Your PR questions answered: timing & when to get started

This newsletter feature was inspired by you! If you've attended one of our recent PR workshops, you likely noticed there were A LOT of great questions during the Q&A. We've collated all the questions and once a month we'll send you two in-depth answers to your most common PR questions.

Q: I am wondering about lead time and timing. How much time do you have to give editors?

A: There isn’t a silver bullet answer, but there are general guidelines.

For print national publications -- the magazines that you see in any airport newsstand -- it’s about three to four months lead time.

For print regional magazines -- like Atlanta Homes and Gardens or California Style -- it’s generally two to three months, sometimes even shorter.

Trade publications are also usually two to three months.

Dailies -- your newspapers -- are usually one to two months.

Blogs, influencers, and podcasts -- digital media -- are all wildly different because they have no physical constraints, they don't have to ship anything, they don't have to print anything.

If you have something really topical you can sometimes pitch them like a day before. But I would say, don't do that, give them at least a week.

The last thing I'll say about timing is to plug into your industry. If you have two trade shows a year that are really common in your industry take note of those dates, even if you aren’t showing.

Editors go to these events and the publications base their editorial coverage on them. So if you're releasing products you don't necessarily have to be at the trade show but reach out to those editors right around the same time.

Q: When do I have enough to get started? I want to start reaching out to publications, but it feels unrealistic to wait until I've got it all together.

A: I love this question, it's such a common question for small shops and young businesses.

Short answer, you can start with just one thing.

Caveat-- your one thing has to be photographed really well and useful to a specific audience.

If you have one widget that you're selling, get all the information organized and make sure your website is optimized to talk about that widget.

Find the publications that will write about this type of widget. They're the publications that have written about similar products. So, if you don't know where to get started, look at the press pages of brands that sell a similar thing.

You may find this surprising but more than a few design companies have gotten wide press coverage with just one or two products.

What's their secret??? Again, it's excellent photography that really fits the point of view of the publications they pitched.

If you're launching one piece of furniture, for example, and you want placements in higher-tier design publications you'll need to have images of it in a beautiful space with great styling.

I know of a company that launched with one high-end stool. They had dozens of pictures of it in different colors. The photos were very well thought out. What they did not do was slap it in the spare room in their home with dog hair on the floor. They made the investment and it paid off.

Useful tools to help you get started:

Photography for Media Outreach Guides

How to Write Pitch Email Subject Lines Editors Will Actually Open

9 Tips to Supercharge Your Media Outreach Plan

Thanks for giving us some time in your inbox!

Cheers,
Nora & Kirsten

PS - If you liked the newsletter, we’d be so happy if you shared it with others who might find it useful. Anyone new can subscribe here.

Your PR questions answered: timing & when to get started

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