selling

April 23, 2018

Privacy and Permission in the Wake of Cambridge Analytica

April 16, 2018

Seth Godin and How to Create Change

April 9, 2018

Email? Chatbots? Social? How Are We Supposed to Reach People?

March 26, 2018

The Double-Edged Sword that Can Make (or Break) Your Content

March 19, 2018

Make More Progress by Getting (Gently) Out of Your Comfort Zone

March 12, 2018

Are You Doing Content Marketing Wrong?

March 5, 2018

Storytelling for Modern Content Marketing (Part 2 of 2)

February 26, 2018

Storytelling for Modern Content Marketing (Part 1 of 2)

February 19, 2018

10 Quality Factors Search Engines Need to See on Your Site

February 12, 2018

A Simple Content Strategy to Make Your Site Massively More Useful

February 5, 2018

How to Avoid a Heartbreaking Business Failure

January 29, 2018

Hey Writers: Let’s Get You Paid What You’re Worth

January 15, 2018

5 Keys to Making Your Content More Shareable

December 18, 2017

3 Observations on Trends (but not Predictions) for 2018

December 11, 2017

3 Tips Now to Build a Strong Foundation in 2018

December 4, 2017

The 3 Success Factors that Help Writers Earn a Great Living

November 27, 2017

How to Recognize a Great Content Idea

November 20, 2017

How to Cultivate a More Meaningful Gratitude Practice

November 13, 2017

Advice for Poets, Advice for Killers

October 30, 2017

Face Your Business Fears on Halloween Week

October 23, 2017

How to Make Smarter Decisions about Your Website

October 2, 2017

A Series of Unfortunate Content Events

September 18, 2017

The Evolution of a Successful Copywriter

August 28, 2017

7 Ways to Improve Your Marketing by Harnessing the Power of Evil

August 14, 2017

Smart Questions from our Brilliant Audience

August 7, 2017

Does the Web Have Enough Patience for Your In-Depth Content?

July 31, 2017

How to Write (Much Better) Blog Comments

July 17, 2017

Which Works Better: Positive or Negative Content?

July 10, 2017

How to Attract the Exact Customers You Want

July 3, 2017

How to Create Stability and Success as an Artist

June 19, 2017

Two Powerful Resources for Life-Changing Growth

June 12, 2017

How to Turn All that Marketing Advice into Action

June 5, 2017

How to Develop a Compelling Marketing Idea in 4 Steps

May 30, 2017

Getting Over the Fear of Selling

May 22, 2017

Talking Community and Digital Business with Tara Gentile

May 15, 2017

Plagiarism, Self-Deception, Bad Sandwiches, and Other Interesting Disasters

May 1, 2017

Professional Writers: Find Out How to Get Certified by Copyblogger

April 17, 2017

The Painful Core Lesson Taught by 3 Astonishing Big-Brand Fails

April 3, 2017

5 Mindset Habits that Actually Work

March 27, 2017

On Grammar, Usage, and Not Being a Great Big Jerk

March 20, 2017

Creative Strategies for Content Writers

March 13, 2017

A New Ultra-Easy Resource for Creating Excellent WordPress Sites

February 20, 2017

Thriving Freelancers and Clients from Hell

February 13, 2017

Politics, Content Marketing, and the 2017 Super Bowl Ads

February 6, 2017

Copyblogger Book Club: Winning the Story Wars

January 23, 2017

3 Content Marketing Strategy Fails (and How to Fix Them)

January 9, 2017

The 2017 Content Excellence Challenge: Your January Assignments

December 19, 2016

Bad Writing Advice: The ‘Post Truth’ Episode

December 12, 2016

Get Ready Now for a Creative and Productive 2017

December 5, 2016

The 4 Pillars Every Online Business Is Built On

November 28, 2016

Orbit Media’s Latest Survey of 1000 Bloggers

November 14, 2016

Have You Already Missed the Podcasting Gold Rush?

November 7, 2016

Getting More Traffic, Links, and Shares to Your Content

October 31, 2016

5 Quick Wins for Content Marketers

October 24, 2016

Announcing: An Intriguing New Tool for Collaborative Content

October 17, 2016

A New Book to Make Content Marketing Easier

October 10, 2016

Behind the Scenes at Copyblogger: Our New Email Approach

October 3, 2016

The ‘Obligatory’ Structure of Effective Content

September 26, 2016

7 Powerful Content Strategies Borrowed from Advertising Masters

September 15, 2016

How to Handle Demographic and Psychographic Segmentation (without Looking Like an Idiot)

September 8, 2016

Ethics, Professionalism, and Good Manners for Content Marketers

September 1, 2016

3 Questions that Can Haunt Creative Professionals

August 25, 2016

How to Give and Get Exceptional Testimonials, Part Two

August 18, 2016

How to Give and Get Exceptional Testimonials, Part One

August 11, 2016

Are You Leaving Money on the Table with Weak Headlines?

August 4, 2016

Content Marketing for Nonprofits

July 28, 2016

The One-Two Punch that Creates the Most Successful Copywriters

July 21, 2016

Pokémon Go: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

July 14, 2016

5 Suggestions When You’re Writing About Controversy

July 7, 2016

Announcing: A Breakthrough Educational Collaboration between Copyblogger and U.C. Davis

June 30, 2016

How to Break Past the #1 Conversion Killer

June 23, 2016

The New Age of Marketing Automation: Powerful, Simple, Cost-Effective

June 16, 2016

How to Make a (Really Good) Living as a Freelance Writer

June 9, 2016

Self-Publishing, Side Hustles, and Doing It All: A Conversation with Linda Formichelli

June 2, 2016

A Process for Content Marketing Success

May 26, 2016

Content Marketing Best Practices: Getting Email Opt-Ins

May 19, 2016

Behind the Scenes: Adventures in Advertising

May 12, 2016

Trump, Apple, and Facebook Advertising: Content Marketing News for May, 2016

May 5, 2016

Sally Hogshead and the Art of Fascination

April 28, 2016

Behind the Scenes at the Rainmaker Digital Company Meeting!

April 14, 2016

Social Media News, Social Media Constants

April 7, 2016

Strategies for B2B Podcasting, with Clark Buckner

March 31, 2016

Content Marketing Success Stories: Fitness Powerhouse Examine.com

March 24, 2016

Behind the Scenes: An Inside Look at the Rainmaker FM Redesign

March 17, 2016

Our Latest Advice and Resources for Digital Business Owners

March 10, 2016

Should Content Publishers Adopt Google’s New AMP?

March 3, 2016

7 Ways to Get Smarter with Social Media Listening

February 25, 2016

Content Marketing Shout-Out: Orbit Media and Andy Crestodina

February 18, 2016

The Tactic You Should Steal from Copyblogger

February 11, 2016

Content Marketing News for February, 2016

February 4, 2016

Email Marketing: The Misunderstood Powerhouse

January 28, 2016

The Secret Weapon Behind Great Websites: The Role of the Content Editor

January 21, 2016

Behind the Scenes: The Relaunch and Re-Imagining of Copyblogger.com

January 14, 2016

Trends and Predictions for Digital Commerce: A Conversation with Brian Clark

January 7, 2016

2016 Content Marketing Resolutions

December 28, 2015

The End of The Lede, The Beginning of Copyblogger FM

November 10, 2015

Constraints Can Be Blessings (Plus 2 Other Essential Lessons Jerod Re-Learned This Week)

November 3, 2015

Long or Short? The Content Length Question Answered, Once and For All

October 27, 2015

The Simple Publishing Hack That Gives Old Content New Life (Plus 3 More Tips)

October 20, 2015

The Surprising Truth about Earning a Profit from Your Content

October 13, 2015

How to Move Your Audience From Infatuation to Love

October 6, 2015

3 Things Your Audience Wants You to Know about Useful Content

September 29, 2015

Revisiting Authenticity: What It Is, What It’s Not, and Why It Matters

September 22, 2015

Publishing Lessons from Dave Pell, the Most Fascinating Email Newsletter Writer in the Business

September 15, 2015

Why Content Creators Should Kiss Their Programmers

September 8, 2015

Finally — A Podcast about the Superiority of Written Content

September 1, 2015

Hot Seat: Grilling Jerod on Using Audio Content to Seed a Content Arsenal

August 25, 2015

How to Optimize Your Headlines for Content Discovery with Vinegar (Before You Die of Cholera)

August 18, 2015

5 Stories That Explain Jerod Morris (Plus One Massive Marketing Lesson)

August 11, 2015

Lede Potpourri: A Big Idea, Talking About Demian Behind His Back, and Lessons from #PM15

August 4, 2015

How to Attend an Industry Conference Like a Boss

July 28, 2015

Getting the Most Out of a Conference When You’re There to Promote, Part 1

July 21, 2015

How Much Does the Modern Content Marketer Need to Know About SEO?

July 14, 2015

Are Podcasters Digitally Sharecropping Without Realizing It?

July 7, 2015

Celebrating Our 101st Episode (with a Special Guest Interviewer)

June 30, 2015

Why The Phrase ‘Leaders Are Readers’ Should Die

June 23, 2015

Why You Should Think Outside the Box About Online Courses

June 16, 2015

The Proper (and Safe) Way to Republish Old Articles

June 9, 2015

How to Grow an Audience on LinkedIn by Repurposing Content

June 2, 2015

Key Takeaways from Three-and-a-Half Hours with Henry Rollins

May 27, 2015

Rapid-Fire Takeaways from Authority Rainmaker

May 19, 2015

The Proper Way to Grow an Audience on Medium

May 12, 2015

The Introvert’s Guide to Launching a Successful Podcast

May 5, 2015

The One Quality All Popular Podcasts Share

April 28, 2015

Proof That Grit Is the Only Way to Reach Your Potential

April 21, 2015

Do We Celebrate Failure Too Much?

April 14, 2015

Choose Yourself Part 2: James Altucher Fights Back

April 7, 2015

Should We Fear Content Shock? (Or Could It Actually Be a Good Thing?)

March 31, 2015

Should You Really ‘Walk in the Direction of Your Fear’?

March 24, 2015

Is ‘Choose Yourself’ Good Advice … or New-Age Phooey?

March 17, 2015

Is Authority Earned or Bestowed?

March 3, 2015

Dan Pink on How to Succeed in the New Era of Selling

February 24, 2015

Here’s How to Answer the Most Important Question in Life (and Make a Living from It)

February 17, 2015

Sally Hogshead on How You Can Unlock Your Natural Ability to Fascinate

February 10, 2015

How to Learn from Your Successes

January 27, 2015

How to Learn From Your Mistakes

January 13, 2015

Lessons Learned from Conducting Two Monster Audience Surveys

December 16, 2014

Adaptive Content: A Trend to Pay Attention to in 2015

December 2, 2014

The Most Important Lessons You Should Have Learned in 2014

November 18, 2014

How We Built Our Careers Online (And What You Can Learn From It)

November 4, 2014

Interview with Brian Clark: How Customer Experience Maps Help You Develop a Smarter Content Strategy

October 21, 2014

How Empathy Maps Help You Speak Directly to the Hearts of Your Audience

October 7, 2014

How to Ignite a Feeling in Your Audience

September 23, 2014

Are You Overlooking This Cornerstone of a Smart Content Strategy?

June 26, 2014

How to Curate Knowledge, Turn it Into Wisdom, and Build Your Audience

June 19, 2014

How Successful Writers Curate Ideas

June 13, 2014

The 5 W’s of Link Curation

June 6, 2014

Why You Should Curate Content (And How to Do It Right)

May 30, 2014

How Freaks and Misfits Can Succeed in Business: A Conversation with Chris Brogan

May 23, 2014

The 2 Reasons People Don’t Click on Your Buttons … And How to Overcome Them

May 16, 2014

Chase Customers, Not Clicks

May 9, 2014

How to Be Authentic

May 2, 2014

How to Close With Style

April 25, 2014

The Best of Seth Godin on Copyblogger

April 17, 2014

How to Choose Arresting Images for Your Blog Posts (And Why You Should)

April 11, 2014

Removing Blog Comments: The View So Far

April 4, 2014

How to Use Internal Cliffhangers

March 28, 2014

Hangout Hot Seat with Brian Clark

March 21, 2014

How to Tell a Seductive Story

March 14, 2014

How to Create Exquisite Subheads

March 7, 2014

How to Write Killer Bullet Points

February 28, 2014

How to Write Damn Good Sentences

February 21, 2014

How to Use Persuasive Words

February 14, 2014

Michael Stelzner on Capturing Emails and Committing to Quality

February 7, 2014

How to Nail Your Opening

January 24, 2014

How to Write a Magnetic Headline (in Under 15 Minutes)

May 18, 2012

Seth Godin on When You Should Start Marketing Your Product, Service, or Idea

May 11, 2012

How to Attract an Audience by Integrating Content, Social, and Search

March 30, 2012

Why You Should Build an Audience Before You Build a Business

March 16, 2012

How Chris Brogan Built His Content Platform

March 9, 2012

Jay Baer on How to Turn Interested Prospects into Lifelong Customers

March 2, 2012

A 30-Minute Copywriting Course from a Master of the Craft

February 24, 2012

The Path to a Legendary Copywriting Career

February 17, 2012

5 Tips for Affiliate Marketing Beginners

February 10, 2012

Why Not Sell Physical Stuff With Digital Media?

February 3, 2012

Whether You Call it Blogging or Not, Online Content Still Rules

January 27, 2012

Answers to the 3 Biggest Email Marketing Questions We Get

January 20, 2012

How to Newsjack Your Way to Free Media Exposure with David Meerman Scott

January 13, 2012

Steven Pressfield and the War of Work

November 18, 2011

The Strategy Behind the Copyblogger Redesign

November 11, 2011

7 Ways to Create an Email Marketing "Snowball Effect"

November 4, 2011

Warning: If You're Not a Privacy Nut, You're Losing Sales

October 28, 2011

The 3 Kinds of Writing That Builds a Business

October 21, 2011

The Art of Seductive Writing: A Conversation with Robert Greene

October 7, 2011

Why Content Marketing Doesn't Suck

September 30, 2011

Are You Weird Enough to Succeed at Content Marketing?

September 23, 2011

What Works With SEO Right Now and Why No One Does What You Want

September 16, 2011

Are You Flushing Your Marketing Down the Social Media Toilet?

September 11, 2011

Seth Godin on Blogging, Business Books, and Creating Content that Matters

September 2, 2011

The Return of Copyblogger Radio …

June 10, 2011

Answered: Your Most Burning Content Marketing Questions

June 3, 2011

How to Get All the Clients and Customers You Can Handle

May 20, 2011

Is Content Marketing Worth the Work?

May 13, 2011

How to Write Nearly Undeletable Emails

May 6, 2011

Is the Online Gold Rush Over?

April 22, 2011

The Art of Enchanting Online Marketing with Guy Kawasaki

April 15, 2011

The Market for Something to Believe in is Infinite: An Interview with Hugh MacLeod

April 8, 2011

How to Constantly Create Compelling Content

March 25, 2011

The Content Marketing Question You Need to Answer … Now

March 18, 2011

Good SEO is Simple. Really.

March 4, 2011

Did Social Media Kill the Marketing Star?

February 25, 2011

How to Write (and Execute) a Simple but Powerful Business Plan

February 17, 2011

How to Kick Groupon to the Curb and Become a Local Hero

February 3, 2011

Convert … Or Die

January 27, 2011

Attention: Is Your Headline Getting Any?

January 20, 2011

How to Craft Landing Pages that Work

January 13, 2011

Why Every Smart Business is in the Media Business

January 5, 2011

2011 Content Marketing Predictions

December 15, 2010

Tim Ferriss on How to Reinvent Yourself with Blog Marketing

December 8, 2010

The 6 Elements of an Influential Web Experience

December 1, 2010

Your Staggeringly Unfair Marketing Advantage

November 17, 2010

How to Get Some Action

November 10, 2010

The Foundation of All Marketing that Works

November 3, 2010

Introducing Copyblogger Radio

January 20, 2012

How to Newsjack Your Way to Free Media Exposure with David Meerman Scott

What if getting big PR and media exposure for your business or idea were no longer out of your reach or budget?

What if you could “inject” your name or brand into a national or international story of your choosing, becoming part of the story yourself?

David Meerman Scott, a veteran PR and marketing expert, has written a book that teaches you how to accomplish that, and more.

Enter Newsjacking, a powerful way to get seen and heard in today’s big media environment…

In this episode, David Meerman Scott and I discuss:

  • How a single blog post brought one company $1,000,000 in sales
  • How to become a Newsjacker with a blog and Twitter
  • What your website must look like in the near future
  • Where journalists are desperately looking for content
  • 3 Newsjacking case studies you can use right away
  • The main goal of Newsjacking and how to achieve it

Hit the flash player below to listen now:

How to Newsjack Your Way to Free Media Exposure with David Meerman ScottRobert Bruce
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The Transcript

Please note that this transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and grammar.

________________

Robert: This is Internet Marketing for Smart People Radio . I am Robert Bruce and I’ve got what I think is going to be an extremely useful, interesting, and powerful interview for you and your business today.

Are you a news junkie? Are you looking for ways to up the PR and media coverage of your business without spending thousands of dollars per month? Would you like to hear about a simple and powerful PR plan using Twitter and your own blog to accomplish it? Well stay tuned because that’s exactly what we are going to get into today.

I am joined on the line by David Meerman Scott, author of the book Newsjacking, How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage. David is a marketing strategist, keynote speaker, seminar leader, and the author of seven books that have been published in more than 30 languages.

He’s former vice president of marketing for two publicly traded tech companies and Asia Marketing Director for Knight-Ridder, which was one of the world’s largest newspaper and electronic information companies. He’s traveled the world as a professional speaker and travels today to his computer to answer a few questions for us here. David thanks for coming on the show. How are you doing today?

David: My pleasure Robert. I am doing fantastic. Thank you.

Robert: Well as a true fan of Matt Drudge and the news cycle in general, I am fascinated by your new book. What is newsjacking?

David: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. I am a huge Matt Drudge fan too, I mean he was one of the very first people that understood what was going on, I think probably more than 10 years ago now.

Newsjacking is the idea that when something is breaking, either in the general news cycle, or if you are a B2B company, in the industry that you’re in, or if you’re a local business in the local market that you serve, that if you are very, very clever and very, very fast, and get something into the market that the journalists are looking for, in order to write their stories, you can become a part of those news stories.

It’s a tool that PR people have been using for decades; it’s nothing new except that we now have the opportunity to do it in real time. Before, it took a long time to do it.

Robert: And a lot of money right?

David: Yes, and you had to have relationships and so on. So fundamentally, it really is a brand new concept. That’s the idea, take for example Larry Flint, who is my favorite newsjacker; when Anthony Weiner resigned his job as a US Congressman because of a sexting scandal, Larry Flint offered him a job as the vice president of his internet division and then hundreds and hundreds, and hundreds of mainstream media stories – magazines, radio, television, and newspapers – wrote about Larry Flint’s job offer. It was a matter of just creating a blog post offering the job.

What’s changed today in the way that news is written and I know, I’ve been in the news business for almost 25 years and I am still writing my own stuff for the Huffington Post and I did a guest post for TechCrunch and whatnot.

Journalists now go to Google and the other search engines, they go to social media, and they look for sources. It’s no longer a matter of waiting for people to pitch them; they are out trying to find stuff. When you’ve got the best information on the breaking story of the moment, you can get rewarded with tons of coverage.

Newsjacking and the ebook revolution

Robert: Okay we are going to get into some specifics of how to do this a little bit later in this interview, but am I wrong here or have you newsjacked the current ebook revolution just a bit of yourself with the release of this book.

David: You are a very wise man, Robert. That’s exactly what I did. The new Amazon Kindle Fire was released on the very same day, which was not a coincidence, that I released my new book, Newsjacking. Newsjacking is eBook only, and it’s available on the Kindle Fire, the iPad, the Sony eReader, Barnes & Noble Nook, and a few other formats, and there was a lot of buzz about the Kindle Fire on the day it released. Mainly, because it’s a new way of reading books.

You can do it to a similar thing on an iPad of course, it’s full color, you can link from one part of the book to another, and it’s unlike a linear experience that paper books tend to be. As well, I think the most important thing is that you can link to external content, so you can be reading a book and on a Kindle Fire or iPad or a Barnes and Noble Nook and you can see a hyperlink and you can go watch a video, or you can go somebody’s Twitter feed, or you can see the actual blog post that I might mention in one of the stories that I am writing within the newsjacking book, and that’s really new and that’s really different.

I did a lot newsjacking of the idea that that Kindle Fire offers a new way to write business books, and a new way for people to consume business books and in fact, it was a reasonable success. I got into a Publishers Weekly and I got into Media Bistro and TechCrunch covering the idea of the Kindle Fire and whatnot, but a bunch of different publications wrote about me and the book, which was the goal. So it was very perceptive of you to notice that.

Newsjacking case studies you can use

Robert: Well there is that, and you mentioned Larry Flint as well. Can you give us one more really clear examples in the real world of what newsjacking looks like? Something you’ve come across recently or maybe even a couple of examples in your book, of course, so that people can get a better idea of what it is and how to do it.

David: Okay so here’s an example of about two weeks ago. President Obama went on a recent Asia Pacific swing, and he visited a bunch of countries including Australia. When he visited Australia, a very, very clever insurance company realized that the president was going to be in Australia and they gave him a free policy that covered his life in case he was eaten by a crocodile.

Now I know that sounds incredibly ridiculous and it is to a certain degree kind of ridiculous. Here is what that did. It got the idea of insurance, which is the business that this particular company is in, into the news at the same time that President Obama was visiting Australia.

It is just fascinating to me that the insurance company’s name is TIO Insurance, there was a post entitled “Obama to be covered for croc attack,” and the headlines that came out of the media from this were amazing. I am just reading the one from the Herald-Sun, it read, “Barack Obama insured against crocodile attack in the northern territory.”

I counted 4,969 mainstream media news stories that referenced in that context of Obama’s visit to Australia, the fact that he now had this crocodile coverage. How much time did that take TIO Insurance to do? I mean, gosh, an hour? Maybe an hour and a half? Do you know, to have somebody else edit the blog post? What did they get for it? A ton of media coverage.

I was a PR guy for a number of years for companies. I was head of corporate communications for a couple of publically traded companies. That many news stories, 4,969, that would have taken me precisely a decade to generate that kind of coverage and these guys did it in an hour.

That’s what newsjacking is. It’s looking for what is going on in the news, and then creating a piece of content specifically designed to get the reporters interested who are looking for angles on the story to add.

The goal of newsjacking and “the second paragraph”

Robert: Okay, let’s get into some details here. In chapter 3, you cover “the goal of the newsjacker”, which is to own the second paragraph, you say. What is the second paragraph and how do we go about owning it?

David: When journalists are covering a story, like the two we just mentioned as we’ve been talking; one was the fact that Anthony Wiener resigned from Congress, and the other was President Obama was going to Australia.

The media gets the facts, they are easy to find, who, what, when, why and how, and it’s easy to create the initial story. But as journalists are looking and scrabbling to differentiate their publication and story a little bit from others, they are looking for an interesting angle on stories and they in fact are going to the search engines and looking for interesting angles.

They are going to Twitter to look for interesting angles. They are going to other social media to see if they can find something that other reporters haven’t picked up on yet.

So that extra angle typically will come in the second or third paragraphs. I call it the second paragraph just to make it easy. So the first paragraph is “President Barack Obama of the United States of America is visiting the northern territories of Australia on such and such a date, he will be meeting with the Prime Mister of Australia, blah, blah.”

The second paragraph is “Oh by the way he’s insured against crocodile attacks by TIO Insurance, an insurance company based in Australia.” That becomes the second paragraph.

The goal of newsjacking is to get your business, your company, your products into stories that are being written anyway. It’s completely different from typical public relations, which is trying to get the reporters to write about your stuff. In this case, they are looking to write, they want to write, they are eager to find an angle as opposed to the typical public relations, which is pitching people to try to get them to do something.

Can newsjacking replace big PR bills?

Robert: Are you really saying that a small business applying these techniques can skip the major PR Company and the bill that comes with it to accomplish these PR and media goals?

David: That’s a loaded question. I am absolutely convinced that anybody can do this. Anybody can newsjack. An individual can newsjack, proven by me, I don’t have anybody working for me. I don’t have an infrastructure, I don’t have an agency. Or somebody who works for a company can newsjack. Any kind of company, non-profit, rock-bands, church, B2B, B2C, anybody can newsjack. However, there might be a need to have an agency to help with other things.

So I am not suggesting that newsjacking is a replacement for a comprehensive public relations campaign. But I’ll tell you this, as a way to get your business into the media; I’ve never seen anything better. I’ve been in public relations and marketing for 25 years, I’ve written eight books on public relations and marketing, and I’ve worked with hundreds and hundreds of companies, I’ve never seen anything as powerful as this.

How a single blog post brought one company $1,000,000 in sales

Robert: We talk a lot on Copyblogger about how to become the likable expert in your industry and you align with this goal in chapter 7 of your book. What is one way within this newsjacking universe that we can accomplish trust and authority within our own industry?

David: This is a particularly great way to do exactly what you just described. That is if you already have a blog that’s trusted and respected, if you already have content that people are engaged with, it makes it even more powerful and easier to get into the media by using newsjacking because you are a known entity.

So if you are already creating great content, if you’re already blogging on site, and a journalist can see that there are some comments on the blog, if there is action on the blog, if they Google the blog’s name they’ll see that a bunch of people have linked to it, that trust absolutely translates to the idea that you will be able to newsjack easier. If you have an established blog, and built trust, you are going to have a higher SEO factor for your content than someone who is just starting out.

Therefore, if you do attempt to newsjack by creating a blog post, then your content will rise to the surface and the reporters are more likely to see it. The other thing that this does, which is fascinating, is when your customers or potential customers, or other members of the media, or people who are your business partners, or others thinking of becoming employees or your actual employees, all of those constituents, when they are reading their local newspaper, or watching the TV station, or when they are reading an online publication, and it’s the story of the day and it happens to include the second paragraph which mentions your company, what better way to generate trust than that? I mean it’s fantastic.

I’ll give you a B2B example which is one of my favorite examples, it’s a story of Eloqua, which is a marketing automation software business, CEO Joe Payne noticed that one of their largest competitors was acquired by Oracle this giant software company, and when he did a Google search the only thing that came up when he searched was the cryptic three sentence announcement made by Oracle that they had done the deal.

Joe did a blog post, a real time blog post about two hours after the announcement of the acquisition, welcoming Oracle to the party of the marketing automation software business, he had a bunch of quotes in there, he cited some data, and now when the analysts, like Forester and Gartner and those guys, and the B2B media, people like Information World and PC World, and publications like that were looking for background information on the story that they writing about the acquisition, what they had found was this fantastic blog post by the competitor.

He got into the second or third paragraphs of all of those stories and generated something like a dozen media hits, and for B2B that’s fantastic, and as a result of that then built incredible amounts of trust with his existing customers, and also more importantly, with the customers of Market 2 Lead, the company that had been acquired by Oracle.

Amazingly that one blog post that took him a couple of hours to write, generated over a million dollars worth of new business because of the trust that he was able to generate within the customers of the company that was acquired, and then they said “Well shoot, maybe we should go with these other guys.”

Why Twitter is so important for newsjacking

Robert: I have two more questions for David if you’ve got the time. First, I’d like to remind our unequaled listeners that this show is brought to you by Internet Marketing for Smart People the premier online marketing course that is delivered straight to your email inbox. It’s the best of Copyblogger wrapped up into 20 useful, readable and livable emails, dripped out to you about once a week, essentially you are getting the nearly six years of Copyblogger content, totally free and without having to go back and read almost 2,000 articles.

If you want in, it’s easy, head over to CopyBlogger.com scroll down to about the middle of the home page where you will you’ll see the headline “Grab our 20 part internet marketing course,” drop your email address into the little box there and we will take care of the rest.

David, you cover many ways to accomplish this strategy and I don’t want to give away the farm on this interview here, I mean I’d like to but we’re not going to. Let’s touch on everyone’s favorite tool, why is Twitter essential in this newsjacking strategy?

David: It’s an essential because reporters are now going to Twitter to find that other piece of information about what’s going on. What’s particularly important with Twitter is to either use the established Twitter hash tag for a particular subject that you have a take on the news for, and/or to use reporter’s Twitter IDs if they’re already writing a story that you can see where you have a viable additional piece of information for that story. It is one of the most important ways for reporters to very quickly gather information.

Remember, what we’re really talking about here is real time. All of these techniques we’ve talked about in this strategy that we’ve spent on the last 20 minutes or so is something that happens within minutes or hours, it’s not a technique that you can wait until tomorrow for.

It’s not a technique that you have to run by the lawyers or the PR team or ask the boss, it’s something that you have to jump on really quickly because these stories are being written very, very fast. You’ll notice when there is a breaking news story, and again it can be a general breaking news story that everybody is looking at covered by hundreds and hundreds of media outlets, or it could be a B2B esoteric subject that’s only for a particular industry or something local for your city. When those things are breaking they are breaking fast and you only have a couple minutes, or at most a couple hours to create your strategy and get your information out there.

What your website must look like in the near future

Robert: Alright, I want to close with a question that may not seem directly related to newsjacking, but it certainly is. You and Brian Clark have talked in the past about the death of the middleman in this rise of digital publishing, through our websites and tools like Twitter, are we all truly media companies now whether we like it or not?

David: I believe that to be true. I mean, I’ve run my businesses and media company for the last ten years. I went out on my own ten years ago after working for a number of years for companies, and absolutely that’s the way that I think of myself and I think that’s the way that anyone should be thinking of themselves, if they are independent and if they work for a company, I believe that they ought to be thinking of themselves as a media company, I really do.

In my case, I’m on Twitter, I do a blog, I’m on YouTube and Vimeo and some other video channels. That’s all free content. I do free ebooks on a number of subjects; I have about a dozen of them on my site. Then I do print books and ultimately I do speeches, and I think Brian is also like me, a huge music fan, we’ve talked about music. The last couple of times we’ve met in person we’ve said “Hey how’s work, great. Hey let’s talk about music.”

Robert: I have to endure those music conversations all the time from him.

David: I look at the incredible parallel between a rock band and my business and your business, I mean we create albums in the case of rock bands and books and in the case of us, we create blogs, which is equivalent to putting free music out there, we do touring, which is the equivalent, in my case, of speeches. It’s really fascinating how we can learn from these other businesses.

I think I would say every business should become a media business, whether you actually can convince others in the organization that you’re a media business or not, I am not really sure. But you can certainly learn from media businesses. I am absolutely convinced without a question of a doubt that the best corporate websites of the future are going to look a heck of a lot more like the Wall Street Journal online or MSNBC online then they are a typical corporate website of today which is essentially a brochure with a little bit of add-ons.

There are companies that are starting to do that and they literally look like the Wall Street Journal online with videos and photos and text-based content and they are updating literally dozens of times a day.

Robert: Producing original content, highlighting opinions and news within their own industry.

David: Absolutely, for the purposes of attracting the search engines for the purposes of newsjacking or getting their information into the marketplace so that the reporters can find it, and for the purposes that you sighted of showing that you are the thoughtful person in the industry. You are the one that has a take on the industry; you are someone who should be trusted. All of those things converge around this idea that every business is a media business.

Robert: Alright David let’s get out of here. Where can people find you on the web and get a hold of your book if they want to pick it up?

David: Thanks Robert, I really appreciate the time. I’m David Meerman Scott, just do a Google search, and you’ll find me, “David Meerman Scott”. If you want to find the book Newsjacking, I would recommend just go to Google, type in the word “newsjacking”, you’ll find my blog post on the subject and a bunch of other content. It is available in ebook only so it’s available on Kindle, it’s available on the iPad, and it’s available on the Barnes & Noble Nook and a bunch of other eBook platforms. So you’ll be able to find it that way. I am on Twitter @DMScott.

Robert: It really is a great book and I recommend anybody listening to this with an interest in these things to go out and pick it up, so Google “David Meerman Scott” or Google the word “newsjacking.” Thanks for listening everybody, if this show has done something to you or for you, we’d love it if you got over to iTunes and leave us a comment or a rating there. David Meerman Scott, thank you!

David: Thank you Robert I really appreciate it.

Other listening options:

  • Click here to download the mp3 | 29.6 MB | 24:41
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The Show Notes:

  • Internet Marketing for Smart People Course (free)
  • Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage
  • David Meerman Scott’s blog
  • We left the building with Girl Talk …

About the Author: Robert Bruce is Copyblogger Media’s Chief Copywriter and Resident Recluse.

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Comments

  1. Philos Mudis says

    January 21, 2012 at 9:37 AM

    Sounds like advice people can play with. I know everybody cannot achieve what has been discussed because several people are now doing it already.

    What will separate those who get this right (and win) and those who labour (but don’t reach their expectations) will be the ability of taking in the advice then using only the parts that one believes can work with them .They would also create room for experiments and persistently work towards getting free media exposure.

    Happy blogging everyone.

    Reply
  2. Ronald Cagape says

    January 21, 2012 at 10:42 AM

    I can see how valuable it is for a blogger to get in front of the news or the 2nd paragraph as David talks about it. It does appear to me though you need to have deep involvement in social media, having monitoring tools that monitors trending topics.

    Not only that, you have to think quickly! Something cool to listen to but right now, it just flies over my head because I don’t have a social media strategy yet.

    Reply
    • Sonia Simone says

      January 21, 2012 at 3:36 PM

      You’re right, you have to be paying close attention, and you need the ability to act quickly. The prize goes to the swift (and decisive). 🙂

      Reply
  3. Kasey says

    January 21, 2012 at 1:37 PM

    One upon a time, I produced local TV news. Even though the idea of connecting your business to a big news story isn’t really new – this guy is absolutely right. And I think way too many small businesses AND big PR firms fail to effectively “Newsjack.”

    When every news outlet – big and small – is covering the same story, writers/reporters/producers will jump at any chance to have a unique angle. The tricky part is finding the right one for your business. You have to be creative, strategical and fast! (and I’m writing this as I’m listening and Scott is saying what I just wrote so I’ll stop).

    One quick suggestion – look for online gathering places where people are likely to share your angle on a story.

    Example – our personal finance blog jumped on the BofA $5 debit card fee debacle as well as the Bank Transfer Day movement – posting on their FB page brought us a bunch of traffic.

    Reply
  4. Sam Ciccarello says

    January 21, 2012 at 7:41 PM

    I have to say this is unbelievably mind blowing! I picked up the Newsjacking on my Kindle as soon as the interview was over.

    Look, Sonia is right. You have to pay close attention and act quickly to newsjack.

    And yeah, there are people that are doing it right now.

    BUT…what about if you live in a non-English speaking country and a major news event occurs in that country? Anyone want to take a holiday on a cruise ship?

    I live in Italy and we had that huge cruise liner go down a week ago. The developing news I read about in Italian came out on the main stream world news in English 8-12 hours later!

    Scott mentions you have anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 hours to act. But if you can interpret (translate) a breaking story on the fly, blog and tweet about it in ENGLISH within a couple of hours…you’ll be newsjacking at incredible speeds. Again, the idea of newsjacking is VERY powerful, especially if you attempt it from ANY foreign language into English.

    Kudos to Copyblogger! If it wasn’t for this interview, I wouldn’t have ever picked up this incredibly valuable chunk of info. Thanks guys! Ciao from Italy!

    Reply
  5. Jason Fonceca says

    January 22, 2012 at 1:08 AM

    Insightful and applicable (which CopyBlogger basically always is, but I still felt like complimenting it.)

    Newsjacking is a great concept and this is a cool discussion when combined with social media.

    I loved his rock-band comparison (reminded me of the book Brand Like A Rock Star — fantastic.)

    I also loved the idea of viewing our companies as media companies, that’s a cool perspective.

    David Meerman Scott has an interesting angle, feels like a trustable authority, and I really appreciate this interview, Robert. Great stuff as always 😀

    Reply
    • Steve Jones says

      January 22, 2012 at 6:18 PM

      Jason – thanks for the kind words. I’m happy that you enjoyed “Brand Like A Rock Star”.

      You’re right about David. He’s a smart guy with a lot of wise knowledge to share. I’m looking forward to reading “Newsjacking”!

      Reply
      • Jason Fonceca says

        January 22, 2012 at 10:20 PM

        Wow! Steve! Thanks so much for the response man, really cool of you. I love your work.

        This is kind of off topic, but I’m so happy for the chance to offer feedback on Brand Like A Rock Star, and besides D. Meerman Scott makes a lot of sense when he says to see ourselves like a rock band.

        I LOVE your book and recommend it to everyone (2 have taken me up on it that I know of :D) and I absorbed tons of the info in BLARS, and internalized it, now when I create something it has a solid brand foundation.

        Not only that, what really drew me to it was that the lives of famous artists + musicians really thrill me. They create art they love, in styles they love, and are rewarded hugely for it.

        You mentioned Bob Marley in your book, which is as close as you get to hip-hop, but I really think “Brand Like A Rapper” would be fantastic. Jay-Z + Beyonce + Kanye have like… taken over the world. Lil Wayne too. Eminem… don’t get me started. Not to mention, Def Jam ceo Russell Simmons knows a thing or two about branding 😀

        God I love hip-hop 🙂

        Anyway, thanks so much for all you do man.

        Reply
        • Steve Jones says

          January 23, 2012 at 9:05 AM

          My pleasure Jason! Thanks again for spreading the word.

          As for hip hop and rap, you are absolutely right. Those artists have done some incredible things and there is a whole book waiting to be written about them. I did touch on Eminem in the book, discussing how his comeback is a result of moving away from goofier themed songs like “Just Like Me” and “Real Slim Shady” towards more personal and vulnerable songs like “Love The Way You Lie” and “Not Afraid”. His raw honesty has been integral in the resurgence of his music and his brand.

          And apologies to Copyblogger for our unintentional highjacking of this thread! But thanks for allowing us to connect and share ideas.

          Reply
          • Jason Fonceca says

            January 23, 2012 at 10:53 AM

            You certainly did, and I agree Em’s matured, and so has his music 🙂

            Isn’t it appropriate that we kinda … “comment-jacked” ? 😉

            And yes, thanks CopyBlogger! (We could probably move the discussion over to your site or mine if it’s not cool :D)

  6. BgBng says

    January 23, 2012 at 4:14 PM

    A lot of great ideas I had never thought about. As noted, it does need to be executed extremely fast as significant news stories happen everyday.

    Reply
  7. Tresna says

    January 24, 2012 at 2:53 PM

    I love the headline : “How to Newsjack your way …” , very compelling and has all the requirements for a link baiting headline and for a headline that sells. ‘Newsjack’ itself is a powerful term used by people or certain group to ‘compromise’ the mainstream media. I could call it an ‘orgasm’ of title satisfaction that gives curiosity and sucks you in like a ‘blackhole’ and you can’t do anything about it.

    Very great !

    Reply
  8. Alexis Dufétel says

    January 26, 2012 at 6:10 AM

    This is really clever. As Philos says though, I think a lot of people are competing on this technique. So I think it will take anyone a lot of tries (or serious luck) before getting a story that really breaks out. I also wonder if this technique can really work only if you can’t easily reach out to the journalists who will publish the news? Sure, you can rely on Twitter, but you’ll still be a needled in the hay… Will try this out though, thanks for the post !

    Reply
  9. Archan Mehta says

    February 12, 2012 at 1:05 AM

    I was not familiar with the term “newsjack.” I do not work in the PR business, but I appreciate your point of view. Once again, this blog has done a fantastic job of inviting somebody like you on board. It is great to know that journalists are actively seeking out newsworthy story angles and that we can be of service even without professional counsel. Anybody with insight can link their personal or professional story to what is going on currently and get some mileage out of that angle. Publicity and visibility in the market can go a long way in increasing your credibility. Cheers.

    Reply

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