Articles by David Parmet

I’m opening this one up to the floor.

In case you haven’t been following along, Valleywag broke an embargo. You can read all of the details on my blog here and here.

The question I’m putting to all of you is what should the CEO do now? There’s no right or wrong answer and honestly I don’t know what I would do in this situation (aside from not pitching Valleywag in the first place).

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There seems to be a great deal of buzz about pitching lately - both good and bad. There’s even a blog dedicated to the fine art of annoying journalists.

As someone who pitches and gets pitched, I figured this was a good place for me to add my two cents about what makes a pitch work, and what makes it land in the circular file.

To begin with, the best pitches I’ve ever received - the ones that make me want to write a ‘thank you’ note - are the ones that don’t make me think I’m being pitched. They come off like a friendly note from someone who either knows me or obviously has read my blog. I have no idea if that’s the case, if the person has read my blog or not, but if they are at least making the effort to find out something, some angle that might interest me, they’ve obviously done their work.

The pitches I’ve sent out that got me the best results were all direct and to the point. I always make the effort to be upfront and tell the recipient who I am if they don’t already know me. In other words, don’t lie. We’re PR people and if we can’t admit it to journalists, why bother?

Then I tell them why I am writing them. For example, I’m writing to you because you cover X and my client does Y. Maybe it’s some news that might interest the reporter, or a new and interesting angle on an old story. Whatever it is, get to the point and do it quickly.

It goes without saying that you should include links to any background information on the Web, instead of filling the email up with stuff the reporter may or may not be interested in. A few links look a lot less intimidating than a few paragraphs.

Most importantly, if your Mother didn’t teach this to you already let me remind you. Saying ‘thank you’ goes a long way. A thank you note after a good interview or article can ensure you are remembered next time you need to go to the well.

Good luck!

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