“Pitches” and How to Do Them

Not long ago we obtained coverage in USA Today for an MMI client who owns a florist shop. This family owned and operated business has served the Triangle since 1922, but as the USA Today feature explains, they have been forced to raise their prices due to the cost of gasoline. We tied the “pitch” we made to the journalist into one of today’s hot news items and that’s why our florist was mentioned in a national newspaper instead of some other florist. Our florist didn’t necessarily do anything newsworthy--she’s just trying to keep her business afloat.

Do you like calls from telemarketers? Well, neither do I, and neither does 99 percent of the population. That includes journalists, who every day have to put up with phone calls from PR interns reading from scripts in monotones to pitch ideas for stories. Nothing against PR interns (we use them ourselves at MMI), but take my advice and never, ever read your pitch from a script!

Sure, go ahead and write it out, but then practice it aloud until you can deliver it in the most natural way possible. Your pitch must sound sincere and spontaneous. Part of the key to successfully getting a journalist interested in what you have to say is your own enthusiasm. But that’s only half the key. The other half is the sheer newsworthiness of your pitch.

News is something out of the ordinary. Often a big story is about something violent, illegal or controversial--but I’m not suggesting you risk getting arrested to get media attention! Other big stories may be about something strange, extraordinary, memorable or emotionally-charged. When I say “emotionally-charged,” I mean that the story can be anything from a tear-jerker to the funniest thing you ever saw in your life.

The piece about the florist having to raise her prices to pay for the high cost of gasoline is actually an emotionally-charged story, because people are angry, or at least considerably worried, about soaring gasoline prices.

Once you’ve settled on your big story, start out with an advance notice e-mail to the journalist you’ve selected and follow up with a phone call. If you get a recording, leave a message, but only once. If you get no response, it may be that the journalist is harried (often the case) or has forgotten you. Call back again, but do not leave multiple messages--just keep trying until you get hold of a real, live body.

Give your name and say, “I have a story for you. Is this a good time?” If the journalist answers “Yes,” then go ahead with your pitch. If he or she says “No,” then ask, “When would be a good time for me to call back?”

Have you had good luck with pitches you have made to the media? Do you have a big story to share? Tell us about it. The media read our MMI blog regularly.

Make Yourself a Media Resource Through Tip Sheets

How do you go about getting the media to know you’re an expert in your industry or profession? One effective tactic is to write tip sheets and send them out to various media outlets on a regular basis. A tip sheet is a straightforward, “how to” list that provides information in your area of expertise.

Here is a short example of a tip sheet the owner of a remodeling and construction business could send out:

"The Top 4 Things to Do After a House Fire"

In the aftermath of a house fire, most homeowners are too distraught to think clearly about what to do next. These are the most important steps that homeowners need to take care of immediately after a house fire:

1. Secure the residence by boarding up windows, doors and holes in the roof. If someone should go into the home and get injured, the homeowner would be held responsible and could be sued. It is also crucial to protect the home from being robbed.
2. Remove any important personal documents such as bank statements, mortgage records, birth certificates and medications. Next in importance would be any personal items you can salvage. The faster you get an item out, the better chance you have of repairing and salvaging it. Even though the fire is out, water and smoke will continue to damage items left inside the home.
3. Notify not just the insurance company but also your mortgage company of the loss--remember they essentially co-own the house with you. Since it is their property too, they need to know about the damage.
4. Make sure all the water is dried up, so it does not produce mold and further damage the home. Also, remove food from the fridge so it does not spoil.

Editors, journalists and media people appreciate tip sheets because they are ready for publication and can be printed verbatim, with no extra effort on their part. Are you an accountant? Send out a tip sheet called, “5 Money-Saving Tax Tips.” Are you a real estate agent? Send out a tip sheet called, “6 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Home.” Are you an insurance agent? Write a tip sheet on “4 Ways to Save on Health Insurance.”

Use a numeral in your headline that names the number of tips--for some curious psychological reason, people are very drawn to reading numbered lists. Begin each of your tips with an action verb. Avoid promoting yourself or your business in any way--let the blurb at the end of the tip sheet do that for you. The blurb should give your name, your title, the name of your company and contact information such as a Web address or phone number.

Tip sheets make great handouts at trade shows or at your place of business. Include them in your media kit and direct mail campaigns. People will save the tip sheet even when they may throw the rest of your direct mail piece away--as long as the information you’ve provided is current and valuable to them in some way.

Do you have some great tip sheets you’ve written and wish to share? Post them in our comments section.

Blurbs and Talking Points

Media trainer and publicist Susan Harrow suggests that you create short bios for every single subject you pitch to the media. We call these the “About” blurb, and they are identical to the blurbs you place after news releases. These blurbs should be two to four sentences specifically tailored to your news release or article, or the topic you'll be discussing on TV or radio. Provide the blurb ahead of time to the radio or television personality or journalist who will be interviewing you.

To prepare for the actual interview, you need the following:

• Talking points or “sound bites” for you to use during media interviews
• A helpful set of sample questions for the journalist or interviewer to use while interviewing you

Memorize your talking points and practice them out loud. These must be shorter than your 30-second commercial, because in television, you get about half that amount of time to say what you want to say. Yes--you heard me right! You’ll have ten seconds to give your audience your message! Each of these ten-second shots at fame will come in succession, as you have a back-and-forth conversation with your interviewer. Media interviews--especially radio and television interviews--are not monologues, they are dialogues.

Many people don’t realize that it’s up to them to supply the media with interview questions for radio, TV and podcasts. Write these so that you can answer the questions with your already-prepared sound bites or talking points. Provide them to any broadcast or print journalist who interviews you.

How do you write interview questions that the media will find useful? To answer this question, let’s go about it backwards, by writing your talking points first. Let’s say you are an accountant interested in promoting yourself with small business owners. Here is a sample set of talking points:

1. Make it a priority to understand your company’s financials and use these reports to manage your business.
2. Know your most cost effective products and services.
3. Comprehend your cash flow statements.
4. Do not fail to review budget-to-actuals on a weekly/monthly basis.
5. Without the constant review of where the financials of the business are currently standing, you cannot make informed decisions about expansion, purchasing new assets or developing a new product.

These are workable talking points, but they lack a certain pizzazz, wouldn’t you agree? With a little imagination and creativity, we can whip these points into something a lot more fun to listen to, which in turn makes the points themselves more memorable. How about transforming these talking points into “The Five Commandments of Cash Flow”? One of our clients did just that:

The Five Commandments of Cash Flow

1. Know Thy Numbers.
2. Thou Shalt Save For a Rainy Day.
3. Know Thy Customers.
4. Honor Thy Banker.
5. Thou Shalt Not Use Thy Business as a Credit Card.

Now we’re getting somewhere! We’ve created sound bites that are memorable -- not just for those listening, but for ourselves as well. Because you must memorize your sound bites and be ready to talk about them at a moment’s notice, do yourself a favor and find a catchy phrase or a tagline that will help you remember your messages.

If you had five commandments, and five to ten bullet points under each commandment, supplemented with plenty of anecdotes (humorous ones are often the best), you could probably talk for at least a half hour on your topic! The very worst thing you can ever do in an interview is ramble and hem-haw around.