5 Secrets to Building a Successful Public Relations Career

5 Secrets to Building a Successful Public Relations Career

Landed an entry-level job in PR? Here’s how to rock it

By Rebecca Borison

@borisonr

Rebecca Borison is a tech reporter at The Street.

3 min read • Originally published January 29, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Rebecca Borison

@borisonr

Rebecca Borison is a tech reporter at The Street.

3 min read • Originally published January 29, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Getting a job in public relations can seem difficult, but once you’ve got that gig, you’ve just accepted a whole new challenge. It’s time to prove yourself and show you’ve got the chops. To help you out, we reached out to some PR pros and asked them to share the best advice they’ve learned over their careers in the industry. Soak it all in.

1. Foster strong relationships with journalists.

“Treat the media the way you’d like to be treated. Take the time to get to know writers and editors and their work; don’t just blast them with a standard pitch.” –Diane Zuniga, global campaign manager for Babel PR

“My secret weapon has always been to say ‘Nice to see you’ as opposed to ‘Nice to meet you’ because it implies you’re important enough to recall… even if you’ve never met. [Journalists] will silently curse themselves for being forgetful and give you whatever you want. It works every time.” –Alana Yankowitz, publicist at Ink Public Relations

2. Embrace rejection.

“Learning how to take rejection as a way to grow your media and client skills will only strengthen your relationships and network.” –Stacy Berns, founder and president of Berns Communications Group

3. Support your coworkers.

“Your job as an entry-level team member is to take some of the load off your new teammates. If you are not delivering for your teammates, you won’t have to wait for your boss to get mad; your team will likely throw you overboard if you are dead weight.” –Mike Harris, co-founder of Uproar PR

4. Recognize you don’t know it all…

“Be confident about the things you do well and humble enough to admit when you have no idea what you’re doing. Showing people you know the difference will make them trust your instincts, and your strengths will become your calling card, making you invaluable.” –Alana Yankowitz

“The most successful people I know in PR have incredibly open minds. In 18 years working in media and PR, I have never seen a know-it-all make it to the top. PR changes every day with new technology and techniques, and if you can’t embrace those changes, you won’t last very long.” –Mike Harris

5. …And learn as much as you can.

“Be open and fully committed to learning… you’re bound to excel in one area over the others (such as media, strategy or client relations), but commit to developing the entire PR skill set, and success will follow.” –Stacy Berns

“Great PR people take the time to read, analyze and understand the market and media they interact with. Where is the market heading? Why will the company matter five or 10 years down the line? What is being built today that will shape the world of tomorrow? A forward-looking mindset encourages you to constantly think strategically.” –Diane Zuniga

Looking to get your foot in the door and launch your PR career? Mediabistro’s online class, Fundamentals of Public Relations, covers all the basics, from crafting press releases to determining which jobs and firms to target in your job search.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Skills & Expertise

Job Search

Industry Pros Reveal Insider Tips for Landing an Advertising Job

"It's all in the pitch—and your first client is yourself"

Joel Schwartzberg is a workplace communications coach, speechwriter, and bestselling author whose books include "Get to the Point!" and "The Language of Leadership," with articles published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Newsweek. He brings over two decades of senior communications and editorial leadership experience at organizations including the ASPCA, PBS, and Time Inc.

6 min read • Originally published February 1, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Joel Schwartzberg is a workplace communications coach, speechwriter, and bestselling author whose books include "Get to the Point!" and "The Language of Leadership," with articles published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Newsweek. He brings over two decades of senior communications and editorial leadership experience at organizations including the ASPCA, PBS, and Time Inc.

6 min read • Originally published February 1, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

The truth in advertising is that the field is so competitive, and open positions so few, that getting a gig in the modern ad business is as difficult as landing a major account. Even internships are hard to get, and that route is hardly a secret.

So, if you’re a journalist or other media professional looking to transition, what can you do to get a leg up on your competition? Well, as they say in the ad game, it’s all in the pitch—and your first client is yourself. We spoke with industry experts to get their inside tips on getting your best foot in the door.

“Portfolios are the #1 must have for ad peeps,” says Allie Freeland, PR director at iAcquire, a digital marketing agency based in Phoenix and New York. “You can talk the talk, but you have to walk the walk with specific examples of your writing, design and media placements.”

John Farquhar, chief creative officer for brand marketing agency Rain43, advises tailoring your portfolio to the kind of work the agency does. “If they’re already doing your kind of work and there’s a job available, why wouldn’t they hire you?” he says.

To Tony Wright, CEO of WrightIMC, a Dallas-based digital advertising agency, work examples count more than training or credentials. “As someone who hires creatives, I want to know what you’ve done,” he says.

Target Your Favorite Agencies

At the start of your quest, Farquhar recommends picking the top five agencies you’d like to work for. “Find out the one person at each of those agencies, usually the creative director, who can hire you,” then “use every contact possible to get in front of that person.”

Freeland says it helps early in your career to work at an agency, versus in-house at one company, to develop a wide range of skills. “Employers also look very highly upon agency experience; it breeds a hard-working, creative, competitive, agile worker,” she says.

Once inside, take any job you can and make the most of every opportunity you get. “If you can’t break in on the creative side, try to land a job in another department,” says Nathan Crow, VP and creative director at advertising agency RPA. “Strategic planning, design, digital and social departments are some great options.”

Talk About Results

Remember that advertising is still a business where creative work is designed to meet professional, not artistic, goals. Your self-pitch should reflect that. “When trying to get a job as a creative, don’t just show off your creativity; show off how your creativity can affect bottom-line outcomes,” says Wright, who appreciates candidates with “an understanding for business.”

“I don’t care if you had an exhibit at the local gallery; I do care if you created a meme or online campaign for the local non-profit that showed an increase in donations,” he says. “Creatives don’t just make pretty pictures and witty copy. Good creatives create results.”

Duran Inci, co-founder and chief operating officer of Internet marketer Optimum7, agrees that job seekers should have a solid understanding of the business they’re getting into. “Advertising doesn’t just consist of coming up with slogans, graphic billboards, creatives or placing ads on TV and newspapers anymore,” he said.

“It’s pure branding: being able to represent that brand as transparently as possible, building a following through social media, managing the messages in online conversations and more.”

Know Digital

One of your biggest must-knows is that the Internet and social networks have changed the rules of the advertising game, so be aware of the new landscape and how to navigate it. “If you come to an interview and tell me, ‘I’m not sure I know how to use social media,’ I don’t care how much experience you have. You won’t get the job,” says Wright.

“When hiring entry level online marketing specialists, I’m attracted to those who’ve built a website on their own,” says Kurt Krejny, director of online marketing for digital marketing agency Fathom. “This could be a website or blog, side business or a personal domain name resume. I feel that people who have a better understanding of website operations have a leg up on those who don’t.”

And make sure your own online profiles speak well of you. “Be mindful of your social presence online,” says Krejny. “If you don’t want a social post to be on the front of The New York Times, you might want to refrain from posting it altogether.”

Meet People in the Field

You’ve heard it before: “It’s all about who you know.” And that’s also true for advertising.

“Reach out to people you know—and even those you don’t,” says Crow. “Informational interviews are a great way to get to know people working in advertising, as well as to learn about the culture of an agency.”

A great way to insert yourself into advertising industry conversations is through MeetUp.com. Just search for “advertising” or “marketing” in your area, and in no time you’ll be connected to a wide range of people in the field.

Remember, you never know when a conversation will turn into a career lead. So be alert, especially at events. “Attendees may have an opening on their team or point you in the direction of another company that does,” said Krejny.

Know Your Stuff

Anyone interested in joining the advertising business needs to know about the business of advertising. Sites Krejny recommends for industry updates, best practices and new technology include SEOmoz, SearchEngineLand, SearchEngineJournal, TechCrunch and Mashable. For the 411 on the latest hiring, firings and big account wins, follow AgencySpy.

To understand success on the modern creative front, Crow recommends studying advertising award publications including Communication Arts, One Show and Creativity. “Just make sure it’s for inspiration, rather than recreation,” he says.

Be Persistent

Pre-requisites for any advertising job hunter: thick skin and strong determination. “You’re going to get a lot of unanswered emails and phone calls, but don’t let that dissuade you. Keep on keeping on, and stay on top of it,” says Crow.

Farquhar agrees, especially if you’re in communication with a potential agency. “Be relentless. There may not be a job for you there at that moment, but stay in contact,” he says. “If you’re new to the industry, you don’t cost much, so if they really like you they’ll take a chance. But if they forget you and there’s a slot to fill, you’re out.”

Learn All You Can

Having more interests makes you more interesting, says Crow. So he encourages you to “saturate yourself with information to constantly feed the creative beast.” This includes watching movies, TV shows and plays, downloading mobile apps, reading books and taking classes in painting, sculpture, drawing, typography, screenwriting, poetry, children’s books, coding, after-effects, flash, design and improvisation.

“Show an advertising hiring professional that you have a passion for learning, not that you already know it all. You don’t,” says Wright. “Check your ego at the door and use your experience to help you continue learning.”

“If you don’t change, you’ll never be a constant in our industry,” he adds.

Put that on a bumper sticker.

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Managing

Why Your Company Needs to Hire a Chief Marketing Technology Officer

How to define and recruit the right lead tech-marketing role

By Sheldon Monteiro

4 min read • Originally published February 2, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Sheldon Monteiro

4 min read • Originally published February 2, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

When they were in college, your CMO and CIO did not have the same major. Their first jobs out of school were probably not the same, and no decent hiring manager would consider them for the same position today.

Yet here we are, increasingly asking them to do one another’s jobs.

As marketers depend more and more on technology to connect with consumers in an always-on world, and as IT is increasingly responsible for creative executions, the boundaries between CMO and CIO are rapidly blurring. Consider the now-famous prediction from Gartner analysts Laura McLellan and Michael Smith that “by 2017, the CMO will spend more on IT than the CIO.” As we approach that date, their forecast seems less and less far-fetched.

This is not a bad thing. Consumers today want seamless brand experiences. They want to move fluidly among a company’s advertising, its shopping platform, its social media and its customer service. This means that marketing and IT must learn to work more closely together. Leading organizations are centralizing accountability for investments in marketing technology by establishing a newly created executive position: the chief marketing technology officer.

They are introducing this person either as a fully decorated member of the executive team or, more commonly, as accountable directly to the CMO, with close to the full mandate of a CIO or CTO. Ten years ago, the CMTO position didn’t exist, but lately it’s become something of a hot topic.

As important as departmental alignment is, the CMTO charter is not to bring technology to marketing. There are plenty of application vendors who are happy to do that on their own, selling to the CMO.

What, then, should the CMTO charter be? This person’s most important work focus is to change marketing, customer experience and IT—including what those functions do and how they work together—in service of creating competitive advantage.

Three meta-trends fuel this charter. First, empowered consumers demand seamless brand experiences. Second, connected martech systems, built in thoughtfully organized layers, are replacing stand-alone products as enablers of competitive advantage. Third, organizations must consider how they go about transforming their entire businesses for a digital world, rather than digitizing a piece of them or adding limited digital revenues as an adjunct.

Despite excitement around the CMTO role, the ambiguity as to who these individuals are, the skills they possess and where they sit organizationally has led to considerable confusion. To help us understand the state of martech talent, SapientNitro conducted a first-of-its-kind study of marketing technologists’ skills, career paths, attitudes and behaviors.

The results are striking. For example, we discovered six distinct professional archetypes, differing in background and competencies and which, consequently, are not equivalent or interchangeable. Organizations in search of the best person to steward marketing technology through a period of profound disruption need to define the role more specifically than simply as “marketing technologist.”

But regardless of how each organization defines the CMTO, there is, without question, an enormous industry skill gap to fill these roles. In 2013, SapientNitro decided to do something about it and created CMTO University. Each year, up to 20 of our best technologists—talented people who are already in the business of creating beautiful experience platforms and e-commerce systems—spend an entire year learning to become full-fledged marketing technologists.

We’ve leveraged the best thinkers from across our agency and from every discipline, including business strategy and branding, research and analytics, creative and interaction design, experience and enterprise technology, and data management and data science.

This program takes a three-pronged approach to creating these hybrid individuals. First, CMTOs should be immersed in the business and culture of marketing and advertising, understanding concepts like segmentation and positioning, ROI and NPV, branding, media and mix modeling. Second, they should be exposed to the vast and ever-expanding marketing technology landscape, its categories and evolving vendor landscape, and advanced practices in software and product life-cycle management.

Lastly, they must possess the influence and management skills to foster cross-departmental collaboration. If they’re going to break down silos, they must be able to speak to and influence people coming from different backgrounds.

To move beyond ads, we need people who can see around corners, paint the big picture and allow customers to experience brand stories through integrated story systems. We need to move beyond thinking in terms of channels and platforms.

The truth is, employees rarely come equipped with that breadth of perspective, or the charisma to evangelize it.

It’s up to us to grow our talent.

Sheldon Monteiro (@sheldon_tm) is CTO of SapientNitro and founder of SapientNitro CMTO University.

This story first appeared in Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Managing

Hot Jobs

What Does a Data Scientist Do? A Career Breakdown

If a little math and science don't scare you, this may be the gig for you

By Katie Hottinger

@katiehottinger

Katie Hottinger is a content strategist and UX designer with over 15 years of editorial experience across brands including JPMorgan Chase, Google, Condé Nast Traveler, and Mediabistro. She specializes in digital content strategy and multi-platform editorial execution.

3 min read • Originally published February 3, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Katie Hottinger

@katiehottinger

Katie Hottinger is a content strategist and UX designer with over 15 years of editorial experience across brands including JPMorgan Chase, Google, Condé Nast Traveler, and Mediabistro. She specializes in digital content strategy and multi-platform editorial execution.

3 min read • Originally published February 3, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Harvard Business Review called data scientist “The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.” The New York Times has reported newly minted data scientist success stories, including a 26 year old who went from waiter to earning more than $100,000 as a data scientist at a Silicon Valley startup.

And software companies aren’t the only ones hiring data scientists. Retail, healthcare and, yep, digital media companies are signing on quantitative and analytical thinkers for data scientist gigs.

So what exactly is a data scientist anyway?

A data scientist analyzes data from across a company, spots trends and uses her business acumen to recommend what problems to tackle and how to tackle them. At an advertising company, a data scientist helps clients target customers whose location, interests and demographics make them an ideal audience. In news organizations, data scientists help with election forecasting, finding compelling stories no one else has or upping subscriber revenue.

When did this become a job?

Along with big data—the huge data sets that businesses collect on all fronts—came the need for someone to parse it, to interpret it, to formulate business plans based on findings and, often, to execute those plans. Like much in the tech field, this job is still relatively new: The name was coined in 2008 by the heads of data at Facebook and LinkedIn.

Who are getting these data scientist jobs?

Would it come as a surprise to learn that data scientists are, well, good at math and science? Data scientists usually have a background in math, physics or programming, often with a PhD in a STEM field. Data scientist is increasingly a popular alternative to an academic career for math and science post grads.

Um, I’m a journalist and more of a word person. Could I get a job as a data scientist?

Don’t kid yourself: This is science! And there’s a lot of math. If you’ve always been more about the abstract ideas and an elegant turn of phrase, a career in data science might not be the greatest fit. But if you’re a writer who loves how numbers can tell a story, data science could be for you. Coding schools often offer data science boot camps to help give a leg up.

Mediabistro’s online course Infographics and Visual Data is a solid introduction to the ways that data gathering and storytelling can combine in effective, persuasive presentations.

OK, I’m sold. Data science sounds great. What’s the downside?

Oops! The peak for data scientists may have already passed. Fortune has already reported that the time to hire a data scientist was “yesterday.” The hype about data science jobs has some employers paying top dollar for talent, but other companies are renaming the position and reducing salaries (think lower-paying “data analyst” positions instead).

And with the arrival of technologies that automate data representations and visualizations, the era of plentiful, highly paid data scientist jobs may not be around for long.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Get Hired, Hot Jobs, Skills & Expertise

Winning Super Bowl Game Plans From Top Social Media Marketers

Learn planning tactics from the best, and up your own social media game

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published February 4, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published February 4, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

The competition at Super Bowl 50 won’t just be Denver versus Carolina. For marketers, the real contest will once again be in between plays, as major brands, who can afford to spend $5 million on a 30-second spot, vie for audience’s attention with commercials that will get people talking.

But it doesn’t end there, and it begins way before game day; social media keeps the story moving before and after the Super Bowl spot, and can even give some juice to brands that can’t afford the big-bucks ad placement. (Social can even surpass the commercial itself; see Oreo’s “Dunk in the Dark” tweet in 2013.)

Here are six ways brands are employing social media tactics. Think of these as real-life media game plans you can work into your own tool kit—and something to refer to the next time a prospective employer asks you in an interview to talk about winning social campaigns you admire.

1. They Tease

The immediacy of social media means there’s no waiting until game day for the ads. Buzz is created beforehand via social channels and through pre-release commercials, like the Kia Middle C ad, which posted nearly a month before the game itself.

This makes sense: The sooner the conversation starts, the more time there is for followers to join and contribute to the story.

2. They Drive You to Share

These days, all marketers are looking to do two things: One, create relatable, sharable content, and two, drive an audience to social media to keep the conversation moving.

This year, look out for Mini’s spots featuring athletes and pop stars all sharing how they #DefyLabels. A few of the spots, including those featuring tennis great Serena Williams and retired soccer star Abby Wambach, were recently released and the hash tag has already gained traction on Twitter.

3. They Snapchat

A recent survey found 31% of marketers plan to incorporate Snapchat into their 2016 Super Bowl campaigns. And while most marketers are keeping their game day Snapchat campaigns under wraps, we can look back to 2015 to get an idea of where things might be heading.

One of the most memorable campaigns last year was Audi—they teamed up with Huge and The Onion to create odd and hilarious snaps that poked fun at the typical Sunday, sharing jokes in real-time about the game and halftime show.

This campaign helped increase Audi’s Snapchat views by over 100,000. It also spilled over into other social channels, growing their Facebook audience by 9,000 users and their Twitter audience by over 2,000.

4. They Periscope

Marketers are tapping into the emerging popularity of Periscope, the Twitter-owned app that lets users live stream events, and was named App of the Year for 2015 by the App Store.

To draw attention to their upcoming Super Bowl Butterfinger commercial and to launch their “Bolder than Bold” campaign, Nestlé hired skydiver Carson Schram from NorCal Skydiving to deliver their big announcement live via Periscope while tumbling to earth.

5. They Join Forces

This year, partnering with Dreamworks, website builder and host Wix.com is rolling out a series of TV spots using the characters from Kung Fu Panda 3. The tech company is tapping into the popularity of an established movie franchise while simultaneously introducing viewers to the digital services and inviting them to “Create Your Stunning Website.”

And of course, the story woven in the TV spots continues online, at startstunning.com, and on social media, with #startstunning.

6. They Make Us Laugh

If we can learn anything from sites like Buzzfeed and Funny or Die, it’s that humor makes for highly sharable content.

And with sharing always on the forefront of marketer’s minds, one brand to look out for this Super Bowl is Toyota. Airing during the second quarter of the game, Toyota’s group vice president of marketing, Jack Hollis, says to expect a humorous, “comedy of errors” :60 second spot filled with humor and drama.

Of course, funny Super Bowl commercials are nothing new. These spots that get us laughing, talking and (advertisers hope) buying go back to the early days of the big game, or at least to when Farrah Fawcett smoothed shaving cream over Joe Namath’s face.

Looking to become a social media MVP? Mediabistro’s Online Courses offer social media topics that range from a crash-course in social media engagement to an in-depth analysis of social media metrics.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Skills & Expertise

How to Build a Copywriting Portfolio From Scratch

Showcasing your work is the first step in landing an agency job

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published February 5, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

View the Parents masthead

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published February 5, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Even the most skilled writers need a portfolio to show off their ability to collaborate with designers and conceptualize big ideas. If you’re looking to land an agency job but need a portfolio, check out these tips on getting one started.

1. Go to Ad School

The most surefire way to build a portfolio worthy of showcasing to creative directors is to enroll in ad school, also known as portfolio school.

Of course, ad school requires the largest investment in your time and money—most offer a 2-year program and run close to what a college degree might cost. But if you can foot the bill, the payoff is definitely worth the ride.

In a typical ad school, copywriters team up with designers, creating a portfolio of spec ads and campaigns. With teachers—who are oftentimes copywriters in the field—helping to hone your ideas and communication skills, you’ll leave with a book of fresh ideas and executions, and you’ll be prepared to pitch your big ideas effectively.

Looking for a more practical commitment? Mediabistro’s copywriting courses, taught by industry professional instructors, will help you build a portfolio of succinct, meaningful and effective content through a manageable amount of class exercises.

2. Do Pro-Bono Work

If ad school or a copywriting course is more than what you can handle at the moment, consider building your portfolio by offering to develop campaigns free of charge, or severely discounted. Say you have a friend who’s starting a business; helping out by developing the marketing materials is a win-win. David Airey, graphic designer and blogger, recommends approaching small- to medium-sized nonprofits as they likely could use the help.

If you go this route, keep in mind how you’ll be filling your portfolio. You’ll need a nice diversification of verticals, if possible. So if, for example, your first pro-bono project is for a startup tech company, aim for your next client to be in a different field. Creative directors and ad agencies want to see your ability to conceptualize bold ideas across the board, so show them you can tell big stories and solve big problems, no matter the subject matter.

And while it certainly doesn’t hurt for copywriters to have design skills, in this situation it can be beneficial to seek out a designer to help build the visuals to your copy concepts. But designers cost money, right? Let’s check out the next section below:

3. Team Up

Just like you—the newbie copywriter looking to build a portfolio—there are newbie designers going after a similar goal of developing a portfolio to showcase to art directors. Working together to build a portfolio is mutually beneficial and, if you’re able to find a designer in the same stage of the portfolio process as you, you might just be able to work out an arrangement.

But how to find this designer? Since it couldn’t hurt you to take a class in design, consider signing up for an in-person or online course. There, you’ll not only learn some invaluable skills, you’ll also meet designers. Make some friends and spread the word you’re looking to build your portfolio as a copywriter and you just might find the perfect partner.

And remember, nobody likes feeling taken advantage of. So when you do find a partner, make sure you’re both reaping rewards from this portfolio build. Check in with your designer to make sure you’re creating content that fits your respective needs.

4. Make It Better

While you’re building your first book, seek out a professional copywriter or art director for their opinion on your portfolio. Maybe you’re lucky and have a copywriter friend who can provide feedback along the way; send along the link and offer to discuss feedback over coffee or drinks (on you, of course).

Don’t know anybody in the industry to provide feedback? Post your portfolio site link to a site like Reddit and graciously ask for feedback from copywriters, art directors and creative directors. You can also join LinkedIn groups like Creative Designers and Writers to keep current on conversations with your fellow creatives.

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Skills & Expertise

How to Pitch

How to Pitch Parents Magazine: A Freelancer’s Guide

This high-paying publication is looking for pitches that explore all aspects of the parenting experience

By Dana Robinson

Dana Robinson is a freelance health, beauty, and culture writer with 20 years of experience creating content for publications including Shape, WeightWatchers, Wine Enthusiast, AARP, and Southwest: The Magazine. She holds a master's degree in mass communication from California State University-Northridge.

4 min read • Originally published February 5, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Dana Robinson

Dana Robinson is a freelance health, beauty, and culture writer with 20 years of experience creating content for publications including Shape, WeightWatchers, Wine Enthusiast, AARP, and Southwest: The Magazine. She holds a master's degree in mass communication from California State University-Northridge.

4 min read • Originally published February 5, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Circulation: 2.2 million
Frequency: Monthly

Background: Kids don’t come with a manual, but Parents magazine has been striving to become the closest thing to a parenting handbook for the past 90-plus years. The publication is targeted toward millennial moms and dads who have children under age 10, and its mission is to “address all of the challenges and joys of parenthood, and to give parents the information they need to raise happy, healthy children,” says Diane Debrovner, deputy editor.

Parents gives its readers information that they crave by taking a 360-degree approach to parenting, says Debrovner. This includes coverage of fitness, beauty, food, relationships and various aspects of family life in addition to child development—all through the lens of being a young parent.

What to pitch: Editors are open to receiving pitches from new writers, and the following sections are the best places to direct your well-thought-out pitch:

Features: Reported stories that focus on children’s health and behavior, discipline, women’s health, relationships, and the experiences of being a parent are all fair game for the feature well. Word count: 1200-1800.

News & Ideas: This is the kid’s news department, and editors are looking for short news items that cover health, behavior, and safety. *Editors are less likely to accept a pitch for this section from an unknown writer. Word count: under 250.

The Heart of Parenting: This essay section is the place to pitch your first-person stories about any emotional aspect of parenting—from happy to sad. Word count: 600-1000.

Kids: This section includes feature stories that are focused on all aspects of kids’ mental and physical health: asthma, flu, accident-prevention, etc… Editors will also accept features about children’s behavior and discipline as well as pitches about values (e.g. how to raise a kid who is honest or kind.) Word count: 1200-1800.

Mom: This section houses feature stories that relate to relationships, women’s health and fitness, and the psychology of being a parent. Word count: 1200-1800.

What not to pitch: Food, beauty and travel content are handled in house.

Online opportunities: Online editors are looking for coverage of hot-topic news events and health studies. Feel free to also pitch first-person essays that are tied to parenting experiences, as well as bigger reported features that cover health, lifestyle, and parenting trends. And if you have a multimedia proposal that goes beyond the written story, feel free to include it in your pitch. Essay fees start at $100. Word count: 600-750.

What publicists should pitch—and when: Send pitches that cover relevant products that center around child care, traveling with kids, and new research. Editors are also interested in hearing from publicists who represent book authors. Lead time: 3-5 months.

Percentage of freelance content published: 60 percent
Percentage of freelance pitches accepted: 10-25 percent

Recent freelance stories pitched and published: A freelancer pitched What Science Really Says About the Difference Between Boys and Girls. The pitch was a winner because it offered a fresh take on the question of nature vs. nurture. Sports for Kids: How to Raise a Sporty Kid made the leap from pitch to assigned story because of the author’s voice and personal experience about how the world of kids’ sports has changed over the years, says Debrovner.

Etiquette: If you’re pitching a feature story, editors would like to see a 1-2-page proposal. The voice, angle and structure of the story should be extremely clear, and it should also include the types of sources you’d like to use. Pitches for other sections should only be about one paragraph in length. And be sure to provide links to clips.

Lead time: Three to five months
Pay rate: $1.50+
Payment schedule: On acceptance
Kill fee: 25 percent
Rights purchased: All rights or shared rights—depending on the story

Contact info:
Parents
225 Liberty St.
New York, NY 10281
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Direct all pitches to:
Deputy Editor Diane Debrovner: DIANE dot DEBROVNER at MEREDITH dot COM

Editor in Chief Julia Edelstein: JULIA dot EDELSTEIN at MEREDITH dot COM

EDITOR’S NOTE: Though we’ve updated this article recently, the speed at which things move in media means things may have already changed since then. Please email us if you notice any outdated info.

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5 Smart Reasons to Ask Your Boss for a Performance Review

'A conversation in the present could save your job in the future'

Joel Schwartzberg is a workplace communications coach, speechwriter, and bestselling author whose books include "Get to the Point!" and "The Language of Leadership," with articles published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Newsweek. He brings over two decades of senior communications and editorial leadership experience at organizations including the ASPCA, PBS, and Time Inc.

5 min read • Originally published February 5, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026