Angie Goff's reporting has earned more than 17,000 Facebook fans.

A 17-year-old girl collapses in gym class and dies hours later.

A TV journalist and crew pack up to go cover the story. There is no chit-chat during the drive from Washington to suburban Maryland. Instead, the reporter logs onto Facebook, finds friends of the girl, and makes contact. Soon, the reporter is friends with the friends, who send her quotes and photos that enable a richer, more compelling story.

NBC4’s Angie Goff shared the story with my class this week at American University. Embedded within are some key lessons about how to use social media for business purposes.

1-    Think like a handyman: Define the goal, then pick the best tool for the job. Facebook was ideal because it enabled immediate interaction and photo-sharing.

2-    Don’t embarrass your mother. This was a sensitive story, and, while deadlines loomed, Goff showed compassion throughout. Whether you’re reporting from the scene or pitching a book, say please and thank-you, even when online.

3-    Show yourself. Goff maintained the proper professional detachment on the air. Later, on her blog, she admitted that being a mom makes such stories difficult to hear and “even harder to cover.” Your followers know you’re human; it’s okay, and even beneficial, to show it now and then.

In extending our reach, social media tools have made it easy to forget the power of a handshake, or at least a cyber-shake. Facebook is great; Facebook plus face-to-face is better.

Have you ever forgotten the fundamentals and paid a price?

NBC4 Reporter Angie Goff at American U

When trying to catch the attention of the mainstream media, be persistent without being a pest. Do some homework and be creative. Think about what’s hot, what people are talking about, and find a connection to your product or service.

Take Kim Kardashian. Kim may never surface on your daily radar, but if her divorce is trending off the charts on Twitter and you run a dating site (or perhaps have written a novel about a broken marriage), craft a pitch that links the two.

These were some of the tips that popular NBC4 reporter Angie Goff served up this week to students in the communications class I teach at American University in Washington, D.C. When pitching, she said, don’t overlook the hyper-local sites that many mainstream media outlets have created.

Goff also warned about crossing the line from persistence to peskiness, but advised students heading into public relations to err on the side of perseverance. Most of all, she said, don’t come off like you’re only out for some free advertising.

So how would you pitch that novel about the broken marriage? One idea:

Kim K says she married too soon, and the guy she thought she was marrying turned out to be someone else. In my story, Alexis does the same thing and winds up trapped in an abusive relationship. “Caught” is the story of her escape. May I send you a review copy?

 How have you used trending topics – once known as news stories of the day – to pitch your book?