Q: I have a question as it relates to my small business public relations efforts. I received a media kit from a leading magazine and it contained something called an editorial calendar. Can you explain what that is and how I can use it to help get some publicity for my company?

Dianne in Tampa, Fla.

A: Hi Dylan, thanks for the question. And it’s a good one since we’ve received comments and questions from many other entrepreneurs and small business owners in the recent past. Ok so here’s the deal with editorial calendars – they can be a really great resource. Keep in mind that even though they’re called editorial calendars it’s our experience that they’re actually more often used as a guideline for a magazine’s advertising department to schedule and plan out the year’s schedule for what the publisher/editor will focus and feature in each issue.

But don’t let this deter you from an editorial standpoint for your small business public relations. Editorial calendars work in concert with your story pitching and are a very valuable resource for any entrepreneur, small business owner or public relations professional planning a solid PR campaign during the course of a year.

LA Business Journal’s Editorial Calendar:

Ok so here’s some valuable background on editorial calendars. When you open up your mail box and see that you’ve just received the latest copy of a leading magazine, such as Better Homes and Gardens or Cosmopolitan, would you believe me if I told you that magazine was actually worked on, designed and completed almost four months prior? That’s right, magazines often work on a three- to six-month “lead time,” meaning the staff works that far in advance on their issues. So if it’s going on March right now, and if you called up a writer or editor at one of these magazines, they’re actually working on stories for the June issue. Planning is very important if you want to try and get into one of these magazines, and editorial calendars can be a key component to planning your small business public relations.

When you open up an editorial calendar you’ll notice that it’s divided out into different sections. Just about all of them are broken out either weekly, monthly, every other month or sometimes quarterly. What you’ll want to do is study each month to see where your company may fit in to any of the subjects being discussed in any given month. Sometimes you’ll be able to fit into multiple opportunities, such as new products, sales and marketing, technology or even business.

Here’s a look at the editorial calendar for Cosmopolitan magazine:

The great part about editorial calendars is that they’re an excellent way to help you with your small business public relations planning. But here’s the downside – many magazine editors and publishers actually shift their focus during the course of any given year. So don’t be surprised if you pitch a writer or editor and they actually tell you they’re no longer working on that topic for a specific month (originally outlined in the editorial calendar). Sometimes, though, they’ll tell you they’re instead planning it for a different month allowing you to adjust your plan accordingly.

Editorial calendars can be especially effective if you’re trying to get a story in a trade journal, too. Lots of B2B publications work off editorial calendars and you can often use them to find out when and where they’ll be writing certain stories.

So how do you get them? You can either download them from the media kit found on a magazine’s Web site, or you can simply call up their advertising department and request that they email, fax or mail you one.

Here’s a hint: I always prefer to call them up and ask that they mail you a full media kit with copies of the magazine. It takes a little extra time and effort, but you’ll be able to get a copy of the magazine in doing so, which means you’ll be able to study up on the publication to determine which sections and editors are the best places to try and fit your story. Remember, you always want to study and read any publication before pitching an editor so that you don’t waste anyone’s time. This can go a long way towards obtaining even more public relations for small business success.

Have you had a lot of luck in using an editorial calendar for your small business? Please leave a comment and tell us about it here.