We’re all about pitches, good and bad. To prove it, we created Glinda the Good Pitch back in the day. But our badge of dishonor Slick has always gotten more air time.It’s a simple case of supply and demand folks. So we were ecstatic when we started receiving emails from Carol Blymire.
Carol Blymire has been copying us on emails for a few months now as she tries to engage PR people about bad pitches sent her way.
Carol runs the blog French Laundry at Home. A classic micro-topic blog, its sole focus is about cooking every dish in The French Laundry Cookbook and writing about it.
The problem is everyone might SEE the above explanation, but PR people that move too quickly see the keyword cooking and assume the rest. I understand Carol. Every time I tell someone I am legally blind in my left eye, they do not hear legally, they just hear BLIND and assume the rest. For reals!
We asked Carol if she ever hears back from the people to whom she responds.
I did actually get an apology from a gal at >AGENCY< last week. Of course, I cc'd the president of the firm AND her clients, but got an apology nonetheless. Usually, I get nothing. One time, a guy wrote back to me and used 5 or 6 paragraphs to tell me and my fancy French cooking to take "the sticks out of your ass." I forwarded his reply to the CEO of his client and got a very nice apology from her and an email that they would be seeking new PR counsel immediately.In the food blog community, we all know one another pretty well, and we laugh when we get these pitches. We're a diverse group -- cocktails, Spanish cuisine, organic farming -- and yet somehow a >FOOD< company thinks we're ideal to develop recipes to promote their crap product. So, we're writing back and copying bosses and clients because we're sick of it. I usually also invite the offender to Google me to see my work, and who I represent in my business, so they can see I'm speaking from experience.
I know I made mistakes when I was "growing up" in this business, and when people pointed out my errors, sure, it was humiliating (and I had some doozies), but I learned from it and was grateful for the help.
Food for ThoughtThe lesson here extends well beyond folks pitching foodie blogs. Unless someone literally says DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN after you pitch them, they are engaging you in a conversation. It’s up to you to turn those citrons dans la citronnade.
As you can see from Carol’s comments above, word of your efforts will spread one way or the other.
tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog | Carol Blymire
If Carol wants to be a teacher, she should work in a university. I am all for a reporter's right to reply to an email, but to copy the CEOs and clients on the nastygram replies is just outright rude and disrespectful. Her mean spirited actions are resulting in people loosing their jobs and clients.
ReplyDeleteI think it is gross that Carol is trying to make an example out of the people "growing up" in the industry while she blogs about an idea she obviously stole from Julie Powell (author of "Julie and Julia," where she makes every recipe out of Child's popular cookbook).
It's a blog for Christ's sake - it is not saving the world. Hey Carol, here is some advice for you since you feel so strongly about dishing it out: IF YOU CAN'T USE IT, DELETE IT. Your negative energy is doing everything but helping.
@michael, I'm with you all the way!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure those practitioners are grateful for her help in "growing up" as they are getting fired in an economy where they might not find another job for up to a year!
Sounds like if you engaged Carol the correct way she would still eat you for breakfast.
This post makes me sick to my stomach.
Michael, your comment reeks of sour grapes. Grow up. If more bloggers would do what Carol and her fellow food bloggers are doing, we might actually see a change in this dynamic, and businesses wouldn't continue to waste their money on bad PR people who get no results.
ReplyDeleteChiming in here as someone who actually has pitched Carol on something related to her blog... turned out it wasn't the right timing, but she's got incredible contacts and influence in the food world and in the media, so I'm happy to have opened a dialogue with her. She was incredibly professional and engaging, and has been helpful to me with other leads. I've found that reaching out to bloggers individually, like I do with press, has yielded better results.
ReplyDelete@michal @kelly
ReplyDeleteLet me get this straight: You have work -- for which you bill your client by the hour -- that you'd be embarrassed to have your boss or your client see?
Or that could get you fired?
Huh.
If you saw the pitches that Carol and other food bloggers get, I doubt you'd be defending these idiots. We're not talking about a little off-target here; we're talking about one very small step above spam. How about pitching US-based food blog on a golf tournament in China? Or a college voter drive? That's just two quick examples from this morning's in-box deluge.
You may not appreciate Carol's brand of sarcasm, but you can't honestly defend the people she's railing against.
I will not pile on here, and am excited this is ellicting comments.
ReplyDeleteBut I will point out one important item.
Enough people discuss the similarities between media and bloggers that I think we need to revisit one very important difference: journalists are paid. And while bloggers may monetize, at least initially they get into it because of passion. Pure, raw emotional passion. Consider that when you treat the two audiences the same. One will delete you and consider it part of the job. The other will take a different approach.
Perhaps you should too. At least if you really want to land your client on their blog in a positive light.
@anonymous I see your point. But all I'm trying to say is that the following doesn't happen enough:
ReplyDelete"People online are real people.
Give people a break.
The break you probably deserve yourself.
People are out to do good, 99% of the time.
You probably are too."
http://www.damniwish.com/2008/10/great-advice-on.html
That said, if the practitioner thought the pitch was something they'd be embarrassed to have their boss or client see, and they sent it anyway, they probably deserve some backlash.
@kevin Your very correct in your distinction, and conversations and comments like these here are what brings points like yours to light continuing the education on these here Internets :)
Kevin, everything written about carol's blog is interesting. I was not really into blogs before I got into PR. I thought that just because it was something where people could write random thoughts and feelings that dealt with whatever they felt like. As I have learned through this blog, blogs can be helpful learning tools in various areas. You just need to dig down deeper to find the information.
ReplyDelete'Citron dans la citronnade' - I like this one, it stikes a cord in me ;-).
ReplyDeleteI'd like to take you up to a challenge if you don't mind. You said you all know eachother other well in the food blog community. If I send you a list of the top food blog ranked by our influence algo, will you tell me if it's indeed the top list per your knowledge?
btw, we have +4000 food blogs so i can send you the top 500.