One of the things Gorkana is known for is its great breakfast briefings – we gently grill editors, journos and bloggers, and they spill the beans on how they like to work with PRs. Lots of PRs tell us they make new contacts or manage to place coverage off the back of our breakfasts, so hooray they’re clearly working.

Last week’s breakfast was with Sarah Baxter, editor of the Sunday Times Magazine which this year celebrates its 50^th anniversary. An inspirational woman, and wonderful editor, who had this to say about getting coverage in the iconic magazine: “PRs shouldn’t just think about getting any old interview into the pages of the magazine. It needs to be the right type of story that will fit in with what the reader expects.” [As an aside, Sarah has a copy of every issue of the magazine ever printed in bound volumes in her office.]

That breakfast was a milestone for me too – over the last two or so years I’ve hosted 50 consumer breakfast briefings for Gorkana. One of the things that has come through loud and clear from all the journos I’ve interviewed is that they want to work with PRs and they think there are some great PRs out there…but, and it’s a big one, there are some clear rules of engagement which they wish PRs would follow.

So as Propergander takes its first steps, here are some tips from the breakfasts we’ve hosted this year to help you on the road to coverage glory…

Bangs & A Bun from Glamour Style Tribe

It’s better to build up a relationship first – don’t just start bombarding me with press releases. It’s better to approach a few select bloggers in a personal way than to blanket a whole list of bloggers with the same email and hope something sticks. Try to think of a way to pitch it so it’s personal to my blog.

Deborah Joseph, editor, Easy Living

Deborah hates emails that begin with “Hi there” – she deletes them immediately. Personalisation is very important when making contact. The team likes to think that when something is being pitched to them, they’re the only ones getting the news (even if it’s not true).

Dan Jones, consumer editor, The Sun

PRs had to be honest when pitching and they need to ask themselves whether what they’re selling in is really a Sun story. Don’t be offended if you’re told that it doesn’t fit the paper.  If an agency constantly sends over press releases that aren’t Sun stories, the team ends up becoming “blind” to them.

 Martin Barrow, Editor, Times Health

When pitching, PRs should try to make their pitch as simple as possible. There can be a lot of jargon attached to medical stories, especially ones to do with new medicines and what they do. PRs should try and strip this away and get it down to two simple things; what it does and what impact it will have on patients. He hates research-based stories that talk about ”Brits doing this” or “Brits doing that”. It’s a definite turn off and material like that will be instantly deleted.

Louise Court, editor, Cosmopolitan

Some PRs are totally brilliant and genius and get what you want, and cut through the noise. Others stalk you with totally inappropriate things and make you question whether they’ve actually read the magazine. Or, they spell your name wrong, address it to the editor before last, etc. It’s laziness that bugs me.

Andrew Davies, deputy editor, Mail on Sunday Live Magazine

Andrew prefers to be contacted by email and rarely answers his phone. He gets 300 to 400 emails a day and doesn’t have the time to pick up the phone unless he recognises a number. Emails should be short and punchy. Long emails are more likely to be ignored. Try not to get the name of the publication wrong when selling in. Blanket emails will also be ignored.

James Hall, consumer affairs editor, Daily Telegraph

PRs are massively important to James. Stories come from a variety of sources, but from his point of view, the interaction with PRs is vital for getting good stories. PRs should get in touch early in the day if trying to make contact, preferably before 9:30am. The night before is also welcome.

 Joe Barnes, editor, FHM

PRs are seen as the “backbone” of the magazine. Because there is now so much more emphasis on getting the experience behind stories, there is a great opportunity to send through ideas. Joe is always looking for new contacts “as you can only be a strong as your contact book”. He sees it as a two-way street. If a PR promises something, they need to deliver and it’s the same for the team at FHM.

If you’ve missed any of our events you can see full write ups under the Events section on the site. Happy reading…