INDUSTRY INSIGHTS YOUR PEERS ARE READING
We were cleaning out the archives and found our back story –- how the Bad Pitch blog was born. MORE
At one point or another, you’ll p**s off a journalist. Sometimes you’re just doing your job. Sometimes you’re just doing your job BADLY. Other times you’ll raise their ire for no apparent reason. But before you suggest a gruff editor wasn’t held enough by his mother, suck it up. MORE
We’re all about pitches, good and bad. To prove it, we created Glinda the Good Pitch back in the day. But our badge of dishonor Slick has always gotten more air time. It’s a simple case of supply and demand folks. So we were ecstatic when we started receiving emails from Carol Blymire. MORE
Typos are painful. They can even be career-ending. Michael Allison points us to one so funny it’s inspiring a Bad Pitch Blog contest. In the comments below, leave your best, one-line response to this job description that’s running on Monster.com. MORE
We''re sorting through tons of mail and we have some decent posts brewing. But today was noteworthy as one pitch in particular made the rounds. It was not the only bad pitch out there. But as I reviewed it I was inspired to single it out and pay homage to the SNL skit Really?! with Seth and Amy. MORE
I know what you’re thinking: Here he goes, another high-powered PR exec complaining about crappy customers. Guess what? That’s what this is. I’ve heard it said innumerable times how our jobs would be magnificent—were it not for the clients. MORE
Pet parents have until September 18, 2008 to enter. Hi everyone. Happy April. This has been sitting in my in-box for a while and I just had to post it. It’s too funny. See, everyone is so INTO the registered-trademark on their name, it’s like ® and ™ are now part of the vernacular. MORE
Anyone else getting a ton of junk email/invites/notifications on Facebook? Maybe it’s just a sign of age, or soc net fatigue, but I created a short video that offers a guideline** for sending email/invites/notifications on Facebook. The video is not about any one person or a specific group. MORE
Services like HARO bring us dozens of media leads in a single email. Press Release Grader evaluates our news releases to make sure they’re tweaked to deliver top online performance. MORE
Mass pitching fails at many levels. Some PR pros think sending their pitch to a relevant publication is enough targeting. But successful pitching requires targeting a specific reporter at a publication. MORE
Peter Shankman created HARO on Facebook and this media relations tool has grown into a free media source matchmaking service with more than 14,000 members. Peter has a really big tool, but he wants your help in making it bigger. Here’s the deal. MORE
Here’s a story of a lovely lady — who is so pissed off she turned to me to vent! Richard,” she wrote. Here’s a really stupid email pitch.” What she meant: What’s wrong with this woman? MORE
“I heard the news today, oh boy…” PimpMyNews is a new, free service allowing you to hear the latest news from your personally selected mix of news sources and blogs. Anyone with an MP3 player and Internet access can use it. MORE
Keith O''Brien just announced a PR Week best blog competition. In doing so he pits 32 industry blogs against each other -- tournament style. Vote for the Bad Pitch blog. Click here, then click on our name to vote before end of day, Tuesday, August 5th. MORE
Just got an e-mail as a follow-up to one sent to me yesterday. Evidently I cover Anime**. And evidently I fall into one of the gajillion email groups this person created for contacting Anime media. Both emails list the following groups in the TO: field. I''ve bolded my favorites. MORE
The NY Time s’ Saul Hansell dropped us a line about bad pitches recently. Of course we had to share: - My biggest problem with pitches is that at least half the ones I get, I can''t understand what the company does or what the pitch is about. MORE
Writing is one of the most critical skills in public relations. And let''s face it, everyone’s writing can improve. Here are some tips to keep your words working for you and not against you. 1) Word of the Day | Daily Writing Tips The odds of referencing a pyrrhic victory in a pitch is slim at best. MORE
Celeste’s pitch is so bad, she managed to get outed using only 10 words. It was forwarded to our attention from an anonymous member of the media. SUBJECT: Mailing Services are a hot trend for printers BODY Hello! Could you run this in your publication. MORE
As a result, we have not been able to post to the blog since Monday, August 4, 2008. Did you miss us? It''s been more than two weeks since we posted here. What can we say, the dog ate our password. MORE
This is Sam, our unofficial mascot. Before going to that big kennel in the sky, he was considered the world’s ugliest dog. We''re not questioning this honor. A more informative, and attractive, breed would be the Bulldog (Reporter). MORE
No Blood For Oil made for a good anti-war slogan when gas was going for the same price as Two Buck Chuck. But with gasoline now regularly priced at $4 and in Canada, where I’m sitting at Starbucks, what calculates to SIX BUCKS -- and that’s for the cheap stuff! -- I’m not so sure the saying holds. MORE
Twitter is like the lottery. It can pay off big, but you have to play to win. Todd Van Hoosear mentioned on Twitter that he was on a conference call with Wall Street Journal tech reporter Kara Swisher, Sam Whitmore and his Media Survey subscribers. MORE
News came last week that the Old Grey Lady is starting an Instant Op-Ed feature online. This new technology will "allow the paper''s Web site to post immediate expert viewpoints on breaking news," said Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal. Thank you, New York Times. MORE
A good pitch disappears and turns into a story. A bad pitch becomes the story. tags public relations PR media relations media good pitch bad pitch bad pitch blog MORE
Finally, what can we learn from 2008, anyway… That being a wimp (lots of us were woos character studies) is no way to do business when you’re hired to be a communicator of messages that are at least a little distinctive. MORE
Anyone following Brian Morrissey on Twitter may assume he hates PR people. I’m here to tell you he doesn’t. He does hate PR spam. As digital editor at Adweek, he gets a ton of it. After seeing him out a bad pitch this morning, I sent him a note asking for his help in reducing PR spam. MORE
We’d be remiss if we let the holidays pass without wishing everyone in the Bad Pitch blog universe a Happy Holidays. Let’s kick 09 in the arse, ok? For those of you who frequent the Young PR Pros list, you’ll know there’s another sheriff in town over there. Greg Brooks is now a co-moderator. MORE
If you’re getting this post via e-mail or RSS, you might want to click through for the context of this post. We’re happy to welcome back Ragan Communications to our site. Ragan’s latest event is Corporate Communications and the Social Media Revolution. MORE
"Does it look like a pitch, Brad?" Um, yeah, I guess it does. Watch this space to see what the Bad Pitch Blog looks like MORE
A news release is not a pitch. Well, neither is this intro I just received. Dear Mr. Kevin Dugan, Please consider the press release below for publication in an upcoming issue, either on-line or in print. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks in advance for your consideration. MORE
It seems like a million years ago, but it''s been just a month since Eliot Spitzer fell from grace. The man who is fodder for everyone (deservedly so) once said: “Never talk when you can nod and never nod when you can wink and never write an email because it''s death.” MORE
1) Newseum Slate disagrees, but The Newseum looks to be an interesting destination the next time you’re in our nation’s capital. 2) Alltop Journalism Alltop’s Journalism page aggregates nearly 100 sites focused on the Fourth Estate. MORE
Guhmshoo immortalized the Bad Pitch Blog! Now if only my right hand spit fire like that.sigh. More of his work is here. Thanks Guhmshoo! Speaking of banding together to fight the good fight, I added links to our Twitter pages and our Facebook page in the sidebar below. MORE
PR people can’t afford to be wall flowers (passive aggressive perhaps, but not shy). But some PR people go to the extreme. Actually they get to extreme and take a running leap off extreme. An anonymous trade editor sends us "Idiot Exhibit One" which is less a pitch and more of a demand. MORE
The posts are from 2007 and 2008 so it looks like the content here is getting better. Peter Shankman and I spoke to a sliver of HARO’s near 30,000 members yesterday about better media relations. MORE
Admit it. At some point, in some form or another…Twitter pisses you off. I’ve been there and back. The above headline openly mocks the effusive glee that drips from the metric ton of online chatter around this topic. But you need to get over it. Learn to love not hate Twitter. Here’s how. MORE
I am writing to you from 35,000 feet where American and something badly branded as Gogo Inflight has granted me 12 buck access to the Internet. I mean, welcome to the 2000''s, right? Today the New York Times announced another 500 cut from the payroll - and honey they shrunk the sections! MORE
When Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani started getting unsolicited pitches sent to her personal email address, she took action, Chris Anderson style, and created the PR Spammers Wiki. And you thought we were harsh. MORE
Some PR pros may not fully realize the level of responsibility they have to their clients. When you represent a client, your actions reflect their brand. And it’s with this knowledge that I wrote the title to this post. MORE
We’re so over the whole he said, she said around “lists that are the absence of all colors.” We’re moving on. This comment from Tolu O. is one reason why. Dear Kevin and other knowledgeable people in social media/PR, I want you all to know that you have put the fear of God in me. MORE
From: FLACK@anagency.com Subject: Urgent To: HACK1@yahoo.com Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 2:42 PM HACK1, It has come to my attention that you and HACK2 have promised stories to both HOTEL1 and HOTEL2, neither which have seen the results of the stays they provided. MORE
Wall of International Peace - Moscow uploaded by Jeff Bauche._.•´¯) We created a room on Friend Feed to kick the conversation up a notch around here. Two people posting and many (wonderful) people commenting is great. But there''s a metric ton of relevant media relations content online. MORE
A wise Canadian noted recently that you must break something down to simple/common terms to describe it most effectively. He gets even more points by referencing Ghostbusters and Twinkie snack cakes to prove his point. MORE
2008 Related Topics Bad Pitch Blog
AUGUST 28, 2008
From: FLACK@anagency.com Subject: Urgent To: HACK1@yahoo.com Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 2:42 PM HACK1, It has come to my attention that you and HACK2 have promised stories to both HOTEL1 and HOTEL2, neither which have seen the results of the stays they provided.
Bad Pitch Blog
DECEMBER 21, 2008
Finally, what can we learn from 2008, anyway… That being a wimp (lots of us were woos character studies) is no way to do business when you’re hired to be a communicator of messages that are at least a little distinctive.
Bad Pitch Blog
DECEMBER 21, 2008
We’d be remiss if we let the holidays pass without wishing everyone in the Bad Pitch blog universe a Happy Holidays. Let’s kick 09 in the arse, ok? For those of you who frequent the Young PR Pros list, you’ll know there’s another sheriff in town over there. Greg Brooks is now a co-moderator.
Bad Pitch Blog
SEPTEMBER 10, 2008
The posts are from 2007 and 2008 so it looks like the content here is getting better. Peter Shankman and I spoke to a sliver of HARO’s near 30,000 members yesterday about better media relations.
Bad Pitch Blog
AUGUST 20, 2008
As a result, we have not been able to post to the blog since Monday, August 4, 2008. Did you miss us? It''s been more than two weeks since we posted here. What can we say, the dog ate our password.
Bad Pitch Blog
NOVEMBER 5, 2008
The NY Time s’ Saul Hansell dropped us a line about bad pitches recently. Of course we had to share: - My biggest problem with pitches is that at least half the ones I get, I can''t understand what the company does or what the pitch is about.
Bad Pitch Blog
DECEMBER 30, 2008
News came last week that the Old Grey Lady is starting an Instant Op-Ed feature online. This new technology will "allow the paper''s Web site to post immediate expert viewpoints on breaking news," said Editorial Page Editor Andrew Rosenthal. Thank you, New York Times.
Bad Pitch Blog
AUGUST 27, 2008
Writing is one of the most critical skills in public relations. And let''s face it, everyone’s writing can improve. Here are some tips to keep your words working for you and not against you. 1) Word of the Day | Daily Writing Tips The odds of referencing a pyrrhic victory in a pitch is slim at best.
Bad Pitch Blog
SEPTEMBER 16, 2008
A news release is not a pitch. Well, neither is this intro I just received. Dear Mr. Kevin Dugan, Please consider the press release below for publication in an upcoming issue, either on-line or in print. Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Bad Pitch Blog
DECEMBER 6, 2008
Just got an e-mail as a follow-up to one sent to me yesterday. Evidently I cover Anime**. And evidently I fall into one of the gajillion email groups this person created for contacting Anime media. Both emails list the following groups in the TO: field. I''ve bolded my favorites.
Bad Pitch Blog
SEPTEMBER 8, 2008
I am writing to you from 35,000 feet where American and something badly branded as Gogo Inflight has granted me 12 buck access to the Internet. I mean, welcome to the 2000''s, right? Today the New York Times announced another 500 cut from the payroll - and honey they shrunk the sections!
Bad Pitch Blog
NOVEMBER 3, 2008
We were cleaning out the archives and found our back story –- how the Bad Pitch blog was born.
Bad Pitch Blog
APRIL 6, 2008
Pet parents have until September 18, 2008 to enter. Hi everyone. Happy April. This has been sitting in my in-box for a while and I just had to post it. It’s too funny. See, everyone is so INTO the registered-trademark on their name, it’s like ® and ™ are now part of the vernacular.
Bad Pitch Blog
OCTOBER 22, 2008
We''re sorting through tons of mail and we have some decent posts brewing. But today was noteworthy as one pitch in particular made the rounds. It was not the only bad pitch out there. But as I reviewed it I was inspired to single it out and pay homage to the SNL skit Really?! with Seth and Amy.
Bad Pitch Blog
OCTOBER 22, 2008
We’re all about pitches, good and bad. To prove it, we created Glinda the Good Pitch back in the day. But our badge of dishonor Slick has always gotten more air time. It’s a simple case of supply and demand folks. So we were ecstatic when we started receiving emails from Carol Blymire.
Bad Pitch Blog
JULY 28, 2008
Here’s a story of a lovely lady — who is so pissed off she turned to me to vent! Richard,” she wrote. Here’s a really stupid email pitch.” What she meant: What’s wrong with this woman?
Bad Pitch Blog
OCTOBER 5, 2008
I know what you’re thinking: Here he goes, another high-powered PR exec complaining about crappy customers. Guess what? That’s what this is. I’ve heard it said innumerable times how our jobs would be magnificent—were it not for the clients.
Bad Pitch Blog
OCTOBER 2, 2008
Anyone else getting a ton of junk email/invites/notifications on Facebook? Maybe it’s just a sign of age, or soc net fatigue, but I created a short video that offers a guideline** for sending email/invites/notifications on Facebook. The video is not about any one person or a specific group.
Bad Pitch Blog
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008
Services like HARO bring us dozens of media leads in a single email. Press Release Grader evaluates our news releases to make sure they’re tweaked to deliver top online performance.
Bad Pitch Blog
SEPTEMBER 10, 2008
Guhmshoo immortalized the Bad Pitch Blog! Now if only my right hand spit fire like that.sigh. More of his work is here. Thanks Guhmshoo! Speaking of banding together to fight the good fight, I added links to our Twitter pages and our Facebook page in the sidebar below.
Bad Pitch Blog
JUNE 10, 2008
This is Sam, our unofficial mascot. Before going to that big kennel in the sky, he was considered the world’s ugliest dog. We''re not questioning this honor. A more informative, and attractive, breed would be the Bulldog (Reporter).
Bad Pitch Blog
AUGUST 31, 2008
Some PR pros may not fully realize the level of responsibility they have to their clients. When you represent a client, your actions reflect their brand. And it’s with this knowledge that I wrote the title to this post.
Bad Pitch Blog
MARCH 6, 2008
Typos are painful. They can even be career-ending. Michael Allison points us to one so funny it’s inspiring a Bad Pitch Blog contest. In the comments below, leave your best, one-line response to this job description that’s running on Monster.com.
Bad Pitch Blog
FEBRUARY 26, 2008
At one point or another, you’ll p**s off a journalist. Sometimes you’re just doing your job. Sometimes you’re just doing your job BADLY. Other times you’ll raise their ire for no apparent reason. But before you suggest a gruff editor wasn’t held enough by his mother, suck it up.
Bad Pitch Blog
AUGUST 3, 2008
Keith O''Brien just announced a PR Week best blog competition. In doing so he pits 32 industry blogs against each other -- tournament style. Vote for the Bad Pitch blog. Click here, then click on our name to vote before end of day, Tuesday, August 5th.
Bad Pitch Blog
AUGUST 2, 2008
Some fun is coming in the next few days. And before the rumble begins, we are finally putting up our new blog logo. Design credit goes to Nick Kastner
Bad Pitch Blog
JULY 31, 2008
“I heard the news today, oh boy…” PimpMyNews is a new, free service allowing you to hear the latest news from your personally selected mix of news sources and blogs. Anyone with an MP3 player and Internet access can use it.
Bad Pitch Blog
JULY 16, 2008
Peter Shankman created HARO on Facebook and this media relations tool has grown into a free media source matchmaking service with more than 14,000 members. Peter has a really big tool, but he wants your help in making it bigger. Here’s the deal.
Bad Pitch Blog
JULY 16, 2008
"Does it look like a pitch, Brad?" Um, yeah, I guess it does. Watch this space to see what the Bad Pitch Blog looks like
Bad Pitch Blog
JULY 13, 2008
If you’re getting this post via e-mail or RSS, you might want to click through for the context of this post. We’re happy to welcome back Ragan Communications to our site. Ragan’s latest event is Corporate Communications and the Social Media Revolution.
Bad Pitch Blog
JUNE 30, 2008
A good pitch disappears and turns into a story. A bad pitch becomes the story. tags public relations PR media relations media good pitch bad pitch bad pitch blog
Bad Pitch Blog
JUNE 17, 2008
Twitter is like the lottery. It can pay off big, but you have to play to win. Todd Van Hoosear mentioned on Twitter that he was on a conference call with Wall Street Journal tech reporter Kara Swisher, Sam Whitmore and his Media Survey subscribers.
Bad Pitch Blog
JUNE 10, 2008
No Blood For Oil made for a good anti-war slogan when gas was going for the same price as Two Buck Chuck. But with gasoline now regularly priced at $4 and in Canada, where I’m sitting at Starbucks, what calculates to SIX BUCKS -- and that’s for the cheap stuff! -- I’m not so sure the saying holds.
Bad Pitch Blog
JUNE 3, 2008
Celeste’s pitch is so bad, she managed to get outed using only 10 words. It was forwarded to our attention from an anonymous member of the media. SUBJECT: Mailing Services are a hot trend for printers BODY Hello! Could you run this in your publication.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 28, 2008
A wise Canadian noted recently that you must break something down to simple/common terms to describe it most effectively. He gets even more points by referencing Ghostbusters and Twinkie snack cakes to prove his point.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 22, 2008
Wall of International Peace - Moscow uploaded by Jeff Bauche._.•´¯) We created a room on Friend Feed to kick the conversation up a notch around here. Two people posting and many (wonderful) people commenting is great. But there''s a metric ton of relevant media relations content online.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 16, 2008
We’re so over the whole he said, she said around “lists that are the absence of all colors.” We’re moving on. This comment from Tolu O. is one reason why. Dear Kevin and other knowledgeable people in social media/PR, I want you all to know that you have put the fear of God in me.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 11, 2008
When Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani started getting unsolicited pitches sent to her personal email address, she took action, Chris Anderson style, and created the PR Spammers Wiki. And you thought we were harsh.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 6, 2008
Admit it. At some point, in some form or another…Twitter pisses you off. I’ve been there and back. The above headline openly mocks the effusive glee that drips from the metric ton of online chatter around this topic. But you need to get over it. Learn to love not hate Twitter. Here’s how.
Bad Pitch Blog
MAY 1, 2008
PR people can’t afford to be wall flowers (passive aggressive perhaps, but not shy). But some PR people go to the extreme. Actually they get to extreme and take a running leap off extreme. An anonymous trade editor sends us "Idiot Exhibit One" which is less a pitch and more of a demand.
Bad Pitch Blog
APRIL 27, 2008
1) Newseum Slate disagrees, but The Newseum looks to be an interesting destination the next time you’re in our nation’s capital. 2) Alltop Journalism Alltop’s Journalism page aggregates nearly 100 sites focused on the Fourth Estate.
Bad Pitch Blog
APRIL 20, 2008
It seems like a million years ago, but it''s been just a month since Eliot Spitzer fell from grace. The man who is fodder for everyone (deservedly so) once said: “Never talk when you can nod and never nod when you can wink and never write an email because it''s death.”
Bad Pitch Blog
APRIL 13, 2008
Mass pitching fails at many levels. Some PR pros think sending their pitch to a relevant publication is enough targeting. But successful pitching requires targeting a specific reporter at a publication.
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