By Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
One of my clients, a bank, was
ecstatic when the local daily newspaper featured it a few years
ago in a big story at the top of the Sunday business page,
complete with a color photo. But when the bank called the newspaper for
permission to make reprints, they were denied. So the bank’s marketing
director called me and asked, “Now what do we do?”
I told her to call the newspaper immediately and order as many back
issues of that edition as she could get her hands on. Then she could
clip the article and send it to whomever she wished, without violating
copyright.
The “no reprint” rule is cropping up more frequently these days.
Newspapers and magazines are trying to generate more revenue by denying
reprint rights and, instead, offering their own expensive reprint
services. In this case, the newspaper, which is owned by the giant
Gannett chain, wouldn’t even make reprints. It simply refused to allow
anyone to make reprints, period.
If a story appears about you or your company, call the publication
immediately and ask for permission to reprint. If they say no, buy as
many back issues as you can afford because you never know when you’ll
need them. But do this immediately. Don’t wait a month or two after
publication and then call, or the back issues might be gone.
Reprints are a valuable marketing tool and one of the very best ways to
recycle your publicity. They can be used in dozens of ways. You can tuck
them inside your media kit. See
Special Report #8: Media Kits on a Shoestring--How to Create Them
Without Spending a Bundle. You can post them in the electronic media
kit at your website. See
Electronic Media Kits: How to Create Them, Deliver Them and See INSTANT
Results. You can hand them out at trade shows. You can include them
in your handouts if you do public speaking. You can send them to
existing clients or to prospects who you want to get in front of. You
can even send them to editors of larger, non-competing publications
along with a letter pitching your idea. See
How to Write a Pitch Letter More Valuable Than a News Release.
Large publications like the New York
Times, sometimes demand reprint fees of up to $5,000. If you are faced
with a decision about whether to pay a whopping amount of money for the
right to reprint an article, my advice is to spend the money if the
publication is reputable and if you can afford it. A story in the New
York
Times is the same thing an as endorsement from the New York Times in
many people's eyes.
And that, alone, can be worth thousands.
Direct comments or questions
about this article, including requests for reprint rights, to:
Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound
3930 Highway O
Saukville, WI 53080-1330
Phone: 262-284-7451
JStewart@PublicityHound.com
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