With the increasing popularity of this niche blog (and it’s not just my ego speaking, the web stats and Feedburner tell me that its readership has been increasing steadily) as well as my regular gig at University Business, I’ve started to receive more and more press releases and pitches from PR professionals.
While a few are really good – more about a couple of these later this week, most of them end up in my deleted email folder. Fast. Very Fast.
That’s one of the reasons I accepted the invitation to have a look at
Perfecting the Pitch: Creating Publicity Through Media Rapport,
Now that I read this 200-page book, I can tell you it is.
While I’m not a fan of the book review genre, I understand you probably need more than my word to see if there is something for you in this book. That’s why I’ve decided to introduce and inaugurate the “1-1-1 Express Book Review” with “Perfecting the Pitch.”
What on earth is this “1-1-1 Express Book Review?”
Well, it’s a simple concept I’d like to apply to any future book related to your professional interests coming my way (authors out there, hint, hint):
- 1 thing I liked or found really interesting
- 1 thing I didn’t like that much or found really long, dumb, boring, etc.
- 1 big take-away from the book
1 thing I liked: Chapters 4, 5 & 6 provide all you really need to know to make most reporters, editors and actually bloggers totally fall in love with you as a PR professional. By clearly defining what is pitching, its rules and what role it plays in the lives of journalists (and more and more bloggers), Lewis does us all a big favor. Moreover, some of the book recommendations are based on the results of a recent survey Lewis’ agency, Perception Inc., did with more than a hundred reporters/editors.
1 thing I didn’t like that much: In this book, Lewis spends some time (and pages) on “The Foundation of the Media Rapport,” for which he apparently registered a trademark. While I agree with what he writes — i.e. message, respect, skills and pitching are the four pillars of the media rapport, I don’t get the need for the trademark thingy.
1 big take-away from the book: So, I’ll break my own rules for this first review and will give you 2 interesting take-away:
4 questions to ask yourself to test the newsworthiness of your story idea (don’t need all of them, but the more, the better):
Is it timely?
Is it unusual?
Is it controversial?
Is it relevant to the majority of the audience of the (old or new) media you’re targeting?
A piece of really good advice:
Don’t send the same pitch to zillions of journalists or bloggers, but find out as much as possible about the journalist (or the blogger) you’re trying to pitch and customize your idea to its professional interest. Remember it’s all about long-term relationships, so make them (us) feel special.
Interested in the book?
Well, since I liked it, I asked if I could get an extra copy for the winner of a drawing among interested readers of this blog. And, I got it.
To get a chance to win this copy, just post a comment below. Why not share a story about your experience with pitching (you don’t have to if you haven’t any)? I’ll announce the winner this Friday and will get the book mailed to him or her.
My experience with pitching has been decidely underwhelming. Before I moved to (or from, depending on your perspective) the “dark side” a little over three years ago, I spent about 18 years on the receiving end of pitches as an assignment editor and news producer in TV and radio. I honestly don’t remember any of those pitches as being particularly persuasive. Perhaps because of that, I can also honestly say I don’t believe any of my own pitches since coming to the PR side of the equation have been particularly persuasive. That’s not to say I haven’t gotten (or at least not gotten in the way of) some decent coverage for my institution or that I didn’t see some interesting stories develop over the years, but none of the individual pitches was significant enough to stick with me.
Sounds like I’m exactly the audience for this book. Should I not be fortunate enough to be crowned the winner of your contest, it would probably be well worth my while (and that of the college) to shell out a little money and get a copy.
I’m always up for a new book to read! I have little experience in pitching, so it sounds like a great topic to learn about.
I’ve pitched to, and been pitched at, and the ones that make it in my publication are those guys who have actually done their homework and taken the time to angle the pitch to my interests. That may take a little longer on their end, but is worth the investment in time.
Those “pitchers” then become more trustworthy in the future, and don’t automatically get deleted on first look at the opening paragraph.
The worst pitch was when a person phoned me up, started their pitch and consistently got my name wrong in the conversation. If they can’t get that bit of research right at least, have they even looked at my publication? No!
Pitching story ideas has worked well for me, especially in generating a multi-day feature series on university research projects. It takes time and some finesse, and I don’t do it often enough. I’d really like to learn more about the fine points from this new publication. Thanks for suggesting it.
If my experience pitching stories to newspapers is any indication of what’s happening in the rest of the country, I think this will be a great read. The small college I work for is located in a remote rural setting. Consequently, I knew all the editors and reporters in the area personally and it was a cinch to know how/what to pitch to them. Life was good. Then came this century and the editor/reporter revolving door. That challenge piggybacked on all the new communication techologies makes it tough to give any one thing the advance work or research it deserves.
I very much like the III Express book review concept – lately I’ve gotten to where I try to just remember one “take away” from each book I read (blame failing memory and lack of time). This kind of bare-bones review is perfect!
This seems to go along with many of the sessions at CASE last year where “finding the stories on your campus” was a primary theme in relation to recruiting marketing. This book appears to take that concept to the next level.
I too love the III concept. Good idea Karine!
I wanted to share an experience that I had pitching a story to the media earlier this year because I wrote about something that I couldn’t believe hadn’t been written about in the past–our mascot, Ashley Moss, who rides our mule. Yes, we are known as the Muleriders, a name that was given to football players of yesteryear who had to ride a mule to games when transportation was scarce.
Interviewed Ashley and took her picture with Molly B., and the story went all over Arkansas. It also made the blog of the Arkansas times. The editor said he usually didn’t post press releases but liked the fact that it was a feature and knew that a lot of farmers, and even those in more white collar jobs in Arkansas would enjoy reading about a mule. So in this case it was a successful pitch because we talked about something that peaks the interest of all types of people.
Thanks for letting me submit this comment. Would love to have the book to get even more ideas of what works and does not. As a former journalist, I am still finding my groove in public relations. Let me know if you have any questions or need a picture of Molly B.
As someone responsible for editing press releases in my organization, I am often frustrated by the reasons for which we send releases and how they are presented. Unfortunately, my recommendations/concerns along those lines often fall on deaf ears, but maybe the information in this book can provide some support!
I don’t know about you, but some people in our media relations area have not put any stock on pitching to bloggers and other new media representatives. Sigh . . . they still haven’t figured out how if you get placement on a prominent blog that this can turn into big media hits since reporters are continually scouring these blogs for new story ideas. A prominent blogger commenting on a trend or issue can be the third-party validation that some reporters need to cover this for their own pub.