These days, the national media seems to be focused on two stories: the upcoming presidential election and the economic crisis. In the past few months, the media has churned out thousands of stories with hundreds of different angles on each of these topics – everything from how the economy will impact the holidays to how the crisis is affecting pets. It begs the question: How can companies leverage noteworthy events and trends?

There is genuine value in leveraging national news events and trends to spark a feature story for your company. We regularly counsel our clients on how to proactively reach out to editors in order to align their companies or organizations with relevant trends. We’ve found that this type of activity can help keep a company top of mind with editors and reinforce the company as a thought leader and innovator.

One of the most effective ways to insert a company into a feature story is through buddy e-mails. These e-mails often include a suggested topic for a story and offer a company’s perspective on trends impacting the industry. In addition, you may consider offering a customer perspective on a particular topic which can go a long way in helping an editor pull together the components for a compelling story.

An example of a buddy e-mail could include:

Dear XYZ,

The current economy crisis is top of mind with everyone these days, from small business owners to large corporations. If you’re planning upcoming coverage on how the economic crisis is impacting XX initiatives and the XX industry, we’d like to offer XX’s perspective on the current situation and how its technology and customers are not only surviving, but thriving.

Please let me know either way as we would be happy to be a resource for you. Thank you in advance for your consideration. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Best regards,
XX

Proactively reaching out to editors with buddy e-mails and other story ideas can result in big results. So the next time you’re reading the newspaper, take a moment to think how current events could potentially create new opportunities for your company.