Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Is the term Cohousing hurting us?

[Diane Q Simpson (dqs]

"Then maybe we won't be ignored next time Newsweek does a story on
American housing alternatives."--Steve Farley

You have a point, Steve, but I don't think the term "cohousing" is what's 
causing Newsweek to ignore us. My husband had a very hard time explaining 
the concept of cohousing to his brother-in-law, until he simplified it 
and said "It's for people who want to create their own neighborhood." 
That made sense to Jeff, and it was something he could relate to. So, 
yes, I think sometimes it does pay to use more common language, if you will.

However, I don't think that is what's causing Newsweek to ignore us. 
Newsweek is a big, slick magazine and I'm sure the editors there are very 
sophisticated. They would not have any problem understanding the term 
"cohousing"--it's just that no one is pushing them (at least to my 
knowledge) to do a story on cohousing. Articles don't get written by 
themselves--they get written because: a) there is an overwhelming public 
interest in a topic b) a journalist thinks he/she has spotted a "trend" 
c) a PR firm is pushing the journalist to write about their client.

Well, cohousing may be a trend, but it's not a really "hot" trend, it's 
not taking the country by storm like rollerblading; and it's not a "sexy" 
topic like the O.J. Simpson trial that's going to sell a lot of 
magazines. So what does that leave? That leaves the PR route. Does 
cohousing have a PR agency? If it does, I'm not aware of it.

I did an internship at an advertising agency that had a PR department, 
and it was really eye-opening for me, what I learned there. I used to 
think that the newpaper actually carried news! HA! The director of the PR 
department opened up the Wall Street Journal and remarked: "Approximately 
70% of these stories originated from a PR group." Maybe it was actually 
MORE than that! I'd be surprised if it was less. When I was there, it was 
my job to contact editors of high-tech magazines and try to get them to 
write a story about our client, a maker of application-development 
software. It was a very difficult job, and it took LOTS of phone calls 
just to get one interested journalist to respond.

Now, who's going to do that for Cohousing? Do YOU have time to sit down 
and call two hundred journalists a day and try to get them to write about 
cohousing? Do you have a fax machine, so you can fax them stories about 
cohousing? Are you willing to write a letter to the editor about 
cohousing every time you see a likely opening for one? Do you have a 
portable phone or an office number so you can be contacted if they decide 
to run your story?

So you see, there is alot more to getting coverage than just simply 
thinking that journalists will see what's out there and write about it. 
You have to cultivate journalists. It helps to read the newspapers and 
magazines and see who writes about what. Give them a call and say "I see 
you like to write about neighborhoods...would you be interested in a new 
neighborhood housing trend?" and write down what they say. If they don't 
sound interested after you explain what it's about, ask if there's 
someone else at the newspaper or magazine that woud be interested. Then 
follow up by sending them a letter thanking them for their time, and 
reminding them that if they have any questions about cohousing, they know 
where they can contact you. Keep a file on your computer of likely 
candidates to write about cohousing, the date you contacted them, what 
their reaction was, and any other comments that will help you remember 
who the person was.

As you can see, it's not easy getting stories placed. But if we all 
consider ourselves personal PR people for cohousing, we may succeed in 
getting a few mainstream articles in the press.

                               ~~~~~~~~~~Diane:.)

                                         




       @@              Diane Simpson
      @@@@             Would-Be Jamaica Plain Cohousing
      | "|             263 Chestnut Ave.,#1
      | V|             Boston, MA 02130-4436
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