I’m currently working on the Fall 2013 issue of Occasions Magazine and I ran into quite the stumbling block this issue when three brides from weddings we planned on featuring responded and said they wishes to not have their photos published in the issue. Uh Oh. I was relying on their events to fill nearly 15 pages of the issue so I immediately began scrambling to fill the spots. In an effort to spread the love, I reached out to some photographers and venues we’ve not featured frequently in the past and received not-so-urgent responses. So… I went to my media darling. A wedding planner that is on the ball and ready at a moment’s notice for editorial feature and filled the spots right away.
So, in an effort to make my job as an Editor easier AND to share advice on how more wedding professionals and small business owners can relish in the free publicity that is editorial coverage, I’d like to encourage each of you to become more of a media darling yourself.
So, What is a Media Darling?
The technical definition of a media darling is: A celebrity who is especially popular and who receives frequent and very favorable attention in the news media.
Favorable being the keyword here. I’m not suggesting you go all Lindsey Lohan on us. But why do media darling’s get such favorable attention? Because they’re doing good things, are easy to work with and probably have a great publicist. The good news is, you don’t have to be a celebrity or have a publicist to be a media darling… you just have to do GREAT work and be easy to work with. Here’s what I suggest.
Do:
Don’t:
These are relatively simply steps, and yet it amazes me the amount of professionals who don’t get it. Rather than pouting next time you see your competitor get the editorial coverage you were hoping for, make it a goal of yours to get published and put a plan in action to become a media darling. It’s really very simple.
I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about working with editors so comment below with questions!