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Your Pitch Title Does Not Matter To Me
Chris over at StartupBlips has a post tonight about how to title, or "subject", pitches to bloggers to get noticed. I’d like to share my thoughts on the importance of a subject and what makes a good pitch. I am only speaking for myself, other bloggers will certainly have their own requested format. If you are a PR person, you should must ask every blogger you contact how he or she would like to be pitched. By spending a few minutes doing this, you have a MUCH greater chance of being covered by that blog. It’s the same as knowing I like milk in my coffee, Arrington takes it black, Ostrow takes 2 sugars, Om would rather have tea and Eric only drinks Pepsi.
I don’t care that much about the subject and if you use the contact form, the subject is pre-defined. I personally look at every single email we get (about 300-400 a day) and no matter the subject I still scan the email. The key is to capture my attention in the first moments of the email, not in the subject.
- Embargo information if applicable
- Name of company
- URL
- Login if applicable - don’t make me request one and then have to wait for a reply
- Contact info: email, phone, etc.
- Brief Twitter style product overview
- Bullets of why you are better than your competition
- Company info: employees, location, year founded, funding, etc.
- Then and only then should you include a press release
I’ve had a few PR people ask me how I’d like to be pitched. Wish more of ya’all did it. Would make both of our jobs easier and would lead to more coverage. Here is an example of how not to pitch (company name removed). Note that the person calls me Robert, offers very few words plus two links - both which contain nearly no information. I have no problem doing research, but you have to give me something to work with!
Hi Robert,
we launched a new startup. Hope you will find in interesting.
Here: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/site is some brief summary.
Also here:
http://www.killerstartups.com/site/Thanks a lot!
name
site
At the end of the day, the key is to make it as easy as possible for me to understand what you do, why you are better, how you do it, and then point me to more information so I can research along with a way to contact you.
Allen,
As a “green” and bootstrapped startup founder it’s uplifting to hear top bloggers like yourself take the time to read all the emails you receive.
The “pitch” approach you outline here is great and I will definitely give it a try with my next startup…hopefully launching within 1-2 months by the way!
Of course the most important part of a pitch email is having an idea/concept/product worth talking about.
– Chris
Hi Allen,
Nice tips…helps reiterate that so many folks are busy, and info should be crafted to save time and help them decide, quickly, if it’s worth their time and interest.
An example of a good pitch would be nice to see if you are feeling so inclined :)
I must appear on some lists as a general Tech blogger - I am not, I stick to very specific topics and cover them in depth.
I get requests for every random social app launched, and just totally ignore them.
I have pulled up PR people when they make false claims on their press releases - PR people should check facts with people who know the market, even if they were given them by their clients.
I don’t mind bigger sites having an Embargo advantage, but don’t make me beg people for invites to something that is clearly in my niche focus
Don’t start with “I love reading your blog” when you clearly don’t otherwise you would know it is off topic
I am an affiliate marketer - why not pay me $1 per signup ;)
If your business can’t afford that maybe you need to change your business model. There are plenty of internet marketers who will pay me 1 or 2 dollars just to refer people to a free ebook, let alone the $20 - $100 you can get for a lead in other niches.
Ideally I want to know why it might be of interest to my specific audience
You are one of the nicest bloggers out there, so don’t ever stop being nice ok? (or I’ll have to come to NYC and…..)
How would you like $100 to write a positive review of my startup? :)
Uhm, we don’t do friend pimps like other blogs, and no we won’t take your cash :)
Now, a fresh pizza — now we are talking!
why not be nice? here’s my take - i help startups get visibility and try to help them with their business plan and strategy - then as they grow, some will come back and buy ads - and that’s how i can afford to do this - well that’s the plan anyway :)
Ok - will post once I get one - I can tell you this morning I got one which didn’t follow this at all - and she used the contact form - meaning she saw this story on the home page!
good attitude - unfortunately you’re the minority. Most bloggers don’t seem to care, they find entrepreneurs annoying them, even though I agree with you - future potential customers. I just meant that you respect people for the work they do, even if their idea will fail. A lot of bloggers don’t respect people “in the trenches” and it’s apparent.
I will have to remember that…next pitch will come taped to the top of a pizza box! :)
Akismet + Subscribe to comments is a really bad combination and a business liability if you rely on email deliverability.
Thanks Andy - I’ve removed the subscribe to comments until Mollom fixes their bug - for some reason we have been bombed with spam today and it’s not being caught correctly. Sorry for the trouble.