Take A Break
Found these... From Take A Break back in the day.
I was asked by a Crickhowell hotelier to run an adventure weekend for a couple of his clients, one who was a journalist on a freebie in return for some copy.
I ran a caving day, free of charge, which was great fun and well received.
The copy however was disappointing. The Dragon Hotel was featured but my adventure activity business was not.
I continued to offer up my time free of charge for copy for some time after this until it dawned on me... I was never going to gain benefit from these promotions and it was not a good use of my time.
The Dragon might well have gained some bed nights from the Take A Break article but even that I doubt. The likelyhood of a client deciding to book accommodation in Crickhowell and to want to go caving would be pretty remote.
And so I decided 'journalists' were simply after a free weekend break and now I turn them away. I even turn away the BBC. They are a nightmare to work with. When they enquire to use my services I work out a price and triple it and if they agree then I'll do the work happily. If not then I'll happily not do the work.
So if you're a journalist I'd suggest that you don't come knocking on my door. I'm quite able to market myself thank you...