As a reporter for more than 22 years I’ve encountered many people who don’t want media attention. And I respect that. Most have been victims, or criminals or experienced a tragedy and they don’t want it splashed all over the front page.

On the other hand - reporters generally can’t beat away business owners with a stick. I’m always amazed at the things business owners think are “newsworthy.” They’ll do anything to get in a feature story or get positive publicity for their business. Why? Because SMART business owners know that a newspaper or better, a MAGAZINE article can quadruple their business for 4-6 weeks - and for free yet! So, convincing a writer your business is something to write about is a good thing.

So today, while trying to help out another reporter I called around to some local vineyards, looking for an owner who would be able to give this reporter some comments and quotes about Virginia Wines. I first called a vineyard I’d visited before and that has beautiful landscaping and is well-known in the area.

The owner was, well, rude. He was arrogant, obnoxious, verbally abusive…and had no social or social media skills - and absolutely no sense of how the media game works. Reviews on Yelp about this site confirmed my experience and so I’ve pretty much written this place off. Which is sad. Because I get about 2 to 4 requests a month from people, some travel writers, about vineyards to feature.

He’s no longer on my list. His vineyard is no longer on my list. He just cut off a pipeline to free media - worth thousands of dollars to his business because you can’t pay for the credibility a magazine or newspaper business brings to your business. Smart owners know this. Rude ones don’t.

Tips for getting positive media attention:

Be polite, friendly and patient. Reporters are on deadlines and often only find out minutes before they call that they will need a quote or photo. If the timing is off or bad or doesn’t work for you for any reason, don’t launch into a 10 minute, “My insurance policy states on page 4, that….blah blah blah…” or start berating the reporter for asking when a GOOD time would be. Just say, “I’m sorry we can’t accommodate you this time. We have a private party today, but I’d be happy to speak with you or allow you to take photos ________).” Try to at least project a sense of helpfulness.

Verbal abuse in response to a friendly question is not good form and unlikely to win you friends in the media.

Know what your policies are BEFORE a reporter calls. Decide when, who, where and how you are willing to conduct interviews and tours and offer to send that schedule to the reporter. (Berating, belittling and criticizing a reporter who is trying to find out when they can interview you for a feature story for an international magazine is pretty much considered being a Grade “A” Ass. Not only that….you’ve totally ruined any chance of ever getting a mention, a photo, a link or any webtraffic ever from that person or anyone they know. Does the name “blackballed” ring a bell?) It’s not just me. ALL newsrooms work this way. There are TOO many great businesses wanting free publicity and willing to cooperate, be friendly and be helpful for anyone to spend time being your therapist or managing your narcissistic tendencies.

Leave the door open for future contacts if your situation or circumstances are such the timing on this particular story is inconvenient. Say “Thank you I’d love to help, but it’s not possible for us this week. Please keep me in mind for your next story. We need about a week’s notice to accomodate writers.”

Don’t personalize it. The reporter is trying to do their job - which, if you let them, results in free publicity for you.

The magic words are “Feature story.” When a reporter says “Feature story” it means they’re tasked with writing an upbeat, friendly, positive look at your business. They’re not looking for fraud or investigating you. When they’re writing for a travel magazine the goal is to make their readers WANT to visit the places they’re writing about. So they’re doing you a favor. Check out the prices for four full page color ads and see what the difference is in a story (for which you pay NOTHING), and an ad (for which you pay thousands of dollars).

An ad says, “I paid for this and I think we’re a great business.” A feature story says, “My business caught the eye and attention of people who look at businesses every day and who have deemed us remarkable.” Which one is going to move readers? Ad? Or story?

90% of all business is how the customer remembers you made them FEEL. I’d say the same is true for reporters. I understand boundaries. I set my own. One of them is to never, ever, ever work with rude business owners, no matter how fantastic their product might be. Why? Because if I recommend a place to my readers and they are made to FEEL like asses, THAT is what they’ll remember of ME…that I sent them somewhere where they felt like an ass.

I have to assume that if a business owner treated a reporter as this one did, that his staff and business will be as rude or worse to customers. Since most vineyards rely on tourists, they get new victims (customers) passing through….however, the ones who are unhappy also tell their traveling friends NOT to visit…

Anyway, would love to post the name of this vineyard, but I know negative news drives traffic as much as positive reviews and I really don’t care to send him the traffic.