Have you ever awakened to read a quote from a fellow Realtor in the morning paper? Have you ever watched another Realtor being interviewed on TV? And in either case did you ask yourself the question "Why wasn't that me?" Well, next time it will be, as long as you learn the secrets to getting free publicity.

The first thing you need to become comfortable with is the idea that you have something to say that's actually newsworthy. You do. Trust me. You're a real estate expert. Why? Because you sell it for a living. We in the media don't ask for your resume or your report card from the third grade. If you do it for a living, you're an expert.

All the news that's fit to print

After twenty years of beating the street as a TV reporter, I have a scoop for you: the media needs good stories. But most stories are pitched so poorly, they are lost in the blizzard of faxes that blanket every newsroom.

You can't just call up a reporter and say "Do a story on me. I'm a Realtor!" That's not news. But if you stop and think about what's going on in your business, you're probably sitting on a wonderful story the media would love. Trends always make good stories. Are sales up or down? What price ranges are moving? What's the outlook for the future?

The right reporter

Study your newspaper and watch TV news differently. Ask yourself the question, "Which one of these reporters is most likely to care about my story?" Many of the large newspapers have a full-time real estate reporter. But even if your community doesn't have a reporter who specializes in real estate, there are always business and feature reporters who would love to learn the latest industry trends.

Perhaps the most common mistake even some PR pros make is trying to sell a good story to the wrong person. Most reporters have a specialty, like "crime" or "city hall."

So, seek out the reporter who will have the most to benefit from your story. Start studying the news. Before you call a TV station or try and pitch the paper, become familiar with a reporter's work. Don't try and sell an investigative story to a reporter who covers entertainment.

The phone

With faxes and the Internet, many of us have gotten away from that wonderful device that Alexander Graham Bell gave us more than a century ago. You have to go back to it to increase your chances of getting coverage.

Call the reporter and begin not with your story pitch, but with praise. Say something like, "Jane, that story you wrote last week on the local economy was great. I had no idea that the forecast was so bright. I especially liked the way you profiled that local bakery and used it to illustrate your point."

Once you're charmed the reporter, you're ready to slide into your pitch. "Jane, I've been looking for just the right reporter to tell this story to and I think I've found her in you. I'm a Realtor and in the last few weeks I've seen a new trend in home sales. Homes in price-range XYZ are starting to move. I'd be happy to email you statistics for both local and national sales so your readers can see how we stand. I'd even be happy to put you in touch with a couple who just closed on a home because they were concerned about what might happen to interest rates."

The beauty of the phone-based pitch is you will have an answer. You'll know whether you've made a connection or not. If the reporter blows you off, that's okay. At least you have an answer. You simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off, go back to the paper, find another reporter and begin again, "Fred, I love your work…"

Slow news days

The holidays are the slowest "news times" of the year. When government offices are closed, so are most reporters' sources. Take advantage of it.

In fact, take out your calendar and begin circling government holidays. If the government isn't making news, we reporters are scrambling to find something to cover. Pitch even an average story on a day when the media is starving for news, and you're much more likely to get coverage.

Your 15 minutes of fame

If you become a reliable source of information for the reporter, at some point he or she will start calling you. Let's say interest rates take a huge spike up. If you've been a solid source for the reporter, there's a good chance the reporter will call you to get a reaction to the rate change and ask for a quote on what it may mean to the market. When reporters start calling you, you have it made!

There you go. Now you're armed with knowledge that even some well-paid public relations professionals don't practice. If you have a good story pitched to the right reporter when the supply of news is running thin, you're in!

Jeff Crilley is an Emmy Award-winning reporter who speaks at no charge. His book "Free Publicity: A TV Reporter Shares the Secrets for Getting Covered on the News" is available at bookstores or through www.jeffcrilley.com.

Published: November 24, 2004

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

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