Maintaining relationships after a story runs
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Most contact with a journalist ends the moment a story is published, which is precisely when a relationship could start to deepen instead. A short note of thanks, a correction offered without being asked, or simply staying in touch without an active pitch attached, all signal that the relationship was never only transactional.
Journalists remember sources who disappear once the story is filed and sources who remain useful afterwards, whether by flagging a follow up angle, answering a question weeks later, or simply being reliable when contacted again. That second group gets called first the next time a relevant story comes around.
This kind of maintenance costs very little time but compounds over years. A practitioner with a handful of genuinely maintained relationships will often outperform one with a much longer list of contacts who only ever hear from them when something is being pitched, since the smaller list is built on something a longer list rarely has: a journalist's genuine willingness to take the call.
This effort does not need to be elaborate to be effective. A brief message after a significant story, an offer to help with an unrelated future piece, or simply remembering details from an earlier conversation, all reinforce that the relationship was built on more than the immediate transaction of a single pitch.