PRBreakfastClub

This week, I’m presenting at a local conference on blogger relations, which has me thinking about what separates the “good” blogger relations from the bad.

We’ve all heard that relationships matter, right? But, it’s not always realistic to think we can build a solid relationship with every blogger (or traditional journalist, for that matter) before the pitch. Especially if you work in an agency environment, with clients in multiple industries.

So, what’s the secret to effective blogger outreach?

Not too long ago, a blogger emailed this to me after receiving my pitch:

I really appreciate you taking the time to know a little bit about me before you emailed me. You have no idea what a difference that personalization makes. Or, maybe you do. But in case you don’t hear it enough, good job!

Personalization. You’ll notice this is the beginning of a theme . . . Read the rest of this entry »

Memorial Day is a time to remember our fallen heroes. What is a solemn occasion has also marked the unofficial start of summer. Yay! This means many of you (majority in the New York City area) are still cleaning off that grill from this weekend’s festivities.

Since moving to Austin about a year ago from New York City, I learned that barbecuing isn’t simply throwing meat on a grill. My barbecue knowledge increased when I landed Rudy’s “Country Store” and Bar-B-Q as a client. They’ve even trademarked the tagline, Real Texas Bar-B-Q®.  What I found out from their Bar-B-Q Insiders is that grilling isn’t really barbecuing.

So here’s my attempt to tie in real Texas barbecuing with pitch letter writing:  Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t usually write about the more tactical, day-to-day issues of PR and marketing, choosing instead to focus on the delicate work-life balance, thinking like an entrepreneur and why I think it’s OK to not have a traditional PR background. But today, bear with me for a bit, as I’m going to get pretty tactical on something every PR and marketing professional uses probably every single day of their jobs: the e-mail pitch.

Ahh, yes, the infamous “pitch.” Loathed by many, MANY, but in today’s smart phone-obsessed world, about as important as ever in terms of driving successful media outreach for brands and organizations. I won’t get into the whole debate about whether e-mail pitches should or should not be used, but there were a couple of interesting points I wanted to hit from Cone’s main points in the article on about how we can all make our e-mail pitches a bit more refined and increase the rate that our e-mails to bloggers and reporters will A) get opened; and B) actually get us some type of response. Read the rest of this entry »

Unless you grew up being too cool for school, you’ll remember the Superman comics where Supes stumbles into Bizarro World, where everything is backwards. Or at least really weird.

Bizarro World can occur at any moment in real life too, and it’s an affliction that especially affects flacks and their clients. Here’s what happens when a flack enters Bizarro World: every single news story, every possible current event starts to look like an angle for you and your pitch. It doesn’t matter how illogical or tenuous; you see your assigned product everywhere, important to everything, and necessary for everybody.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s great to love your client. But pitching in Bizarro World isn’t about being passionate or creative. More often than not, it’s a sign of desperation. And it inevitably leads to failure because a flack who’s been Bizarroed isn’t capable of making informed decisions about angles, pitches, and appropriate targets. Read the rest of this entry »

An acquaintance of mine recently started a new job. I was extremely happy for her, but after speaking with her, she admitted to me that she had been unemployed for months. I was shocked. Not only because she hadn’t told me (which was her right) but because in the time that she was unemployed, I could have recommended her for a few positions that she was qualified for. I don’t claim to be a rainmaker, but once in a while I will get an email that says, “Hey, I need to hire….do you know anyone?” I am more than happy to recommend someone, but it is impossible to do this if you don’t know that they are looking for a job.

This situation leads me to believe that there are probably many others that are in the same situation. So, here are my 10 tips for jobs seekers: Read the rest of this entry »

We all have that friend or colleague that will come in Monday morning, uber excited to tell you all about their weekend and you’re already cringing at the thought of it. It’s not that the story won’t be interesting. Perhaps they won a million dollars or got engaged. It doesn’t matter. Your friend can’t tell a story to save her life. In fact after she finishes the story, you’ll have aged about 20 or so years and forgotten what she was talking about in the first place. What does story telling have to do with PR? Well, everything. Telling a story, in my opinion, is very similar to pitching a story to media professionals. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve written before about my belief that the near constant bashing of media relations has to stop, and how yes, despite how much I love social media and how much I believe in the true good of what it is doing in the PR and marketing business, there still is a time, place and relevancy to traditional PR tactics, such as developing strong relationships. Today, I’m going to give kudos to another one those of traditional tactics that the “gurus” love to bash, but if done right, can still have a major impact in our business: the e-mail pitch. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve seen it. The template pitch. The “cut this person’s name out <here> and insert next person’s name <here>.” Outlook usually has this cute feature where any new text in a forwarded e-mail turns a different color making any changes obvious. I cannot stand when people carelessly forward along identical e-mails. Even more when they make it so obvious. It makes me wonder how many of these e-mails editors, producers and reporters receive… And I shiver.

Below is an e-mail I received from a guy we’ll call Jason. Jason is a very nice man. He came into my office, asked for some business contacts I knew and said he’d be happy to refer me any clients he had looking for PR. Great! All the greatness ended when Jason sent me this e-mail: Read the rest of this entry »

It’s no secret that clients hire us for our contacts.  That our relationships are often the bait that gets them to sign on the dotted line.  But at the end of the contract, the course the agency’s relationship with the media has taken while representing said client has lasting benefits or consequences for both parties. Read the rest of this entry »

With preparations for our office holiday road trip in full swing, I thought it was time to pick some holiday carols for the car ride ahead.  Being the PR loving girls that we are, I thought some updated classics might be just the trick: Read the rest of this entry »