Posted on November 30th, 2007 by Chris Abraham
(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ...I love everything that Darren Rowse does on ProBlogger.net — for years and years! Well, his quality is always top and his advice is generous and spot-on. Although I am excerpting all of the 21 things Darren recommends, below, there is a lot more good stuff associated with each one, so head on over to read 21 things you need to do in order to properly pitch a story to blogs. The short comments after the points are mine! (Via ProBlogger.net via Drew B’s take on tech PR)
- Comment First Pitch Later – This is great advice, we find
- Personalize it — Be sure to send from your real email!
- Get their Details Right – Dear Sir/Ma’am won’t work!
- Show You Know Who they Are – Always be contextual
- Introduce Yourself – A real person must send the pitch
- Keep it Brief — Short, sweet, and plaintext if you can
- Highlight Benefits — What is the gift? No gift, no pitch
- Keep it Simple — If they’re interested, they’ll ask for more
- Research Your Question — Your bloggers knows more than you do
- Consider Time Zones When Calling — In fact, don’t call bloggers
- Don’t Stalk — True, but also be aggressive and persistent
- Be Persistent — Stick-to-it-ive-ness is always rewarded
- Avoid Press Releases — Link off to an online Social Media Press Release
- Keep on Topic — Be clear and only gift or ask for one thing only
- Be Polite and Courteous — Pretend you’re not in PR
- Free Stuff Works, But…. — Your gift doesn’t need to be swag
- Mention Your Blog — Bloggers distrust PR folks without a blog!
- Link Up — Bloggers notice it when you link to them — link up!
- Give an exclusive — Always offer online content to bloggers only first
- Don’t Include Anything You Don’t Want Blogged in your Communications — Someone will always full-text-post your email!
- A word on Embargoes — If you want to know, visit ProBlogger.net!
Filed under: Blogger Influence, Blogger Outreach, Blogger Relations, Blogging Policies, PR Pitching, Pitching Bloggers, Pitching New Media, Pitching Social Media
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I can’t tell you how many PR queries/pitches I get
1) where they don’t know if I am a girl or a guy ( and if you can’t figure that out, check out the website)
2) they pitch me on such a short time frame that it makes it virtually impossible to deal with
3) they don’t provide the assets or such teeny tiny stuff that it’s not worth my time
4) they have no clue who I write for— and how to give me the details so that it makes the writing slick and easy. Sometimes I actually need a HOOK
5) gifts aren’t required but if you gift me something please be aware that it needs to suit me (a keychain doesn’t impress unless I mention that it’s cute, skincare that’s not right for my skintype, doesn’t make it. Do a bit of research or even engage me in a conversation.
6) Understand that when I answer your email, it’s taking time away from WRITING about your client or anyone else’s client. Do you get that? I can’t answer every email. I literally spent one entire day playing email tag and got zero work done- and that was just one day.
7) if you don’t have a blog, that’s ok. But sh0w that you understand how they work and how MINE works. LOOK at it. read it.
9) It does help if you link to me on facebook, linkedin.com or even twitter.
10) DO NOT engage me in IM conversations that are pitches. That’s a huge no.
there’s more but then again, I would be just repeating other recent comments