Tapping pro-writer tools like media kits

A tub of hummous or a trip to the zoo can spark an entry – anything, really... But sometimes ideas don't spin effortlessly out of the ether and bloggers need to go digging. Look to full-time journalists for cues on how to handle this. After all, most face down writer's block daily to earn their bread...

Companies and groups, like charities and tourism boards, often offer media or press kits. These might contain publicity material, recent articles, leaflets, fact sheets and sometimes royalty-free digital images. Many organizations happily provide information via email – or have extensive websites that include story ideas. Always identify yourself as blogger, then ask to receive updates. Citing your readership statistics will help, along with any other credentials.

Some press releases offer vital tips; others are just hyped-up junk mail. But these can be helpful, when casting a wide net for post ideas. Large companies keep lists of journalists and bloggers, who then receive press releases (and sometimes free samples, like herbal remedies for jet lag or moisturizer designed for convertible drivers). Many now host events for new-media authors from meet-and-greets to press trips (free or heavily subsidized junkets). For example, Bertolli Sauces flew our former student Mardi Michels to the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival 2009 in San Francisco, where she demonstrated her deconstructed-pesto pizza in the company's show-kitchen.

Getting onto press lists can be tedious and time-consuming. You need to track down the publicity office, then ring, write or email, supplying your contact information. Eventually experienced authors land on master lists sold or given to PRs, but the process can be slow at the start. Limit efforts to companies that especially intrigue you.

Harried bloggers and media staffers sometimes draft short items (“filler”) from press releases or media kits alone. That's dangerous, as only one side emerges: the shiny, happy face of officialdom. Louise Purwin Zobel, author of The Travel Writer's Handbook, advocates crossing out all the adjectives in brochure-like texts, then reading the last page for the facts . Don't let these superlatives infiltrate your text. Scan for generics like “beautiful” and “stunning”. Then explain why: stretch for more precise, evocative terminology. “Show, don't tell,” is the maxim to remember.

Apply the same skepticism to brochures, as well as information from company blogs, and in-flight and in-house hotel magazines. Glean the key information, then leave the jargon and hyperbole behind. And double-check all facts: a harried work-for-hire copywriter can easily make mistakes...

Strong reporters avoid unbalanced pieces that echo a corporate party line. At the very least, sleuth down comments (both pro and con, should the topic inspire any controversy). Wherever possible, seek concrete statistics or experts to verify claims of “increasing numbers” or “a hot new trend”. Search the Internet for more candid perspectives: reader-review sites and bulletin boards are especially helpful on this front. Even 15 minutes of research can save a post from becoming a slobbering, sell-out puff piece.