By Aliza Sherman
As a reporter receiving dozens of e-mail pitches daily, here are some things that would make my life easier, set your pitch apart from the rest and improve your chances of getting ink for your client. Let’s start from the top.
1. Focus Your Subject
I can’t tell you how many pitches I get with vague e-mail subjects, and I tend to open them last, often after my story deadline, because they simply do not get my attention. The best way to reply to a ProfNet query is to copy and paste the query headline into your e-mail subject after your client’s name and company name. That immediately tells me what query you are addressing, and I can find your client’s name easily while skimming my inbox.
2. Directly Address The Query
When pressed for time, I’m not looking for chitchat or other e-mail pleasantries. I need to get straight to the business at hand. Use your first 2-3 sentences in your e-mail to address the query, not to launch into a lengthy introduction of yourself and your client. Most queries have several specific things they are looking for, so respond in kind. Even use a “bulleted check list” to show that your client is a perfect fit for the story. If the reporter asks for a women in her 30s who is juggling a baby and her business and has revenues of over $500,000, your query should start with “Jane Doe of ABC Company, a gift-basket company, is 33 and recently had twins. She is learning to juggle babies and a business that has over $1 million in revenues.”
3. Give a Short Bio
Every client has life, career and/or business highlights. Zero in on the ones most relevant to the pitch — don’t just copy and paste a lengthy boilerplate bio. A short bio is one paragraph with 5-6 sentences.
4. Avoid Clichés
Don’t use age-old clichés — such as “She’s a woman succeeding in a man’s world” or “He overcame enormous odds to find success” — to try to sell your client. Their story should speak for itself without the clichés or hyperbole. Try to distill what makes them interesting or different or newsworthy into one concise statement.
5. Save the Press Release for Last
Reporters get press releases in so many ways but sending them as a response to a query is not helping your client get noticed. What it tells me is the publicist is too lazy to craft a quick, concise pitch and, frankly, I don’t have the time to read the release to figure out if I’m interested in interviewing someone. That said, pasting a recent or relevant release at the end of the pitch can be helpful, and I will glance at it if the pitch has grabbed my attention.
6. Make Follow-ups Clear
Pasting the query at the end of the pitch is helpful to let a reporter know which query you are addressing. Even more helpful is when you paste it in your follow-up e-mails or, better yet, include the previous e-mail exchanges you’ve had with the reporter to refresh their memory. The worst follow-up e-mails are the ones that come all to often with nothing more than, “Just wanted to know if you were interested in interviewing my client for your article.” The second-worst pitches are the ones that have made the rounds between clients and colleagues and are forwarded — perhaps accidentally — to the reporter. I don’t have time to sift through what everyone else is saying to figure out what is being pitched, and most of that correspondence wasn’t really for my eyes in the first place!
7. Do Not Attach Files to Reporters
Unless you have been given specific instructions to send a reporter attached files, make it a rule never to attach files to reporters. If you can, use links to online resources, particularly in a well-organized Web-based pressroom. If you must send an attachment, never do it with your pitch but instead offer to send other documents and specify the file type and size or at least ask permission. If the core of your pitch is in an attached file, realize that 9 times out of 10, your strongest selling points are going into a trash bin.
The most important thing to remember when pitching by e-mail is that each reporter is different and has their own preferences. It never hurts to e-mail them first and ask what they’d prefer to receive.