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How to pitch reporters without being annoying
A colleague and I recently had lunch with the Managing Editor of a well known publication here in San Diego and the topic of pushy PR folks came up. I wish I could say I was surprised to hear him say that he had been stalked by a PR rep, but the reality is, some people take it too far and won’t accept when a journalist isn’t interested in a story. While their persistence might be admired by their bosses, it’s certainly not appreciated by the other side. Being aware of these pet peeves by writers and editors, I don’t want to become a nuisance or possibly forever ignored by these reporters on email so I’ve made it a rule to ask myself these three questions before sending a pitch or following up:
1) Is my pitch relevant to the reporter? The last thing I want to do is pitch a business story to the health reporter. If you don’t think it’s a big deal that your email is delivered to the appropriate person and believe it will eventually get forwarded to the correct contact, get a clue. Sure, your pitch will most likely get forwarded, but to the trash.
2) Is my pitch timely? Don’t pitch a story to a reporter that they just covered two weeks ago. Keep up to date on what they’re writing about.
3) Am I bombarding a reporter with follow-up emails? If you emailed a reporter about a story idea, chances are they got it. If they’re interested, they’ll respond. It’s as simple as that! However, everyone has busy schedules and sometimes forget to respond because they are preoccupied with other tasks or on deadline. Because of this, I’ve made it a rule to follow-up a week after my initial outreach. If you don’t hear anything back, move on to your next idea.
I’ve made some great connections with reporters and editors throughout my career and I attribute that to the fact that I’ve provided them value and haven’t bombarded them with emails or phone calls. Making sure you’ve got the right person to pitch is the first big step and the next is eliminating the pestering follow-up emails.
1) Is my pitch relevant to the reporter? The last thing I want to do is pitch a business story to the health reporter. If you don’t think it’s a big deal that your email is delivered to the appropriate person and believe it will eventually get forwarded to the correct contact, get a clue. Sure, your pitch will most likely get forwarded, but to the trash.
2) Is my pitch timely? Don’t pitch a story to a reporter that they just covered two weeks ago. Keep up to date on what they’re writing about.
3) Am I bombarding a reporter with follow-up emails? If you emailed a reporter about a story idea, chances are they got it. If they’re interested, they’ll respond. It’s as simple as that! However, everyone has busy schedules and sometimes forget to respond because they are preoccupied with other tasks or on deadline. Because of this, I’ve made it a rule to follow-up a week after my initial outreach. If you don’t hear anything back, move on to your next idea.
I’ve made some great connections with reporters and editors throughout my career and I attribute that to the fact that I’ve provided them value and haven’t bombarded them with emails or phone calls. Making sure you’ve got the right person to pitch is the first big step and the next is eliminating the pestering follow-up emails.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Alyson Rybar on November 9, 2009 at 8:55am - Thanks Mike! Hope all is well!
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Comment by mike on November 9, 2009 at 8:50am - Being a former reporter/editor, I concur. Nice take, Alyson!
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Comment by David Oates on November 6, 2009 at 9:26am - Well said!
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