As public relations practitioners, our team at Wellons must be on top of what is happening in the news. It’s not a chore. Our personal backgrounds are rooted in journalism, news gathering and news reporting .Wellons Communications founder Will Wellons, for example, served as a reporter for the Orlando Sentinel during the halcyon days of newspapers before consumer news consumption habits shifted to the internet. The daily routine of examining what is happening in the world, Florida, and in particular, Central Florida, and turning them into newsworthy stories allowed Will to easily shift to public relations, where his journalistic skills were well-suited to creating and marketing newsworthy information. In short, we love watching—and participating—in the news.

What do newsworthy stories do for business? The stories that make daily news and wind up on top new sites are rich with potential for injecting your story into the news. There’s a PR term for it. It’s called newsjacking. Simply stated, newsjacking is taking advantage of an existing news story to gain visibility for your business or service. It’s not a particularly new idea, but it was popularized by online marketing strategist David Meerman Scott, whose book Newsjacking became a PR go-to publication.

At Wellons, we’ve become master newsjackers. Because we pay attention to the news, we have become adept at looking at news stories from the viewpoint of our clients. We are constantly asking ourselves, “How can we—and should we—attach our client’s story to another story that is trending?

• First of all, we have to recognize a trending story. That is why we pay such close attention to the news.

• Second, we visualize how we can integrate our client’s story and piggyback on what is becoming the trending story.

• Third, we have to get our client’s active buy-in to score a newsjacking publicity “hit.”

Newsjacking requires fast action. We have all heard the term “news cycle.”

Trending news stories are like perishable food and have a predictable pattern They only last so long, as Meerman Scott illustrates. That’s why newsjacking requires you to be quick on your feet. Because news comes and goes so quickly, it is imperative that clients make fast, but informed, decisions before attaching their business or service to a story of someone else’s making. We’ve become successful newsjackers at Wellons Communications because we pay such close attention to the news—along with knowing when, how and who to contact to connect our clients to stories that can boost their visibility and stature. If and when we recognize a trending story, we are well equipped to bring it our client’s attention—and guide the entire newsjacking program from start to finish. A successful result can generate valuable publicity that can strengthen recognition for our clients and further establish their position as a leader in both the overall marketplace and their particular category.

Interested in learning about how we can newsjack a story for your benefit? Email will@wellonscommunications.com or call or text 407-462-2718.