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Are you a member of any professional marketing organizations in Charlotte? Do you want to be? I’m a board member of the Charlotte Marketing Association (CAMA) and I thought you may be interested in getting involved too. It’s great for networking, career advancement and educating yourself on the latest trends and tactics in marketing.
If you’re interested in learning more, you can register for our event on July 23 at 6PM at Kickstand to discuss our available volunteer opportunities. Want to become a member now? Join here.
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Erik Spanberg covers government, sports business, hospitality and airlines at the Charlotte Business Journal (CBJ). He was kind enough to enjoy a quick cup of coffee with Trisha and me to tell us about his adventures in journalism. Learn more about Erik from our Q&A below.
Q: What is your favorite beat to cover and why?
Probably sports business and government because they have the most strife and chaos. While very different, they are similar in that they are still both about winning and losing. And, most people like sports and/or politics, so that makes it interesting to cover.
Q: What is your source of story ideas?
I come up with ideas, our editors and other staff writers provide ideas, and sometimes public relations people like yourself. Plus, you oftentimes just look at what’s going on; if you had a soccer story you were thinking about, now would be a good time to write it.
Q: What is the best interview you ever conducted? Who is the most famous person you’ve ever interviewed?
A couple of months ago I was co-hosting on Bo Thompson’s morning show on WBT and we had the impressionist comedian Frank Caliendo in the studio. He may not be the most famous but he was certainly the most entertaining interview I’ve ever done. And as for famous people, I think I would say the late Paul Newman, who spoke to me and a small group of reporters when the Petty NASCAR family built the Victory Junction camp for sick and disabled children. Sadly, he did not share his salad dressing recipe with me.
Q: How do you feel that the political landscape in Charlotte has evolved?
Politics in Charlotte is much more popular and active since I first moved to Charlotte 20 years ago. Recently, we’ve held the DNC here, we have one former mayor who is governor, and another former mayor who is part of President Obama’s cabinet.
Q: From a reporter’s perspective, how do you feel the Bobcats to Hornets change will impact your writing?
Bob Johnson and the Bobcats became a mess of a franchise. He said some dumb things, in other cases, some people around town didn’t provide as much support as Bob thought they would and the whole thing just fell apart. The team was mostly lousy, they lost tens of millions of dollars every year, and nobody liked the name or the logo. Now the Hornets name is coming back at the same time the team is getting better on the court and Michael Jordan seems to be finding his footing as an owner. People have an interest and hope in the NBA in Charlotte again and for me, as a reporter, it’s good to have something to write other than Groundhog Day versions of lose-lose-lose.
Q: How do you feel like you the CBJ has evolved?
The digital tide has certainly changed the way we work. The CBJ used to just be a weekly publication that came out on Fridays. Now, it’s a constant conversation with social media playing a big part in that. It makes us more relevant because we’re covering things every step of the way — not just once a week. Now we can take it every step of the way and that makes a big difference. And we’re doing more with TV, with radio and so on.
Q: How can communications professionals stand out and catch your attention?
I always tell people to think about ALL sections of the paper; there is an entrepreneur profile; someone could author a column or essay offering his/her point of view or opinion; if a company has someone that could serve as an expert, that is always useful — the key is to think about all different avenues. Also, photos are great as we sometimes include those in the back of the paper. Additionally, as you know, media is fragile. Sometimes it’s just all about the day that you catch us. On a slower day, for example, there may be more opportunity.
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Last week our very own Trisha McGuire was able to catch up with Charlotte and Where® Charlotte magazine journalist, Virginia Brown. Check out this post from Trisha…
Like me, Virginia is a rarity – a Charlotte native. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Virginia worked at a law firm for a while but decided she wanted something different. She took the leap to change careers and pursue the field of journalism. Bags packed, she moved to the windy city where she not only gained a great education at Northwestern University, but also got to experience the COLD winters of Chicago. Fun! Upon graduation, she quickly moved back to Charlotte to work….and thaw out.
At Charlotte magazine, Virginia is an associate editor covering a broad range of topics, including travel, history and nature. But, she primarily focuses on travel, whether that be day trips, family trips, or Caribbean coverage because of Charlotte-Douglas being such a great airport hub and her work as a travel editor for Charlotte Wedding (for honeymoons). She also handles many of of of the magazine’s feature packages, such as the recent Burger feature and an upcoming “50 Things Every Charlottean Should Do.” Additionally, she writes for Charlotte magazine’s sister publication, Home+Garden.
At Where® Charlotte magazine, Virginia covers anything from dining and shopping to museums and attractions. The magazine is really designed for travelers coming to the Queen City to give them the local, non-tourist perspective (e.g. she might mention 22 gallery in NODA as an out-of-the-way fun spot for a drink). The magazine, which is global in scope, typically hires editors from the city, not someone trying to learn the city, so that the editor can truly provide insider knowledge. She still covers the main attractions though. For example, she might cover the Justin Timberlake concert but then talk about five things around that concert that are fun facts or tips, and maybe mention the best place to park. She also edits Where’s annual Guest Book & Map.
When asked about her travel editorial roles at the two magazines, Virginia said “It’s the difference between showing off the city versus getting away from the city for a break.” She described that Charlotte magazine of course targets Charlotteans who know the city fairly well, whereas Where® magazine is for individuals from all over the country. “I’ve found that some of my twitter followers for Where® live here but want to give ideas to their friends and family who are visiting, so they can show off the city.”
Virginia was kind enough to let me play role reversal, serving as the journalist and ask her some questions. She also generously allowed me to paraphrase her responses!
Q: What is your source of story ideas?
For the Where® audience, I find myself constantly discovering and re-discovering areas around the city and then tweet to Where® followers. Oftentimes, it hits me when I’m not working; I may be at a café with a friend. For the Where® audience, I try to think about transportation – places that have easy access, taxis around, or hotel hubs like Ballantyne & Southpark. I also think about business travelers coming in weekly, from Monday through Thursday. I try to come up with a cool happy hour spot that they haven’t seen yet. Some of my followers tweet about what they want. Other times, someone may just give me an idea.
Q: Do you ever receive pitches from PR/communications pros and if so, which stand out?
I do. I get lots of them for Charlotte magazine, but not so much for Where®. The ones that stand out are the ones that are the most targeted and you can tell the person did their research. They maybe reference a story that we did last month or last year. We can always use ideas. If they are evergreen stories, we might be able to fit them in an issue where, at the last minute, a story falls through and we need to replace it. In Charlotte magazine, we have a front of book section called “Buzz” that showcases people doing really cool things or local businesses.
Q: What is the favorite story you have written?
I wrote a story called “Rooted” in August 2013 about the city’s trees. I wrote about how important it was to have an urban tree canopy and what it means for the vibe of the city. I thought about, what if they all went away? I’m an outdoors-y person and I grew up here, so the story was important to me. Charlotte is actually in the top 10 of urban forests. Some places, we have 200 year old trees in the middle of large urban areas, largely thanks to codes and laws to protect the trees. I heard from lots of people after the story was published, and received lots of letters. It always makes it seem more worthwhile when you hear that a story you wrote affected people. That story took me about three weeks to a month to complete; that includes the reporting, writing and revising. It’s going to be in a book called “27 views of Charlotte,” put out by Eno Publishers this fall.
Q: What is your favorite neighborhood?
That’s a hard question. Sometimes I’ll want to go to a wine bar in Southpark, sometimes a dive bar in NODA. That’s the nice thing about Charlotte; it caters to differences. So, depending on my mood, I have a lot to choose from. I don’t spend much time in the suburbs but when I do go, I find little pockets that are neat. Most recently, I was visiting a friend in Huntersville and I found it so pretty. Charlotte is nice because it’s so diverse in what it offers.
Q: What is your lead time for your magazines?
For Where® magazine, it’s about a three-week minimum lead time, and it is a bi-monthly magazine. For Charlotte magazine, it’s about two months. For example, for the August issue, our closing date is July 3 but we started writing in early June. But, for evergreen stories, we can sometimes fit them in last minute.
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Today I want to introduce you to a new Charlotte magazine called b2bTRIBE. What I like most about this publication is that it’s created by small business, for small business. The focus is on learning from and connecting with like-minded individuals, particularly business owners.
Before the inaugural issue is released this summer, I would encourage you to do the following:
1.) Take advantage of their feature article or Q&A profile opportunities to highlight you and your company.
2.) Sign up for your FREE print and digital subscription HERE.
3.) Consider all the different advertising opportunities found HERE.
You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
As always, we’re here to inform and help you with your communication efforts. Please let us know if there’s anything we can do for you!
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We’ve all heard the terms, “outbound” and “inbound” marketing, but do you really understand the difference, and are you using them correctly? Outbound marketing is finding and interrupting potential customers with your message, while inbound focuses on being found and persuading customers to inquire or purchase on their own will. It’s a fine line, but one’s a push and the other’s a pull.
What’s also interesting is you can use the same content for each tactic. For example, you found this blog post because you’re probably interested in our services or you stumbled across it organically doing some research- a great example of inbound. Where as if I emailed it to distant business contacts (which I did) it was outbound to those who received it. So you see it’s not about the content, it’s the channel and the relationship.
According to Hubspot over 90 percent of marketing budgets are spent on outbound, which aligns more with traditional advertising, email spam and telemarketing. Of course these tactics can be effective, but I would challenge you to transition more of your resources to inbound marketing.
How does this relate to good ole public relations? PR is more credible because someone else is telling your story, and at the end of the day it’s generating engagement to you, not from you. What a great example of inbound marketing. Is it a part of your strategy?
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Hello,
Our very own Trisha McGuire was fortunate enough to sit down with Sarah Crosland last week for a bit of a role reversal, who told her she enjoyed being on the other end of an interview for a change!
Sarah is executive editor of The Charlotte Observer‘s magazine division, which includes numerous regional lifestyle publications – SouthPark Magazine, Lake Norman Magazine and Carolina Bride – as well as special sections in The Charlotte Observer. Additionally, Sarah covers Charlotte as a Forbes Travel Guide correspondent, a Virgin Atlantic contributor, and on a freelance basis for various other national publications. Most recently, she has ventured into television, hosting weekly segments on Fox46 Carolinas highlighting Charlotte’s growing culinary scene.
Take a look at what Sarah had to say…
Q: What is your source of story ideas?
Oh, that’s a great question – there are so many places. I do receive pitches from public relations professionals and freelancers. Other sources are networking, communicating via social media, consuming other media and immersing myself in the community. I feel like, especially for regional publications like ours, it is critical to get involved in the community and actually go out and meet with the very individuals for whom I’m writing.
Q: How can communications professionals stand out and catch your attention?
There are two key things with me. (1) Understand my products because I can use the ideas; I do accept pitches and I am always looking for ideas. But, they do have to fit within the purview of my products in some way. I had several people tell me that I should do some sort of story on the local supermarket wars but I wasn’t quite sure how to fit that in the magazines. So, I reached out to another department at The Charlotte Observer and found vintage photos of the supermarkets and I was able to cover the story in that manner. That was definitely a result of someone bringing me an idea. (2) Persistence. I get so many emails. It may take more than one email for me to take note of a pitch and have it stand out in my inbox. If I’ve met someone face-to-face before, I will say that helps their email rise to the top.
Q: How are you evolving as a publication? What do you think is in store for the future?
We’re always looking for the next ‘thing’ that will attract readers, as well as new ways to present the information. For example, home design and the luxury home market rose to the top as interests that are trending with readers. While our products do offer some focus on those topics, we felt we needed a publication dedicated entirely to them. So, we decided to launch a new real estate publication in May that will appear in the Saturday paper.
Of course, digital is, and has to be, part of our long-term plan. We are continually evolving our web and social media presence. But, we don’t see print going away. Instead, we continue to develop print products that are even more user-friendly. In other words, we are doing things like decreasing the word count in many cases and offering readers more bite-sized pieces of information. And, we are more visual than we were in the past; we have found some amazing local photographers that have really taken us to the next level with their work and amped up the visual beauty of our products.
Q: How has social media impacted how you work?
It’s definitely a source of story ideas. Also, it’s great to have those contacts in the community and know what’s going on. And, we of course promote our products via social media.
Q: How do you feel like you and your team make your products stand out from the rest?
First – visually. We have evolved the products to have some beautiful photographs. Also, just having the right stories. That goes back to my belief in really being involved and connected in the community and having a pulse on what interests our readers. Lastly, having stories that really stand out as different. I’ve always believed in the saying from the journalism world that stories should ‘surprise and delight’ readers. I believe in that expression and I strive for it in all our publications.
