Pitching friends

Let’s face it, pitching to the media is one of the most important aspects of public relations. Whether it involves calling newspaper reporters, emailing magazine editors or mailing press kits to TV producers, pitching isn’t as easy as it sounds.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, “The Real World: PR” , becoming friends with the media is a great tool used to make pitching easier.

But, how do you become friends with someone when they don’t want to be your friend? Pull their hair and tell them to be your friend like Celia in the Showtime series “Weeds”?

Oddly enough, no.

During the experience I have received in my internship, through tips I have heard from many PR pros and after reading an article by Jeff Crilley, author of “Free Publicity” , I have come up with a couple tips for pitching the media, or should I say pitching friends.

1) Research the publications and the journalist.
Pitching a press release about your client’s soy milk product to a sports editor at the local newspaper will not give you media coverage, however; pitching a press release about your client’s massage bed to a spa magazine will.

2) Kill them with kindness. :-)
So, you call an editor at a magazine to pitch your client and they instantly scream “umm no I can’t talk to you, is this a joke?! I have to meet deadline, but thanks for interrupting me”, what do you do? Continue to be kind and polite, because giving them attitude back won’t get you media coverage in the future. This allows them to at least feel some sort of guilt for being understandably rude.

3) Make follow-up calls in the morning on Monday through Thursday, no holidays.
Calling editors and reporters in the morning gives you a better chance to catch them in a good mood. Deadlines are usually in the afternoon, Friday’s seem to be the busiest day and holidays are the most stressful time of the year for everyone.

4) Get to the point.
Instead of rambling on forever about your pitch, only mention the most important parts. It is important that the media know you respect them. Being brief and getting to the point can show a tremendous amount of respect.

Following these key points while pitching to the media will not only help your client get media coverage, it might just add another friend to your professional Facebook.