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I got an email from a reader last week who was frustrated the media wasn't responding to her pitch. Believe me, it happens to us all the time at Wax so I feel your pain! Often, it's not because the pitch is bad. Usually it's because a) the market is cluttered b) it's hard to differentiate between you and your competitor or c) you're pitching too "big" of a publication or show to start. I have to admit that sometimes it's because it's
just not a very compelling pitch. In this post I'm going to give you a short homework assignment to uncover the REAL story behind your business...the one the media might be looking for.
Too often, people try to pitch the features of their product to the media. This only works if your product is one of a kind (think pet rock). You may think no one else makes something quite like yours, but in the eyes of a jaded editor, there are tons of products just like yours. I was pitching a new fitness DVD a few years ago and the editor at Health magazine told me she'd received 400 new fitness DVD's..just that month! So you can't write a pitch that focuses on the greatness of your product. You have to pitch the story behind YOU, behind the product itself, or how the product relates to current events.
Here are some great examples of pitches that sold tons, but focuses on the story not the product:
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I got an email from a reader last week who was frustrated the media wasn't responding to her pitch. Believe me, it happens to us all the time at Wax so I feel your pain! Often, it's not because the pitch is bad. Usually it's because a) the market is cluttered b) it's hard to differentiate between you and your competitor or c) you're pitching too "big" of a publication or show to start. I have to admit that sometimes it's because it's just not a very compelling pitch. In this post I'm going to give you a short homework assignment to uncover the REAL story behind your business...the one the media might be looking for.
Too often, people try to pitch the features of their product to the media. This only works if your product is one of a kind (think pet rock). You may think no one else makes something quite like yours, but in the eyes of a jaded editor, there are tons of products just like yours. I was pitching a new fitness DVD a few years ago and the editor at Health magazine told me she'd received 400 new fitness DVD's..just that month! So you can't write a pitch that focuses on the greatness of your product. You have to pitch the story behind YOU, behind the product itself, or how the product relates to current events.
Here are some great examples of pitches that sold tons, but focuses on the story not the product: