Dear Publicists:
When I was a publicist, I often wondered why some editors were so grumpy on the phone. After all, their job is to gather news and publicists can be news sources. Now I’m getting pitched about next week’s Search Engine Strategies conference in New York, and I’m reminded how amazingly lame publicists can sound.
This morning, a young PR woman who sounded all of 12 called me and prattled on for at least a full minute before she said “I’m actually calling about the search engine show next week.” I can’t tell you who she was pitching because I wasn’t listening by time she spit it out.
My name is on the show’s press list because I have a press pass to cover the show for three major online publications. I am going to the show to cover the sessions and to do a tsotchke report. And MarketingVox requested that i get an historic picture of Kevin Lee not smiling.
I do not want to meet with the president of every company exhibiting on the show floor.
I do not cover technology.
I don’t have a single iota of technical knowledge, nor that I want any.
I am interested in knowing what is going on at the show. I will read press releases on the show Web site.
I will read emailed releases if the release is included in the body of the email.
If you want the press release to have a shot at being read, please write “SES-related press release” in the subject line. Otherwise, it is most likely to be deleted unread or as spam.
You can buy me lunch or give me a sample product to try.
Don’t forget that I am a blogger. A traditional journalist might simply decline to cover a company that makes a lame pitch or a lousy product. I consider those open game.
You have a job to do, and I know it’s not an easy one.
Don’t act like a jerk, don’t chirp on the phone, just get to the point and I’ll give you the courtesy of listening to your 30-second pitch.
Yes … There are plenty of good publicists. I’ve written about several.
And I’ll let you know if I hear from any.
An Open Letter to PR People From a Recovering Publicist
BL Ochman | February 24, 2005 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) | TrackBack (
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Totally agree! PR dealing with bloggers is gonna be tough cause we’ll actually call you on the quality of what you’re pitching. Why? Cause our readers will call us on it if we pass along crap.
So, you didn’t like the pitch from a PR person (not sure if she’s a publicist, since most publicists don’t do tech).
Pass on it. Say no thank you. But, why disparage the industry you are in or were once in, and mock the PR person as sounding 12? If I pitched you on something, would you mock my voice bc I have an odd accent?
I get pitches all the time. If it doesn’t fit into the scope of my blog, I thank the person and let them know I’m taking a pass. I treat them with the same respect I would get from reporters when I pitched them. Is there any reason I would treat my PR brethren with less than any respect than I would want to be treated?
First of all, I was not rude to this very young woman.
unfortunately, her cluelessness was typical of the hoardes of publicists who have called me in the past two weeks about the search conference.
when PR types pitch me soemthing i don’t cover or care about, i just say no thanks. When they pitch me intelligently and professionally I respond to them in kind. Sadly, that’s the exception, not the norm.
I’ve been writing and speaking out on this topic for the past 15 years.
why do you think I am no longer a publicist jeremy?
it’s partly because of the dreadful level at which the majority of practitioners operate. I didn’t want to be associated with it any longer.
Noetheless, publicity is often part of my work for clients and for my own company. But you will NEVER find me calling an editor or a blogger without having a well-thought-out pitch that is tailored to what that journalist covers.
I just read your article on “How To Write Killer Blog Posts And More Compelling Comments” and from there found your blog. I worry a lot that our PR people will blow our chance to meet the right contacts because they try to make what we do sound too complicated. Just yesterday our local newspaper picked up on a blog post I made on Jarbarish (Jargon and Gibberish) and the writer used it to beg press release writers to say what they mean without a lot of meaningless words. It’s at http://www.terrygold.com/t/2005/02/jarbarish_in_th.html if you are interested.
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY
I am a big fan of bloggers. I read about 30 every day. Mostly technology blogs. I do not write a blog, but I find that they provide valuable perspective on technology and finance, unfettered by the conventions and limitations of traditional journalism.
Now some candid criticism. BL, this is not specifically directed at you. I read your blog every day and respect and value your writing. I am writing this note here, because this is where I see the forum developing on this subject.
Unfortunately, there is a tone of elitism and superiority in many of the more popular corners of the blogosphere (do spheres have corners?). Isn’t this something for which bloggers criticize the traditional media? This is punctuated by the occasional gleeful bashing of the PR industry, which ironically often comes from current or former PR practitioners. This is not all that surprising to me. It sometimes sounds like a veiled apology to the rest of the blogging community for being or having been what the other bloggers criticize.
Do you sense that I am a PR practitioner? I am. If you are a current or former PR practitioner, do you remember some of the highly detailed “instructions” that many journalists used to provide to PR reps for pitching them? Some had very complicated “rules” which they maintained would determine whether or not they read a pitch. Do you remember being spoken to condescendingly or harshly by a journalist, even when you were professional, brief, and followed their pitching rules? As in all social structures, the shit rolls downhill. PR practitioners rely on the media for their survival, which empowers their media targets. Yes, this power is sometimes abused.
Many bloggers criticize the traditional media for a prima donna attitude. I hope the blogger community sees that bloggers are at risk of developing the same prima donna attitude. It comes with celebrity status…
Try to remember, compassion, kindness and respect are GOOD things. And remember what Spiderman’s uncle told him: “With great power comes great responsibility,” or something like that.
The point is: PR people who don’t know enough about the client they represent to explain their pitch in two sentences; who send press releases as attachments; who call repeatedly after being asked not to call; who pitch journalists and/or bloggers without reading what those people write; who can’t write a press release in less than 1000 words are not going to get anyone’s respect — journalist or blogger.
And unfortunately, that’s the VAST majority of the PR industry today. Communications has changed. The same old crap just doesn’t work anymore. Of course there are practitorners who have a clue, who are talented, and professional. I just wish there were more of them.
Journalists and bloggers, including this one, will complain about this until the PR industry wakes up.