The Decoder

This month check out our interview with Jeremy Kaplan, Executive Editor,  PCMag.com.

Q:  So what’s the deal with PC Magazine?  No more print publication?

A:  Yes, we’ve gone completely digital.  A ton more people read our Web site, rather than picking up the print edition.  Our network today has around 7 million unique users, whereas the print edition had at most 1.2 million readers.  From a business standpoint, this just made sense.

Q:  How does the digital nature of the “publication” change the way PR people should work with editorial calendars?

A:  Well, technically we do still have editorial calendars for advertising purposes.  That said, rarely do we follow them strictly.  We have an internal weekly “digital” editorial calendar; it shows up as a shared calendar in Outlook.  It basically says what we are looking to cover for that week.  As you can imagine, lead times are extremely short, and story length and deadlines are far less meaningful.

Q:  As you’re saying this, I can hear my fellow colleagues cringing.  What’s a PR person to do to get coverage and how can we learn what you’re writing about on the fly?

A:  Well most big topics are recurring, and if you do go by our editorial calendar, you should be able to figure out what we are focusing on.  But Internet publishing is real time, not planned out three months in advance, so we’re constantly adjusting our planning based on hot news of the day.  There’s no way for you to know everything we’ve got coming up, so in other words (I know you hate to hear that), but definitely open yourself up to social networking sites to get information in real time.  There are a lot of forums I use, specifically Twitter and Facebook.

Q:  Tell me more about these sites.  What’s annoying, and what do you like about them?

A:  We’re up in the air about how “useful” some of those services are.  Personally, I think Twitter is pretty limited.  I mean, it doesn’t speak to a broad spectrum of people, does it?  But it’s certainly efficient, and several editors use it to get what they need in a short turn around.  Need to speak to an industry expert?  Post that on Twitter, in a couple of hours, you’ll have already talked to the PR person and scheduled the interview.  So they provide a great place to gather information, and even get story ideas.  But as far as constantly “messaging” or “tweeting,” that can get annoying.

I’m more interested in the potential of social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn, sites with vastly bigger audiences than Twitter’s.  How can we as a business grow our exposure using them?  And how can we promote contact between PCMag.com and readers, potential advertisers, and PR people with helpful info?  That’s the real question.  Keeping the professional use separate from the personal use, though - that’s a challenge.  Send me information I can use, don’t try to befriend me.

Q:  Gotcha.  What about blogs?  They are obviously important as well.  Do you use them to connect with PR people?  Do you post queries on your blog to get information?

A:  Blogs are very relevant, and they should very much be a part of your media outreach.  Ten years ago, something making it into print was considered premium, right?  Today no part of our digital network is less important than any other.  Know the beats of our various blogs, in other words.  To the rest of your question, we don’t post requests for information to the blogs - that’s a little “inside baseball” in my eyes - but we often post queries about what readers think on a certain topic.  One can read between the lines:  If they’re asking this, they’re probably planning something…

Q:  Lets talk pitching, I know you have some stories.  What works and what doesn’t?

A:  A few things I’d like to get off my chest.  If you send me your pitch via e-mail, assume I received it.  Those “I was just calling to see if you got my e-mail” phone calls are annoying.  Yes, I saw your e-mail go through.  If I haven’t responded within a few days, it’s probably because I’m not interested.  But if you think your pitch is relevant, and I haven’t responded, by all means do follow-up - within reasonable limits, that is.  Stalking me and calling me every 15 minutes will not make me a happy editor.  Don’t laugh, we’ve seen it happen!  Also, double check the “staff information” page on our Web site.  It lists all of the reporters, their beats, and contact information.  If you send your pitch to the reporter that would cover your focus area, you’re 10 times more likely to get a bite.  Be thorough, and don’t rush through pitching.  Work with the editors, and respect their time.  Oh and never, I repeat never, mass send a pitch to the whole office.

Q:  Do you receive several mass pitches?  Tell us about the worse mass pitch you’ve received.

A: The whole staff received a pitch the other day, claiming to be “just following up on our conversation.”  It asked whether it was okay to send a press release.  What gives?  First, yes, send the press release.  Second, don’t manufacture a conversation that never happened, and third, don’t e-mail the entire staff about that fake conversation!

Q:   What are the best ways to get ‘ink’ in PCMag.com?

A:  Give us something newsworthy.  Something that’s relevant to our publication:  an exclusive, even something we’re promised for an hour or two before others are let in on the news, makes an ordinary product into something special.  A story we can post that says “exclusive” in the title gets substantially more traffic.  Provide spokespeople.  Give us some extras; pictures are especially nice - and we don’t use it enough yet, but we’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate videos too.  And get it to us fast.  Do these things, and hopefully we’ll pick up what you give us.

Q:  Any final thoughts?

A:  At this year’s CES show, I must have had two or three dozen meetings.  One stuck out, where a company showed off a hard drive that was fireproof and waterproof - by dunking it in a pool and then torching it.  It was just a hard drive, but that sort of vaudeville demo was the most interesting thing I saw the entire show.  I’m not saying every Web site or Ethernet switch should be turned into a spectacle, of course.  But in theory, every product does something special or unique, right?  So highlight it!

Want to get into those “awesome-I can’t live without them-cool because they’re nerdy and tech focused just like us” publications?  (Admit that you’re a little nerdy - we are too, this is a no judgment zone).  Here’s the spot to learn about the hottest tech and business pubs.  We talk with the editors every month to give you the scoop on how to get coverage, what the deal is with Web 2.0 and social networking, and how to build key relationships. Want to hear from a specific editor?  Let us know and we’ll try to hunt them down!