If you’re a novice to Public Relations, like I was at one point, you might be confused by the title of this blog, “Peg Your Story.” Perhaps you have never  heard of the term “Pegging a Story.” I can honestly say that I never heard the term until mid-career as a publicist.  If you are a seasoned Publicist, I hope you will enjoy the stories I share in this blog to illustrate the perfect “peg”.

Of all the concepts and terms in journalism, that of pegging a story should be one of the most important in every publicists bag of tricks. Pegging a story will generate exposure for your client consistently, and generate exposure when you might least expect it. 

Simply put, the news peg –  which is also known as the hook or reason for the story – translates into the single most important reason  a reporter or producer should publish the story immediately. The peg is the very core of the story’s urgency.  The peg makes the story pitch timely, and defines the story as NEWS. 

Let me share a story of my earliest lesson on “Pegging the Story”. It was when I got a local St. Louis client booked on the national new outlet, 20/20. At the time I was representing two local authors from Crestwood, MO – a small suburb of St. Louis. The authors co-wrote a book titled, “How to Marry the Wrong Guy!”(later re-titled by Random House as “How Not to Marry the Wrong Guy”). These authors were fun, they were excited that they had just written a book, and they were convinced it was a story that could go viral. The problem they had when they were referred to my company was this: They weren’t sure how to get media exposure locally, let alone nationally. 

Ironically, just a short time into the contract with these two authors, Kim Kardashian – after capturing national attention for one of the most highly publicized and most elaborate weddings ever – announced  she was getting a divorce after just a short marriage. This was a HUGE story! It was also perfectly timed to my clients’ book; “How to Marry the Wrong Guy!” Within 30 minutes of hearing the news about the impending divorce, I was on the phone with the authors drafting a press release I would distribute to the national media.  

I received immediate reaction from a host of interested news outlets across the country. One of those outlets sent a correspondent and camera crew to the small town of Crestwood to interview these two ladies. As perfect timing would serve once again, I was also able to peg a story for another client of mine who left her man at the altar. Both clients were featured in the 20/20 segment.

This was the perfect pitch at the perfect time! It was exactly the story the producer of 20/20 was looking for. 

We pegged the story!   

From that point forward I learned to focus on using pegs to nail more and more local and national stories. I have now pitched hundreds of stories nationwide using this tactic. 

Let me share another example. This one comes with extremely unique and new ideas to promote your client. A few years ago, we were hired by a PR Firm in Los Angeles to assist in pitching their medical device client.  The device was an external heart pump.  Although this firm had tried multiple times to get national exposure, it was proving to be more difficult than expected.. 

We went to work and came up with the idea of pitching a story around Valentine’s Day. We found three couples that actually met and fell in love after one person had this particular heart pump implanted. We pegged Valentine ’s Day with a very unique story of love.If these people didn’t have the heart pump implanted they might not be alive, let alone living life in love with each other.

One more quick one, I promise…I have a friend who owns a popular hotdog joint in St. Louis. He always gets exposure on unique days like the St. Louis Cardinals home openers or National Hot Dog day. Pegged!

So you get the concept. There are many ways to peg a story and make something in the news both relevant and ‘timely’ for your organization. You should easily be able to come up with a list of ideas you can schedule over the next few months. There are a ton of National “this” and “that” days to start with and the daily news offers an endless stream of possibilities.

As a publicist I strive to consistently think outside the box when pitching stories. I want to insert a word of advice to you. This is advice you have probably heard but is well worth repeating. Sometimes it is necessary to re-think our approach and our pitch. Remember the UNDER 30 second rule – And, many times you have 10 to 15 seconds to pitch your story if you place a phone call.  An email pitch is ALWAYS the best way to start off but make sure your SUBJECT LINE has the hook or pegged story in the subject.

Your News Pitch

Recently I called into a News Talk station’s assignment desk to pitch a very high-profile proceeding in U.S. Federal Court. I had the phone number saved in my cell and fully expected to speak to one of two familiar reporters who always answer that line – I have longstanding relationships with both reporters. On this day, however,  a different reporter with whom I did not have a relationship answered the phone. In that situation I typically start off by announcing  who I am and where I work, and then go into the story pitch. I did the same on this day. This seasoned reporter schooled me about my pitch because it took me 25-30 seconds to get to the point of my pitch. He said it took too long for me to get to the hook of why they need to cover it. He was right!  Lesson learned!

With the fast paced news cycle, I restate this sound advice. You must to be quick-to-the-point of what you are pitching, when you are pitching and how you are pitching to each news outlet.

As you polish you technique for pitching stories, you will learn to create your pegs and become proficient in making them effective for your clients.

We wish you great  luck in your endeavors. If you need help perfecting your peg, contact us at Chemistry Multimedia. We are here to help.