Photo Credit: NickWheelerOz

You’ve worked hard putting together a press release.  Now you need to get it out.  Problem is, you know that the majority of press releases get binned - after all, what’s news to one, may be spam to another.  So what can you do to up your chances of being read?  You need to stand out; you need to entice me.

When you are trying to get the attention of a reporter, there are three major points you need to consider that can help you increase your chances of being talked about:

• Know the difference between a pitch and a press release - and how to pitch

• Create relationships with those you wish to pitch - before you pitch them

• Write useful and remarkable press releases - designed for specific outlets

In this post, I’ll talk about the differences between a pitch and a press release, and what makes a good pitch.  If you’re interested in the other two points, please consider subscribing to my RSS feed; I hope to talk about them over the coming weeks.

Know the difference between a pitch and a press release

Typically, press releases work to a formula; heading, sub heading (if any), place, date, company name, stock exchange reference, news, quote from company, company details.

I’m sure you’ve seen this type of release in the past:

Google and Virgin announce Mars expedition and colony

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. and LONDON, England (April 1st, 2008) - Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Virgin Group today announced the launch of Virgle Inc., a jointly owned and operated venture dedicated to the establishment of a human settlement on Mars.

Press releases like this were highly effective years ago, when PR folk needed to get a ton of information out via fax or an e-mail blast, and people didn’t have 24/7 access to information.Today, things are different.  While press releases are still valid for news wires and on corporate sites, they are not what you should be sending to bloggers and journalists, because, thanks to the Web, we can now go to the corporate site or to the wire, and get it ourselves; you need to send us a pitch.

A pitch is the ‘cover letter’ that condenses the information to a couple of succinctly worded paragraphs that talk about, or point to, a press release.

I realize this makes for more work, but as Brian Solis points out: “ Your alternatives may be running dry.”

So, what makes a good pitch?

No matter how much time, money, and resources you have spent on writing the perfect press release, without a brilliant pitch, it won’t be noticed, and what a shame for everyone involved.  Bloggers and journalists want your news, and you have news to offer; we just need to work out a way to move it around so that it is good for everyone.

There are many conversations going on about how PR folk are getting it so wrong, and rather than add to that, I thought I’d take a look at what makes a good pitch, by publishing three that I received recently, and talking about what made them stand out.

Pitch One - From Maples Communications

Subject Line: Former Chief Security Officer for eBay and Microsoft to Discuss Security Topics at RSA

“Lidija,

Howard Schmidt, former chief security officer for eBay and Microsoft and former White House cyber security advisor, will be available at RSA to discuss a wide variety of security topics. 

Currently Howard is the security strategist for (ISC)², the largest organization of information security professionals in the world.  Howard can discuss any number of hot-button security issues, such as end-user security awareness, as well as current (ISC)² global initiatives, such as the Childnet program, which is bringing Internet safety training to children.

If you would like to schedule an appointment with Howard, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Pitch Two - from Stalwart Communications

Subject Line: RSA Meeting Request - NSS Labs

Hi Lidija,

I’d like to offer you a chance to meet with NSS Labs while at RSA. The independent security testing company recently launched its PCI product certification program.  NSS Labs will also be announcing at the show that its awarded the “NSS Approved” label to a Fortune 20 company’s line of multi-function security solutions after the products underwent its comprehensive testing process.

I can give you time with the company’s principals, partners and customers at their booth.  Thanks for considering.

Pitch Three - from Shift Communications:

Subject Line: Your Schedule During RSA?

Hi Lidija,

I noticed your name on the press list for the upcoming RSA Conference and would love to get Jeremiah Grossman, CTO of WhiteHat Security on your calendar during the show.

In case you are not familiar, WhiteHat is a provider of website security services and has just launched a major partnership with F5 Networks (NASDAQ: FFIV), so the company has some exciting news to update you on.  You may recognize Jeremiah from last year’s RSA Conference, where he was a top-rated speaker, or from his blog.  

At RSA 2008, Jeremiah will be speaking during session HT1-203 as well as at the WASC lunch, both taking place on 4/9. 

Can you let me know when might be good for you to grab a quick coffee or bite to eat with Jeremiah? 

So, what makes these three pitches so special?

All three help make my day easier.  They:

• Made good use of the subject field

• Addressed me correctly

• Filtered the information for me

• Provided ways for me to access more information

• Used plain English in their pitch

• Told me something new

• Made sure I could read it

Let’s examine each of these, and talk about why they worked over others.

Great Pitches start with understandable Subject Lines

You are in PR, or marketing, or journalism, so you know how to use words well. Think of headlines when writing your subject line, and use it to grab my attention.

If there is space, let me know what I’m about to read as succinctly as you can - try not to be too clever or witty, it doesn’t work in subject lines.  Think: event, news, product, company.

This is an example of one that was easy enough to understand:

“RSA Conference Advisory:  NetMotion Tackles Common Mobile Security Challenges with WorkSafeBC”

By stating the event (RSA), company (NetMotion and WordSafe BC) and product (Mobile Security), I can easily determine what the e-mail is about so it saves me time.

While you may think writing a great subject line is obvious, take a look at a few that left me wondering (names removed):

“Hi Lidija! RSA Conf.: [Product] Get Around… In [Company] and [Company] booths too”

My name doesn’t need to be in the subject line, and I’m not sure what ‘get around’ means in this context.

“[Company] Men in Black are Ready to Protect the Universe and Your Network at RSA”

An attempt to be different backfires because personally I find it lame.  Don’t try to be witty - keep it simple.

Address me correctly

So simple that most people don’t even think about it, and thus the problem begins.

Get my name right - it’s “Lidija” - the three pitches above managed to do it, many others didn’t:

• Hi Lijida
• Hi Davis
• Dear Ladies and Gentlemen
• Hi (%Name%) [seriously]

Call it vanity, call it what you like, but there it is - it bugs me.

Filter the information for me

When sending me a pitch, consider writing a couple of sentences that introduce me to your product/service/company/brand, so that I can quickly determine whether it suits the audience I am reporting for, and whether I want to find out more.

If you pitch this way, there is a good chance of getting a reply, regardless of whether I end up promoting your product or not - I will remember your name though.

Provide enough information

Paste the press release at the bottom of your pitch, or give me the link to it and any other information that I may need.  If I like what I read in your pitch, I want to be able to access more information quickly - the fewer clicks I need to make, the happier I am.

Use plain English in your pitch

Use plain English and avoid jargon with your pitches - save it for your press release.  If I find it too difficult to follow I won’t get past the second paragraph before I bin it.

Bear in mind: Just because I write about technology doesn’t mean I understand every nuance across the various specific fields.  Sure, it might work if you’re pitching an IT specialist or analyst, but remember, I’m a reporter, you’ll have a better chance of getting my attention if I can understand what you are talking about, and English is my thing.

If your pitch interests me, I will take the time to work out the jargon.  But please, give me a chance to know what you are talking about before you hit me with how you “target high-risk host components using XYZ product.”

Tell me something new

I don’t want the standard, abstract, non-specific information that everyone else is giving me, and I have a pet hate for the usual adjectives too; tell me something new that’s interesting and specific to you.

From another pitch:

“Utilizing advanced auditing techniques to non-intrusively determine if a host is vulnerable to exploits and data loss”

Come on.  Every company involved with information security “utilizes advanced auditing techniques” and wants to “determines if a host is vulnerable to exploits and data loss”

Why should I pick your brand to talk about?

Avoid overuse of common adjectives

Be creative - try and avoid words like:

• an innovator in…
• offers an advanced approach…
• provides unprecedented levels of accuracy…
• assures users unparalleled protection…

Of course I know your product is incredible, amazing, thought inspiring, breakthrough - keep that for your sales pitch.  I just want to know what it does - and quickly.

Let me see what you are sending me

Another simple one, but again, often overlooked.  Try not to include images.  All images are automatically blocked by my (and many others) inboxes.  This means I don’t get to see it, and I’m not going to risk my computer just to see what you want to show me; the potential problems are not worth my effort.

While I’m not so fussed about your company logo not displaying, I don’t like getting entire pitches or press release that are image only - I tend to bin them immediately and this saddens me because you’ve obviously put in a lot of work.  Don’t waste your time.

In this age of easy Web access, if you want me to take a look at an image, why not create a page and send me the link?  I promise I’ll take a look - if you’ve convinced me in your pitch that it is worth considering.

The Web has been the catalyst for change across all industries, and we all need to adapt and work together.  If you’ve had some great experiences with pitches and press releases, consider talking about them in the comments below; learning is good, learning together can be better.  What do you think?

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LOVE what Chris Anderson did with his post Sorry PR people: you’re blocked!

Here’s why: It’s making people think – and talk – and it’s about time someone started this conversation.

If you are involved in the media industry and you only have rudimentary Web skills, you better learn fast, because most of the conversation is happening online, and if you’re not participating, you might as well toss your computer out the window; you are missing out on vital stuff.

In his post, Chris published a massive list of e-mail addresses, those he decided to block from contacting him, and BOOM – complaints started pouring in; apologies started pouring in, and all I can think is Go Chris! This guy was getting 300 e-mails a day; all of them wanting something from him. What’s a bet no one thought about offering up something for him?

Seth, in his post PR and the first amendment and keeping your job, points out:

So, the smart PR folks (the successful ones) struggle to make their lists smaller and smaller.

You really should listen. By making your list smaller, you are creating your own niche network of people that you trust, and who trust you. The online world is a place where people help each other, not annoy each other; it’s worth thinking about. Incidentally, if you haven’t read Unleashing the Ideavirus, now would be a good time.

The bottom line is, if you’re trying to influence the influencers, you better know exactly how they like to be approached, otherwise that great press release/photo/article/video you spent weeks working on, will go directly to junk mail.

Regardless of whether you want to send your press release to mainstream media or the blogosphere, try to find the person that would most likely be interested in your news; then send it to him or her. Unfortunately, as with all research, it takes time.

Work smart - and hard - forget buying that e-mail list, and start creating your own.

Interesting posts around the Web that talk about the etiquette of Social Media:

What PR people should know about social media, at Like it Matters

The proper way to stalk a journalist, from John Jantsch, author, Duct Tape Marketing

How to influence powerful social media users for traffic and attention by Maki Maki

How to pitch bloggers by ProBlogger, Darren Rowse

Guidelines and Contacts - at least read them…

How to pitch to Cnet

Wall Street Journal Contact Details

The New York Times contact details

Guidelines for submissions to the San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle Address Book

The Effective Emailer – how to email Guy Kawasaki

How to send a press release to San Jose Mercury News

Oh, and if you really are interested in how Chris likes to be contacted, try reading his interview on PRNewser: My tastes are arcane and geeky.

I leave my comments open if people want to approach me, and I do my best to answer each. What about you?

How do you like to be approached?

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At the most basic level, AdSense puts advertisements on your Web site; AdWords puts your advertisements on the Web.  Together, they make up Google’s advertising programs.

AdSense

AdSense offers Web site owners the opportunity to make money by placing advertisements on their site. 

Once you join the AdSense program, Google reaches into its pool of ads (AdWords), and chooses those it considers most relevant to place on your site.  Although the choice of ads it serves depends on a variety of factors, relevance is crucial; Google want to make sure the ad that sits on your site fits in with what your site, and its visitors are all about.

If you are part of the AdSense program, Google uses the Mediabot instead of the Googlebot to crawl and analyze the contents of your Web pages, and offer relevant ads.  This type of advertising, where ads are chosen by an automated system and based on the contents of a page, is called contextual advertising.
 
The nice thing about AdSense is that it is not as intrusive (read ugly and jarring to the eye), as other forms of advertising such as banner ads or pop-ups/pop-unders.

You are paid on the number of clicks to an ad from your site; on a per-click basis.

AdWords

AdWords gives you the opportunity to advertise your product/service on the Web, either on Google’s search results pages, or on various Web sites that are part of the AdSense program.

Because the words a user types into Google’s search field are the trigger of related ads appearing on the results page, this type of advertising is also known as keyword advertising. 

On Google’s search results pages, ads are labeled “sponsored links” and appear above the organic results, as well as to the right of the organic results.  Where your ad is placed on this page is determined by Google.

On Web sites that are part of the AdSense program, your ads will appear in a space the Web site owner designates for Google ads, as well as in search results within that site if the site uses Google’s search tool.

Adwords, like AdSense is paid on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, but the cost for this type of advertising varies, and is based on a measurement called the Google Quality Score.  The higher the Quality Score, the lower the price of the ad.

Amy Konefal, a fellow WebMama team member, and search consultant for Closed Loop Marketing, recently wrote about the problems facing conversion-based marketers when it comes to the factors Google considers when determining Quality Score:

There’s that pesky click-through rate which unfortunately is one of the most weighted elements in the equation.  Grrr…

You can read the full story, What’s the True Measure of “Quality” Anyway? at Google Blogoscoped.

For a basic rundown of the AdWords program, watch the five minute What is Google AdWords? video, or visit the Google AdWords Learning Center for free and easy lessons on all things AdWords.

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According to Internet World Stats, over the past seven years:

Internet usage in South America has grown by 393.2%

Internet usage in Central America has grown by 708 %

Internet usage in the Caribbean has grown by 939.8% 

This growth is reflected in SES offering the second conference that focuses exclusively on Latino markets - SES Latino 2007.

Barbara Coll, (a.k.a. WebMama), (a.k.a. my boss for ten hours every week) will be presenting at Search Engine Strategies Latino 2007, and thinks that people are missing out on this huge Latino market because they are not optimizing their Web sites with this growing economic power in mind.

According to WebMama, the buying power of Latinos in the United States today stands at more than $900 billion and advertisers should be tapping into that.

One challenge for American marketers is do they provide one generic Spanish translated site, or do the provide translations for each Hispanic speaking top level domain?  That is - should they worry about having separate, and individual, culturally specific sites, for Brazil, Mexico, Argentina etc.?
If you’re interested, spend a few minutes completing a survey on Barbara’s blog: you never know, the answers may inspire you to think different.

So, just what is the scope of the Latino market?

I don’t really know – all I know is Goog is looking for people to sell ads for their new operations center in Buenos Aires…and I guess they, of all people, know where the money is.

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The digital revolution has leveled the commercial playing field, and for the first time in history, small business owners and enterprising individuals are able to compete against the big guys and have a fair shot at winning.

Innovations in technology have given us cheaper, yet more efficient software and hardware, Web 2.0, and its user generated content has opened the door for anyone to easily create an inexpensive online presence, and the virtual business model has enabled any enterprising individual to start a business with very little up front capital, and minimal on-going operating costs.

So, costs are down, opportunity is up; it’s a win-win situation, yet increasingly, businesses, in their haste to have the designer inspired, award winning, fully optimized, whiz bang, I-can-do-anything-for-you Website, are forgetting the core reason for their existence: customers.

Read more »

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Yes, it’s been said before; yes it bears repeating.

Determine your budget

With 6.7 Billion searches a month it is a given you need to consider putting part of your advertising budget towards online marketing.  Work out how important your online visibility is then budget for it and start hunting for the best SEO you can afford.

 

Research – Research - Research

There is much available online about SEO.  At a minimum take the time to become familiar with the terminology; it will help when you talk to SEM crews.  There is a great glossary compiled by Danny Sullivan at SEMPO.   Take a look at Google as well – they have compiled a “What to watch out for” list when looking for a SEO.

 

Look for a search specialist in the right places

Go to trade shows or at least visit the sites of trade shows.  Ad-Tech and Search Engine Strategies (SES) bring together speakers of the highest caliber; people that know their stuff and know it well.  Find out who they are and use them.

 

Ascertain which firms have staying power

The experts of SEO have been around for some time.  They know the difference between black hat and white hat - they lived through it - and as a result know what search engines love and what will get you banned.  Although your SEM crew will do your optimization; they don’t get penalized by the search engines if they do sneaky stuff – you do.

Don’t take on SEM crews that do optimization part time

Reputable crews dedicate their life to SEO/SEM.  If they are not 100% devoted to their specialty, they won’t be devoted to your company; in this industry commitment is essential to your success.

 

Ask for references or testimonials.

Ask who their clients are.  Who they have worked for, what they have done and how they have benefited the client.  The better SEM crews will be able to amuse you with quite a few first hand stories, usually about companies you know.

Get costs up front

Know exactly what you are paying for.  A reputable company will lay it all on the line for you.  They will evaluate your site, tell you what you need and how best to achieve it – they don’t hide stuff – they don’t need to.

Find out how they intend to optimize your site

Work with a crew that will treat your site as unique.  Don’t go for the “all you can eat for 4.99” deal – each site, each client, and each product – they are unique; make sure you find a SEO that respects that.  Also tread lightly if the company tells you not to worry about the details; a great SEM crew will decode for you.

Retain control

If a SEO asks you to sign over any powers of execution watch out.  Use an SEO consultant that will hold your hand, walk you through and let you retain control. 

What’s in the fine print?

 

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I am just about done with mainstream media.

Forbes.com has decided to continue humiliating Yale senior student Aleksey Vayner, after the aspiring investment banker applied for a job on Wall Street. Vayner, trying to be innovative in his application, sent a video along with his resume to financial giant UBS, a wealth management company who describes itself as a “Global financial firm with the heart and soul of a two-person organization.”

Well, turns out they thought the application was great. They passed Vayner’s clip on, and on, and on - until it got to YouTube. Terrific you think. Yes, but for the tag: “Wall Street’s Laughingstock.”

Forbes.com noticed the story and decided they too will make a video. “How not to apply for a job, worst resume ever” is their story, and they tell it well. Forbes.com include a 95-second excerpt from the original video with a smiling Annalisa Burgos telling the world, “YouTube pulled the video off,” but adds, “You’re in luck as Forbes.com has it.” Go Annalisa, kudos to those clever citizen media types, ok, Google, but what exactly does it say about Forbes?

Forbes is a privately held publishing company that has been around since 1917 and has an online division called Forbes.com. Forbes.com claim to be the No. 1 business site, as well as one of the most trusted resources for business executives. Obviously, they want to give execs a giggle, and perhaps warn them off hiring this joke they call Vayner; all in the name of professional journalism. Way to go Forbes.

Citizen media is getting so much flack from the big guns, yet paradoxically, it seems the problem with mainstream media is mainstream media itself. The audience is a little tired of listening to what “professional” journalists have to say, and have taken matters into their own hands. Voila News V2.0! Perhaps, if they paid attention to what Dan Gillmor has been saying all along “My readersknow more than I do,” they wouldn’t have this problem. They could - shock horror - listen to their audience and win back some public confidence. My guess is, they are still too busy patting themselves on the back for a job well done to care

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