Through a fortunate fluke in space and time, the past two days found me eating with two of the most successful PR pros I know. You can learn much by comparing this week’s conversations to those I had with them years ago. They’re successful not because of their income or resumes (although they both easily […]
It’s a weird thing to get frustrated about. It should have made me ecstatic – and it did – but then I got ticked. On Wednesday of last week two of my Inner Circle members sent me huge hits they landed that morning. Sarah Weston got not one, but two different clients in a WSJ […]
Continued from last week . . . Two recent pitches crossed my desk – one hailed as “best pitch ever, actually” by the journalist that received it, the other posted to Facebook and Twitter with “#cringeworthy.” The difference comes down to one word in the so-called “bad pitch.” Before I go any further, I want […]
One pitch was hailed by the journalist who got it as “the best pitch I have received. Ever, actually.” The other got posted to the recipient’s Facebook and Twitter feeds as an example of how NOT to pitch with the hashtag “#cringeworthy.” My followers shared these two pitches with me recently, a few days apart. […]
Sometimes, when people hear what I do for a living, they ask me, “Aren’t you worried there won’t be any media left to pitch?” No way. There are more media than ever before. And even the “legacy” or “traditional” media are giving us more opportunities to reach their audiences. Here comes a specific example, but […]
I’ve had a look inside some PR campaigns that worked with celebrity spokespeople. I wish I could tell you about the celebrity you’ve heard of who brought her mom to the media training. She had no connection to the brand and the cause the brand was promoting, treated the whole thing like a chore, and […]
The wording of the storefront sign in downtown Manhattan was so transparent it was jarring. I couldn’t take my eyes off it, and it occurred to me that pitch writing would benefit from the same surprisingly honest approach. My family just completed a 17-day tour up the East Coast from Williamsburg to Boston guided by, […]
Last week a few readers emailed me links about a new software startup that is going to “disrupt” the public relations industry by automating much of the pitching process. This used to happen about once every two years. Now the emails come about every six months. Investors are really into artificial intelligence replacing humans. I […]
Why would a time-starved journalist make the time to accept an in-person meeting when they could just as easily get information from you by phone or email? That was the question that came in various forms during the virtual training meeting I held for my Inner Circle members this week. We heard from two Inner […]
During our hike in the mountains Saturday my wife pointed to some dandelions beside the trail and said, “I keep thinking these are weeds, but up here they’re wildflowers.” What’s a weed? A plant that grows on its own, without nurture, that people don’t like. What’s a wildflower? A plant that grows on its own, […]
