 Who Should Use Encyclomedia?
A:
Encyclomedia is the perfect tool for anyone wanting to generate
publicity for their company, brands, and/or clients. You don’t have
to be an expert in public relations to use this service. The
information in our media database is so detailed, that any business
person could start contacting the media with confidence. Obviously, a
good understanding of best-practices in public relations would help a
lot, so we’ll cover that in our news
section. We’ll give practical tips, discuss hot issues
and trends, and look at real case-studies from South African
journalists and PR professionals.
What Are Journalists' "Pitching Tips?"
A:
Let’s first look at the definition of a pitch: Most widely used
in a sales context, a pitch is a prepared sales
presentation to a client in order to win business. But in a public
relations context, it can be an attempt to get positive media
coverage by sending a news release or idea to a journalist.
Some
journalists get 75 - 100 PR pitches a day. To be effective you need
to learn how to cut through the clutter and give the journalist
something of interest. We ask the journalists what pitching tips they
can give you to help make your pitch and news release more effective.
Of course, this also helps the journalist to streamline the content
they receive every day, so everyone wins.
What does 100% Verified Mean?
A:
What makes using the Encyclomedia service so invaluable is that
you can rest assured that the media database you receive has just
been verified, with no information being older than 30 days. This
means that we will personally contact each journalist to check that
all their details are still correct. (Verification may take several days, depending on the size of the database.) Isn’t
that great? Never again will you have to spend money on media lists
that are dead on arrival with info that’s out-dated, irrelevant or
incomplete. Never again will you need to waste precious time by
tediously checking all the contact details before starting a PR
campaign.
We
know, however, that any media database starts going out-of-date the
minute after it’s been sent. But because we understand the
importance of having the correct information, if you find outdated
information in your Encyclomedia database within the first 15 days,
we will update the particular details for you, at no extra charge.
What If I Need a Database Right Now - Can You Skip The Verification Process?
A:
We are always keen to help you, but unfortunately we can’t skip
the verification process. Why? Public relations is all about
relationships. Our aim is to improve the relationships between the
media and the PR industry. By verifying the journalists’
information before sending it to you, we’re helping the journalist
to streamline the type of content they receive from you, and thereby
we’re helping you to be more effective. Making your pitch relevant
is important – in fact, it’s critical – to an effective PR
campaign. (See the FREE Pitching Tips email series for the journalists’ perspective on this topic.)
What information will I find in my media database?
A:
Your media database will include all the journalists relevant to your customised search, including all the media organisations/companies they work for. Some journalists work for various media companies in different job capacities (freelancer, contributor, etc.). We believe it's important that you have all the important information about the journalists you plan to contact, so we will include information about all these linked media, even if it falls outside the scope of your media search. This valuable extra information is added free of charge. Here's an overview of what you'll receive:
 Detailed journalist information
Job title (editor, photographer, etc.) and job capacity (full-time, freelancer, etc.)
Beat information - the journalists' main fields of interest, for example: health, fashion, IT
Contact details - including tel, fax, email, cell and Skype address (depending on what the
 journalist wants to share)
Their preferred contact method
Deadlines
Upcoming leave dates
Special info - including pitching tips, background info and anything else the journalist wants
you to know
All the media organisations/companies the journalist is linked to
In-depth media information
Owner/Publisher
Contact details - including telephone, fax, email, website, postal and street address
Media type - such as Radio Programme or Consumer Magazine
Editorial focus - the main fields of interest, such as property or personal finance
Frequency - daily, monthly, etc.
Language
Circulation
LSM of target audience
Description of target audience
Geographic reach
Special info - including special features, editorial policy and anything else they want to share.
How Extensive Is Your Database?
A:
Our primary focus is on South African print, broadcast (radio and
TV) and online media. Sound pretty standard? Well, to begin with,
let’s look at what we mean by online media, also called new or
digital media. Encyclomedia databases include websites, e-zines,
electronic newsletters, blogs, vlogs and any new web-based media.
(Not sure what we’re talking about? Don’t worry, just look up the
terms in our glossary or read our
news page.)
Our
print media database includes all the usual suspects (mass-media
publications) as well as the lesser-known trade,
business-to-business, student, community and custom publications.
News agencies are also included.
Broadcast
media will include all the relevant radio and TV programmes – not
just the stations – that have publicity opportunities.
We
have a team of researchers whose sole responsibility is to search for
new PR opportunities relevant to your specific beats. They are
constantly adding new media, journalists, and creative PR
opportunities.
How Do I Customise A Media Search To My Needs?
A:
Very easily. You can search the media database by simply ticking
a few check boxes next to these criteria:
Beat, media type,
target market, language, circulation, and geographical reach. There
is also a section which allows you to choose what type of staff
positions to include (editors, freelancers, photographers, sales,
etc.).
With
each criterion, except beat, you can select multiple options. For
example, you can choose if you only want English media in your
results, or if you want to include Zulu and Afrikaans media too. It’s
your choice. With every media search, we’ll show you how many media
contacts we have that match your criteria. If you aren’t quite
happy with the search results the first time round, you can simply
tick or un-tick some boxes and search again, until you are completely
happy. Then you can click to submit your order, and we’ll get
cracking to verify the information.
Why Must I Only Choose One Beat When I Do A Media Search?
A:
There are a few good reasons for this. Firstly, our aim is to
give you an up-to-date, detailed media database. But we know that any
database starts going out-of-date the moment you receive it. So to
help you get the most out of your database, we suggest that you do
smaller searches more often, and only do searches relevant to
campaigns that you are currently busy with or about to start.
The
second reason is that the smaller the database, the quicker we’ll
be able to verify the information. This means that you will receive
it much faster, so you can start your PR campaign much sooner.
The
third reason is that your database will be easier to find in your
personal profile page if each database is categorised by the beat.
What Happens If You Can't Verify All The Contacts On My Media Database?
A:
It is possible that journalists suddenly become unavailable, for
a variety of unforeseen reasons. If we are unable to contact the
journalist personally, we will use other available resources to
verify their information. We will then tell you, for example, that Mr
Joe Soap is on leave until X date.
If,
for whatever reason, a journalist is no longer working within the
beat for which you searched, then their details will be removed from
your database. The corresponding pay-per-search fee will be reduced
before your debit order payment goes through. You will only pay for
the contacts you actually receive.
Can I Control The Amount of Money I Spend On My Media Database?
A:
Of course you can. You only pay for the media contacts you think
you need. We give you the control on the media search section to
decide exactly what criteria to include in your media database. It
wouldn’t be fair for us to sell you the entire sports database, for
example, when all you really need is a couple of cricket writers in
the Gauteng region. By only searching for the media contacts you need
you are able to control your budget, and also ensure that your
database is up-to-date, right when you need it.
What's The Most Affordable Payment Option For Me?
A:
This depends on how many PR campaigns you do and how much
publicity you want to achieve. If public relations, publicity and
media relations are your thing, then you’re going to want to take
the “Always-on” package. You’ll be able to create customised
media databases at any time that suits you, and you’ll always pay
the lowest possible pay-per-search rate.
If
you’re only doing two or three PR campaigns a year, or need to
publicise a once-off event, then we recommend that you look at the
“Now-and-then” package. This means that you don’t have to pay
any monthly subscriptions – very useful if you’re not sure when
your next PR campaign is coming. Your pay-per-search rate will be
more expensive than the “Always-on” package, but at least you
will still be able to have access to the same detailed, indispensable
information in the Encyclomedia databases, on a now-and-then basis.
How Does The Payment Work?
A:
Along with the rest of our site, we’re trying to keep
everything really easy and fuss-free. The same goes for the payments.
We’ll set up a simple debit order for you, one
of the safest payment & collection methods available today. This
is administered by a highly secure
debit-order collection service.
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Pay-Per-Search
There
are two days in a month when your accumulated pay-per-search fee
could be debited,
and this depends on when you do a database search.
If you receive your verified database
before the 15th of the month, then your account will be debited on the 15th.
If your database
gets verified after the 15th of
the month, then you will be debited on the 1st of the next
month.
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Getting Started
For
“Always-on” clients:
Your
first month’s subscription will be debited from your account upon
registration.
You will then immediately be able to start a media
search and customise your own media
database. We will verify the
database, and upon confirmation of the payment, you will be
able to
access your database on your own password-protected profile page.
From then on,
your subscription fee will always go off on the first
day of the month.
So
just to clarify, your subscription fees will be debited in advance,
but your pay-
per-search fees will be only be debited after you’ve
received your media database.
For
“Now-and-then” clients:
The
base price will be debited from your account
upon registration. After registering, you can
go straight ahead and
order your customised database. Once we’ve verified the database,
and have received confirmation of the payment, you will be able to
access your database on
your own password-protected profile page.
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How Do You Keep Your Pay-Per-Search Rate So Low?
A: We’ve
spent many long months researching and developing our systems. But
most importantly, we focus on building relationships. Our media
database is not only an excellent service for the PR industry, it
benefits the media too. Journalists
benefit by giving us their pitching tips, thereby decreasing the
amount of irrelevant PR spam that clogs up their mailboxes – making
their lives easier. PR practitioners benefit by accessing the type of
detailed, targeted information they couldn’t find anywhere else,
thereby increasing the effectiveness of their pitches – making
their lives easier. It’s
a win-win situation.
So
to answer the question: We don’t have to go through the switchboard
(like you do); we don’t have to be put on hold (like you do); we
don’t have to explain who we are and why we’re calling (like you
do). It’s quick, easy, and everyone’s happy.
Are You Registered For VAT?
A:
No. We’re still a very young company, and we are not required to register for VAT (Value Added Tax) just yet. Until such time, all prices are excluding VAT.
How long must I wait to receive my database?
A: As soon as you place your order we jump onto the phones and start contacting the journalists in your media list. After we have verified a journalist's profile, it will immediately appear in your database for you to see. This means that you don't have to wait for us to finish verifying the whole list before having access to your database. This is useful for urgent campaigns where you can start sending off media releases while we continue contacting the journalists. However, please remember that some databases may take up to 15 working days before all the contacts are verified. We try our hardest to contact everyone in your list as soon as possible, but some folk are just really hard to get hold of - in meetings, on holiday, attending a 7-day seminar, etc. So remember to take this into account when planning your up-coming campaigns.
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