Friday, February 9, 2018

Question: How many business reporters at The Palm Beach Post cover Central Palm Beach County and coastal cities?


Answer: Five (5); see list below
with contact information.


If you’re a business owner in the City of Lake Worth when was the last time you ever tried to contact one or even two of these business reporters? Most of you are familiar with Jeff Ostrowski and maybe Jennifer Sorentrue too, but do you know who the others are? Find out below.

Contact a business reporter at the Post and use the “Five Tips” (see below) composed by a marketing and advertising professional who also happens to be in the all-important business of “business news” here in Central Palm Beach County (CPBC).

With five business reporters covering CPBC, the trick is learning how to reach out to the right one! Business reporter Jeff Ostrowski isn’t the only one covering this very important part of the County, for example, if you’ve been paying close attention to the issue of medical marijuana dispensaries here in the City of Lake Worth.

Below is contact information (phone/email) for all
five business reporters.

And also learn more below about the “5 Tips” from the Post’s business editor and how those incredibly useful five tips — using just one example, ‘Icy treats!’ — can help a business increase sales and develop a loyal customer base here in the City.

For example, below is a quote from the Post in an article titled, “Online shopping hurts Lake Worth retailers over holidays” vis-à-vis the 2016–2017 holiday season and about a retailer that’s also in competition with other local Downtown businesses selling women’s clothing and maybe even in competition with the hugely popular World Thrift on N. Dixie Hwy. as well:

     CarriElle’s Closet, a new upscale designer store that opened on North K street in June [2016], also struggled to find holiday shoppers.
     “We had days where we were super busy and those when it was really quiet,” said Carrie Childs, a store co-owner. “We should have advertised or done more promotion.” [emphasis added]
     Elle Horigan, Childs’ business partner, said most customers came in mostly to style and buy clothes for themselves.
     “We wanted more people buying gifts,” Horigan said. “It was slow.”

How could CarriElle’s Closet have attracted more customers? By using the Five Tips from the Post business editor!

  • Know whom you want to reach out to, the editor writes, “. . . the trick is reaching to the right journalist.” For example, sending information to a beat reporter may not be the best option. Have you considered a business reporter? An entertainment reporter?
  • Who’s your audience? “So, tell us how many followers do you have on Twitter? How many friends/fans do you have on Facebook?”
  • Local, local, local, “. . . there must be a direct and definite Palm Beach County connection.”
  • Newsmakers, “Some of the best-read content we produce isn’t on the front page.” For example, per the Business Editor, the “weekly Newsmakers section”.
  • Video, “So if your business has ‘good visuals,’ drop in a link to some B-roll video that we can attach to the story.”
Below is the full list of business reporters with phone number and email address you can contact to get your business noticed and attract more customers. What will get a business reporter’s attention? Scroll back up and study the “Five Tips” again!
  • Jeff Ostrowski, 561-820-4581; jostrowski@pbpost.com
  • Susan Salisbury, 561-820-4577; ssalisbury@pbpost.com
  • Jennifer Sorentrue, 561-820-4526; jsorentrue@pbpost.com
  • Charles Elmore, 561-820-4811; celmore@pbpost.com
  • Alexandra Clough (real estate/business reporter), 561-362-5557; aclough@pbpost.com
So. After going over the “Five Tips” for a few days do you think you’ll be ready to reach out to a business reporter and get your business noticed, and maybe later, an article published about your business in the Post? Well, get cracking!

It’s a very competitive business environment and it doesn’t help matters much when Lake Worth’s beat reporter is promoting businesses in the Village of Palm Springs:

For example, if you’re in the business of selling
“Icy treats” you don’t want your customers
going to Palm Springs!
Remember this “IN FOCUS: LAKE WORTH”
by beat reporter Kevin Thompson about ‘Icy treats’
at a gas station located where? Here in the
City of Lake Worth?

Sadly no. That RaceTrac gas station
is in Palm Springs!

Why go all the way to Palm Springs for “Icy treats” when you can get icy treats right here in the City of Lake Worth such as wonderful establishments like Toojay’s at 419 Lake Ave. in Downtown Lake Worth!
In conclusion, if you have a business here in the City of Lake Worth you shouldn’t be losing local customers to businesses outside our City.