Finding Experts, Sources and Contacts
by:
Pamela White
I was asked to write an article on a short deadline. No problem, I thought. Then I got the article specifications which enclosed
quoting several experts in the article.
Instead of giving up, I got online and inside
12 hours had much experts than I necessary and a finished article.
Breaking into a new writing niche is several exciting and stressful. Old contacts may not be able to help you out once
you switch from parenting to nutrition, or from health to health foods. There are several options you can try, depending on the time you have to write your article.
- Ask your editor for contacts. Many a times they can refer you to being they cognize is accessible for interviews.
- Check out listservs. Do searches on Yahoogroups, Topica, and SmartGroups. Visit Google and use their "groups" search function. Join groups that seem to have professional members. See past messages, post several questions, and see what happens.
- Email or call members of writer's groups you're associated with. Patch several writer's support their contacts under wraps, nearly all the writer's I've worked with online and in person are happy to share professional contacts.
- Visit Profnet to find experts to interview in all areas imaginable. Profnet.com is an online venue that connects journalists with sources. There is no fee to journalists, but the site is used heavily by content firms and my experience has been that the PR pros are much excited just about their clients deed press than their clients are. In different words, I've been left with a phone bill of unreturned calls. Conversely, if you want to promote your business, book or self, you can sign up (for a fee) to obtain the journalists' requests for information. There is as well a speaker's bureau online.
- Pull out your yellow pages and look up physicians, attorneys, dietitians, hospital administrators, and accountants to call for information and quotes.
- See magazines. If you find a name and job title that fits what you need, call the firm wherever
your potential answerer works. One thing you cognize already: he is willing to be interviewed.
- Do a search at online bookstores for books that speak to your article's topic. Authors need to get their names in print to sell their books. Many a have websites with contact information for members of the press.
- Use public relations firms and departments. Call the public relations department at a hospital to find a nutritionist, cardiologist, administrator, emergency technician. The PR department wish cognize which staff members do nice subjects for interviews and may be able to suggest related topics to include in your article or as a sidebar. The PR department at a cookery institute may be able to connect you with a celebrity cook
alumna.
- There are different places to look for help. Prweb.com sends out press releases, and has them accessible on the website. IdeaMarketers.com is only one place wherever
writers can place articles for publishers to read. Some
of these sources allow writers to look for experts through their press releases and articles.
It may take a patch for any of these methods to work. You may get calls and emails from experts that don't fit a particular article. Save their contact information anyway, on
with all experts you interview and quote. Build your own info
of experts for futurity articles and each new assignment wish find you better connected to the experts you need to reach.
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About The Author
Pamela White is editor of Food Writing, an online account for food writers and author of FabJob.com's Becoming a Food Writing. Visit www.food-writing.com for the most recent newsletter, how to subscribe for fr^e, and current writing contests.
pwhite05@twcny.rr.com
This article was denote
on Sep 23, 2004
