On Pitching Reporters…

Have a product or service and want to get some media attention?

No matter what type of product or service you have, informing the media about your product or service is the same process.

After attending the Publicity Club of New York’s “A Look at Beauty and Fashion Media,” reinforced my experiences.  About two months before, I went to a similar event in Brooklyn that focused on the music industry.

The panelists included: Polly Blitzer of BEAUTY BLITZ, Eleanor Langston of FITNESS,? Lori Bergamotto ?of ?LUCKY, Andrea Lavinthal of Us Weekly and Laurel Pinson of NBC 4 New York “Thread NY.”

Here is what they said:

• Never call.  They all agreed that they don’t like the phone.
• Always use email.
• Say something creative in the subject line.  One of the panelists mentioned that the subject line should be like a tweet.
• Follow up but not that often. Send an email and then one follow up a few weeks later. If they don’t return phone calls, write them back and say something like, “I hate to bother you but can you give me a yes or a no to the story?”if this doesn’t work for you, let me know.”
• Make sure to use Twitter to pitch your story
• Send in B-roll with your pitch if your story is visual but don’t make a big production and send it to them because they won’t use it.
• Always use photos with releases or pitches but don’t use high-resolution images because it will slow down their computers. Often, a link to a picture will suffice.
• Most agreed that if you have products, send them because they want to test them out before they can review them except for Laurel Pinson who said it would be better to ask her first if she wants it than to receive miscellaneous stuff that she doesn’t want.

Most potential clients ask us about relationships.  They think that since PR folks have relationships with reporters and producers that we can make the story happen.  But that’s only a small part of it.  The rest is being strategic and finding an angle that is of interest to a reporter, blogger, producer, etc

My firm, HJMT, has been informing reporters and producers about our client’s products and services during the last 20 years. With the whole transition to social media, we have been incorporating a blogger program into all of our activities during the past six years.

It’s good to go to these types of seminars to make sure that we are on track…. And we are!