The Secret To Making Your PR Pitch Stand Out: Be Bold, Be Brief, Be Gone!

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Happy Tuesday! Do you want to AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Google Meets? I’m holding an event for PAID SUBSCRIBERS ONLY on November 4th (so next week at 10:00 am PST). Please mark your calendars and fill out this form if you want to attend. We can chat Forbes, Real Simple, Yahoo, Today’s Parent, making your pitch stand out, holiday gift guides… Really anything! 

Also, starting next week, I will be doing an extra Substack for paid subscribers only EVERY SINGLE WEEK with even more helpful yet funny and brutally honest advice. YAY!

How To Make Your Pitch Stand Out: Be Bold, Be Brief, Be Gone

To be completely honest, I didn’t come up with the expression “Be bold. Be brief. Be gone.” I first heard it circa 2018 on an episode of The Bitch Bible, where host Jackie Schimmel used it in reference to attending parties. I can’t find any trace of it on the internet (though I didn’t search that hard), but I’ll credit her properly here.

And yes, while I have no idea what I ate for lunch yesterday, I remember this. So here we go. Also, listen to The Bitch Bible—it’s a fun podcast. #notsponsored

Be Bold

Congrats! Your subject line was good enough for someone to open the email. YAY! That’s like 50% of this whole thing. So, shoot your shot. Be bold. You have the floor. Here are some easy ways to be bold:

• Compliment the writer’s work and cite a specific article. “I love your gift guide roundups.” “That interview you did with [insert famous name here] was fantastic.” Even if it’s not true. We have no way of finding out if you read our articles. This isn’t court; no one’s actually checking to see if you read the damn thing.

• Don’t regurgitate copy from a website when talking about a product. Add your own insight and elevate it.

• Be funny. 95% of pitches are boring af. Make us laugh.

• Get wild with wordplay.

• Talk about the horrible problem this product solves.

• Make it high-stakes, get me excited, TURN ME ON!

Be Brief

There’s nothing I despise more than an unnecessarily long pitch. I don’t need the Wikipedia entry on the history of Ukraine; I just want to get through my fucking emails. Please don’t make this take up my whole day. 

Spare me the press release—just whet my appetite. Get me interested. Leave me wanting more, not wondering if the Vyvanse I just took will kick in soon. Less is more. Think big picture. I rarely need every single detail.

I hate to say this, but try to think of yourself as a cheerleader for what you represent. Whether it’s a person or a product: BE THE HYPE PERSON. THINK: WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU EXCITED ABOUT YOUR CLIENT?

Anything more than 500 words makes me want to throw my laptop in a river. Also, if it’s the kind of pitch that requires a press release, could you summarize it and paste the full release below? 

Be Gone

After the email is sent, give it time to marinate.

I’ve noticed a lot of unwarranted, quick follow-ups on pitches lately, and I’m not sure why. Please don’t follow up on the same day (seriously WTF) or even within a few days unless there’s a specific reason, like it’s actually timely. I understand that it’s very important that those socks will be available in a new colorway (beige!), but please understand writers who write for top-tier publications are overwhelmed with emails as it is. 

I’ve also noticed that sometimes I get the same email four times within hours of each other. Why does that happen? I have one email address that I use for work.

A Few Quick Notes, Updates, And Opps

Forbes Gift Guide Stuff…

If you haven’t received a response to your pitch, don’t fret. I am still going over everything. It’s still October. Calm down.

Yahoo Stuff…

Due to tech issues (I don’t get it either), my column will launch on Friday or Monday hopefully.

Real Simple Opps

Please use Substack + Article Title as your subject line. I am not asking this to be annoying or to micromanage, I am asking because I get hundreds of emails per day and need to be able to search my inbox. If you don’t do this, I might miss it. 

I need these by Friday 11/1 by EOD

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Would love to hear from pro organizers here.

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Would love to hear from interior designers. 

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Help Me Help You

Want more? Just starting? Need extra help? Here’s a shameless plug for additional PR services I offer. 

I have a course called Pitch Please. It’s helpful, it’s entertaining and it can change your business forever. (It has and it will). 

I also offer a larger package called Help Me Pitch. You get course access, I’ll write your pitches and share a media list so you can hit the ground running. Click the link and scroll down for more info. 

On a budget? Download this $47 pitch template. It’s really helpful.   

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