When entrepreneurs zig, journalists zag.

That’s how wide the gulf between the two worlds are.

Journalists are essentially publicity whores that live in a fast-paced work environment, rushing to and fro to cover scandal after scandal.

Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, often live for years in obscurity before getting their big break — the makers of Draw Something are a good example. A lot of them, unfortunately, will remain forever mired in the bog of insignificance.

And when journalists and entrepreneurs work together, it’s often an uneasy, contentious symbiosis. Entrepreneurs complain of being misquoted and misrepresented by journalists, while journalists gripe about being arm-twisted to write an article a certain way.

But it doesn’t always have to be this way. Having some tension is natural, and a healthy working relationship is attainable.

Entrepreneurs and journalists do need one another, so understanding both sides is an essential first step to making the partnership work.

Having lived and breathed in a newsroom environment in both the print and online world, I thought it’s time I share five things entrepreneurs must know about journalists, but unfortunately, are often clueless about.

1) We are not your public relations slaves

Nothing irritates a journalist more than being asked to show a newsmaker the entire article before it gets published. It impinges upon our fierce sense of independence and the need to write an article as we see fit (until, at least, our fire-breathing editors dismember our articles).

As an entrepreneur, understand that journalists are not doing public relations for your company. Our readers come first. It’s not our duty to sugar coat a story until it suffers death by diabetes.

Journalists that propagandize their articles have no credibility. And with no credibility, publications die, unless being a tabloid is their ambition.

Nonetheless, as an entrepreneur, you have the right to demand that journalists check their facts or quotes with you before the story gets published. Changes can still be made, although some bits may be deemed non-negotiable by the journalist. For instance, a particular quote may be so central to the story that it cannot be retracted.

Journalists, however, do get irritated when entrepreneurs are fickle about what they want to reveal to the media. It is generally understood during an interview that everything you tell a journalist could be used as a quote.

Requesting to change a quote after a story is published should be avoided as much as possible. Correcting wrong facts, on the other hand, is fair game.

So, always preface stuff you want to remain confidential with the magic words: “Off the record”. Think through what you want to say before you start the interview.

Private or social conversations, however, are more of a grey area. But ethical journalists will always ask first if they want to quote something you said in private.

2) Journalists need their stories NOW

Here’s another reason why journalists hate sending their stories to newsmakers for ‘vetting’: We just don’t have the time. You’ll be amazed how much work goes into a short article hidden in an obscure section of a newspaper that no one reads.

Unlike entrepreneurs, who often take a long view regarding their companies, making financial projections a few years ahead, journalists live day to day.

Traditional journalists have cut-off times to adhere to before a publication goes to print, and it’s especially brutal for dailies. Magazines have slightly more breathing space. For online journalists, it’s a race to beat everyone in the world to the story, even if it means publishing it at 3am.

So don’t be surprised if journalists hound you incessantly for statistics or quotes — sometimes, we don’t have a choice.  This urgency can be bewildering for entrepreneurs who are used to roadmaps that last for months. But try to oblige us as much as you can, we’ll be grateful.

3) Journalists mastered the art of trolling before the word was invented

True story: An American journalist once wrote a fake story in 1835 about how an astronomer saw creatures on the moon through his telescope. People believed him, and the writer lived in infamy as the first troll ever.

There is one thing about commercial journalism that hasn’t changed through the years: Controversy brings eyeballs, and eyeballs bring ad dollars. It works exactly the same way as certain mobile apps that also rely on ad revenue.

Of course, publications have different ideas about how to balance credibility with controversy. Perez Hilton certainly belongs to one end, while The Economist occupies the other extreme.

But all publications indulge in some rambunctious intellectual revelry from time to time. They exist to drum up attention. A rule of thumb I use is to get at least 20 percent negative comments and 80 percent positive ones. A writer with no hate mail isn’t making an impact.

Because of this, media coverage can be a double-edged sword. It could work for you, or against you. Journalists, under the right circumstances, are willing to make you look bad just so people read their stuff. I know I do.

There’s nothing wrong with it per se, controversy is the bread and butter of an independent and commercial media.

Use this to your advantage. Throw yourself into the center of controversy, while managing the role you play in the drama. You may come out slightly grazed, but you’ll still get more exposure for your startup (Flocations comes to mind as a startup that’s good at this).

4) Journalists are not as smart as you think we are, but we’re not dumb either

If you’re an enterprise startup or a company in the green energy sector, getting press coverage is a challenge. While you may be extremely familiar with the intricacies of a fuel cell and how the green industry works, journalists often only have days to understand your work, especially if they are not in a specialized beat.

As such, you will often find yourself needing to “dumb down” or “sex up” your business ideas and technology to a level we can understand.

This applies more to the mass media than specialized publications, but even the most astute tech journalists have trouble keeping up with all the latest trends.

But see this as practice: If your aim is to eventually reach out to the mass market, you will need to pitch your business in a way that causes a million light bulbs to switch on.

Nonetheless, do not underestimate a journalist’s smarts.

None of us will ever make a gazillion bucks like Mark Zuckerberg (or even come close), but seasoned reporters would have seen miles of bullshit to know when one is coming. We know it when you string together jargon to make hot air sound coherent, because we’ve done it ourselves.

We may not say it out loud, but they can tell apart entrepreneurs that know their stuff from those that don’t. And just because you think your business is the best in the world, experienced reporters would have seen and read enough to let off a cynical smirk at your wonderful “billion-dollar opportunity”.

5) Journalists are extremely fickle

Be mentally prepared: Your two-hour, tell-all, tear-jerker interview may never see the light of day.

This problem is especially pervasive in the print and broadcast world where journalists fight for limited column inches or airtime. Autocratic editors often have the final say over what goes into print, and if they deem a story to be unworthy, it goes straight to the trash heap.

Online publications have it a little easier. While we’re not bound by column inches, we suffer from a different problem: Lack of resources. Smaller, indie websites tend to be understaffed — an interview conducted last week may be relegated down the queue to give priority to more newsworthy stories.

Journalists of all sorts tend also to be obsessively eyeballing the news ticker — a major disaster, a scandal, or an earth-shaking announcement — all of which could throw an interview with a puny startup into the land of no return.

To increase your chances of getting coverage, make it easier for us to write about you. Help us along by providing complete and digestible information about your company and yourselves. Pictures matter too, so having beautiful press photos that is made available online is a bonus.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, journalists are not heartless creatures who want to spotlight every controversy. As cynical and world-weary as we are, we still love a feel-good story, and we want to revel in your triumphs.

Just be careful to time your media publicity well. Receiving press coverage at the wrong time can do more harm than good.

It happened with Color. Don’t let it happen to you.

Photo: Ernst Moeksis

On the flipside, what should journalists know about entrepreneurs? Do share with us in the comments section.

In here, he talks about the diversity of ideas but yet how some of the companies he saw at DEMO Asia — a launchpad for emerging technology – had small visions, but “it’s okay, you can start with a small vision but still build it up to a bigger company eventually”.

Watch out also for his advice to foreign entrepreneurs trying to enter Asia.

Check out the rest of the “quick and dirty” video interviews Kristine and I did with companies and investors at DEMO Asia: here, here, here (with investors), there and there (with investors Vinnie Lauria and Jeff Clavier).

As a young start-up, our appearance on a show called “The Potential” (aired on Channel U earlier this month), which gave entrepreneurs some air time to pitch their products, had a significant impact on our website traffic and revenues.

While the application process, auditions and the actual shoot required days of hard work and rehearsals, the exposure that BoxInBlue.com got out of it was indeed worth the effort.

There is definitely nothing to lose to be on national TV. However, we realized that it is even more important to determine what we want to achieve in that ten minutes of airtime. Just as many of the Angel’s Gate participants have admitted, we do not go into the show expecting a million dollars of sales revenue (or million-dollar funding in the case of Angel’s Gate), but instead be able to maximise this airtime to bring our message across.

Here are five tips and key takeaways that I got from the experience, through the auditions, to the actual show.

1) Do research about the audience of the show

This can be done in several ways — some of the channels have media kits that provide demographics of their viewership, or you can do a quick survey on your Facebook Page on who watches that particular channel and speak to them in greater detail.

Based on this information, you can then adjust your messaging and angle to the producers of the show, during your auditions, on how your business will be interesting to their audience. Producers will love it that you have done research for the project because the last thing they want is people who are not committed to the show and potentially drop-out.

2) Understand the TV station and the show

After finding out about the audience, you have to think about what appeals to the producers. If the show is on Channel NewsAsia whose primary target audience are professionals and executives, they obviously want people to look and sound very intelligent.

If the show is airing on a Channel 8 weekday afternoon slot, you will be presenting to Mandarin-speaking housewives, and you will need to be able to speak that language and appeal to that audience with some showmanship.

Ultimately, you have to understand that it is still TV, and they are going after ratings, so keeping that in mind is going to help you a lot during the auditions. You can see this in many shows where some participants are completely different from the others and should not have made the cut, but due their appeal to the audience, producers will still let them through (e.g. 14-year old with a passion for starting a business even though the business idea is weak).

While this entrepreneur may be passionate, it is obvious that he was not as prepared as the other contestants (see video above: 11m 30s).

3) Go to the auditions prepared

Once again, producers love it that you care about being on the show. Other than showing off that you have done research, another great way to let them know that the show matters to you, is to be absolutely prepared with your pitch.

Treat the audition as if it is the actual show and bring along your presentation tools, be it a live demo, or brochures that will interest them. ‘Wow’ them at the auditions and give them no reason to think that you will not do the same with their audience.

4) Be clear on your objectives of being on the show

Being on national TV has significant benefits, but there can be also pitfalls (for example, being at the mercy of their editors who will decide which ‘role’ you will play in the show. If you fall down when the tape is rolling, I guarantee you they will air that). Throughout the duration of the process, you need to bare in mind what your objectives are, and work towards those objectives.

Here are some possible reasons (there are too many to list all):

a. Free publicity — Keep mentioning your “call-to-action” like “Visit our website: ABC.com”, or even wear a T-shirt with your corporate URL.

b. Get to know the producers better — Even if you don’t make it for this show, if they like you, or if you keep in contact with them, you may get called up for another.

c. Gaining street cred — The fact that you are able to tell customers, suppliers or even investors that your business has been on national TV gives an image that you are not a “fly-by-night” company and makes it much easier to do business.

5) Most importantly, have fun!

I cannot emphasize this enough. Ultimately, you don’t get too many opportunities to be on TV in your lifetime and since you’ve already decided that it’s worth doing it for your company, keep an open mind, and whatever happens, try to have fun and cherish the experience!

About the Author

Scott Leaw is the founder of BoxInBlue.com, an online store that provides design focused home decór and lifestyle products. They carry brands from independent design houses around the world such as Bluelounge, Quirky and many more. BoxInBlue.com has been the goto website for unique housewarming gifts since their launch in 2011.

Kristine with Vinnie Lauria of Golden Gate Ventures. (Disclaimer: Kristine and Vinnie are wife and husband!)

Gwen with Jeff Clavier of SofTech VC.

And with that, Kristine (and Gwen) interviews a few more people at DEMO Asia 2012 last week.

Gwen with Rebeca Hwang of YouNoodle

Kristine with Akira of UrbanCook

Kristine with Callum of Fitness Buffet

Kristine with Eugene Fabian of Microsoft. What is a huge company like Microsoft doing at DEMO? Find out!

Gwen with Amit Anand from Jungle Ventures (Singapore and India-based)

Gwen with Jackson Chan from DMGT International (Hong Kong-based)

Gwen with Antonny Liem from Merah Putih (Indonesia)

Gwen with Arnon Kohavi of Yarden VC (Israel, Silicon Valley)

Gwen with Roshni Mahtani of TheAsianParent

Gwen with Shivanu Shukla of Teamie

Gwen with Keeran Janin of MeSixty

Kristine with Noddon

Kristine with Brand Karma

Kristine with DropMyEmail

Kristine with LobangClub

Videos, of course.

Kristine and Gwen went around DEMO Asia to do some video interviews with participants (startups and investors) and speakers/panelists. Check them out:

Kristine with Squiryl


Kristine with Hoiio


Kristine with Pigeonhole


Kristine with Burpple


Gwen with Adeo Ressi

More in our quick and dirty series here, here, here and there.

RIP Billy Mays (1958 to 2009)

Remember those As-Seen-On-TV infomercials selling the most incredible products? Like that magical cleaning squirt that will make your whites whiter, and your brights brighter? Or that compact gym equipment that promises you washboard abs in six weeks, flat?

Now, entrepreneurs, you have a chance to become the next great TV salesman, like the amazing Billy Mays. In this special, limited time offer, MediaCorp, Singapore’s number one (and only) broadcaster, is giving you the chance to sell your products to thousands of people!

We’re talking about an incredible new TV series on Channel U and xinmsn, The Potential.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve imported the product or invented it. You can pitch on the show and charm audiences with your suave smile and smooth delivery. You could be a blogshop owner, a performer with tickets, or a small business owner. All can apply. Deadline is 9th January.

While watching the show, viewers can instantly buy your products from Mocca, MediaCorp’s incredible platform for classifieds and directory advertising in Singapore. And the best part is, YOU keep all the earnings!

What an incredible, life-changing opportunity!