Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 14, 2007

PR professionals, educators and students should attend Connect on October 19 and 20 at The University of Georgia. Karen Russell from The Grady College of Journalism & Mass Communication asked me to kick things off Friday evening. This is no small task considering who else is on the dais. Josh Hallet, KD Paine, Constantin Basturea, Paull Young and Dr. Jay Bernhardt are among the speakers. Bernhardt is Director of the National Center for Health Marketing at the CDC.

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Bad Pitch Blog

JULY 7, 2007

MyRagan and the YoungPRPros have extended the "Best Pitch Ever" Contest to Friday, July 13, 2007. Be sure to enter and compete for a free Southwest Airlines ticket and a free, one-year-subscription to PRWeek (a $200 value). More details here. Blue Ribbon uploaded by edensgate

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Bad Pitch Blog

DECEMBER 30, 2007

Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 9:41 AM To:Young, Lauren [Access, please remember to use spaces after the colons; love, Richard] Subject: DISNEY: Mickey Mouse Calls on Christmas Morning Hi Lauren- Did you enjoy your call from Goofy this morning? 26, 2007) – Walt Disney Parks and Resorts today announced that families in the U.S. is crass, and I would think in 2007 and 08 the Disney family wants to be thought of as hip, not super-sales people.

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Bad Pitch Blog

JUNE 27, 2007

Sponsored by MyRagan and the YoungPRPros listserv, submit a pitch for review by a panel of journalists to compete for prizes, including a - Southwest Airlines ticket, courtesy of MyRagan (entered on MyRagan) - one year subscription to PRWeek (a $200 value), courtesy of PRWeek (entered on YoungPRPros listserv) - Bad Pitch Blog Fame as we post (only) the winning pitches after they are announced on Friday, July 6, 2007. The winner will be announced on Friday, July 6, 2007.

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Bad Pitch Blog

JUNE 6, 2007

More accurately, The Bad Pitch Blog won an Award of Commendation in the Blog category for the 2007 PRSA Bronze Anvil Award competition. The awards will be publicly acknowledged during the Silver Anvil Evening on June 14th, 2007 in New York. uploaded by The Rocketeer tags | public relations | PR | media relations | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog | 2007 Bronze Anvil | PRSA

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Bad Pitch Blog

JUNE 4, 2007

Get your tickets now for the PRSA’s "Theory, Tactics and Technology Conference" on June 19, 2007. In two short weeks, an impressive list of editors and social media gurus will converge at Reuters Time Square digs. Media include representatives from CNET.com, FAST COMPANY, Forbes.com, Hollywood Reporter, InformationWeek, Laptop Magazine and Network Computing.

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Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 24, 2007

Via Tech PR Gems IAA 2007 - Halle 2 uploaded by Jörg Dickmann tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog 1) Charlotte Observer business section pitching tips The Publicity Hound So many editors take the time to give tips like this, have you tried searching for pitch tips on your top outlets and editors?

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Bad Pitch Blog

FEBRUARY 28, 2007

Subject: Anna Nicole Smith Would Be Six Feet Under If She Used KeepYouSafe.com For further information, contact: Steven Blinn BlinnPR 212-675-4777 steven@blinnpr.com ANNA NICOLE SMITH WOULD BE SIX FEET UNDER IF SHE HAD KEEPYOUSAFE.COM Online Safe Deposit Boxes Help Families Avoid Ugly Legal Hassles New York, NY - February 27, 2007 What do former playmate Anna Nicole Smith and Godfather of Soul James Brown have in common? Exploiting dead celebrities reaches to the heights.

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Bad Pitch Blog

JULY 29, 2007

While I poke fun at social networks, Facebook has been a lot of fun and taught me a few things. The experience has inspired me to create a poorly-produced video series called Facebook Confessional. You can see the latest episode above* and I post all of them on my Facebook profile and archive them on YouTube. The latest episode shows reasons why you should consider joining Facebook. Tons of media are on this network, similarly finding their way and figuring out how it might benefit them.

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Bad Pitch Blog

DECEMBER 18, 2007

As the year winds down, soft news stories fill the air. Some stories are in the news every year -- without fail -- having become more tradition than news. Two of these everlasting gobstoppers include a financial spin on the 12 Days of Christmas and the Word of the Year. ** 12 Days of Christmas: PNC has been adding up the cost of the 12 Days of Christmas gifts for 23 years. It costs more than $78K to buy all of the items mentioned in the song (up 4% from ''06).

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Bad Pitch Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2007

As the image suggests, we think annual predictions are, for the most part, a load of crap. But it’s a staple of the year-end, soft news cycle. So when Jason Chupick at PRNewser asked Profnet subscribers for “Industry Predictions and New Year''s Resolutions,” we sent one in for consideration. PREDICTION: In 2008, hard-earned advice, well-written books and forward-thinking conferences will be heaped upon the PR industry. AGAIN. And most PR people will continue to ignore it. AGAIN.

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Bad Pitch Blog

DECEMBER 19, 2007

Change is upon us. As of this post, Ragan Communications is advertising on the Bad Pitch blog. What might seem like a small ad is a huge opportunity for the Bad Pitch Blog to go places we haven’t been before. In the coming year we’ll do even more to help stop bad PR before it starts. But first, let’s review. The pitches are, slowly but surely, really starting to get better. This trend and feedback tells us we’re making a difference. But we know we can do more.

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Bad Pitch Blog

DECEMBER 11, 2007

Evidently every single project on your plate after Thanksgiving will self-destruct if you don''t complete it by year''s end. Don''t believe us? We don''t blame you. But we''ve been hella busy with year-end deadlines. No worries though. The Bad Pitch Blog is not resting on its laurels. Far from it. In fact, we have some great news to share with you in just a few

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Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 29, 2007

I’ve been thinking a lot about b g. See, I just got off my eighth flight in nine days (don’t ask) and everywhere I went there were citizens relishing their bad times. It was as if this had become the national pastime. It made me think about my own interactions and whether or not this particular cynical New Yorker had reached a boiling point. Not to burst, mind you, but as a time to consider living in a world where people didn’t find everything “wrong"—and relish it so.

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Bad Pitch Blog

DECEMBER 9, 2007

Galloping around Manhattan in slow cabs during Christmas time, you see brands treating it like a mini-Olympics. They want to be “the official” Christmas sponsor of every move we make. It’s a little much. With that in mind, the Bad Pitch Award for Tackiest Sponsorship: At Radio City Music Hall, the Rockettes are singing and dancing and kicking and generally making the audience feel Decemberish all over. Radio City Christmas Spectacular has been running for 75 esteemed years.

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Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 15, 2007

Everyone wants to know the secret formula to pitching blogs. The secret is it takes more than pitching. You need to get immersed in the topic you’re pitching and be able to expand the conversation. This requires a deeper level of subject matter expertise than media relations folk usually have time to establish. Many agencies have practitioners doing specific tasks across several accounts -- account execs make the phone calls and send the emails.

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Bad Pitch Blog

NOVEMBER 26, 2007

That headline is too long. OK, maybe not, but PR people need to start pushing their writing skills to do more with less. This whine may appear to be a common vintage, but consider news release headlines. Google recently advised Business Wire to limit news release headlines to no more than 22 words. If a news release headline is any longer, Google spiders will skip them. Think about that.

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Bad Pitch Blog

NOVEMBER 26, 2007

This is Luke Armour -- PR Blogger, BlogTalkRadio PR guru and fellow Ohioan. Richard Laermer and I hung out with Luke on his BlogTalkRadio show, The Rundown, a few weeks ago. You can listen to the whole thing here. But be sure to check out the rest of Luke’s sound content as he chats up folks on a variety of PR and social media topics. tags | public relations | PR | media relations | media | good pitch | bad pitch | bad pitch blog | Kevin Dugan | Richard Laermer | Luke Armour

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Bad Pitch Blog

NOVEMBER 26, 2007

The quick post below does not do the audience response justice. So we’re sprinkling some well-deserved link love on top. The Bad Pitch Blog received nearly 50 comments across this blog and Facebook about what NOT to say to the media. This pdf file serves up sage advice from Zena Weist, Gavin Heaton, Donna Papascosta, Jay, Brandon Carter, Becky Mochaface, Jen, Griff, Mike Keliher, Celeste, B.L. Ochman, Angela, Max Kalehoff, Gary Goldhammer, Gavin Heaton, David Parmet and Eric Riback.

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Bad Pitch Blog

NOVEMBER 13, 2007

A proper post is forthcoming, but be sure to download the long-awaited Top 10 Things to NEVER say to the Media. And be sure to tune in to The Rundown at 1:30 pm today. Richard Laermer and I will be talking with Luke "Under" Armour and answering your questions as well. More details here. We''re looking forward to talking with you! hint, hint

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Bad Pitch Blog

MAY 30, 2007

So without further rambling, enjoy Reasons Why PR People Are Bad Business People, Volume 1 Unabridged: On May 30, 2007, at 2:23 PM, Alison Garber wrote: I recently noticed some news on your company which caught my eye. In 2007 to tell someone you’re pitching the biz to GO LOOK AT YOUR WEB SITE? This is not about service. Fact is: we are easily the most cutthroat field besides pharmaceutical cretins (and they kill people for a living).

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Bad Pitch Blog

APRIL 24, 2007

The master mind behind the pitch is Buz Buse, head of PR for the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and PR Week’s 2007 Professional of the Year. If you’re too young to care about remember a sitcom from the late 1970s, hit YouTube to see some clips from WKRP in Cincinnati. My fair city is turning the show’s long-awaited DVD release into what they hope will be a national news story. Google will tell us if it works. One thing’s for sure, the pitch is smart and creative.

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Bad Pitch Blog

NOVEMBER 2, 2007

OK, the Chris Anderson post has been covered, hashed out, rehashed and gotten stupid , er, ugly. But Seth Godin brings us the bottom line on mass pitching. The processing of 100 press releases the old-fashioned way cost more than $100. Doing it to 5,000 people was out of the question. Email means the cost of adding one more name is zero. Email means that lists keep getting bigger and bigger and once you''re on one, you''re on em all.

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Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 30, 2007

Author and Wired editor Chris Anderson caved under the weight of endless PR spam -- more than 300 emails a day. So he published 328 email addresses – the latest batch of offenders – hoping the spam bots will teach these folks a lesson. And you thought Slick was a pain in the arse. Whether or not you agree with Anderson’s approach, I’m here to tell you the problem is JUST. Read his post and the comments. Read the other media blogging about this increasingly common reaction to bad pitches.

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Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 29, 2007

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Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 25, 2007

The Bad Pitch Blog will be on the BlogTalkRadio program "The Rundown" with Luke Armour. Armour is one of a handful of Ohio-based PR bloggers, which is just one reason I’m looking forward to this internet radio show on Tuesday, November 13 at 1:30 PM ET. The other half of this blog, Richard Laermer, will be joining us. And, best of all, you can join in too. We’ll be talking about (really) bad media relations amongst other things.

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Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 18, 2007

The post below inspired us to create a Top 10 List of Things You Never Say to a Reporter. We''re getting some great entries so far and want to encourage everyone to keep them coming. Post them in the comment section of this post or the BusinessWeek post. Tomorrow I head to The University of Georgia to present at Connect. So the Top 10 List and the winner will not be posted until Monday, October 18.

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Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 17, 2007

If you haven’t seen the BusinessWeek redesign, head to your nearest news stand this afternoon and grab one. Homework from the Bad Pitch blog? On top of all the other reasons to buy this national business magazine, it’ll give you something new to discuss with your BusinessWeek reporter. BusinessWeek''s Stephen Baker is wishing some PR folks took this advice. Baker just received another bad pitch and provides the following exchange with a person pitching him.

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Bad Pitch Blog

JUNE 25, 2007

Subject: Briefing Request: NEW NAME (formerly OLD NAME) Event ProcessingDate: Jun 7, 2007 10:00 PM Saul, NEW NAME (formerly OLD NAME), a new venture-backed start-up based in Silicon Valley, will be launching an innovative event processing solution on June 25th. New York Times'' Technology reporter Saul Hansell sent us a worse-than-usual pitch that we have been baffled by. Something got us thinking: “Does anyone read what they write?!”

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Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2007

It’s happened to a lot of us. You’re told to start pitching a topic in earnest. Your pitch gets a reporter’s attention. After the usual exchange, you set a date for the media interview. The adrenaline begins pumping as you e-mail your client the details. Then suddenly the client bails on the hard-earned media opportunity, leaving you in a tough spot. The end result? The client loses the story, the reporter has a news hole to fill and your reputation with the reporter is damaged.

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Bad Pitch Blog

FEBRUARY 20, 2007

We’ve been so busy beating up bad pitches, we forgot to warn you about the “so-called media.” Some call them pay-for-play media. They are trade magazines and cable television shows that really want to do a story on your company, the CEO and their story—for a price. Pay-for-play requests can cause more trouble than they’re worth. Some of the YoungPRPros asked us to unmask these Fourth Estate pretenders so you’ll be ready when you get the call. And if you’re doing your job, you’ll get the call.

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Bad Pitch Blog

OCTOBER 5, 2007

This may fly in the face of Richard’s Pepto-Bismolic plea, but before everyone gets all Shiny Happy People, I must vent. Someone sent us their second bad pitch. Both pitches start with the salutation: To Whom It May Concern. TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN!? First of all, this isn’t a salutation. To Whom It May Concern reads more like “F&!k k it, I can’t find the remote so could you just publish this for me so I don’t have to get up and walk all the way across the room?”

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Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 24, 2007

In a post at "that other blog," I stress the importance of surfing the web for your job. If I had one suggestion for Bad Pitch Blog readers, outside of media relations, it would be to play. We get so hung up making sure every question is answered that we never get started at all. Want an opinion on something? Try it out. Overwhelmed by all of it? Check out one small piece of it. I''m not saying make with the clicky in the morning and pitch the client on it that afternoon.

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Bad Pitch Blog

SEPTEMBER 8, 2007

“Fear is the path to the dark side” - Yoda “Speed and sloth are (two of) the paths to bad pitches” – Kevin Dugan Wow, it’s (really) bad when we start ripping off quotes from Star Wars. Would you prefer LOL Cats? Sorry, we’re dog people. There’s been an up tick in the number of pitches being sent to me twice. Are over-caffeinated PR people making with the clicky? Perhaps, but I doubt that ‘s the issue here.

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Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 11, 2007

As this picture suggests, your story sometimes has unique elements that you simply MUST play into. My experience with this was promoting the Iams Company’s sponsorship of an Iditarod sled dog racer. The racer fed his team Eukanuba. My pitch used Iditarod, Iams and Eukanuba to create curiosity. And if my racer had won the race that year, he would have appeared on The Tonight Show.

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Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 11, 2007

1) Pitching (And Getting Coverage in) "The Wall Street Journal" Takes Time, Creativity and A Willingness for Patience Alan Weinkrantz For most privately-held companies, the adage “the bigger the hit, the longer the burn” holds true. Alan details this for one of his clients. 2) Two Techniques That Help You Embrace Brevity Copyblogger Less is More 3) Pitching Breakfast Television in Toronto PR Works David Jones serves up a dish of media relations insight on pitching TV.

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Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 10, 2007

Here’s the first of several guest posts at The Bad Pitch Blog. An Internet marketer and self-confessed whore, Dean Hunt talks about doing whatever it takes to relate to your audience. There is one vital key to being able to give a great pitch: You have to be able to relate to your audience. That doesn’t mean that you should just invite family members, it means that your message has to be something that your audience will be able to relate to.

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Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 2, 2007

There are a lot of (really) good PR podcasts out there. In fact, there are simply too many for one person to listen to collectively or to mention individually. These free resources are something PR people should be tapping into more. You have the equivalent of a library of audio books focused on public relations just waiting for you to download and listen to -- on your schedule. One of the first links added to the Resource Section in this blog’s left-hand column was to “For Immediate Release.”

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Bad Pitch Blog

AUGUST 2, 2007

Slick’s been on vacation, but when he gets back from Tijuana, he’s gonna be pissed he’s missing all of the bad pitch action in the blogosphere right now. Some very patient, very professional people are nearing their wits end. Shel Holtz: Shel is the consummate professional, a social media evangelist and a tireless speaker. To get a negative post from Shel Holtz means your pitch truly sucks. Spend some time reading what NOT to do and be sure to follow the links and comments.

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Bad Pitch Blog

JULY 29, 2007

Inspired title, no? Further proof we need help around here. Thanks to everyone that''s submitted a request to write for the Bad Pitch blog. If we have not gotten back to you yet, we will. You''ll start to see some of the guest-contributed posts yet this week. And speaking of week, enjoy yours

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