I’ve been thinking about pitches lately. Probably because I get a lot of them. And most of them suck. I trash those.
I get releases that are simply a cut/paste of a press release. That has nothing to do with my interests. Trash. I get endlessly long email pitches that take forever to get to the point. Trash.
Here are 5 ways you can be sure to end up in the trash. If that’s where you want to be.
1. Don’t read the blog or website. You’re a busy person. Why bother reading the source you’re pitching? They’ll be interested in your fantastic news no matter what.
2. Cut and paste. Again, busy. It saves time to just cut and paste your pitch (including the snazzy Dear Editor title) for each email you send.
3. Make it long. The more info, the better, right? Besides, you’re such a good writer you know they’ll be hanging on to the edge of their seats until you get to the point…waaay at the bottom.
4. Don’t bother with goals. You just want to spread the world with your news, so coming up with objectives and goals for your PR campaign ain’t worth the trouble.
On the other hand, a well-crafted pitch gets my attention, even if I may not be interested in the subject. Take Natalie Sisson, of ConnectionPoint Systems Inc. She recently sent me this pitch.
Hi Susan
I read your Facebook pages blog sometime back and thought you’d be a super handy person to contact since you’re so clued up on Facebook, blogging and social networks. We’re a Vancouver startup that recently launched our Facebook application FundRazr – the easiest way to collect money and manage members on Facebook. We believe we can change the face of fundraising and payments in social networks.
Is there anyway we can talk to you about our application and doing a story that would be interesting to your readers?
I’ve attached our latest press release so you can read more.
Thanks in advance
Natalie
Why I like it.
- Flattery works. She said she read some of my work. Then she said I’d be the best person to share this with. (watch my peacock feathers ruffle)
- She told me in 1 sentence what her company does. Rock.
- She politely asked if I’d want to share this info.
While this is a little off from what I write about, I did decide to include FundRazr in an upcoming post…because she pitched me correctly.
What did you learn from this?
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Susan Payton is the Marketing Eggspert, and owner of 
#5. Send the same message to all of my public facing addresses. The same flattery that catches my attention in a single email will turn me off when I see it 3 or 4 times.
I always try and include some specific flattery in a ps/btw fashion. “btw… I especially loved your post on getting pitches read. helped me think about how my prosepcts might think of me. Thanks again.”
Looking forward to your thoughts on FundRazr. I stumbled on them the other day and was thinking of checking them out for an upcoming FB project.
@Chris–
Absolutely. I quickly skim and trash pitches. Especially since they’re sending them to someone who pitches!! I like the flattery approach and it’s been working better lately.
FundRazr seems pretty cool. I can connect you to someone at the company if you like.