Having worked in PR for some years now, I noticed there were several missing elements.
For instance, I wanted to know if reporters care about receiving pitchesat all.
Do they want press releases or embargoes?
How can I, as well as other PRs and startup representatives, actually be useful for reporters?
Ill share the entire survey and the results with you, along with personal notes and pleas from journalists!
How much is a lifetime success worth?
Well, what I can tell you is, it costs nothing and everything at the same time.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
The good news is, it doesnt cost money.
This is why I wanted to pay them back.
Ive been reading some great work from pioneers likeEd ZitronorAyelet Noff.
But the greatest lessons were those I learned from the reporters themselves.
So, if you want to skip the rocky path, then here might be something for you.
[Read:Selling products online?
How helpful or unhelpful are PRs actually?
This told me how truly useful we can be.
But as the numbers speak for themselves, authenticity and credibility is a priority for most journalists.
Instead, I wanted to use the opportunity to include as much vital information as possible.
At the first glance, the results didnt help a lot:
But it actually DID help.
Bottom line: Theres no shortcut or anything that can excuse an automated and mega spamming pitch method.
Are embargoes dead?
Well, not really.
Thats why its probably good to have a think about whether the information youre giving the reporter is unique.
How much creativity is involved in a successful pitch?
The next question was a personal pain.
I had learned a lot from Mike Butcher andhis epic pieceabout how to pitch a reporter.
But would this work for any journalist?
I wanted to find out.
I know what youre thinking.
Its almost a tie.
Almost half of them like to get the personal angle and half of them dont.
So, hows that going to work out?
Here too, I learned that you got to learn about each reporter before you reach out to them.
Sorry I didnt give you an excuse for mass pitching, guess you got to do your homework.
As per the suggestion of another reporter, I reached out to those who didnt know me.
Also, I was trying to do a survey about irrelevant pitches and my email wasnt a pitch.
You might ask yourself though, didnt I just end up getting answers from the people I knew already?
Actually, I received 50% of the responses from journalists who didnt know me at all.
Some even emailed me and confirmed having filled in the survey, which Im very grateful for.
A good story one day may not have the same currency the next.
I may not know the company they are pitching me.
I may not trust the PR person who is contacting me.
I may simply have other things I want to focus on.
I could tell you some stories some time.
I have actually started developing some speeches on the matter :)
At last
I filled it out.
I really tried to write everything in TNW style.
Like what youve read?
