How To Pitch Into The Long Tail News Curve

In a WebProWorld Typically, eBay users have the greatest opportunity to capitalize when selling products that are at either new/scarce or near the end of their lifecycle and hard to find. Much the same, bloggers are having the greatest impact at either the beginning or end of a news curve, the analysts wrote We believe that one could view Web content in a similar way. For news content, typically a few well-placed sources are privy to an event first, with the news then rushing into the mainstream. Traditionally, beat reporters disseminate the news to others; with online publishing, any individual with a keyboard (or a digital camera or other recording devices) can disseminate information quickly. At the end of the tail-as time goes on-the news becomes the subject of more nuanced discussion. While many blogs deal with mainstream content, their very nature makes them ideal for dealing with the tails at the beginning and the end.

Last week has been decimated by layoffs and closures. This has left many reporters shouldering triple the workload they handled before. They now must focus on the stories that truly have the highest relevance for their readers/viewers. In addition, now that the economy appears to be coming back to life, many more PR professionals are hitting streets, creating even more noise for journalists to contend with. This has lead to even greater increased competition for editorial space. As hungry bloggers break news stories, this only exacerbates the increased pressure many journalists now face. On the flip side, however, bloggers have opened up hundreds if not thousands of new opportunities for you to get your message across, especially as the ever competitive press pre-briefing analysts before you hit the press. Here's how Steve Rubel's Four Steps to Pitching Into the News Curve

1. Identify Leading Blog Influencers - Use Google, Bloglines and other tools to identify the webloggers who are most relevant to your sector, have a decent readership and inbound links and are frequently quoted and/or referenced in the mainstream press. I explain how to do this John Battelle, Cory Bergman, folks who regularly quote the influencers you already have pre-briefed.
2. Regenerate the Story with Other Bloggers - On the back side of the news curve, once you have landed an article or two keep the buzz going. As practice, regularly send any story placement links out to other bloggers to share/comment.
This is simply one way to pitch into the long tail curve of news. I am sure there are more. If you have ideas, please continue the dialogue by sharing them here so we can all learn from your wisdom. Senior Vice President with Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.