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.