Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 17, 2009
'Reporters are notoriously cynical, and to be honest, if you had their job you would be, too. So you need to be one step (or ten) ahead of them. Play “devil’s advocate.” What are the first questions you’re going to get? What are the questions that will make you uncomfortable, or that you don’t have an answer for yet? You need to find the holes before the reporters find them for you.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 1, 2009
'I know a lot of us PR types are wondering, what the heck can we do to make ourselves the best we can be when in fact almost everything we do is virtual. I''ve been thinking about this for a long time and have collected a list of ways to ensure that our online presence is absolutely perfect.and the best US we can proffer. By now, we’ve all received the message that our online reputations and images are as important, if not more important, than their off-the-Web counterparts.
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Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 9, 2009
'My Dad once told me the real problem with the world is that everyone thinks they''re right. And he''s right. That''s why everyone can''t be a PR spokesman. If the "wrong" type of person is speaking or one who can''t be bothered to learn the correct way to communicate, the exercise is futile. Most of us use our company CEOs, yet company officers for the most part run verbal blue streaks when PR people know the only thing reporters want is a decent quote.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 18, 2009
'We get a lot of questions and feedback wondering what the best channel is for delivering a pitch. And while we enjoy channels as much as the next snarky blog editor, we’d like to remind everyone that the medium is not the message if the message is crap. You need content, delivered through the best channel, to succeed. Let’s consider this Twitter pitch gone awry posted to TweetFreak by Brian Morrissey. ”Twitter is a great place for a random, ongoing conversation, but it''s a bit much to expect t
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Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 19, 2009
'As media relations professionals, we pitch all the time. We sell ourselves.to sell the story built to deliver the messages my client needs his target audience to hear. Similar to say, mm, dating. More analogous than you might think. You need a bit of proof? 1.Call, Baby: If you are going to pick up the phone and call, have something intelligent and interesting to say.
Public Relations Today brings together the best content for PR professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 31, 2009
'Between PR Newswire and BusinessWire, around 2,000 press releases go out over the wires each day. Wow, 2,000 press releases! How many of those actually contain news? Noise from traditional PR tools across fragmented media channels are fueling bad pitches and stunts that have little or nothing to do with helping the client’s business. As a result PR people are struggling to help clients stand out – in any way possible.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 31, 2009
'It’s no coincidence that some companies and products receive constant media coverage, while others never see the light of day. While a solid, innovative product has a lot to do with the coverage a company or product receives, there are other crucial factors affecting a successful media campaign. Below are the top four reasons that companies become media darlings.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 26, 2009
'This bad pitch comes from a mobile service provider’s agency. In their defense, mobile service providers are a lot like IT staff. No one EVER calls IT to tell them everything’s working perfectly. We just bark or whine at IT when things go wrong. And this is another one of those times. - SUBJECT: *T-Mobile l Eco-Friendly Viral Videos. Mobilize. Change Powered by People* Hey!
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 26, 2009
'We’re a firm believer that it’s the techniques not the tools that cause PR spam. It’s one of the reasons Richard Laermer will be speaking at the 2009 Vocus Users Conference on the morning of June 5th in Washington, D.C. If you’re attending the event, be sure to check out "Avoiding the Bad Pitch Blog" for some timeless information on how to craft a pitch for the ages.
Journalists receive an overwhelming number of press releases daily, making it hard for your news to stand out. While some news is valuable, most is not.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 24, 2009
'A deep recession calls for ingenious job hunting methods. Suddenly, Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In, Plurk, and the like are viable job search tools. Social media -- while hardly perfect -- is actually proving to be a useful tool as the long-awaited year 2011 approaches. Watch more on CNN as I talk about how to confirm to the world you are the person you think you already are.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 22, 2009
'Proof that well-written, creative content can carry the day, a BusinessWeek reporter sent us this pitch from Alphadog PR. - Subject: Party Like a 5 Year Old! Try to keep your fingers out of the birthday cake and stop asking us "why?". Mark Your Calendars for May 31st, 2009. May 13, 2009, Los Angeles- It''s good to be a kid, and there’s no reason to stop eating like one.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 20, 2009
'“You have reached the voicemail of…. I am out of the office until…” How often have you gotten voicemail when you’ve called a friend, your client, a reporter [your mother!]? At that crucial moment, the important question: Should you leave a message? Let’s say no. Because unless you are calling your mother, you don’t truly expect a return phone call.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 16, 2009
'? “With a stranger in my face who says he knows my mom / And went to my high school” ? If “familiarity breeds contempt” then feigned familiarity breeds snark and this post.* This pitch was sent via email marketing software (strike one) and it was written in a tone that assumes they know us (they do not). The author also references himself in the third person (strike two) and at the same time tries, and fails, to be cute and even makes a typo (strike three plus). - Subject: Social Media Soup for
Speaker: Michelle Garrett, PR Consultant, Author, Speaker
Yes - press releases are still relevant in the world of public relations! 🎯 Ever wondered how to write a compelling press release, or what are current best practices for pitching your news to earn media coverage? In this exclusive webinar with Michelle Garrett, PR Consultant, we’ll cover tips and advice to help you get the most out of each piece of news you pitch!
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 11, 2009
'Every day all of us get bad emails and I think I get more than most because I do a lot of things "for a living." At time I just shake my head so hard it hurts. O''Keeffe & Company is celebrating its 12th anniversary and sending "reminder notes" to something they never bothered to tell me about before(how can I remember). And what they''re offering is simply silly - plus seems like the invite was tossed together like lumpy salad.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 8, 2009
'The world needs a better alert icon to put on emails to reporters. Something more specific than Outlook''s burnt orange exclamation point image indicating an email of high importance. Those exclamation point emails usually come from spammers and deal with anatomical issues, and that little blue arrow pointing downward has the opposite desired effect.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 7, 2009
'They called you directly — so that is not like you did anything! We better get the credit for that! Man, can you believe it? They bypassed us and just called our client. These scenarios are ridiculous at best, but they happen all too often in PR. They are about claiming the hit as opposed to working together to stay razor-thin-focused on the strategy of a client (or boss).
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 5, 2009
'Lest you think we only highlight others foibles.I submit the following hard-earned public relations lesson. From the "learn from your mistakes" files, flash back with me about 10 years… —insert squiggly lines and harp music here— We were planning a special event designed to build customer relationships and get media attention. Local executives were teamed up with school kids for a half day of shadowing.
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Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 5, 2009
'You know this, but often forget, but when a journalist is writing about a service or product they seek firsthand accounts from customers because stories that feature a testimonial are far more engaging and add credibility to the feature. Unfortunately, many PR folks don’t take the following three crucial and simple steps to identify press-worthy spokespeople who are willing to talk as happy customers, so when a reporter or a blogger or anyone these days asks for a client testimonial a terrific
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 3, 2009
'Laermer’s been on a posting spree with some great content. For this I’m equal parts thankful and jealous, but bad pitches continue to sprout like weeds on a new spring lawn. So here’s a dandelion Bob LeDrew, PR blogger at Flacklife , yanked for us. It’s an all too familiar pitch from Betty Confidential. The site states they’re targeting women ages 18–49.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 28, 2009
'The Long Tail by Chris Anderson has been the rage for a while. It’s actually a fad. I keep hearing from people who want to “reach the long tail.” Some big journalist types—those who have not read the book—seem to be under the misguided impression that Chris and his people sure know how to coin a catch phrase. It is a catchy book title, but let me clarify the term for you: Wikipedia says: the long tail is the colloquial name for a feature of statistical distributions.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 13, 2009
'Can you tell that lately I’ve become obsessed by the topic of email? Because it occurred to me no one ever taught us how to do it — we just started sending. En masse, the media and other influencers have, at best, come to accept email as their preferred communications tool. There is always the phone - I am sure you use it to call in pizza orders. And yes, IM and Twitter and Facebook come to play and every so often we drop something in the mail (I hope) but let’s be real, shall we?
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