how not to pitch a blog

I received a shockingly bad pitch last week and was inspired to write this post. However, rather than embark on a rapid rant, I reviewed the many hundreds of pitches I received recently and found the majority of them are good. Unfortunately, as is the case with many professions, a few bad apples spoil the bunch. Since I know many of my readers are in the marketing profession I thought I'd share...

How not to pitch a blog

• Don’t forward a pitch you previously sent to a magazine editor and inquire “any interest?”
• Don’t offer VIP passes to a party, renege and instead offer the opportunity to watch celebrities walking into the party on the red carpet.
• Don’t offer to send me a Jamin Puech clutch if you don’t mean it. That’s just cruel.
• Don’t begin the pitch “dear blogger”.
• “See attached press release” is not a pitch.
• Don’t bundle different companies in one pitch when the only thing they share in common is you.
• Don’t send me an invitation to an exclusive engagement that takes place tonight – on the other side of the country.
• Please don’t tie in the Michael Jackson angle to your pitch. Yes, it’s timely but in most cases it is too much of a stretch and just plain weird.
• It’s OK to ask me to write about something but don’t ask me to “kindly” send you a link to it when I do so you can notify your client (ever heard of Google alerts?).
• Don’t send me the same pitch every day, day after day. Spam is not a strategy!
• Don’t call and pitch me like a stranger if I work for your agency. Seriously, that’s really bad form. Do your research!

How to pitch a blog: tips

• Do your research.
• Visit the blog. Look at the blog for five minutes to get a sense of writing style and topics covered.
• Search the blog for your client’s name or relevant news and then reference it.
• Customize your pitch.
• Pitch news that is relevant, timely and/or local.
• Subscribe to Google alerts so when your client is covered on a blog – you know it. Leave a comment or an acknowledgment and participate in the conversation.
• Coordinate with the other people in your office so you don’t double or quadruple pitch the same blog, on the same day, with the exact same pitch.
• Send an email to one editor at a time. Don’t “blanket” email blogs and don’t include the other blogs/media email addresses when you do. Has the numbers game ever worked? I don’t get why people do it.
• Include a pitch and a subject line. An attached press release is not a pitch.
• Do offer contests, promotional codes and giveaways that are relevant and/or exclusive to a blog’s readers.
• Do include information you would like a blog to take into consideration when writing a review of your product. I think this is more than OK – especially when you have taken the time and expense to send a blogger a product for review.

Comments

[Dyanna Pure]

What a great list! I used to work in PR--so I know how EASY of a job it can be. Yet I constantly receive bad pitches that make these awful mistakes. It can be pretty frustrating.

[Ms. P&C]

Love this! Fantastic...