Introduction

What You'll Learn
Newsjacking refers to the practice of capitalising on the popularity of a news story to amplify your sales and marketing success. Once you have a story in mind, the template below can help you develop a deeper-dive newsjack that adds a new perspective to that hot topic.​ 

Why is This Important?
​News is breaking every second in this crazy world of ours, and there's a point at which personal trainers have a unique opportunity to ride the popularity wave of a breaking story to benefit their business in some way. But you have to be quick,  the popularity dies down pretty quickly. Perhaps in hours, usually in days, and if you're lucky, in weeks- but the impact of seizing the story early to benefit your business is big ... especially compared to the effort you had to put in to get in on the action.

---

Types of Newsjacking

There are two basic types of Newsjacks:

1. Quick Newsjacks,
2. In-Depth Newsjacks. Quick Newsjacks ​

Both are all about timing – being the first (or as close to first as possible) to report on a news item. These are typically very short, and merely attempt to capitalise on immediacy.

In depth Newsjacks provide a lot more... well... depth. They usually provide more insight and your professional opinion and debate can arise, offering a great opportunity to communicate and mingle with a large audience, without having to put effort into the story-line.

Once you have a story in mind, the template below can help you develop a deeper-dive newsjack that adds a new perspective to that hot topic.

Lets Imagine a popular news item that day "Are health trackers any good?" Then move to the steps below to creating our blog title.​

1. Get Your Newsjack Blog Post Ready

Take several minutes to plan out what you want to write about so that you can stay on topic and keep your readers engaged. 

Step 1: Identify Your Audience
Which buyer avatar are you writing this newsjacking blog post for?

Example: Jane 35, mum of 2, regular visitor to the gym, not much time on her hands during the day...

​Step 2: Identify Your Key Takeaway
What do you want your audience to know after reading your blog post?

Example: To understand what the new fitness tracker, FitBit can do...

​Step 3: Brainstorm a Few Possible Titles
You don’t have to pick the perfect title before your blog post is done, but it definitely helps to jot down a few ideas to help keep you focused during the writing process.
Example: FitBit: To Buy or Not To Buy?

Use the space below to craft a few possible blog post titles, and then choose one as your working title. Don’t worry about finalizing your title until you’re done writing.

Example: FitBit: To Buy or Not To Buy?

​Step 4: Create an Outline
The typical Newsjack blog post consists of:

• An introduction: Introduces and briefly summarizes the newsworthy topic and sets the stage for your perspective.
• A body: Elaborates on the news story with deeper analysis or perspective.
• A conclusion: Wraps up your post with a brief statement that's reflective of what your readers just learned.

2. Start Writing The Intro

Use the guidance on the left to write your blog post in the space on the right. When you're done you can simply copy and paste your blog post in to your website editor.​

Write a compelling opening that introduces the news story you’ll expand upon.

Example: Over the past few months, you may have heard some chatter about a brand new fitness tracker called FitBit. Not surprising.

Explain the news story in further detail.

Example: According to Fitness Magazine, unique visitors to FitBit.com increased by 429% from September to December 2013, and the fitness tracker already boasts a user base of 1.3 million. FitBit is only growing in popularity as the hottest new fitness tracker, and in December 2011, it made Fitness Magazine's list of the top 10 fitness trackers, currently sitting at #5 and beating out big names Garmin and Polar.

Transition from informing readers of the news into the body where you’ll expand on your unique perspective.

Example: And as with any hot new fitness tracker that comes onto the scene, gym goers are chiming in with, "Can I use it for my workouts?" "...and, how?" The short answer? Absolutely. The longer answer? Read on to find out how.

3. On To The Body

Remember, the body follows through on what you theorized or promised in the introduction. Your body can be written in paragraphs, with bullets, numbered lists, multiple headings, or a mix of all of these. You can make use of whichever format is easiest for you. 

Just be cognizant of this question: What are all the bases I need to cover in order to avoid confusion and truly add to the existing conversation on this topic, and can I add any visuals that will make my perspective any easier for my readers to understand? 

Write a header that will indicate to readers you’re getting into the meat of your post.

Example: What is FitBit and How Does It Work?

Explain in further detail to deliver on your header. (In this case, add value by breaking down the news topic into simple terms for the reader).

Example: FitBit is a fitness tracker that allows wearers to visually see how well they are performing physcially. The fitness tracker's goal is to "make fitness statistics easy to understand."

If applicable, expand even further by writing sections that teach your reader how to do something related to the newsworthy topic.

Example: To get your fitness juices flowing, we've brainstormed a list of ideas (and found some real-life examples) for using FitBit as part of your health and fitness regime.

Transition into the conclusion.

Example: Now that we know what FitBit is and what it does, let's get back to the question at hand...

4. The Conclusion

Your conclusion is where you’ll paraphrase the key takeaway you outlined earlier in the planning stages and/or prompt your reader with a question.

Summarize what the reader learned or how they benefited from reading your post.

Example: Now you know exactly what it is that FitBit can do for you...

Ask a question to encourage the reader to leave a comment or react.

Example: Have you tried FitBit yet? If so, how have you used FitBit to track your health and fitness?...

5. Link to Additional Resources

Sometimes it’s hard to say everything you want to say about a single topic in one post, which is why it’s helpful to your readers to identify additional resources you can link to for additional detail or credibility. 

Hyperlinking to other blog posts or pages on your site can result in increased visibility in search engines, page views, and time on site. Hyperlinking to third party content can round out your perspective and help you appear more trustworthy to your readers.

6. Revisit Your Title

Revisit your working title and see if you can make it more accurate, specific, sexy, concise, and SEO-optimized.

7. Add a Call To Action

Do you want your readers to sign up for your newsletter? Request more information? Tweet something? Download something? Buy something? 

What do you want readers to do after they’ve read your blog post?

Once you know what your desired call-to-action is,  include it at the end of your post.

8. Optimize For Search

If you’ve spent all this time writing a great blog post, you’ll want to make sure it can be easily discovered in search engines. Make sure your keywords, or a variation of your keywords are:
​

• In the Title of the blog post
• In paragraph one of the post
• In a second header
• Written once in bold
• In your last paragraph

Your keyword would ideally be what you are trying to sell and what someone might type in to Google to find the post you've written about.

​9. Newsjack Blog Post Tips

1. Be Accurate. No matter which type of newsjack you're writing, it must always be fact-checked. Take the extra few minutes to ensure everything you're reporting is true. It’s better to wait 5 more minutes to publish than to send out inaccurate information to hundreds of thousands of people.
2. Source Your News Properly. Particularly important for quick newsjacks: you should credit the source that broke the news to you. Also, always try to find the original source. For instance, if you found out about a new LinkedIn tool from Mashable, you should still try to find a release, blog post, or statement from LinkedIn. They are the most credible source, and often other news outlets leave out or misrepresent important information.
3. Follow Up. If you miss that first opportunity to do a quick newsjack, or if you feel there's more to say, follow up with an in-depth newsjack soon after. These in-depth newsjacks explain to the reader not just that something happened, but why it's important that it happened, what they should be doing differently in their jobs, and what the implications are for the industry.

Frequently Asked Questions

HOW ARE NEWSJACKING BLOG POSTs GOOD FOR PT'S?
As a personal trainer you have a lot of knowledge and expertise in how to help your audience achieve their fitness goals, but to build rapport you need to grab their attention with topics that they're already interested in, then keep them engaged by spurring their interest and showing how you can help them.
​
WHAT FORMAT SHOULD I CHOOSE FOR MY BLOG POST?
The structure should include a beginning+ Middle and Conclusion, like any good story. You can choose to write in paragraphs or bullet points for the main body. The header should grab attention by hitting up a hot topic in fitness everybody is talking about.

WHY SHOULD I ADD A CALL TO ACTION?
After a person reads your amazing blog post, they may feel ready to action what they have read and whilst they are in this state of action, you should seize the opportunity to gather their e-mails and get them to sign up to your mailing list.

---

Previous Lesson

Next Lesson

---