It pays to be kind

I’d finally refilled my Le Labo bottle after several failed attempts and was happily walking to my workspace in London when I was suddenly reminded of an arrogant entrepreneur in one of the beats I used to cover. A veteran in the industry, he was a strong contact of the magazine and was one of the first people I interviewed when I joined. From the offset he was rude, condescending, and always tried to assert control. In order to continue dealing with him I had to put my feelings towards him to one side. When I broke free, I never had to deal with him on that level again – well, till I was freelancing on a newsdesk and I wrote a critical story about his company and then he turned on me. Karma anyone? 

Over the years since I’ve been freelance I’ve had different PR agencies put him forward for interview slots. He might be a name, but when I think of him I just remember that sense of entitlement and his overwhelming arrogance. It’s always a big fat NO from me. We all know it pays to be kind, but if you or your client are rude or a walking ego, journalists (like most people) remember, meaning perhaps they won’t want to work with you or your client again in the future.

One Small Way To Build Relationships With Journalists Right Now

Hi everyone

Just a quick newsletter as I write this from the picturesque moors outside of Conwy in north Wales where I'm wild camping for the night.

I know many people are wondering how to build relationships with journalists during these strange times, given the opportunity for face-to-face contact has fallen off a cliff since start of the pandemic.

But you don't need to have had coffee after coffee or cocktail after cocktail with a journalist to consider yourselves to have a strong relationship. There are many people working in comms and founders of businesses that I have a great relationship with – and are my go-to for case studies and experts – who I have never met in person. How to achieve that features heavily in my course and webinars but I'll just give a recent example of how you can slowly get on that path.

After an article I wrote appeared in the Guardian on Saturday, one of the people I featured emailed me first thing in the morning to thank me for including him, telling me he was thrilled with being included and had shared the piece with his family. It obviously meant a lot for him to be in the paper and him sharing how it had made his day was a lovely way to start the morning, especially as the van we had hired had broken down on Junction 21 of the M1 the night before, leaving us stranded on the emergency lane for three hours. That's another story. But the expert's kind words and obvious gratitude to email me first thing on Saturday highlights how relationships can be started and nurtured even in this digital age by a simple and easy 'thank you'.

Enjoy the rest of the week and the upcoming weekend,

Susie