Comments on: Office Hours — Your local reporter is in

By: Craig McGill

Craig McGill — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:52:53 +0000

What a brilliant idea! I don’t think you would get much in the way of confidential stuff at first from people but it would be a great way to just go out and meet people in a day and age when it doesn’t happen other ways…

By: Yoni Greenbaum

Yoni Greenbaum — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 03:49:27 +0000

Wendy – It does take time, but it shows a commitment that will grow on your sources. I thought your tips provide some great guidance for freelancers looking to take advantage of this approach. Keep it up, and let me know how it goes.

By: Wendy Withers

Wendy Withers — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:55:49 +0000

I tried this today. I didn’t get much of a response, but I think this is a good habit I’m going to keep for some time to come.

By: Freelance writer office hours « My Musings 2.0

Freelance writer office hours « My Musings 2.0 — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 23:51:02 +0000

[...] to Comments I’m a big fan of the blog Editor on the Verge, and I took Yoni Greenbaum’s post about office hours to heart. I held my first public office hours meetup [...]

By: Sean Polay

Sean Polay — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 15:58:16 +0000

I love the concept, Yoni. When I was a reporter, I used to joke with friends and family that half my job was getting paid to socialize. It was more truth than joke, though. Your office hours concept is a great amplification of that.

I want to add that relentless promotion beyond the voice mail message is a must. This would also be the perfect chance for a reporter to get more familiar with a wide array of new media outreach methods and platforms, through which more connections could be made. Talk about the power of reaching people on the platforms they prefer! Call it office hours. Call it a meetup. Call it whatever will work to get some actual interaction going. Convert virtual connections into actual interaction. That could even be a success metric.

From a business standpoint, the concept will lead to grassroots audience building, too. The more engaged the audience is with the content creator, the more likely they are to feel some product “ownership,” and that can only help foster customer loyality — so long as the interaction is consistent and ongoing.