The New Rules of Media Pitching

© Copyright 2016 MichaelSMARTPR, LLC
The New Rules of
Media Pitching
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Results
AP and Reuters,
800 online,
50 broadcast,
43 print

You might be thinking . . .
•“Well, it helps if you’ve got JLaw . . .”
•But they didn’t “have” her either!
•They created this angle entirely with their own
in-house resources
Creativity > Budget

The question on everyone’s mind
Who is this talking, and what does he look like?

My singular goal today:
Distract you from whatever
you’re multitasking


You already know:
•Some media are hemorrhaging
readers/viewers . . .
•. . . while others are soaring
•Journalists/bloggers/influencers are busier
and more distracted than ever
•Old outreach doesn’t work

What you get today
• The NEW prime factor editors use when considering
pitches and how to make it work for you
• 1 simple formula to rev up lame material
• Contrarian HARO hack to add depth to shallow ideas
• Plugging the holes in your media list
• Using social media to warm up cold emails
• 2 nuances of customizing your outreach
• LOTS of successful pitches

Copyright 2014
MichaelSMARTPR LLC

A prize for listening closely
•I will drop three random
song lyrics
•Tweet each song and
artist name to
@michaelsmartpr as it
happens
•Fastest person to get all
three wins $25 Amazon
gift card

What you get today
• The NEW prime factor editors use when
considering pitches and how to make it work for
you

A shift on having everything first?
•“That’s already been out there.”
•“We already covered that.”
•This philosophy is turning on its head

And then three years later . . .
•Re-posted with permission on Slate
•Became their-most viewed story of the year!
•And then the next summer . . .

Which of these metrics do you think is most
important in determining content's success?
Cision’s 2016 State of the Media report

Jon McBride
• Cold-pitching New
York Times
blogger

Pitch to NYT
Subject: Study: What Makes Siblings Different?
Hi KJ,
Wanted to let you know about a new study on sibling differences from
researchers at BYU and Penn State. The study finds that when parents compare
their children, it can have negative effects in the classroom. Parental belief (not
just actual parenting) has a big influence on who their children become.
Thought this might be of interest to you for The Motherlode Blog.
Let me know if you’d be interested in seeing the study itself, our release, or if I
can get anything else for you, including an interview with the professor.
Also, you might be interested to know that our story on this went crazy on
Reddit last night, bringing more than 42,000 page views to our story (93%
upvoted the story, 700+ comments). This is something people seem to really
want to talk about.
Jon

What’s the takeaway?
•Pitch content that is already performing well
online
WORKS BEST WITH:
• Digital natives like Buzzfeed, Mashable, etc.
• OR younger influencers
• OR influencers active on Twitter who value
measurable results
•Bonus takeaway: Show how your idea WILL
perform well online

Brittney Maxfield
• PR manager for HR
consulting company
• Has a CEO she
wants to promote as
thought leader
• Proposes a recurring
column to
Forbes.com

Pitch to Forbes
. . . Joseph contributes to his own weekly e-
newsletter and blog, which reach more than
190,000 subscribers. In the past, we directed
this traffic to Joseph’s online columns,
generating great conversation and often
catapulting his columns to the most-read
articles of the day. We know our audience of
executives and managers will benefit from the
thought leadership available at Forbes and
we’d love to send our readers to your site in a
similar fashion.

What we’re learning today
•Tout online performance
•1 simple formula to rev up lame material

Does this happen to you?
•CEO’s or client’s “major announcement”
•“We just hit our numbers for the third quarter!”

Creativity formula
MOST
POPULAR
FLAVOR

8-year-old
book
Tip sheet: “When Bad Relatives
Happen to Good People”

Annual donation
to pediatric
cancer research
Pre-existing
NASCAR
sponsorship
“Color Carl’s Car”

Combinations CAN go too far

•Contrarian HARO hack to add depth to
shallow ideas

Erin Morrisey
• At LA agency
Konnect PR
• Repping a pool
cleaning company
• Challenge: WSJ

Hi [WSJ writer],
[customized intro]
With that said, I wanted to see if you might be interested in the topic
of acquisitions. Many businesses are using this strategy to expand
their respective companies. For example, the CEO of VivoPools . . .
[details about his approach]
Overall, I thought it might be interesting to do a piece on this
strategy, detailing the pros and cons businesses face in growing this
way.
Please let me know if this is of any interest as I would love to provide
you with additional examples.
Thank you for your consideration.
Best,
Erin

Here comes HARO
• Usually used by journalists to gather
examples
• Erin issued a query herself to solicit input
from similar non-competitors
• Pulled together 11 different companies as
examples for reporter
• Resulting article includes two of her clients

•Contrarian HARO hack
•Plugging the holes in your media list

Ranked by unique visitors
HuffingtonPost
USA Today
Buzzfeed
NY Times
Washington Post
Business Insider
Time
Mashable
comScore,
2015

Ranked by unique visitors
HuffingtonPost
USA Today
Buzzfeed
NY Times
Washington Post
Business Insider
Time
Mashable
comScore,
2015
What about your trade
pubs/verticals?

• Science writers
dwindling
• Just like biz journos
in local markets
Kim Ward

Subject Line: Black Holes Don’t
Entirely Suck….
…because, Elise, Michigan State
University Professor Chris Adami believes
he has plugged the hole in Stephen
Hawking’s black hole theory — the
information paradox hole. Here’s the link to
the release and study:
[continued]

Takeaway
•What’s the “IFL Science” in your niche?
•Ask your prospects and scour your media
database
•Refresh your media lists at least quarterly

•Contrarian HARO hack to add depth to shallow
ideas
•Using social media to warm up cold emails

Cision State of the Media report
Email 93.4%
Phone 2.0%
Social Media - Pitch publicly 0.6%
Social Media - Pitch via
private message
1.4%
“How do you prefer to receive pitches?”

Cision State of the Media report

Jeff Chandler
• PR Director for internet
security firm
• Noticed one CNN
reporter tweeting at
individuals asking if
they could talk to him
about a particular
security protocol

The email
Subject: SHA-1
Hi XXXX:
Jeremy Rowley of DigiCert is very involved in the CA/Browser
Forum, which includes Google and sets much of the policy for how
digital certificates are handled. He could be a good source for you on
the SHA-1 matter, answering questions about the transition from
SHA-1 to SHA-2, what some companies have been doing to buy
extra time before they must fully transition to comply with the
Google timelines, what’s important to know about the state of SHA-1
and the push for migration to SHA-2, etc.
Would you like to set up a time for a phone interview with him
tomorrow? Please let me know what you have in mind and I can put
you in touch.

•Contrarian HARO
•Using social media to warm up cold emails
•2 nuances of customizing your outreach

Typical pitch today
Dear _____________,
Hope you’re well – I enjoy your tech coverage
so I thought I’d reach out.
I represent Lockstiff Innovations, a leading
provider or rigid security solutions, that is
announcing today its new . . .

PR pro-turned-editor
I value good pitches – I just
don’t get any.
It’s the same generic crap
that I was doing at [PR
agency] 15 years ago. My
immediate reaction is, “You
have no idea who we are or
what we do.”

Two best practices
•Make a well-researched, accurate personal
reference

Claire Grady
• LA’s Konnect PR
• Repping Linus bike
brand

Pitch for Vanity Fair’s Mother’s Day gift guide

Mercy Chikowore
• Pitching new online store to
Business Insider

Hi Dylan,
Just read your story on the bitcoin ATM – definitely
impressive. We’re also so impressed with bitcoin that we
opened an online megastore where bitcoin users can buy
just about anything they want. Don’t believe me, just click on
our link.
You can find more information about the store below. We
haven’t been on Letterman but let us know if this is
something that interests you.
Sincerely,
Mercy Chikowore
BitcoinShop.US PR

Two best practices
•Make a well-researched, accurate personal
reference
•Reference their earlier work specifically
and sincerely

Brittany Borghi
• Pitching earthquake
mapping to Wired

Hi Neel,
I wanted to drop a quick note and say I really enjoyed your NYC Tree Map story from
yesterday. I thought the map was really informative, and I had to chuckle about the
Callery pear smell line, too. You did a nice job wrapping in the emerald ash borer issue,
too — it’s something we struggle with here in the Midwest, as well.
Since you seem to like visualization stories, I wanted to see if this one shakes you up:
It’s new GPS and inSAR satellite renderings, compiled together to give the USGS (and
the University of Iowa) the fastest available glance at an earthquake’s impact. It could
have huge implications for saving lives in the third world (think: Haiti’s 2010 earthquake).
If you like it, and you’d like to know more, I’d love to give you more information about the
research (and the researcher) that led to this new map.

Hi Neel,
I wanted to drop a quick note and say I really enjoyed your NYC Tree Map story from
yesterday. I thought the map was really informative, and I had to chuckle about the
Callery pear smell line, too. You did a nice job wrapping in the emerald ash borer issue,
too — it’s something we struggle with here in the Midwest, as well.
Since you seem to like visualization stories, I wanted to see if this one
shakes you up:
It’s new GPS and inSAR satellite renderings, compiled together to give the USGS (and the University of Iowa) the
fastest available glance at an earthquake’s impact. It could have huge implications for saving lives in the third
world (think: Haiti’s 2010 earthquake).
If you like it, and you’d like to know more, I’d love to give you more information about the research (and the
researcher) that led to this new map.

Hi Jason,
I saw your spiced BBQ sauce article and thought you might be interested in a
PK Grill for all the grilling you hope to get done after Memorial Day. The PK grill
is an iconic grill and smoker with a cult-like following, available again after a 30-
year hiatus, considered one of the best charcoal cookers in the industry. We'd
be glad to send along a grill for story or set up an interview with the brand's
revivalists.
Portable Kitchens, also known as PK Grill and Smoker, has an classic design
and interesting history. After discovering a PK Grill at a yard sale, one of the
new owners decided to revive the brand. These grills are hand-poured here in
the South, nearly identical to the ones created in the 1950's. Recently, pitmaster
Chris Lilly took third place competing on a PK Grill at the National BBQ Assoc.
event.
I'll follow up and hope we can work something out together.
Kindly,
Kristie

SUB: American Entrepreneurship Is Actually Vanishing - inDinero's rise/fall/rise
again
Hi Leigh,
Fantastic article, you had me up and down and presented so many great points.
We'd love for you to consider the inDinero.com/Jessica Mah comeback story as
a follow- up to your article - a Millennial CEO that's already been around the
block sort a speak at the ripe old age of 24.
At 20 Jessica started inDinero.com out of her college dorm room and from Y
Combinator - she grew the company fast as a "Mint.com for business" - but
after much fan fare and plenty of customers signing up and angel funding - the
business was dying - $20/month wasn't making a profit. She scaled way back,
moved in with her folks and borrowed money to restart/rethink. Below are
some compelling milestones to consider, would you like to chat with Jessica?
Happy to set something up - looking forward to your reply Leigh, thanks.
Jamie

Almost to Q&A
•First, some additional resources to boost your
pitching skills
•Then, some final words of encouragement

MichaelSmartPR.com/cision
Opt in so I can send you:
•Media Relations Road Map
•Slides from today
•My weekly media relations tips
(Even if you already requested the tips, it helps to do it again directly on my site)

Lia Giachino
• First heard me on THIS
webinar a year ago Friday

Lia Giachino
• 6 wks later, landed
WSJ and Market
Watch
• Since then moved
up to a new job and
20% raise

Desirae Franco
• Managed PR for 3 of parent
company’s brands
• Made a major mindset shift
an implemented these
approaches
• Increased placements 800
percent year over year
• Promoted to Director to
oversee PR for all 10
brands
• Earned major budget
increase to hire 3 PR
agencies

An investment that pays off

To your success!
@michaelsmartpr
www.michaelsmartpr.com

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The New Rules of Media Pitching

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