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We’re so over the whole he said, she said around “lists that are the absence of all colors.” We’re moving on. This comment from Tolu O. is one reason why.----Dear Kevin and other knowledgeable people in social media/PR,
I want you all to know that you have put the fear of God in me. I am officially wary of pitching anybody now. Traditional media folks, new media folks-- it does not matter. I agonize over how I will pitch. I proofread continuously to make sure I am using proper AP style. I double check, triple check sometimes, to make sure I am pitching in the journalist/blogger’s preferred way. I pore over your blog, Kevin D., and try to follow the mandates that you set forth in your old post “Ready to pitch a blog? Take this quiz first.”
As excited as I am to become a full-fledged PR professional, it can be disheartening when I read some posts which basically put people on blast. It is like walking into the gym in 8th grade and having the wrong sneakers on-- everyone stares. I can either rock my sneaks and make the best of the situation or I can hide from the it.
I am a PR student at UGA. I think I am pretty knowledgeable in social media. My teachers have done an excellent job of informing me about social media and how to approach it (props to you Dr. Sweetser). I Twitter occasionally, I win every argument because of Wikipedia. My Secondlife avatar is pretty hot. Everything considered, I am no expert but I do know the basics. Plus, and this is a very big plus, I am well versed in the basics of public (now becoming personalized) relations.
My whole point being, there are many PR students like me coming into the workforce. I am going to try my hardest to be successful and pitch the media with the delicacy and respect they deserve. However, I am learning and will continue to learn for the rest of my life. I do not plan on making mistakes but if I do I will certainly learn from them.
So yes, I will follow your advice on what to do before I pitch. Yes, I will stay up to date and keep myself relevant. Yes, I will heed the advice of those that have made mistakes and those who continue to educate people like me. With all your help, I don’t have to be scared to pitch, because when you think about it, it is a basic courtesy (not to mention necessity) to know who you are pitching.
So thank you Kevin and other knowledgeable PR people. I will be careful how I pitch. I’m no expert now, but I will be (and I’ll be rocking some old school sneaks).
---The Bad Pitch blog owes Tolu O. a pair of Chuck Taylors for a rally cry rivaling King Henry V. But please have no fear. Well maybe a little is healthy. Tolu O proves that out above. She's being taught by some of the best in the business at UGA. And she's applying what she learns to do her best work. She understands what could happen if she's not focused on her media relations efforts.
And, while no one will admit it at the time, the mistakes are the best part. If it weren’t for my own mistakes I wouldn't have created the Bad Pitch blog.
The feedback the Bad Pitch blog has received, and the conversation it’s created, is the reason why it's still here. So what else do YOU want to read/talk about? Let us know. In the meantime we’re heading out early to get this note from Tolu O. laminated.
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9 comments:
Kevin, Tolu is right. I'm a colleague of hers at UGA, and our teachers are doing the best they can to help us learn to pitch.
In my PR Communications class this semester, we had to do a media gatekeeper interview where we called a journalist and asked them questions about pitching, their job and whatever else. On the last day of class, we shared what we learned from the interview. We also asked the journalists to give us any sort of "bad pitch" they've gotten, and some of them were pretty ridiculous.
So just know we are trying, especially at Grady. We are learning about social media, and we are trying to use it to journalists' advantages by making information easier for them to get. SMPR, anyone?
Keep up with the UGA kids because I think we're on the forefront of PR education.
(www.dawg-food.com)
Someone please also tell Tolu that she's already 10 steps ahead of most recent grads by 1) knowing how to write and 2) not saying "I really like talking to people" when she's asked "Why do you want to get into PR?" :-)
Thanks for the support Kevin.
At my internship this summer, I told my supervisors that I wanted to focus on pitching. I figured the sooner I started, the better I would get at it. So basically your blog and other PR blogs have been a constant for me since UGA Connect.
So the more tips you and any other people have for me, the better I will be.
Like Katherine said, we’re taking over…one city at a time.
Yay Grady!
Tolu O.'s enthusiasm is great.
However, not to be the cynic of the group, but do we really expect TO, or any of her green brethren, to refuse her 'old school' boss in her first week on the job when specifically told to pitch widgets to anti-widget-blog.com because the client wants the hit there?
Not everyone lands in the most ethical shop. I'm sure in some shop, somewhere, a high level discussion of what anti-widget-blog.com actually covers would take place and client expectations adjusted.
Then again, the odds are pretty good that in an equal number (if not greater number) of shops this would be the first negative on TO's performance file.
Anon - You're hitting upon a topic that has been on my mind since before Gina got her wiki on.
We could probably start The Bad Agency Blog and The Bad Client Blog...both groups need to change how things work for pitches to truly change in the long term in a broad/consistent fashion.
That said, I do not want anyone to be Pollyanna about this. Folks will be put into these situations. It is my hope that on an invidual basis that the young can change things. It won't be instant and it won't happen on every occasion. But it's a start. I would hope everyone reading this blog would know how far to push something befire their job or permanent record were in jeopardy.
That said, I think it is a telling sign if you get to that point and have to back off.
Bottom line is that there are clients out there that want to spend X to get Y and there will more often than not be agencies around to supply the demand.
But we gotta start somewhere. And this feels a lot better than a wiki or a pissing match or a game of finger point and whine.
Loved the sneaks metaphor.
Posts like this give me hope that great strides are being made to inform and educate future PR pros. Hopefully, the next generation will understand and apply the right methods necessary to make the wheels turn.
Instead of bad pitching use social monitoring tools and follow the conversation across the social media spectrum. Then, if you join in you'll be a knowledgeable participant instead of an intruder. More work but if you using social rank monitoring you can choose the most influential voices to interact with.
Kevin -
(Yes, this is the same Anon as earlier).
I think you're 100% correct - the change will be slow, and likely from the next, or current, up & coming generation.
And this is much better than the blog/wiki - we all try to be professionals - abide by embargoes, exclusives, speaking off the record, etc.. To openly display how the sausage is made is (IMHO) in bad taste.
I don't see PR folks publishing which Assoc. Producer canceled an interview at the 11th hour, failed to call the expert at a scheduled time for their own 'on-deadline' story, accept interviews, articles, etc. w/o reading them and then after weeks coming back with 'nevermind, I should've actually read it first.'
(Though I don't doubt that will happen at some point, let's try to restrain ourselves people, eh?)
Sadly, I believe bad pitching is and will continue to be (even for these hopefuls) self perpetuating, like the lottery or winning in a slot machine.
The number (or level of) happy clients is frequently the stick by which we're measured, when working for others, or even when running the co. ourselves.
We've all had hits that should not have happened -
Inevitably some journalist/editor will have a story pulled for some reason (legal issue, missed deadline, etc.) and accept a piece or quick pitch to fill the space or kill airtime, even if it's a bit off topic.
Would Gina completely ignore a killer app product because it came to the wrong email address? Unlikely - her priority is to her readers (as it should be). The chaff really only grates when there's no wheat.
Half the time the mis-pitch may not even be overreaching, but a legitimate mis-pitch (wrong line in the address book, wrong entry in the Yellow Book, etc.)
Following the this lucky placement the client will be ecstatic. The agency won't want to claim it was dumb luck or a slow news day and the behavior of shotgun pitching will continue. Because really, even if one of every 20, 30, 100 scatter-shot pitches lands it's worth it. . .or has been until the blogs/wikis started (and really, all that will do is up the number of agencies using multiple domains to send out msgs when blind pitching).
Rant over. It's a great discussion, and emphasizes that, yes - there are minds behind the emails, we're not all just drones, and we do our best to consider who we pitch.
Thanks for the link to the Blog Pitch Quiz entry. I have a meeting about this on Tuesday and the questions are a great way to start the meeting.
Love the blog and every entry is like a lesson- I learn from it.
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