Newsjacking!

Today my newest book is released.

Newsjacking: How to Inject your Ideas into a Breaking News Story and Generate Tons of Media Coverage

The traditional PR model -- sticking closely to a preset script and campaign timeline -- no longer works the way it used to. Public discourse now moves so fast and so dynamically that all it takes is a single afternoon to blast the wheels off someone's laboriously crafted narrative.

Enter newsjacking: the process by which you inject your ideas or angles into breaking news, in real-time, in order to generate media coverage for yourself or your business.

A new kind of business book

I wrote Newsjacking to take advantage of the many features of the ebook format used by Amazon’s new Kindle Fire, Apple's iPad, and the Barnes & Noble Nook. Here's the book on Amazon. and here it is for iPad. For example, with the interactivity to Web content built into these readers, when I talk about a blog post in the book, I link directly to the blog post.

Newsjacking is in full color and contains infographics to illustrate the important points.

While Newsjacking is ebook only, it is from Wiley, my long-time publishers. Newsjacking will not be printed on dead trees. It is a short and punchy book (you can read the entire thing in about an hour) and is priced right. Read more about my ideas (and the many excellent comments from others) on the transformation of books.

You can get your copy of Newsjacking and begin reading right now via Amazon Kindle, Apple iBook (for iPad and iPhone), an Android edition, and Scribd. It is coming very soon for Barnes & Noble Nook and Sony ereader.

Anybody can Newsjack.

As journalists scramble to cover breaking news, the basic facts -- who/what/when/where -- are often fairly easy to find, either on a corporate website or in competing media outlets' copy.

The challenge for reporters is to get the "why" and the implications of the event.

Why is the company closing its plant? The corporate website may offer some bogus excuse like "because it wants to spend more time with its family." Competitors may quote some expert's speculation on the real reason, but a reporter can't cite that without adding something self-demeaning like "according to an expert quoted in the New York Times."

When a story is breaking, journalists need original content—and fast.

Enter newsjacking.

If you are clever enough to react to breaking news very quickly, providing credible second-paragraph content in a blog post, tweet, or media alert that features the keyword of the moment, you may be rewarded with a bonanza of media attention.

Newsjacking creates a level playing field —- literally anyone can newsjack —- but, that new level favors players who are observant, quick to react, and skilled at communicating. It's a powerful tool that can be used to throw an opponent or simply draft off the news momentum to further your own ends.

I stuffed Newsjacking with tons of examples: Rick Perry, Larry Flynt, Oakley, and the London Fire Brigade to name a few.

There's an action plan for how you can newsjack and own the second paragraph of the news story that everyone in your market is watching.

Newsjacking is both a new PR technique and a new kind of business book.

I'm interested in your thoughts.

Comments

[Jim Kukral]

Already halfway through and it's really good David. Will finish it today on my flight. Congrats on another great piece of content.

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks for the real-time update Jim!

[Remco Janssen]

Will put this new book on my reading list for X-mas, although I have a problem David. Scribd doesn't allow me to buy it outside of the States... (I have an iPad nor a Kindle).

I have a story I'd like to share with you, David. Remember the Blackberry-goes-black-crisis? It mostly happened throughout Europe (EMEA) and hit a lot of people hard - no mail, no ping, etc. Complaints on social media were staggering, but Blackberry hardly responded publicly.

As an independent PR-consultant, I'm always looking for ways to get myself in the media, next to my clients of course.
For some reason, I felt this would be one of the better opportunities, especially since I work for (international) tech firms too.

Then this big blog here in The Netherlands posted a story about the louzy communication skills of the staff at Blackberry with the headline: "How can an enterprise dealing with communications be so bad at it themselves?"

I responded as fifth commenter, stating clearly that I was a PR consultant, commented on what might have happenend PR-wise with my experience and background in mind. Of course, I tweeted it too with a link. A journalist picked it up, either from the blog or the tweet, and wrote a follow up story for the Dutch counterpart of the financial times. The same evening I got a call from a radio station that works in close cooperation with the paper, requesting me to comment on the matter in their morning show.

It turns out the next day that the article was on the front page - with me as the ONLY expert. The journal I write for also requested a blogpost about it, which probably will be in their annual top 10. And the biggest advertising journal also featured my quotes on the top of an article on the same subject.

This is so inspiring for me in terms of hijacking the news. Not that it got me extra clients, not yet, but still it felt pretty good. Of course, I'm hijacking this story too now ;-). I'm kidding, I hope people find your book and my anecdote inspiring! Matter of fact is that I have found out it works.

[Keith Jennings]

Great news, David! Look forward to reading this!

[Steve Johnson]

I'm reminded of the United Breaks Guitars fiasco that resulted in positive press for Taylor guitars, Calton Cases, and Dave Carroll's band. And of course, huge negative press for United. Read more in my post at http://productmarketing.com/2011/11/14/be-a-part-of-it-with-newsjacking.html

[Liz Wainger]

Hi David:
Love the title of the book but frankly "newsjacking" is nothing new. Smart companies, nonprofits and PR folks have been doing this for years--inserting themselves into the news and the conversation. The tools have changed and the speed at which one has to react has also changed but the principle is the same. Be alert, be creative and react quickly to news at it happens. Unfortunately, too many organizations can't or won't react fast enough to take full advantage.

[David Meerman Scott]

Remco -- what an awesome example of newsjacking. You're the Netherlands Newsjacking master. Let me see if there is another way to get you a copy of the book.

Steve -- Yes, that is a great example!

Thanks Keith. I really think you'll like this one.

Liz -- Yes, of course. But as you say, in today's real-time Web, very few organizations are fast enough. I show people how to succeed.

[Remco Janssen]

I wouldn't say master, but a jedi, perhaps... ;-)

Awesome, thank you David!

[Franklin_Adam]

Hi David, Newsjacking is a great read & my first proper ebook on my kindle app; I'm nearly fully converted to bring paperless :-)

I love how your 'new rules' & 'real-time' techniques really work to earn attention, so I'm looking forward to following your advice on how we can newsjack to earn press for @Bluewire_Media!

Thank you.

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks Adam!

[Kelly Monaghan]

Just finished reading "Newsjacking." A quick and breezy read. You could also write the book on eBooking: How to 'Own" a Topic with a First-To-Market eBook!

I have a questions on Google alerts: Did you mean to suggest creating a separate alert for each keyword or including all keywords in a single alert? Thanks!

[Adam Sherk]

Looks great David. It's funny I'd just written today about how Google's new freshness algorithm update is impacting online reputation management (http://www.adamsherk.com/seo/google-freshness-update-online-reputation-management/). Newsjacking fits right into how companies can turn that into an advantage.

[David Meerman Scott]

Kelly -- I love how the book was announced this morning and you've already downloaded and read it. How cool is that? I create a separate Google alert for each keyword. In my case, I have one for each book title for example.

Adam -- the real-time nature of Google is a really big reason why Newsjacking is possible!

[Debbie Weil]

David,

Boy, was that fun. I read about Newsjacking on your blog. I DM'd you on Twitter. You responded almost instantly to my questions. I posted our Q&A to my blog - all in under an hour. Real-time is where it's at, especially for a book launch. Congrats!

[Jon Burkhart]

Thank you David for the Twitter mention this morning about our @UrgentGenius site. We've been tracking the best in newsjacking and real-time creativity over the last 18 months, but getting your endorsement in the form of your e-book and tweet is crucial. Hey, maybe it will help us newsjack your Newsjacking? :)

More importantly, we hope your insight will help us with a few of our clients who are still sitting on the fence regarding this tactic and our overall real-time proactive and reactive mindset.

My colleague Grant Hunter mentioned to you about writing the forward for our book after you commented upon his post in Campaign Asia in July. In light of today's launch, perhaps we should interview you for our book? It goes without saying but we will do all we can to help promote your e-book throughout our global @IrisWorldwide network.

[Phil Dunn]

David - is this coming to Audible any time soon?

[Timogeo]

Yes, I agree with Liz. It's nice to see the technique drawn out, but like most of the innovations/ communications business, it comes down to a gut reaction.

This exactly how the Timmovations team launched '4th Amendment Wear' back in 2010:

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/07/new-clothing-line-reminds-tsa-of-the-4th-amendment/

http://tomorrowawards.com/magazine/2011/08/interview-with-the-creatives-4th-amendment-wear/

I also penned an article that references the process, which you might find interesting. It goes beyond merely responding to news events, but to having a constant stream of cultural commentary able to be produced on behalf of brands/ causes/ etc:

http://ihaveanidea.org/articles/2011/06/21/if-you-work-in-advertising-but-all-you-make-is-%E2%80%99advertising%E2%80%98-youre-doing-it-wrong/

[Thomasiolsson]

David, I am really looking forward to the read - your last books have been great, not least that they are very practical & focused on examples. I have used a lot of the content for inspiration, meetings with clients and blog posts. Great stuff!

The phenomena of newsjacking is really thrilling, and something of growing importance. My country (Norway) is still one of those where people buy their daily newspapers, but with the decline in the sales of newspapers we have seen a more real-time approach to taking part in the news as they develop. I think marketers are more and more concious about how they can take use of those opportunities, and the book is well times - as always!

However, do you know when it will be available in the iTunes store globally? It hasn´t been made available in my (very limited) Norwegian iTunes yet. All the best of luck with your book launch, David.

[Nora Kuhn]

This is grat news. As your "New Rules" is one of my favorite books I can't wait to get this one. Let's have a look at what Newsjacking can do ...

[David Meerman Scott]

Debbie - that is a perfect example of real-time!! MAny thanks.

Jon - Urgent Genius have been on the forefront of Newsjacking thank you for leading the way. Let's schedule a call for early next week to discuss.

Timogeo - yes, gut feel is important. I will check out the links.

Thomasiolsson - thanks! I just added a link to iTunes to the post, so you might check that. It was released yesterday, so the platforms & sites are being added. Do let me know if you execute a successful newsjack in Norway!

Nora - enjoy!

[Debra Bethard-Caplick, APR]

Sorry, David, but you missed the boat on this one. "Newsjacking" isn't new - this was taught in my PR classes as a PR technique when I was an undergrad 20+ years ago at Illinois State. We called it piggybacking, which, in my mind, is a better name than something that borrows from a violent crime. But you know what they say, "everything old is new again."

[Keith at KendallPress]

Hi David,
So many well deserved and positive comments here on the blog about speed to access and instant downloading and newsjacking as a well crafted art, but I linger on your statement "Newsjacking will not be printed on dead trees." I shudder to consider some of the alternatives that come to mind. (printing on live trees for example:) You might just kindle a new kind of rebellion if http://bit.ly/w5aBXX #DeadTreesFightBack with talk like that.

We're all big fans of your approach to marketing and PR here in the shop and we can't wait to get a hold of these new and important pixels of truth to implement where they best fit our business model. Congrats and thank you.

[David Meerman Scott]

Debra - I also have been doing PR for 20 years. What is new is the real-time aspects. If I write a blog post with my take on the news, it is indexed in real-time so reporters can find it when they are looking for more information.

Kendall - perhaps it was a poor choice of words. Print is very important to me. I've sold something like a half million printed books. This one is e-only but I will continue to do print books into the future. #DeadTreesFightBack

[Keith at KendallPress]

David,
actually I thought it was a great choice of words - and inspired what was meant to be humorous if not a little snarky blog post of mine commenting on those who abandon print altogether at their peril. You have consistently driven home the importance of responding in Real Time and your books and guidance help guide the way we are reshaping an otherwise old world print business into a fast moving business communications company. So we thank you most sincerely.

Please do stop by when you are next in Cambridge and I'll gladly give you a tour! best regards Keith at Kendall PRess where #DeadTreesFightBack

[David Meerman Scott]

Kendall - I saw the comment and then the post. The snakiness was apparent in your post. Thanks for that. #DeadTreesFightBack

[Derek]

I'd buy the book if I could download it as a PDF and read it on my laptop.

[Stuart Bruce]

Hi David, despite me spending most of my time consulting on and speaking at conference on online PR and social media I'm a big fan of real books and am proud to have never bought an ebook. I do have free ones, but need to have it in my hands before I'll spend my pennies. Damn you, this is the first one I've ever been tempted by ;-)

[Henneke]

Looking forward to reading this soon!
Derek - I've not tried it (as I have a Kindle), but there is Kindle software for PC. You can download the software for free.

[David Meerman Scott]

Derek - As Henneke rightly says you can get Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac for free and buy it that way.

Stuart - Well, okay. I have lots of free ones (see link below). But when I like an author or musician or artist, I am more than happy to support them. http://www.davidmeermanscott.com/products_ebooks.htm

[Virginia Llorca]

As you requested I share:

It is not what you would call a raging success story. I am a newbie e-publisher with books on Amazon, Apple, B & N, Smashword, Diesel Pub., etc. I am trying to establish a brand name and I feel I use my blog chiefly for that purpose. My blog hits are increasing and my book sales just had a small bump. But I am very small time, a suburban housewife in Illinois who writes kind of racy love stories. But I always try to tie my blog into something currently going on in the news, particularly if it involves the shake up in the publishing world. I then post on twitter the name of the new post and the link. Of course, my posts are very irreverant and sarcastic, but I do try to bring home a point, either directly or by default. The other night I had a retweet to over 6 thousand tweeters. I had fifty blog posts in a matter of hours. Like I say, I am small time, but the big guns could surely follow this principal to greater effectiveness since it obviously works.

Often my blogs are completely off the wall and serve no purpose but entertainment, or as a place for me to vent.

[David Meerman Scott]

Good work Virginia

[Aaron]

As you suggested David on the MProfs article, commenting here with an example of NewsJacking from somewhere back in late 2000/early 2001.

But before I do let me just say that I completely agree with your basic premise that with all of the real-time tools available these days the concept has definitely been transformed. I don't want to say its easier necessarily, just different and far more systematic.

On to the example. Given that it was in 10+ years ago I am fuzzy on a few of the details, but I can dig them out of the archive if you are interested. Essentially Microsoft was being threatened with blackmail in a pretty unusual way. I dont recall if it was tied into the Denial of Service attacks that were coming of age or separately. But the news broke early in the day and I heard the story on NPR on my way to work. At the time I was agency-side and my client had experienced a similar extortion attempt a few months earlier. In that case the company had received a ransom note saying that the blackmailer was in possession with their software keys and would post them to the Internet if they were not paid $1M. The company's very popular product started at around $100,000, so there was significant potential financial impact. My client brought in the FBI and after an investigation the blackmailer was ultimately caught and arrested.

I called my client right away when I heard the Microsoft news thinking that we could connect the stories. She then checked with her general counsel and determined that the facts as they were known in the court documents could be made public. My team drafted a pitch centered on the notion that my client could comment on "what happens next" in the Microsoft case since Microsoft certainly wouldn't be commenting. We offered it to the local major broadcast media through email and phone as well as a fax (!) to the producers breaking news desk. As soon as they picked up the story and agreed to send a news crew to the company's campus we started calling the Nationals to alert them that the Regional Bureau had added color for the Microsoft story.

In the end, our client was interviewed on each of the major local broadcast outlets and two of those were picked up and included in the broader story about Microsoft on the National Nightly News segments.

As others have commented, our story was not unusual, which is why we thought to do it in the first place. If that same thing happened today however, we would--as you suggest-- be tweeting like mad, writing a blog article, commenting on others blogs etc.. which would have led to a dramatically different story I would imagine. (Though back in those days we were still trying to convince clients that "online coverage was as good as print!"

-@ajdun

[David Meerman Scott]

Aaron - thanks for the example. It is a good one (NBC Nightly News!) . Yes, while there are cases of this technique happening for decades, now it is much easier for anyone to do it which is exactly why I wrote the book.

[Roel de Lange]

Great ebook David! I'm also really interested in Newsjacking and so I started a a few months ago a blog with the best Newsjacking examples on it. www.newsjacking.com

[Jeffrey Taylor]

Sounds like this is a great read David. I have a Sony Ereader and want to know when your book will be available in the format. As a Local Internet marketing consultant, I see huge upside for newsjacking local news.

[Mark]

I came across this book today on Amazon. On the surface, the methodology is similar to what I and other citizen journalists tried to do, to an extent, on the Examiner site. The efforts in that arena were too much for the measly return.

Your book looks very interesting and is on my short list. It may challenge me to write better and think more clearly.

[David Meerman Scott]

Thanks Roel - I have been watching your site!

Jeffrey - It should be out in Sony format now. Thanks for your interest.

Mark - the technique has been around for decades. What's new is the real-time aspect which few people understand which is why I wrote the book.

[Alex Bramwell]

I have blog about the Canary Islands, and the current volcanic eruption has brought me loads of traffic. I do a daily follow of the latest eruption news.

Recently, I have noticed significant spam traffic within a few minutes of publishing a new article, or post. Lots of .ru addresses, etc.

Is Newsjacking being hijacked by traffic spammers using Google News to generate new leads?

[David Meerman Scott]

Alex, alas comment spam is a huge problem with all sorts of blogs. This blog gets about 3 to 1 spam to legitimate comments.

[Alex Bramwell]

What amazes me is the speed that the spam traffic comes in. It isn't comments in my case, but traffic from sites like 777seo.com and googlecorrection.com. The traffic is virtaully instant for a new post that can only have been indexed for a matter of seconds!

[Brian Brandt]

Hi - I tried buying your book, both from my ipad (ver. 1) and my iPhone 4 - but it just says "Your request could not be completed".
Could it be, that its because i'm from Denmark, and it only is sold some countries ? (Apple has been known to do that :-))

[David Meerman Scott]

Hi Brian -- You are the first to tell me that. I don't know what could be wrong. Maybe you could try downloading the free Kindle app for the iPhone and buy it via Amazon Kindle. Sorry that this is a hassle for you.

[Joseph Hollak]

Downloaded the book straight to my kindle for my Orlando to Los Angeles flight tomorrow, but it didn't quite work out.

I'm 22 percent into the book now and I don't think it will make it to the flight. I'm finishing this one tonight.

Wrapping up a Keller Williams Realty event here in Orlando and the front page of the USA Today at my hotel room door this morning had front page headlines of "Mini Donald Trumps take the leap into landlord biz." This is going to be fun.

And, finding news to jack in the real estate space is not going to take much effort at all. It's everywhere.

Thank you, and keep pumping out great content.

[The Mind in Review]

That's a clever tactic but could you give more details in how to use it? Not every news site allow posting and other don't allow post links in the comments.

[Cheap Web Design]

the staff at Blackberry with the headline: "How can an enterprise dealing with communications be so bad at it themselves?"