PR Features

Web Site Features
For PR Professionals

The Connection offers you the most cost/effective way to reach the top article-producing travel editors and journalists. This is their online "meeting place." This is where they come to post assignments, check on available press trips, and find who represents what they're writing about.

What journalists can you reach through this site?
Why are our "Targeted Press Releases" more effective than conventional releases?
What are the other benefits of this site?
How do you gain access, and what are the costs?
Feedback from our members

What journalists can you reach through this site?

150 travel editors and 1007 travel journalists are actively online here as of today. They're all pros; we have strict admittance policies to make sure there are no wanna-be or apprentice travel writers on this site. We verify that editors actually work for a real publication, and journalists are admitted only if they belong to certain professional organizations whose admittance standards meet our requirements, including proof of ten published articles per year. Currently, the qualified and participating organizations are:

: ASJA (American Society of Journalists and Authors ); ASMP (American Society of Media Photographers); ASTW (Australian Society of Travel Writers); BATW (Bay Area Travel Writers); BGTW (British Guild of Travel Writers); IFWTWA (International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association); ITM (International Travel Media ); MTWA (Midwest Travel Writers Association ); NASJA (North American Ski Journalists Association); NATJA (North American Travel Journalists Association); NYTWA (NY Travel Writers Assn.); OWAA (Outdoor Writers Association of America); OWG (Outdoor Writers Guild); POMA (Professional Outdoor Media Association); PWAC (Periodical Writers Association of Canada); SATW (Society of American Travel Writers ); SEOPA (Southeastern Outdoor Press Association ); TJG (Travel Journalists Guild ); TMAC (Travel Media Association of Canada); TOWA (Texas Outdoor Writers Association)

Instantly accessible to you is full information on these journalists, including their specialties, the publications to which they contribute, and in most cases, samples of their work. You'll also find their assignments posted here. The assignments are listed by Area, so you can quickly check them out to see which may pertain to your client(s), and then easily reach the journalist or editor involved with our "one-click email."

Why are our "Targeted Press Releases" the most effective way to send a release?

They're less expensive than maintaining your own email lists and doing your own emailings.
More important, they're more likely to be opened and read than anything you can send, "snail mailed" or emailed. Increasingly, editors and writers are responding to spam by discarding all non-essential mail unopened. But our Journalists know that if a message says "Connection news", it's from a fellow writersmarketplace member, and they can trust that it directly pertains to something they write about.

Here's how and why our system works.

All our journalists list their specialties with us. This enables you to find (or "target") exactly those who will have a serious interest in the particular subject(s) of your message. For example, you can find out in seconds which 23 journalists cover Costa Rica and also specialize in Eco-Tourism -- or any combination for any client you might have. But, you might ask, why not just send your message to everyone? First, because those mass mailings are exactly the kinds of messages which are not getting read, and second, because our "targeting" also works with press trip invites, where you want to be selective.

But more important than how the "targeting" is done is how it's received. Our "Targeted email Press Releases" work for you because our journalists know that everything from "the Connection" is targeted. When they spot "Connection news" in their crowded In-boxes, they know they can trust us -- it's there ONLY because it explicitly pertains to something they write about. So even if they're deleting most messages, that's one they'll open and read. The system works. Read what a few of our PR members have to say about it.

At only $10/release, our "Targeted email Press Releases" are so inexpensive that you can hardly afford not to try them!

What are the other benefits of this site?

In addition to the Targeted Releases described above, here's how this site can help you reach journalists and publicize your clients.

See writers' assignments -- This enables you to see at a glance which current assignments might be relevant to your clients and to reach the writer with a click.

Find writers -- Our uniquely searchable databases make it easy to find Journalists who cover any combination of Subjects and Areas, or who cover selected Subjects for a particular Publication.

Check out a writer's writing -- Get an immediate sense of a journalist's writing ability by seeing the articles he or she has posted.

Post press trips and send invites to selected journalists -- Our trip invite format enables you to specify the importance of an assignment on a scale from 1 to 10.

Access current, accurate publication data -- Our special, frequently-updated version of Pat Snider's "Travel Publishing Update" publication data includes detailed information on over 600 magazines, 200 US newspapers, 19 Canadian newspapers, and more. This alone is a $32/yr. value.

Visit the "Forum." -- This is the most-frequented "meeting place" in all of travel media. Featuring the wit and wisdom of your fellow members, it contains 15,677 searchable postings as of today, many with photos, including such topics as "A Writer's Plea to PR Pros," "Press Trip Invitations - How far in advance?" and lots more of interest to PR folks.

Enjoy your online experience. -- For many years, Writersmarketplace has set the standard for reliability, user-friendliness, and prompt, personalized tech. support.

How do you gain access?

Admittance to the web site as a Marketing member is offered to public relations, communications and marketing professionals. You must be currently employed by a P.R. firm, CVB or similar organization, or by a hotel company or other travel operator, at an account executive level. If you qualify, please click here to request an ID and password, using your business e-mail account, stating your full name, title, the name of a travel client, and the URL (web address) of your organization's web site. Note: you should hear back within 4 days; if you don't, please assume your e-mail did not go through and re-send.

What's the cost?

Absolutely no cost for a trial period of 30 days, which allows you plenty of time to try out the site and to log yourself and your clients into our system (a permanent benefit of the trial, as explained below).

Prices start at $45 for a 3-release, one-year subscription. That's the best value in travel media today -- three highly effective targeted releases, plus one year's access to all the other benefits listed above, including Pat Snider's Market Data, which would cost $32/yr. if you were to purchase it separately. Larger firms may buy up to 60 releases for $400. A full price schedule is shown once you've logged on, and you have 30 days to decide.

How do I benefit even if I don't become a subscribing member?

You will remain a registered member of our web site even if you elect not to subscribe. This means you will continue to receive assignment notices and other valuable mailings, and journalists will continue finding your clients in the database and will be able to contact you -- all at no cost whatsoever -- so long as you keep your email address and other info up to date in our records.