How to Pitch

09 Oct

Posted at 08:12h in How to Pitch, IMC by
I’m speaking at the PRSA International Conference in Boston today on a topic I’m really passionate about. Personas have been a great tool in marketing for decades. In the modern communications world, personas are incredibly helpful but not often used. One area where they can add the most to a communications campaign is during the actual pitch process. Using personas for pitching is something that can boost what I call the “pitch to placement ratio” enormously. In this post, I’ll explain how to develop the five main types of media personas. In addition, I’ll provide a list of questions to help create pitch plans based on that information. My presentation is embedded below as well. [caption id="attachment_13635" align="alignright" width="300"] Creating personas for pitching takes some lurking.[/caption]

Let’s examine the problem.

Public relations people have been in effect communications “salespeople” for years. Their job has been to develop relationships with key media personnel, introduce story ideas and pitch their clients’ products, people and/or services as part of the story. Before the internet, social media and content marketing public relations played a key role in the ideation and development of media stories.  But all that has changed. Factors like the explosion of blogs and other media outlets, reporters that are either changing jobs more frequently or freelancing among multiple outlets and content marketing have all made finding story ideas and experts much easier for the media. Taking it to a deeper level, as consumers we’ve come to expect a certain “experience” online when we’re shopping. This experience is driving expectations in our professional lives as well, where 75% of us want a truly “self-directed” shopping journey. Add to that a journalist's natural independent, or what I call the “reporter factor.” The media has probably been the fastest to leap onto this self-directed idea, and have bypassed public relations altogether.

Stats to back it up:

  • Over 4 million blogs are posted…daily according to Worldometers
  • A Cision report said that 20% of journalists relied less on PR last year
  • Of those still working with communicators, the same study said that nearly 40% say we need to respect their pitching preferences more
With the proliferation of media, less perceived influence on story creation and development, and fewer relationships many have come to regard it as a numbers game. They’re taking the firehose approach, spraying that message as far and wide as they can. And following up endlessly with outlets that may or may not help drive really targeted reach. Even this little blog has countless emails per day – many of them not nearly related to what I write about.

Why use personas for pitching

01 Aug

Posted at 08:37h in How to Pitch, The New Entrepreneur, Uncategorized by
How to Make Your Presentations More Impactful By Maurice DeCastro, Mindful Presenter Creating and delivering a presentation is a key part of any career, and a challenge that many people have to face - whether they feel they are ready or not. Delivering a presentation addresses a key fear for many professionals: public speaking. When you’re interested and passionate about a topic, it’s easy to talk about it with clarity and confidence to one person or even a few people. But speaking to a room full of people in a more formal setting suddenly becomes overwhelming. It’s easy to leave preparation to the last minute and deliver a lukewarm presentation that doesn’t make a huge impact. Here are some ideas and techniques you can implement to make your presentations impactful, thought-provoking, and a breeze to deliver. Part 1: Preparing the presentation [pullquote] ‘Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure.’ -Confucius [/pullquote] Luck and confidence can be on your side, and winging it may seem second nature, but nothing beats good old-fashioned preparation. It’s hard to know exactly how much preparation goes on behind the scenes, but for many events - it’s a lot. Whilst you don’t need to spend weeks perfecting your presentation, dedicating time to really think about it will make your presentation more impactful. Think about your topic and how you are going to approach it Whatever topic you’re talking about, there is a way of making it memorable and interesting. Think about your audience and the purpose of your presentation. What will they find interesting? Do they already know a lot about this topic? Answering these kinds of questions will help you form the basis of the content. Plot it out in three stages

07 May

Posted at 12:50h in How to Pitch, Integrated Marketing by
People at the conferenceAccording to Aberdeen Research, 84 percent of marketers use some form of social media today. And, the number of businesses that say social channels like Facebook are important to their business has increased by 75 percent. But in a time before the birth of social media, both marketers and businesses were generating leads by passing out business cards and connecting with customers face to face. It's time to get back to the literal reality of organic connecting. Here are four ways to successfully promote your business offline:

Seminars

Seminars are one of the most popular lead generators and they are great for attracting and connecting with customers. Don’t go to a conference or seminar with the assumption that you have to sell yourself and your business to other attendees. Networking at events is all about making connections, not prospecting. Kevin Stirtz, writing for Business Know-How, suggests asking people about their businesses, and says to be friendly and relaxed. Stirtz also advises against giving everyone you meet a business card; instead, he recommends passing out your business cards when others ask or when you make a good connection.

Trade Shows

Setting up a booth at a trade show gives you the opportunity to connect with new customers who are interested in what your business has to offer. Companies like Apple Rubber, a leading designer and manufacturer of sealing devices, have found success by attending trade shows. The company sets up booths at trade shows in cities from coast to coast and lists each show's date and location on their website, merging both offline and digital marketing. Mark Krenn, founder of Coastal Creative Reprographics, writing for Business 2 Community, says that you need to stand out from the crowd. Your business will be alongside other industry competitors, so you’ll have to get creative when connecting with potential customers and designing your booth.

Giveaways

06 Jul

Posted at 08:22h in How to Pitch by
Another post from last year that seemed to resonate was this one, on getting to the point. If you're getting geared up for a "back to the school" pitch or a book campaign I advise you to review all your pitching materials and see if you really do GET TO THE POINT FIRST.   There are tons of workshops and e-books out there from supposed "experts" who will teach you (usually in a couple hours of course) how to do their own publicity. I got a postcard  the other day from Steve Harrison that even said he could teach you everything  so you wouldn't have to use a 'fancy publicist'. And another Facebook notice for a workshop that promised after attending, 'you would never have to hire a publicist again.' Seriously, learn to write a good release, build your contacts, etc but there's only one thing you need to do in order to get the media's attention.

01 Jul

Posted at 08:32h in How to Pitch, Public Relations by
Since this is a slow week for us in the U.S., I thought I would bring back some of the more popular posts that people seems to really use. If you've got a book, radio is still a great complement to a book marketing campaign. These tips still apply...enjoy! Last June I wrote about pitching radio in 10 steps. Since then, advertising is up and free spots are DOWN, making it a bit harder to gain those coveted drivetime spots. Be sure to check out 10 Tips for Pitching Radio - these basic points still apply, as do my tips for Being a Great Radio Guest. I've also included a sample pitch at the bottom of this post...this pitch got over 50 interviews for my client! Here are a few more ways to see if you can get noticed and booked on a radio station.

18 Jun

Posted at 14:02h in How to Pitch, Public Relations by
[caption id="attachment_4887" align="alignleft" width="114"] LA Nik the most famous guy I've never heard of[/caption] Last week I saw a social media post congratulation someone for getting booked on David Letterman. I knew a little bit about the supposed guest-to-be so I clicked on the press release - which was sent out on the wire. If you read the release carefully, it doesn't say anywhere that this  guy  is actually appearing on David Letterman. In fact, it doesn't say he's even booked on David Letterman, which would be enough of a faux pas. Instead the worthy news item is this (verbatim): "L.A. Nik, a man wealthy with friends and relationships, was introduced by longtime friend Barry ZeVan, the infamous television weatherman (now President and CEO of The ZeVan Corporation, a PR and Communications consultancy) to the segment producer at LATE NIGHT." Maybe the guy is booked on David Letterman and it's just a poorly written release. But to me, since it's titled "Guy in talks with David Letterman" it looks like they're basically touting the fact that he was introduced to a producer at Late Night.  SIGH.  I guess this is a good opportunity to  review some basic rules of press releases. Feel free to add some of your own.