Blog
05.05
Want the 3 Rs of PR? Research, Read and Remember!
So, I waxed up my board and surfed the Interweb and I stopped on one of pet coves online: Lois Paul & Partners.
Never heard of her? Remedy that. I adore smart PR professionals that just get it.
In fact, her latest post caused me to send her a cyber high-five.
Why? Because she wrote feverishly about a seemingly prehistoric issue that has plagued this industry since the headlines read "Great American Smoke Out: Washington's Wooden Teeth Catches Fire."
Ms. Paul was incensed by Shel Israel's question posed to her via her blog, "Ancient complaint but why do PR folk think I should write about their clients when they don't take time to read my writing?"
Yes, seriously.
For of those of you shaking your heads, thank you. For those with question marks looming overhead, let me explain.
Cold calls suck, right? They always seem to catch you when your dinner is piping hot or the game is on. Guess what? Cold pitches suck even more.
We heart the media (at least, we should). We need them to heart our clients. And if you don't heart what they do for a living, why should treat you with any more respect than the vexatious telemarketer?
You certainly don't develop a relationship with a journalist or blogger by sending them a pitch that demonstrates -- as it did to Shel -- that you don't read what he's written. And he was kind enough not to "out" the PR person who prompted that tweet. Others will not be so veiled in their criticisms, using social media platforms to castigate the bad pitch or clueless PR person's gaffe.
It's bush league to BCC a gaggle of reporters. It's amateur to write a contact with "I love your writing" and he or she is a producer for the morning news.
Even worse, it shows a lack of respect for both the contact and your agency. Because believe me, your agency will be remembered by said disrespected reporter long after you have moved on to selling antiques or whatever it is you choose to do after this career passes you by.
If that doesn't stick, consider what a baseball player would say, "If you want to pitch correctly, grab the ball the right way."
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