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shenandoah_gw

Just Say No to Free Publicity

shenandoah
19 years ago

Help me understand something. I'm a writer, work freelance for several regional mags, specialize in garden stories. Most recent assignment is about the green industry, so I pick a few of the best nurseries in the area (in my opinion), get the basic data on my own by surfing the web, so I'm well-prepared before I start making contact. Then I call. I've been doing this for years, so I know better than to say simply, "I'm so-and-so from Whoozitz Mag," or they think right off that I'm selling advertising, so I'm always sure to ask for the owner/manager and then say, "My name is SO-and-So, I'm a WRITER for Whoozitz Magazine, I'm doing a story about high-quality nurseries, and I'd like to talk with you briefly IF IT's CONVENIENT." But I couldn't believe it, at the first nursery I called this week --which has good product but is miles off the beaten path -- I asked for the owner or manager and the guy says "that's me", I relay the information above, and before I can even say "If this is a bad time I can give you my number and you can call me back," he says "I'm with a customer and I can't talk. Thanks for calling." And he hangs up on me. Needless to say, his business is out of the story, and this is for a regional monthly glossy mag that goes to a market with disposable income and a high degree of interest in gardening (according to out market survey). And I just don't get it. For maybe a $50 sale he turned down $2,500 worth of free advertising, color photos and all. Or maybe he just doesn't like talking on the phone. But the weird thing is, this isn't the first time something like this has happened to me with a "professional gardener." One time I called a local small retailer for a story about Christmas gift ideas, with the retailers' info featured and their products listed. The woman put her hand over the phone to talk to an assistant, only she didn't cover it too well, and I heard her yell, "See what this person wants. I gotta go."

Maybe it's my particular region, where folks aren't always too savvy when it comes to marketing themselves. But it always amazes me when I offer to write about a business -- no press release necessary, no publicist going after the column space -- and people get about as enthusiastic as if I offered to perform a root canal on them. With no novocaine. Can you explain this to me?

Comments (50)

  • Ron_B
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    They didn't listen well enough to get what you were about, or have spent too much time with others who sounded like they were offering something similarly harmless/beneficial but turned out to be salespeople.

    Also: I've worked for more than one multimillion dollar nursery that was owned and/or operated by jerks. Not everyone you're going to get on the other end of the phone is going to be completely on the ball.

  • deeproots
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    i get 6-7 phone calls (or more) a day with people asking for the owner because of this or that. Typically if they don't have a southern accent right off the bat, I automatically think they're a telemarketer.... Most times I'm actually doing something when I'm answering the phone (not sitting at a desk).

    If you were serious about doing an article, you should have driven to his farm and talked to him face to face. This way if a customer walked up, you could be patient and let him go about his business.

    Or call and schedule an appointment.

    best of luck, sorry to hear about your problems.
    dp

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush and that person in front of him with even a small sale is going to get his attention far faster than the prospect of free advertising. For small retail nurseries, customer service is their bread and butter and only a fool would ignore a potential customer in the flesh in favor of a phone call from an unknown quantity. If you want an interview, visit in person, but make an appointment first or visit midweek and midday when sales are the slowest. Whatever you do, don't call on a weekend (and that includes Fridays).

  • clfo
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    People who own or run a small business have to wear several hats, and some fit better than others. The owner of any given garden center might be a plant whiz, a good personnel manager, a good retailer, a good buyer, and/or a good marketer... and more. Seldom, however, are they all of the above, and usually they are better at some aspects of their business than others.

    Aren't we all. I'm a better writer and marketer than I am a record keeper, but my work calls me to be all three. And sometimes we all get so focused on what we are doing that we may not recognize a good thing when it's right in front of us.

    When opportunity knocks, don't be the person who says "will somebody get that?" Words to live by.

  • treebeard
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    A couple of thoughts...

    DeepRoots is correct regarding phones and telemarketers. As a society we find ourselves bombarded with telemarketing calls disguised to appear like something else, and the easiest way to handle the entire issue is to simply hang up. I do it...all the time. As DeepRoots alluded to, I figure that if it's important, they'll show up at my door. If you want their attention and time, show up at their door and present yourself with a courteous inquiry and business card. They may still close the door on you, but then you know it's them and not just an aversion to potential telemarketing.

    Also, unless you're a well known columnist in the local area with a following, and they're among that throng, they don't know you from Adam. They may not even know your publication. All the more reason to present yourself at their door. In my circle of aquaintences, there have been a couple of folks who have taken the time to be interviewed...(and it does take time out of their busy day...remember that)...only to read something they never said in the resultant article, or see their business being somewhat misrepresented. I know of what I speak here. The swiftest horse can not retrieve the word once spoken (or published). A business or personal reputation can be enhanced or destroyed all too easy in the press, and as public examples of that being reported in the news have been all too prevalent in my adult years, I find it easy to understand a certain amount of avoidance people may have to being made more public than they otherwise might be.

    And please, don't take this the wrong way but, your attitude expressed in the OP tells me that you're more interested in getting your article out there than meeting and understanding these people. You might try cutting the public some slack by seeking to understand why there's an avoidance to partaking in your effort. Make that a part of your article, too. It just might help you understand the retail industry about which you wish to report, and it might help that industry get to know, and trust you more than they might now.

    I'm guessing that it's not the simple 'just say no to free publicity' that your eyes see.

    Good luck with your efforts.

  • charles_hanon
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Especially the telemarketing bit is right on. When I was working in retail garden center life, the number of calls from telemarketers, would-be new suppliers, people wanting to sell me benefits, etc was completely overwhelming to our small operation. Calling ahead persistently for an appointment, or coming in during a non-busy time with a product sample, were about the only two ways of getting in the door.

  • Green_hands
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Nice post, Treebeard. I intended to respond the original post and was delaying because I though my tone was likely to be too strident. I concur with your comments point by point.

  • mich_in_zonal_denial
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Free publicity is great but you have to pick and know who you are dealing with.

    Your publication might have a reputation of spending a lot of time wasting the time of the company owners and then not running with the story.

    I won't give away my time anymore to certain magazines even though the prospect of free advertising is waved in my face.
    I have spent way too much time with a certain magazine ( rhymes with Betta Homes and Gartens ) with coordinating the set up of the photo shoot and then spending the whole day on site , spending hours with technical information, going over the article, and then..... they decide to either not run with the article or do a teeny tiny little insignificant filler with a photo only and no story.

    What a gigantic waste of time.

    But set me up with an efficient publisher , writer and photographer and guaranty me that my time won't be wasted, then it is definitely worth the time investment.

  • donL
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    you would be surprised by how many people call saying they represent newspapers and magazines and want info for an article they are writing. last year i gave 3 interviews to local papers about container gardening. all used my material, 2 never told their source and the third refered to me only as a local horticulturist. none gave my business name. i've had high school students doing research claiming to be doing articles for their papers. along with that, throw in the telejerks promising FREE ad space for only $49.95 a month. the free is one month. owning a small business is a 24/7 job and i don't have time to talk on the phone to people too lazy to come in person.

  • deeproots
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    to date I've had 7 seperate people contact me from a newspaper/magazine/tv station etc.
    that wanted to do a story on me and the farm only to in the end hit you with the "ohh this story costs X amount"

  • trianglejohn
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My observation is that garden center owners are way to busy to be bothered. They need customers standing in line behind me not potentially, possibly coming in after the story runs. I am a frustrated graphic artist living in a horticultural mecca working a deadend job in publishing. I also work part time for an ooh-la-la nursery. On a whim I started up a gardening tabloid just for this area. It is well received by the public but totally ignored by retailers. I can give them a months supply, I can beg them to carry it, I can offer to wash their car and walk their dog if they would only stock this paper but they just won't. The comment I hear over and over is "I have someone coming in here every day singing the same song!" I believe it takes everything they've got to keep standing up they just don't care to help someone out - their day is full.

  • shenandoah
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    This is all very interesting feedback. Certainly helps me understand the mindset of the nursery owner, and as I suspected, everyone is so inundated with telemarketers, even telemarketers disguised as something else, that it makes a writer's job that much harder.

    But those of you who are interested in how staff writers work, and how your business gets coverage, let me explain something. No way do writers have time or gas money to go out and "visit" every marginally newsworthy business in a large subscription area. That's why the magazine hires us in the first place -- because if they want to do a feature about the Five Top Nurseries in LaLaLand they aren't paying mileage and they aren't paying by the hour while you drive all over Christendom -- they hire you because they know your work and level of experience and they figure (correctly) that you know all these nurseries pretty darn well by now.

    I've actually met and interviewed the owner who hung up on me at the nursery I called, when I did a story several years ago about horticulturists and he got a great spread out of that-- a full page color picture of him in his nursery and pertinent information about the place. As for being "too lazy to come in person," I live in a sprawling demographic area; to drive out to this individual's business just for the purpose of re-interviewing him in person and touring his nursery one more time would have been pointless considering that it's an 80 mile round trip! Also, please note: I don't work for the business owner. And I'm not trying to GET his business. I'm trying to feature him in a story (and in a situation like this, there are lots of other potential interviewees. I just go down the list until I get someone helpful and cooperative). So I guess it comes down to who you think is doing who a favor. If you as the business-person think that you're doing the publication a favor by giving them an interview then that goes a long way toward answering the question I posed in my first message: why act like you don't need it? If you don't need the coverage, it as absolutely your right to hang up on a cold call. But if you don't recognize my name that means you aren't reading the regional horticultural press, which you should be doing if you want to stay on top of business and trends, and if the customer in front of you truly is more important than free publicity then you have a definite cash flow problem which a story in a magazine probably isn't going to help you with anyway.

    Yes, there are lame-ass publications out there who waste your time and end up killing stories, but it's never happened to me (knock on wood) and I identify everyone I quote and credit everyone who gives me material. I guess the media is like lawyers -- everyone thinks they're a pain in the ass until they NEED them. If you're doing so well that you don't need press coverage you are obviously doing everything right, and more power to you.

  • treebeard
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I rest my case...

  • Ron_B
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Perhaps the main points raised here are

    - It's not really free, because it takes time away from something else to deal with it

    - At least for some, it's not really publicity. It didn't appear to work out for them in the past, so now it's "One time shame on you, two times shame on me" when you call

    You're in the middle. If you need more nurseries to participate, the magazine(s) needs to come up with something to make participation attractive to them. If you have enough nurseries lined up already, then there is no problem.

  • annabellethomp
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You are being punished because telemarketers are such a pain in the ***. They guy who hung up on you may have gotten so angry with stupid calls that he just decided he was going to ignore them all. His loss, but I can't really blame him. I'm hardly open yet and I already get annoying calls. I still listen to each one to determine if it is legitimate or not, but I can see going crazy after a few years of daily interuptions. Deeproots story about being tricked with a "and it'll only cost $49.95" at the end really makes it terrible for legitimate writers who call.

    The only suggestion I can think to make is that you tell the owner exactly what you are offering and what he had to gain from it. Tell him that you'd like to do a story..... and in return for him taking the time to give you information, you'll list his nursery name, address, and website at the end of the article, or whatever plug he gets.

    By the way, are these stupid telemarketers allowed to call if you are on the national do-no-call list? I try to remember to tell each person to remove me from their calling list, and then it is illegal for them to call again, but who can keep track.

  • Ron_B
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Speaking of legal, what is the situation regarding mentioning a company in an article? Are you supposed to get them to indicate approval on paper? It seems like somebody who didn't like how they were depicted might've gotten some momentum going in this direction along the way.

    Just wondering.

  • Cady
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Unless the writer is quoting a company owner or staff person, it isn't necessary to get permission to include info about the company. Actually, even to use a quote you don't need permission. Only if you slander or libel... It's just that its a courtesy to get approval before publishing anything written about a business.

    Anyone can observe and write a critique or feature about a product, business or service - with or without approval. That's what restaurant reviewers and movie critics do. Not to mention writers of "unauthorized" biographies.

  • sally2_gw
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We have a standing policy; if there's a customer in front of us and the phone rings, the phone gets answered, but the person gets respectfully put on hold until we have finished our business with the customer that came into the store. Many times the customer will tell me to go ahead and take the call. I use my judgement on whether I think the customer is just being polite, or really can wait till I finish with the call. Sometimes the customer in front of me has lots of questions, I know he/she will take a long time, and they are usually the ones that suggest I go ahead and take the call. However, most of the time, I finish with the customer first, and take the call second. I don't know if you've ever been in the retail business, but an unhappy customer can do much more damage to a business's reputation than any postitive publicity, free or not. Say you've come into my store, you need to pick something up fairly quickly and get to the school to pick your children up. The salesperson decides the person on the phone, because they are giving him free publicity, is more important than you are, so he makes you wait to make your purchase. You are, as a result of having to wait, late to pick your children up, they are cranky, and your whole day is spoiled. Which publicity is going to be more potent, the angry mother telling all her friends to never shop at xyz nursery, or the regional magazine article telling those same people what a wonderful place xyz is to shop? I am sorry you feel like you have been treated so rudely by some of the nurseries you've called, but I don't think any nursery with a good reputation will put a phone call before a customer that is there in person.

    As for telemarketers, I don't believe there is a "do not call" system for businesses. I wish there were.

    Sally

  • Ron_B
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Personally, I HATE it when I'm being served and the phone rings, the caller is given priority and I am left to wait to finish my business.

  • Cady
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sally,
    I'm not sure, but I think that the federal "no call" list is for any phone, including business. I put my residential phone on the list, and haven't gotten a commercial call since. I don't recall the application form requiring that the phone number being entered be a residential, non-business number.

  • sally2_gw
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I just thought I remembered seeing that it was restricted to residential and cell phone numbers when I signed up, but I certainly could be remembering wrong.

    Sally

  • gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Personally, I have not found "free publicity" such as that described by the OP to be particularly beneficial in generating new business for the nurseries I have been associated with. Trade magazines and local gardening newlsetters, etc., have in my experience a rather limited audience and I've yet to have a customer come in clutching such a publication eager to do business. Paid print or TV advertising is an entirely different matter, as are articles about the nursery or nursery activities published in the larger area newspapers.

    Sally2 nails it on the head - a satisfied customer is going to be the best advertising a small retail nursery can generate and anything that obscures that purpose, as in making them wait to take a phone call that may or may not achieve an increase in business, will be counterproductive to that end.

    I used to work for a nursery that had all incoming phone calls filtered through the information desk - no management or sales staff took any direct calls without this screening process. Even then the desk staff was instructed to wait on in-person customers first before attending to those on the phone.

  • Cady
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sally,
    Here is a link to the federal "no call" registry website. I didn't see any reference that only residential numbers could register. T

    The site uses the word "consumer" to refer to the person who does NOT want to be called. (On the "More Information" link, see the page of questions for businesses/telemarketers that want to make sales calls.) A "consumer" could also be a business that buys products or services from another, so I am guessing that a garden center or nursery is definitely qualified to NOT be pestered by unsolicited sales calls!

    Here is a link that might be useful: Federal Don't Call website

  • calliope
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    What people think is down time for a nursery is not. I am very busy during the time between Poinsettias and Easter. I grow my next season's crop then, do my plastic orders, balance books and work on taxes, attend seminars, do my professional reading. Do maitenance on the fallow g'houses. But January and February are one of my busiest months for solicitation phone calls. NO! Businesses cannot be put on the no call list. I tried. It doesn't fly. I had one solicitor remind it couldn't (like that was going to convince me to listen to him?). LOLOL.

    They are ALL going to give me something for nothing, don't you know? I did have one call me cold once who needed a pic and I was the first one alphabetially in the phone book. I said SURE and got a half page free ad out of that one. But, it was one phone call in a thousand. I get people wanting to "borrow" my flowers for things like banquets and weddings and also throw in the phrase it is good publicity. Come on, folks. LOL.

    You sound a little miffed, and I guess I understand why, but really to be perfectly frank, your statements have an unpleasant ring to them. You have worked with this person before, could it be you said something or did something they found offensive?

  • shenandoah
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    To answer your question, I don't honestly think the person I called had enough time to register who I was after I identified myself -- he hung up on me so quickly that it was clear he assumed I was selling something or he just couldn't be bothered right then, no matter who I was.

    As far as media calls are concerned, remember that it doesn't have to be an either-or situation: either I wait on my customer, or I take time talking to the caller and alienate the customer. As I mentioned in my first post, I always tell the contact that "if this is not a good time I'd be happy to call you back when you think it might be more convenient." Then, assuming the business owner wants to hear more about what I'm working on and what I'm offering, they can simply answer "yes, I've got a customer. Call me after five tonight..." or say "no, I don't want to be involved in that," or whatever. No legitimate writer or reporter I know has ever insisted that a contact choose between them or a customer. It would be counter-productive.

  • laag
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    In the end, you want the interview more than the person you want to interview did.

    Sometimes it is good to sit back and understand how what we say can be interpreted. Sometimes the real message does not come through and other times it does.

    If I were to say that I can't believe someone had the chance to have me design their landscape and passed it up, what would you think? That may not be what you mean in the original post, but that is how I read it.

    I've been missunderstood a few times. Usually it is because my writing skills lack and I tend to be too direct (like right now). So, I can not be sure that I am reading this the way it is meant to be understood. In actuallity, I am usually regarded as having a very low key diplomatic personality - who would know from reading my posts?

    I hate to say it, but you are following it up with a "do you know who I am?" sounding post. Again, I may be reading this totally incorrectly, but you should know that this is how some people are seeing this post (at least one). Morons like me buy and read these magazines and will attribute these same kind of misunderstandings to the people that you are writing about rather than to the writer.

    I have read articles in our regional home and garden magazine and thought what a snobbish &*(^ someone was only to meet him/her later and not finding that at all. Last year I was paraphrased in it, and you can be guaranteed that I sounded a lot more "delicate" and artsy than I am in person. Fortunately I am not finding that in the current issue, the writer was not as flowery.

    Now given the choice to have a writer do an article about me, and knowing that person is going to arrange my thoughts and views within his own writing style, I'm going to weigh how much I want the publicity vs. how I may be perceived by the readers because of the writer's style.

    If I had a very busy nursery with my hands full from all of my existing customers, would I want a sudden influx of the particular demographic that a particular magazine caters to? Maybe yes, but maybe it would over burden me. Maybe the service to the usual customers would go down, maybe I can not bring in and store additional product, maybe I don't have time for more high maintenance customers, .... we just don't know.

  • bahia
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    From both sides of this issue, I would suggest that making personal direct contact if you can afford the time is almost always more likely to be successful than a cold phone call. Being able to show true interest in the specifics of your topic and communicating that you have done some prior research to accentuate this is also going to give you better results. Of course it doesn't hurt to have a way with people and come across well over the phone.

    If all that doesn't break through the ice, I'd suggest working connections and using introductions to get ahead. I personally am much more inclined to respond to unsolicited requests if they come introduced by someone I know and respect, or a previous client. It really does come down to who you know and how you use it sometimes.

  • shenandoah
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Responding to laag -- read this passage to yourself again:

    "If I were to say that I can't believe someone had the chance to have me design their landscape and passed it up, what would you think? That may not be what you mean in the original post, but that is how I read it."

    Do you see the point you're missing? You would CHARGE me to design a garden. Is a writer CHARGING you to put a story about your business in a subscription magazine? Absolutely not. (And if you offered to design my garden for free, I would not turn you down!) So I honestly don't understand why you think it's arrogant to express surprise that someone turned down publicity. Being straightforward about the fact that you're ambivalent about increasing your business, on the other hand, is a point of view I can respect. And if that's the case, then you'd be taking the right strategy to hang up on a media call.

    There is something else going on in this thread that puzzles me, however, and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a low level of hostility (about publicity? writers? phone calls? can't tell...) that definitely makes one take a step back. Maybe two steps back. I think I can learn something from those who posted. Anyway, glad to be done with that story and back to writing about plants.

  • deeproots
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    'hello this is deeprootsnursery.... if you wish to leave a message press 1, if you do not wish to leave a message, please hangup.'

  • mich_in_zonal_denial
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Do you see the point you're missing? You would CHARGE me to design a garden. Is a writer CHARGING you to put a story about your business in a subscription magazine? Absolutely not

    Do you ?
    Some people actually value their time, so essentially, the time being spent with a writer who may not run with the article or the article is less than what they present is a waste of time and money for the nurseryman

    There is something else going on in this thread that puzzles me, however, and I can't quite put my finger on it. It's a low level of hostility (about publicity? writers? phone calls? can't tell...)

    Read the writing.

  • laag
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If you go down the long list of responses to the original question, the most consistent response is the fact that you did not make a personal contact to get the interview. That is shown in the responses that tell you that you might be confused with a telemarketer. That is shown by those that say they do not want to interupt serving a customer when the call came in. Those that said they are suspect of being duped by someone misrepresenting themselves over the phone are looking for someone standing in front of them showing who he is. Even Mich could look at other articles that you would show her in person.

    But, when you get right down to it, the original post is your way of researching what went wrong with a particular missed article. You chose to investigate it much the same way that you tried to get the interview. You sat at home and put a post on the internet which is a short cut as well.

    The purpose of this thread was to investigate why some nurseries did not seem to want to bother with you. As a result of several postings, we have in essence written an article about why that nursery did not respond to you. But, this article is all based on assumptions and opinions starting with your original post and following through to this one that I am writing now.

    The only way to honestly find the answer to the original question is to go to that nursery and directly ask them. Instead you sat at home and started this thread and don't like what you are hearing and want to blame it on a consistant ignorance of free publicity by "professional gardeners" (but, you are really talking about nurserymen) and an underlying hostility. I hope this post puts it up on the surface and that it is not hostility.

    Earlier in this thread a couple of posts mentioned that nursery people where several hats because they have to in order to survive. Some of those hats are more comfortable than others based upon what skills people have or what they are more comfortable doing. None the less, they know they must where them and in doing so they must do all those tasks that they are not particularly skilled at or those that they are not comfortable doing.

    As a writer, you must where many hats as well. You have to sell yourself and the magazine as being credible and beneficial. You have to show your interest in each article no matter how many you have written just like it just as that nursery person has to go through the same things over and over with each customer with equal enthusiasm.

    You seem to be complacent because you believe that you and the magazine do not have to sell your credibility (the "do you know who I am" thing I mentioned earlier). The only hat you seem to want to wear is the one to write the article. If we did that in our areas of work, we would be just like you wondering why no one is interested.

    You are in control of how well people will respond to you just like we are. If it is not going well, you have to change your approach and make a better effort to make it work just like all of us.

  • trianglejohn
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    After discussing this posting with friends who are much higher ranked in the world of horticulture (I be the lowly worker bee) the overall comment was that articles in magazines or newspaper do not increase sales. It may make your business look good or bring you some temporary fame but in the long run it isn't worth the time it takes. It is all about the $$$$.

  • inkognito
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have to say that I agree with Shenandoah and I can't understand why she has drawn so much negativity. It seems to me that she is looking for a way to get what she wants which is fine by me, but there is a benefit to the nursery here too so why is it being viewed in such a black and white way. How much success would she have had if she had turned up in person on the same day? In my book it is polite to call in advance rather than just show up on the doorstep. How would she distinguish herself from a telemarketer? Perhaps a letter with clips from previous articles followed by a phone call would do it. What do you think, would you find the time to talk to her then?

  • sally2_gw
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Shenandoah wrote, "...and if the customer in front of you truly is more important than free publicity then you have a definite cash flow problem which a story in a magazine probably isn't going to help you with anyway." This is the statement that rubbed me the wrong way and that I responded to about how valuble I think the customer in front of me is, considering the kind of word of mouth publicity he/she will give me based on my service. Shenandoah clarified what she meant by that in a later post. She didn't really mean that free publicity is more important than the customer in front of us, but it sure seemed like it from that earlier post. The nursery I work at has helped garden writers on several occasions, usually writers for the city newspaper, and we've gotten some business due to the mention of us in the paper. But I don't think the writers have ever called us during a peak time. I don't really remember. The amount of business we've gotten due to word of mouth has far outweighed any we've gotten from articles in the paper.

    Sally

  • Cady
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Local newspaper stories can be a nice bonus for a business. They may generate immediate sales from nearby folks, while a national garden magazine reader in Oregon is not likely to visit a featured garden shop in Alabama.

  • Internode
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The nursery manager may have been very reasonable as long as he was not rude in cutting you off.

    Many businesses like my own may be doing too well when apparent good "exposure" seems to knock on the door.

    It is possible that he or she was closing a $60,000 order when you called. Your $2500 exposure may have meant an $8000 loss.

    I like exposure when it's convenient, not a distraction. It depends on the time of year or the stage of business growth.

    Remember, you are asking them to do you a favor. To supply a story that gets you your paycheck.

  • laag
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sally2 was rubbed the wrong way by something in the writer's post. When the writer clarified what was really meant, she was OK with it. But, what happens if the same thing is done in a magazine article about Sally2's business. Will all of her market misinterpret something about her in a negative way because the writer chose the wrong way to phrase something? There oints out that there is a risk.

  • deeproots
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    thats why 90% of the stories written about my nursery in the local paper were written by me and proof read by the editor of the paper (thank god, because I need proof reading).

  • ninamarie
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Part of the writer's skill set is making the subject want to talk. I worked as a writer (newspapers, magazines) for about 20 years before "graduating" to growing plants. I always used to assume that if a subject did not want to speak to me, then I had blown the original call.
    Some subjects were press-shocked; they had been interviewed before and the story had turned out badly. They'd been misquoted or misrepresented. I was always surprised how many of the claims of misquotation turnout out to be true.
    My job as a writer was to convince the subject that talking to me would be worthwhile. There was very little time in the initial phone call to convince them, so I got very good in an extremely limited amount of time at selling myself. Working for well-known newspapers and magazines really made a difference, too. In general, I found most people liked to talk about themselves and their work. Few people realize how fascinating they really are until they're in the hands of a skilled interviewer.
    As far as driving to interview someone, I only did it if necessary - if I needed to see what they were doing to understand it, or needed the visual experience for a feature article. I usually found that people relaxed and were more open on the telephone. For me, that was the most effective interviewing technique. However, my partner in writing and plants always preferred a person-to-person nterview. But what does he know?

  • Dieter2NC
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Not to beat a dead horse, you wanted something from him/her, you didn't get it easy with a phone call, try harder!

  • techdave
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Shenendoah, I find your opinion that an 80 mile round trip is a hindrance to productivity interesting. If you can not outline your next article or clean up some first drafts in your head while driving, you might want to practice the technique. Trust me it works. Use a taperecorder at first if necessary. FWIW some of my friends that are repair guys drive 200-300 miles per day and put 6 or 7 hours of repair time in as well. Most of them preplan and analyze the previous and next repairs while enroute. And they are "mere" blue collar workers.
    No doubt you are successful in the magazine world, but it seems to me that has gained you no advantage in this matter. Perhaps it is because you do not understand your subject, or their occupation. Most of the responses here are not in your favor. Almost none are sympathetic. The nursery and landscape pros here are obviously put off by something about your post. If you want to get better try to learn from all our negative replies and figure out why you are perceived as less personalble than you are. I am sure the people you did interview liked you and cooperated, but remember there is sometimes more potential for failure to coach than success. Perhaps if you can do not understand a business or a group of people the odds of writing about them or communicating with them in forum like this and doing it well are 'bout nil? HTH, Dave. ps--If I were receiving all this heat I would not be very receptive to it, I can't blame you if you are miffed by it, or me. (For reference Most of these responses are actually pretty tame, a post like this to a tractor or logging or chainsaw forum would have brought you a lot more heat.)

  • shenandoah
    Original Author
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Dave -- I didn't expect sympathy. I made it clear in my initial post that I was looking for an answer from professional landscape/nursery people as to why they thought the owner I called did not want to be interviewed and featured in a magazine story. Believe me, I learned a great deal from the answers.

    As you say, nearly all of them were negative. Many of the posters question the value of local news coverage of their business, especially re print media. Some of them, as you noted, seem angry. They want to chew me out for either shortcomings they perceive in me or what I perceive to be a general dislike of writers/print media people, usually based on one negative experience they had with a local publication or a telemarketer disguised as a writer. I find this extremely interesting. If I used the same criteria in judging nursery owners I would never set foot in a garden center again!

    (By the way, I feel like I do have a hands-on understanding of what running a nursery is all about. I have worked in them, and I have done lots of dirty grunt work in the plant world, and I have been certified in a horticultural program in my region. I know plants and I know plant people.)

    It is also educational for me to read the sentiment posted by several respondents that they don't think I'm deferential enough, that I need to realize that I'm looking for a favor from the people I contact. When writing about individuals who own beautiful gardens, or designers whose work is outstanding, this is certainly true. But it is certainly not true for stories which are what I call 'round-up' format -- when you're looking for several business owners in a particular niche market, i.e. fitness center franchisees, doggy dare care businesses, restaurant owners, or nursery owners -- who are willing to be included in a regional look at that consumer industry. If you don't like writers or don't like the publication I write for or don't like the sound of my voice or are pissed off that I didn't drive 80 miles and stand at your counter waiting to ask you for two paragraph's worth of copy and you tell me so -- then guess what? I go to the next guy on the list. That's not arrogance -- it's reality. I have a deadline, and I don't get paid unless I meet it. And so this next guy gets his copy, and his photo, and his address and phone number are printed up in nice bold font. And maybe it doesn't get him thousands of dollars in extra sales. But for the exposure it did bring him, was it worth giving me five minutes on the phone? I think anyone would agree that it probably was.

    I don't have a problem with being dumped on in this thread -- it's clear that in doing so I'm filling a need for a lot of businessmen/women who need to vent. My skin is thick, and like I say, I've learned a lot from the responses. But instead of getting mad, some of you should be asking why this topic seems to irritate you so. And then also ask yourself -- is that kind of attitude helping my business? Or hurting it?

  • mich_in_zonal_denial
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "ask yourself -- is that kind of attitude helping my business? Or hurting it? "

    and vice versa.

  • deeproots
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I don't really see more than a person or two who was irritated with you Shenandoah.

    I'm irritated with telemarketers... thats a totally different bird.

    *shrugs*
    in the end, who cares... If I took everything personally in my business dealings I'd need a second job to pay for the therapy.

    drew

  • John_D
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    For a garden book I am currently writing, I make my first contact by visiting a nursery I'm interested in, buy a plant or two, and use that as an easy way of starting a conversation with a staff person who will usually direct me to the owner. I always do a follow-up by email.

  • GreenieBeanie
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It's been interesting to watch this thread develop. I learned something from everyone, including Shenandoah. Regardless, I don't understand the sort of snarky undertone that developed on both sides of the issue.

    The original post was as much a rant as it was a request for information. If we went into a writer's conference and announced, "Misquoted again. Just say no to accuracy", I have a feeling that the thread would have taken the same tone.

    I've been willing to talk to the dozen or so writers who have covered my work over the last few years. But I certainly have not dropped everything to talk with them right away, nor have I imagined that the publicity would lead to increased sales. Indeed, when I know an article is coming out, I turn up the loony filter in my call screening, because almost invariably, my most difficult clients have come to me as a result of articles in local or regional publications.

    Most successful businesses in this profession thrive on word-of-mouth. It is unrealistic for a writer from a local publication to expect to be given the red carpet treatment from a busy, successful nursery, designer, or contractor. As you've read here, we find that our work is best promoted locally when we write our own articles.

    Finally, my suggestion to you, Shenandoah, is to develop a contact kit which you can send via email. Include a cover letter and a link or two to some of your work. Send that out a few days before you make contact, and ask the potential subject of your article to get in touch with you if it is convenient for them, but also let them know you will be calling on a certain date. By the way, if you're covering a retail nursery, don't do that from Wed-Sun. These are the busiest days, and you are likely to get put off.

    It's a two way street. Idealy, you could give the subject of your article an idea of the spin and subject matter, and give them an opportunity to respond via email with quotable material. This is one of my favorite ways to be interviewed. That way, I know that I won't be horribly misquoted, which is a frequent and disturbing consequence of agreeing to be featured in an article.

    Best of luck.

  • pansysoup
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Shenandoah,

    After sorting through this thread, I was about to write you privately, until reading GreenieBeanie's eloquent post.

    I can only add a couple of insights:

    Having owned a couple of flower shops before doing landscape design, I know that most of my day was a Chinese fire drill, and that any phone call that did not directly involve a customer or a supplier was like junk mail. You could have called and said you were writing for the Washington Post and I would have still given my attention to the customer (or crisis) in front of me.

    And I value media exposure very highly.

    Later, when I wrote for a florist trade publication, I called ahead to arrange for a good time for an interview. Most shopkeepers would make an appointment for a sit-down phone conversation before or after shop hours, once they knew who I was writing for and about what. (Copy editor, anyone?)

    And having been the interviewee as well as the interviewer, I prefer to deliver pithy sound bites when composed and not distracted. Better words for the writer, improved eloquence for the shopkeeper. The only people who respond well to impromptu interviews are defense lawyers.

    Good luck.

  • ladykemma
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    and as a former business owner, free publicity resulted in 100X annoying phone calls, people asking for free samples, donations to their school, charity, or welfare cheats, (wanting something for nothing). i personally got NO business from the article done on me.

  • brenda_near_eno
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    "My name is SO-and-So, I'm a WRITER for Whoozitz Magazine, I'm doing a story..."

    I was a national technical sales manager for 10 years, and the general rule is: 'First sell yourself. Then sell the company. Then sell the product.' If your company has a well-respected name, skip to selling the product because the company is already sold and you're sold too because people figure a great company has great people. You didn't sell yourself. You mentioned the magazine (company) name, and he rejected you, which tells you what he thinks of your magazine. Since the magazine name is not helpful, leave it out. Try: "I'm so-and-so, a horticulture writer, and I'd like to make an appointment to interview you, as a respected local nurseryman." And then try at least 3 more times if he rejects you. The first time you do this, and get your best results from your hardest-won appointments, you will be a believer for life. If he wasn't busy, why would he be worth interviewing? Forget the free advertising offer. Go for his emotion. That's what we all have in common.

  • GrassIsEvil
    19 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You guys really aren't appreciative of the number of people who, through reading such articles, will become aware of your business.

    "We sell our bouquets for ten dollars each. On a good day, we'll sell two hundred at the all-day Farmers' Market."

    So, after the market is over and the crowds are gone and you've packed up your buckets and stand, in the beauty of the evening dusk, you'll be walking into the rather deserted parking lot with at least $2,000 in your pocket because the bank is in your home town, an hour's drive from the market. Do you know how many people are mugged each day in the United States for less than $100?

    "We didn't think people would drive all this way to buy our plants."

    So your house is in the boonies.

    "We go to the Farmers' Market every Saturday."

    So your house is in the boonies and nobody's home on Saturdays.

    "We pack 600 lilies in planting mix in bulb crates, twenty to a crate, for forcing. The crates are easy to carry."

    So next Saturday while you're at the Farmers's Market, it will be easy to carry them to a truck. Do you think there's a market for pre-planted lilies?

    "I do my business cards on the computer."

    So you have a computer and a printer. Probably fit in the truck with the lilies.

    "She takes care of the business while I'm at work."

    Your wife is alone there in the boonies.

    Oh, yeah. I'm going to be eager to give this information out to someone over the phone.

    Ray

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