OUTREACH & PR

Warm up a journalist relationship with no ask

Use when you want to be known to a reporter before you ever need something from them.

relationship-warm-up-no-ask.md

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You are building a press relationship with no immediate ask. The whole point is that there is nothing to gain today.

Journalist: {{JOURNALIST_NAME}} at {{PUBLICATION}}
Their beat and recent work: {{RECENT_WORK}}
What I have that could be useful to them over time: {{MY_ONGOING_ASSETS}}
My relevant expertise: {{MY_EXPERTISE}}

Produce three different no-ask contacts, each usable on a different occasion:
1. A useful correction or addition to something they published, under 70 words, phrased so it is easy to accept and easy to ignore.
2. An offer of standing availability as a background source on a named narrow topic, under 80 words, making clear there is nothing to promote.
3. A tip about something happening in my sector that they could report, where I am not the story, under 90 words.

For each, give the subject line and say when in a relationship it is appropriate to send.

Rules:
- No ask, no link, no company promotion in any of the three. If my assets are only promotional, say that and tell me what I would need to become useful.
- Do not use em dashes or flattery.
- The tip must be a real thing I have described, not an invented trend.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{JOURNALIST_NAME}}
{{PUBLICATION}}
{{RECENT_WORK}}
{{MY_ONGOING_ASSETS}}
{{MY_EXPERTISE}}

Getting a better result

The tip where you are not the story is the highest-value contact here and the one most people never send.
Space these out over months; three in a fortnight reads as a campaign.
If it tells you your assets are purely promotional, that is the honest answer about why journalists ignore you.

Questions about this prompt

When is a no-ask contact better than simply pitching?

Before you need anything, when you can see yourself pitching this reporter in six months. A cold pitch to a stranger works, but it works better when the name is familiar. The condition is real: all three contacts carry no link and nothing to promote, so run it only if you can accept that.

What do I need before I can send something with no ask?

Their recent work, your genuine ongoing assets, and your relevant expertise. The third contact needs a real thing happening in your sector where you are not the story, so have one before you start. Where your assets are purely promotional the prompt says so and names what you would need instead.

What do the three contacts look like?

Three separate contacts with subject lines and guidance on when in a relationship each fits: a correction or addition, an offer of background availability on a narrow topic, and a tip. The tip where you are not the story is the strongest of the three and the one almost nobody sends.

What turns a no-ask contact back into a pitch?

Sending all three inside a fortnight. Spaced over months they read as a person being useful; compressed they read as a campaign with an ask coming, which is the impression the prompt exists to avoid. Slipping a link into any of them converts the whole sequence back into a pitch.