Opinion Pieces - A Powerful Yet Underrated Way to Achieve PR Success

If you have your own company or just an idea for a great product or service, you undoubtedly have opinions and advice to share with others. One of the most powerful yet underrated forms of PR is the "opinion piece." As the name suggests, an opinion piece expresses the author’s point of view based on his or her own experience.
Many people assume that reporters have written all the articles that appear in local business magazines and trade journals. In fact, many business owners write what gets published (either through their own effort or via a PR agency acting on their behalf).
Nearly every major city in the U.S. has a magazine or newspaper dedicated to local business news. For instance, American City Business Journals is the nation's largest publisher of metropolitan business newspapers with 41 print business journals throughout the country. In addition, there are thousands of smaller publications dedicated to keeping business audiences up-to-date on happenings in their community. Working with skeletal staffs, editors at these publications are generally very receptive to printing opinion pieces that offer their readers practical business information.
Trade journals for industry groups and professional associations are another target for well-written opinion pieces. If the industry exists, there is a publication for it – as titles such as Bodyshop Magazine, American Quarter Horse Journal, Feed-Lot Magazine, Successful Farming and Sanitary Maintenance indicate. The common denominator for these diverse publications is a desire for informative, educational content.
So, how do you develop your idea for an article? Most editors with business audiences are looking for how-to articles and analysis of industry trends. Case histories are also very popular as long as they aren’t promotional and illustrate how you or your company solved a particular problem or issue. If you are still not sure what to write about, request a copy of the publication’s editorial calendar to see if you have a topic that fits with an upcoming issue (very often, publications post their editorial calendars online).
Once you have a topic idea and you have identified a media target, familiarize yourself with the publication. You’ll want to know whether an opinion piece is 500 words – or 5,000 words. Also, find out the editor’s name and contact information. Pitches to “Dear Editor” will not go very far.
Whatever your target, an opinion piece must be:
• Well-written. Editors look for words that are crisp, clear and compelling. To gain insight into the professional journalist’s mindset, pick up a copy of The Associated Press’ Guide to News Writing as well as a copy of The Associated Press’ Stylebook. Both are practical guides to the careful use of words.
• Informative. Editors are looking to inform their audiences, not promote your business – so keep self-promotion to a minimum and address both sides of an issue. In return, most editors will offer you some space at the end of your article for biographical and contact information. Generally speaking, opinion pieces relating to items currently in the news have the greatest possibility of getting printed.
• Exclusive. Never pitch an opinion piece to more than one editor at a time. Publications want exclusive content, not something that has been published elsewhere. And, once the piece is published, it is considered the property of the publication – you will need to rewrite it before submitting it elsewhere.
Paul Witkay is the founder of The Alliance of Chief Executives, an organization that provides opportunities for business leaders in Northern California to share their knowledge and experience. During the time that the trial of disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay was making headline news, Paul wrote several opinion pieces in which he countered the media’s characterization of all CEOs as “crooked.” His timely comments were published as guest articles in the East Bay Business Times, the San Francisco Business Times, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, the Sacramento Business Journal and California CEO. In each instance, he delivered a well-written and well-edited article that met the editors’ deadlines in a timely fashion.
Most importantly, the opinion pieces helped establish Paul as a credible expert on CEOs. We leveraged this credibility to secure guest appearances for Paul on KGO Radio’s “Ron Owens Show” (810 AM), the number one talk radio program in the San Francisco Bay Area, and KNBR Radio’s “Gary Allen on Business (680 AM).”
Opinion pieces are an excellent way to get in front of business audiences and should be part of any marketer’s toolbox. If you have solid, well-written advice to share with others, you will be amazed to find editors willing to work with you.