A Simple. Proven Way to Find Even Hard-to-Find Sources

Do you find that locating--and interviewing potential sources--one of the time-consuming parts of freelancing? Me too. That's one reason I always start looking for sources within a day or so of accepting an assignment--I need to identify my sources before I contact my sources before I line up interviews with my sources before I interview my sources...you get the point.

If there's a way to make this process easier, I want to know about it! So I was excited to learn about Source Sleuth, and what it does for freelancers. I spoke with Ryan Evans, its founder recently for this Q and A: 

Q: Let's talk sources. Just how important is finding the right sources is for journalists/freelancers?  

A: The daily routine of a writer can be pretty hectic and it's tempting to plug in sources quickly and move on to the next assignment. But finding a good source can make a huge difference, both in an article, and in a career.  

Here are some of the things a good source can bring to the table:

• Credibility - A high-caliber source not only makes a story more credible, but it shows your editor that you have a good network to draw from.
• Articulating ideas - Writers have to write about a wide variety of topics and quickly understand complex issues. A knowledgeable source can distill a complex issue or give nuance to something that seems simple or uninteresting. 
• Fact checking - While you are digging up information, you'll uncover things that need to be verified. Having a few good sources can keep you from getting burned. 
• Diversity of opinion - Having a few different opinions go a long way in articulating complexity or highlighting different perspectives. 
• Controversy - Sometimes a source will provide a quote or commentary that is controversial. While you may have to endure a few crazy comments, controversy gets people excited and can drive a lot of interest.  
• Visibility - Having a well-known or respected source can significantly impact how much people talk about and share an article. This has a huge impact on the number of times your piece is seen. 
• Networking - When you build a relationship with a influential source, you can often call on that source to connect you with people in their network later. 

A good writer is a good storyteller. It's hard to tell a good story without the right people, so it's usually worth the extra work to find them. 

Q: There are other sites (e.g. Help a Reporter Out) that appear to provide a similar service to SourceSleuth. How is SourceSleuth different? 

A: Many query sites send their queries to a massive email distribution list. Because of that, they are better at finding sources who have had a particular life experience (did something embarrassing at work party, had a makeover go awry or went through a nasty divorce). We focus more on finding someone with a particular expertise or informed perspective, rather than a life experience. 

One of the problems with sending queries to an enormous email list is that the queries are open to the public. You run the risk of being scooped or irritating the publication by using their brand name. 

Another problem is that while the queries sent to email lists typically get a lot of responses, most of the responses will be unqualified, pitching off-topic or just don't make sense for the story. As Ryan Holiday demonstrated with his prank on HARO (http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/07/18/how-this-guy-lied-his-way-into-msnbc-abc-news-the-new-york-times-and-more/), relying on sources that haven't been vetted can be risky. 

We care a lot more about the quality of sources than the quantity of sources we provide. With other services it's pretty common to get dozens of responses, but none of those sources have been vetted. Any writer who has used these services knows they don't have strict requirements or filters for people responding to a query.

Writers come to us, not because they'll get dozens of sources, but because they'll get a handful of vetted sources that make sense for a story. We have someone who is responsible for connecting writers with quality sources for every single query that comes in.  Because of that, we successfully connect writers with sources for 90% of our queries. 

Q: That's an impressive statistic, Ryan. So how do writers/freelancers work with Source Sleuth? Can you tell me a little about the process? 

A: The process is pretty simple. Writers fill out a form on our website and usually within 24 hours we'll introduce a source via email who is interested and qualified for the story. 

Q: How do you [Source Sleuth] locate potential sources? 

A: While we try to keep the process for the writer very simple, what we do behind the scenes is a bit more involved. 

Over the last year, we've built a proprietary database with hundreds of thousands of sources. When a query comes in, we search profiles in our database to see if we have someone who fits the query. 

While our database is pretty robust, it's not perfect. When we don't have a quality source in the database we use a combination of research techniques, tools and good old-fashioned legwork to find sources. Either way we do it, we have someone who personally approves each source. 

Q: That's good to know. So, tell me why you decided to create/launch the company, please.  

A: I'm fascinated by the changes going on in media. A lot of people are cynical about where the Internet is taking journalism.  Google created a short-term incentive for publishers to crank out a massive amount of low-quality content. Social media clamors for Buzzfeed to crank out animated gifs. 

But I think some of these things are just the growing pains of the transition to new media. Technology has provided the opportunity for writers to publish at little or no cost and connect with niche audiences. There has also been an explosion of tools and great resources for writers - like this lovely blog :) - that make writers much more efficient. 

I don't think the trends that have given low-quality content undue attention are permanent. Yes, people want to be entertained. The Kardashians and Miley Cyruses of the world are always going to get attention. But readers also want to be well informed. They need quality journalism and writing from publishers and writers they can trust. I'm a big believer that quality will prevail and I want to be involved in this evolution. 

==============

Thanks very much to Ryan Evans for this post. Evans is the Founder of Source Sleuth (www.SourceSleuth.com). Ryan is passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation.  When he’s not working, he spends time with his wife and chases his three little kids around the park. Find Source Sleuth on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sourcesleuth

The Sell-Your-First-Article Series, Steps 7 and 8

Welcome back to the Sell-your-First-Article series. (You'll find step 1, steps 2 through 5, and step 6 here.  Today we'll talk about what is often the hardest part of freelancing--the actual writing. Which brings us to step 7: 

Step 7: Write the piece.

To write the piece, I considered the following two questions:

1. What made the study interesting or surprising?

2. What “take-away” message was there for Fitness readers?

Obviously this was a short article, so I didn’t have a lot of space. This story was relatively easy to write, both because it was short, and because the subject matter was fairly simple. The challenge was “writing tight,” or keeping my story succinct while adequately covering the topic. I kept my lead short, described the research, and included a quote from Dr. Jensen. It took me several drafts to get my original version, which was more than 250 words, cut to within word count. It had been assigned at 150 words and I wrote a 163-word piece. My rule of thumb is to get as close to word count as you can, but stay within 10 percent of assigned word count no matter what.

The finished piece I turned in is below, with my comments in brackets. Note that my name, address and contact information are in the upper left-hand corner. The word count and rights being sold are included in the upper right-hand corner. Then the title of the piece and the byline are centered below that, before the story starts. You should single-space this information and double-space the piece itself.

Kelly James-Enger                                                   163 words 

[street address]                                                       Rights per written contract

[city, state, zip]

[phone]

[email]

Fidgeting Fat Away?

by

Kelly James-Enger

Maybe those enviably skinny people who can eat anything without gaining weight simply can’t sit still. [Very short lead—this is a very short piece, remember?]

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic’s Endocrine Research Unit fed sixteen volunteers 1,000 extra calories a day for eight weeks while strictly monitoring their activities. While all participants gained weight, on average they burned off about half of those extra calories through increased non-exercise activity thermogenesis (“NEAT”), which includes fidgeting, maintaining posture, shifting position, and other spontaneous physical activities. The range varied significantly—participants whose NEAT kicked into high gear expended more calories and gained less weight while others—with smaller NEAT increases—expended fewer calories, putting on more weight.  [Here’s the heart of the piece—explaining what the study revealed.]

“It looks like NEAT can be dramatically and rapidly induced in some people by eating too much,” says researcher Michael Jensen, Ph.D. We’re not recommending fidgeting as a weight-loss technique, but the study suggests that even minor physical activities—like stretching when you’re watching TV or crossing and uncrossing your legs during a marathon meeting—can add up. [Live quote from one of the researchers, and a short closing statement.]

-30-

[The number 30, or ###, indicates the end of the piece.]

Step 8: Turn the story in.

                I turned in the story along with Dr. Jensen’s contact information and a copy of the study itself. This is called “backup,” or “fact-checking” material. Some publications don’t require backup, but I suggest you always have it on hand just in case. That will include the names and contact information of anyone you interview; copies of journal articles; websites that you pulled information from (e.g., a page from the Centers for Disease Control that you cite in the article.) For longer stories that include more than one source, you typically turn in an additional, annotated copy of the story that indicates which sources provided the information in the story. 
               What comes next? Biting my nails and waiting to hear from my editor. Stay tuned for the remaining steps in the process. And don't forget about my free teleseminar with Rochelle Melander on Wednesday! 
                **In the next post, we'll talk about how to start researching this short piece. In the meantime, Dollars and Deadlines: Make Money Writing Articles for Print and Online Markets, from which this post is drawn, in now in print. (Prefer the Kindle edition?) 
               If you're interested in writing articles, be sure to sign up for the Write Now! Mastermind class on Wednesday, March 27, at noon central time. Rochelle Melander will be interviewing me for How To Pitch And Sell Articles To A Variety Of Freelance Markets. The call is free, but you need to sign up at http://www.writenowcoach.com/resources/write-now-mastermind.html. I hope to "see" you on the call!