Doesn’t that question stop you right in your tracks. It sure gives me pause.
While enjoying lunch yesterday at a rare visit to Whole Foods Market in Bellevue, I received what seemed like divine inspiration to write a pitch on behalf of one of my clients. I raced home, put fingers to the keyboard, and composed a sassy pitch that was targeted very specifically to an influential reporter with a weekly column that earns plenty of readership. Within minutes, this reporter replied with her interest in interviewing my client. It was magic.
While I had the reporter on the phone, I took the opportunity to mention another pitch that I thought would be on target. I could sense the reporter wasn’t listening, so I paused and said, “Would it be better for me to put this in an email so you can consider it more carefully when the timing is even better?” She answered “Yes.” And then she said she gets 800 emails a day. 800 emails a day! That she responded in record time to the first pitch with a “yes” was a powerful demonstration that a sassy, specific pitch is always the right way to proceed.
If your email pitches have “blah, blah, blah” boring subject lines and boilerplate messages, you don’t stand a chance of capturing interest and inviting interviews, especially when yours is among 800 pitches waiting in line to earn consideration. So before you hit “send” on that pitch you are working on, put it through your own “blah, blah, blah” filter and see if you can go deeper to get to the heart of why anyone should care and why your news matters in a manner that is beyond boilerplate on every score. Otherwise, sit out and wait until you can. Reporters everywhere will thank you. Best of all, your pitch will stand a much better chance of being among the few pitches that escape the wrath of the “delete” key and earn serious editorial consideration.
