Yesterday I had one of those rewarding experiences that make it all worthwhile. I was following up on a byline article I'd written on behalf of one of our clients for a trade publication. At first when I called the managing editor was a bit neutral, perhaps annoyed at yet another call from yet another PR person. But then he asked me what the headline or topic was, and when I told him he went from cool to gushing.
The guy could not stop saying nice things about the article, and even referred to it as "a real gumdrop." He was excited that not only was it on-target for the audience and on a different topic than the usual, but it was interesting as well. Every now and then he would lapse into his standard "it's tough to make it into the print magazine" rap, but then he'd remember the article (I guess) and talk about getting it in as soon as possible.
In this business you can take a lot of grief and have to overcome a lot of rejection. So it's nice when you get on the phone with an editor who actually likes and appreciates what you do.
This is a perfect example of making a customer, not making a sale. This editor will remember Ken well after this once placement, because Ken came to him with something of value that was new -- and yet still targeted -- to his audience.
Posted by: Tim Boivin | December 12, 2006 at 04:18 PM