Getting Pitched

Viral (aka free) publicity is something the creatives on the web (or off it, waiting to get on) have to be drooling over. For the moment, I’m just talking about video clips and webseries. Think about Dr. Horrible. Or Charlie the Unicorn… or any other video that went viral… from a publicity standpoint, awesome, right?

Here’s why I mention it: I received an email to my blog contact address telling me about a new web series and giving me links to the content. There was no blatant request for me to blog about it (smart move) but obviously that was the intent. That’s fine. Sometimes that’s the best way to get your work out there. Also, blogs are going to help you achieve that. Blogs (in general, not mine specifically) have the audience to turn something viral, but it’s hard to do it intentionally.

Anyway, I found this pitch interesting for a few reasons. First, the experience of getting a cold pitch is a relatively new one. I’ve only gotten it once or twice before and every time it feels awkward. Also, with the exception of The Choices of Ghosts (or the coming series, more accurately) I don’t generally blog about webseries (I’m assuming it was a google search turning up that post that led them to contact me). So I asked my followers on twitter what they thought and they had some interesting ideas for me. Probably the most thought provoking response came from Shawn Farner. I’d mentioned that I’d prefer someone building a rapport with me before pitching something and his response was: “If they’re going to be your friend just so they can try to pitch you, wouldn’t you rather avoid the fakeness?”

hmm… Good point.

So that got me thinking, what would I consider a ‘good’ pitch and what makes it so? I decided it depends both on what you’re pitching and how you do it:

If you want me (and just me, I can’t speak for anyone else) to look at your social media tool/application/website/design/whatever and potentially blog about it, you’re going to have a better shot than if you’re pitching something I don’t normally write about. You’ve got an advantage because I’m already interested in the field, but you’ll need to explain to me why your tool might be useful. Also, if you throw in invite codes (or other perks) for my readers you’re giving yourself an advantage. OtherInbox did this after I mentioned them in a “coming up” type blog post, and once I was hooked on the service I was happy to give out the invite link. That didn’t convince me to write about them, but it certainly left me with a favorable impression of the team behind the product (this is really important too).

If, on the other hand, you want to pitch something that I don’t normally write about, a web series, for example, you’re really going to have to work. To be honest, wouldn’t it make more sense to aim your pitch at a site like Tilzy.tv?? [TIP: do your homework. know who you are pitching to and what they write about. Chances are SOMEONE out there is interested in your product and so is their audience. Find them] However, if you decide to disregard my sage advice… I don’t really know what to tell you. You pretty much need to be a personal friend and have a killer product… or just a REALLY killer product. Which you might. What do I know? :) Hopefully you get my point though.

The end of this little story is that after all my tweeting, Josh at Tilzy.TV (who I’ve been in touch w/ before) asked me to forward the webseries email since that’s more or less his job. I was more than happy to do so, but I’m not sure if or how I’ll respond to it personally. When I’ve been pitched something I’ve been more likely to forward it to someone who might actually be interested. I’m happy to do that, I like passing along content to friends for them to check out, but that not something you want to bank on.

So here’s my lesson for the day:

• Figure out who your target audience is
  
• Do your homework so that you are sure the people you’re pitching to care about the type of stuff you have to offer
• No one likes a cold pitch. Add a human touch to it. Like giving me invite codes for my readers. Or using my name (instead of a blatant blast BCC email). Or not sounding like a PR robot.

Everyone seemed to have a different opinion on twitter today, so I’m wondering what you think. After all, you are my readers! What makes a good pitch? What would compel you to check out a product/service/etc that someone wanted you to blog about? How much does if matter if a pitch is relevant to your normal content?

Explore posts in the same categories: Social Media, blog

Tags: blog, pitch, PR, publicity, shawn farner, The Choices of Ghosts, tilzy.tv, twitter, viral marketing

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