A contrarian subject line

“Millennials don’t want to sit in the dark for two hours.”

That was the clever contrarian subject line that two hard-working guys came up with in the Pitching Boot Camp I delivered in San Diego last week.

Matt and Kevin represent a live theater organization and were working to find ways to freshen up their media angles. They started by considering their pre- and post-show activities, but knew pitching those by themselves would sound self-serving. Plus, other theaters are doing those now, too.

So they thought about it from the journalists’ perspective – what did they have to offer that would be interesting to people beyond their own aim to sell theater tickets? That’s where the millennial angle came from – seems like that’s a magic word these days that enlivens any news story 🙂

And then they took it a step farther with the contrarian subject line – not what you’d typically expect from a theater company, right?

But here’s what impressed me the most about Matt and Kevin – we discussed that angle and that fun subject line when they approached me during one of the breaks at the workshop. Apparently, they had been waving to get my attention, but there were 70 people there and I hadn’t noticed. So they got up and came to the front and asked for my opinion. That’s the kind of initiative that sets apart the people who are going to get great results with the stuff I teach from the rest.

Another attendee (who also caught me for a one-on-one during breaks) sent off her new pitch the next day and got a response from a new journalist asking for a phone call. In today’s environment, it’s not enough just to absorb new ideas and best practices – you need to actively engage with them.

My next Pitching Boot Camp is limited to 25 people for more one-on-one attention. It’s in NYC on Sept. 22-23.

If travel isn’t an option for you, I have an exciting announcement coming about how you can access this workshop wherever you live and work. Watch for that post soon.