2008

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Bad Pitches, Good Holidays

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. He penned the piece below and was kind enough to let us re-post it here.

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This Goose is Cooked Pitch

Bad Pitch Blog

'We''re not sure if we''re outing this person or giving them a Presidential pardon like they do for one lucky Thanksgiving turkey. But when someone asked the Bad Pitch Blog to review a children''s book, we weren''t sure if we should laugh or cry. Hello. I''d like to let you know about Flightless Goose, a new full-color, hardcover story book for children being released this month by PUBLISHER.

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Getting Ahead of the Story, Volume 1000

Bad Pitch Blog

'As the CEO of a PR agency, I can’t even tell you how many potential clients ask “Do I really need PR?” Usually I just answer with a simple and slightly aggravated “Why Yes!” Today, however, I will answer with an example of what a smart, finely crafted and well-timed PR campaign (with strategy) can do. The past few months we have seen historically vilified Microsoft attempt to take the current underdog, Yahoo, over with a slow hand.

Google 43
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Typos Are A Big, Hairy Problem

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. The winner(s) will be announced next week and receive fame and some swag.

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Peter H. Paulsen’s Inspiring Tale Continues to Resonate in 2024

Two years after its initial release, Peter H. Paulsen’s book, From Brick and Mortar to Prosperity, continues to inspire readers around the globe.

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Angryjournalist.com -- Things Are Tough All Over

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. Second only to coverage, we seek closure in media relations, a definite response.

More Trending

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You Have To Care—and yet do you really?

Bad Pitch Blog

'“The best way to predict the future is to create it” -Peter Drucker In Outliers , the outstanding Gladwell book about how we get successful, there is a terrific section towards the end on societies who take more time with their work; they “have to care” about what they do or they will FAIL. Which leads me to: Does anyone care about what they do these days?

Study 41
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And They Say Reporters Don’t Care…

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. Often, the pitch is so wound up trying to define some sort of cute trend the company fits into that they don''t actually give the who-what-where-when.

Report 41
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This is NOT a Pitch

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. Some things evidently are worth repeating as we’ve talked about the need for pitches before.

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Old Journalism’s Demise.Good News For Us!

Bad Pitch Blog

'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! Last month the SacBee hit some 75 percent of their folks. And a huge layoff happened just now at the St Petersburg daily.

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Are Your Impact Comms Resonating With Stakeholders?

Whether your organization is at the start of its sustainability and impact journey or years into it, many brands share a common concern: the uncertainty of whether they are sending stakeholders mixed messages. Creating content that speaks to your audience's “love language” can be a tricky dance. But, worry not! 3BL has put together tips to ensure that your content not only finds its rhythm but also resonates with your target audiences.

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Insane Hack on Flack Action

Bad Pitch Blog

'Woah, this is pure Friday fodder. From an anonymous source, we get the following exchange between a PR person we''ll call FLACK and a travel writer we''ll call HACK. We''ve changed names to protect the innocent and the insane. We join our story as FLACK is beginning to question whether or not HACK is really a member of the fourth estate. We assume reviews/stories were promised in exchange for complimentary hotel stays. - From: FLACK@anagency.com Subject: Urgent To: HACK1@yahoo.com Date: Thursda

Hotels 41
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Richard (Edelman) Represents

Bad Pitch Blog

'We were working on a post called, “Ode to Jason Calacanis.” It’s more of a poem really…using lots of colorful, urban language, including words that rhyme with “brother trucker.” Luckily Richard Edelman made our rant poem moot with this post.** "I am heartily sick of the ad hominem attacks and cheap shots taken by those who would try to draw attention to themselves.

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Take 30 Seconds to Read!!

Bad Pitch Blog

'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? First, the pitch – which I have to say is about the dumbest I’ve seen in many months, so her name is left in (sorry Kev): [Brackets mine.] And I got to say this is the first bad pitch about cake, which I did not think was possible, since I''m all about the sweets in life!

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Bad Pitch, Good Dog

Bad Pitch Blog

'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). We''re excited to note that The Bulldog Reporter just added our feed to their Daily Dog web site. We are also relieved they did not ask us to swap out Sam as mascot for a Bulldog to help reinforce their brand.

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Adapting to the Future: The Evolving Role of Crisis Management Firms in a Rapidly Changing World

As the Internet continues to grow and change, the role of Online Crisis Management firms is evolving. This article explores how these firms are adapting to the new topography of Online Crisis Management. Through interviews with industry experts and case studies, we uncover the key strategies and tactics that are driving success in this dynamic field.

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Do you send e-mail or FAIL-mail?

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. Anime Expo-Anime Clubs, Anime Expo 2008-Press List, Anime Expo E-Blast, Anime-Animation, Anime-Asian, Anime-Entertainment, Anime-Exclusives, Anime-International Press, Anime-Media, Anime-Movie & Video, Anime-Online

Groups 40
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How This All Got Started*

Bad Pitch Blog

'We were cleaning out the archives and found our back story –- how the Bad Pitch blog was born. Cue squiggly lines and narrator’s voice… - The seeds for the Bad Pitch Blog were planted in 1995 when the book “Toxic Sludge is Good for You,” used some specific events to discredit the entire public relations industry. This book did not sit well with Kevin Dugan.

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Bad Pitch Outrage

Bad Pitch Blog

'We sometimes find ourselves posting about topics that seem more like common freakin’ sense than the finer points of media relations. A standout has been when we’ve talked about and even poked fun at pitches trying to tie their story to current events – no matter how macabre it might seem. So we’ll merely link to this news release so you can see how horribly tasteless, opportunistic and insensitive people can be in this world.

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Glinda the Good Pitch is Back! (Thanks to Carol Blymire)

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. Carol Blymire has been copying us on emails for a few months now as she tries to engage PR people about bad pitches sent her way.

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Communicating During a Crisis & Navigating the Chaos

Speaker: Shawna Bruce, Director of M.D. Bruce & Associates Ltd.

Are you ready to face the unexpected? When the stakes are high and the pressure is on, there's no time to waste - you must be prepared to communicate clearly and confidently. In today's unpredictable world, mastering the art of crisis communication is a must-have skill for any public relations professional. Whether you're facing a weather disaster, a cyber attack, or a PR nightmare, knowing how to craft a clear and compelling message can mean the difference between chaos and calm, confusion and

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Facebook ? Email Marketing

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. It’s the inspiration of several efforts over time. ** It bugs me when someone (myself included) posts “rules” about the next shiny new object.

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Help a Reporter Out and Bad Pitch Blog? OMG we’re like BFF!

Bad Pitch Blog

'Peter Shankman and I spoke to a sliver of HARO’s near 30,000 members yesterday about better media relations. A flood of new folks are reading Bad Pitch Blog as a result, so I thought I’d post our top 20 posts according to AideRSS as a helpful review. The posts are from 2007 and 2008 so it looks like the content here is getting better. Ready to Pitch a Blog?

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Bad Pitch Crime Fighters

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. If you want to follow us on these other sites, make with the clicky.

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Samsung, Westinghouse Digital, Dotster -- STOP Doing Business with Lois Whitman, Michael Ingalls and HWH PR

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. We’re giving HWH PR a Bad Pitch Blog Lifetime Achievement Award for turning client news releases into PR spam for more than two years.

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Discover the Actionable Habits of the World’s Best Strategic Communicators

Communication professionals can sometimes face difficult questions from internal stakeholders about the impact of their PR marketing initiatives. We know that nearly half of these professional say they need help with turning their PR data into actionable insights; and at least 20% don’t think they can measure their campaigns at all—but what if we told you all these obstacles can be easily combatted if you implement a few key habits.

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We're baaack!

Bad Pitch Blog

'Did you miss us? It''s been more than two weeks since we posted here. What can we say, the dog ate our password. Actually an “over eager Blogger spam attack robot from hell” thought our blog was "one of those" types of blogs. As a result, we have not been able to post to the blog since Monday, August 4, 2008. A Blogger employee finally took pity on us and jimmied the lock.

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Vote for Bad Pitch Blog in PRWeek's Blog Competition

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. We''re up against Voce Communications'' Voce Nation blog. The Voce team provides stiff competition.

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Fast Five Q&A With BusinessWeek Senior Writer Stephen Baker

Bad Pitch Blog

'Happy August. Today''s post is a peek into the thoughts of BusinessWeek''s Stephen Baker (who has been with the magazine for one astounding 21-year tenure!). Baker is one of the New York technology reporters for BusinessWeek; he began to report on tech in Paris (Rue Oswaldo Cruz, 16th ar.) as European correspondent in 1998 smack in middle of the dot calm boom.

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Fast Five Q&A with PimpMyNews CEO John Atkinson

Bad Pitch Blog

'“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. CEO John Atkinson was kind enough to do a quick Q&A with us as we try and find more ways to make it easier for you to know the news. 1) PimpMyNews is a great name and service.

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7 Ways to Deliver Groundbreaking Thought Leadership

Delivering Successful Thought Leadership Programs. In an increasingly crowded marketplace, a successful thought leadership program is a powerful tool to increase the profile of your brand. By developing compelling content that is authentic to your brand and offers something unique, you can become a trusted source and the ‘go-to’ expert in your field.

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Help a Reporter Out, Become a Media Source

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. What? Here’s the deal. The more reporters that use HARO, the more valuable it is for you. So tell your media contacts about HARO.

Report 40
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Join Ebay and Ragan Communications August 13 through 15

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. It is also sponsored by ebay and is being held in San Jose California. Readers of the Bad Pitch blog get a $300 discount.

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Some Spin Zone: A Riff On The PR Politics of Oil

Bad Pitch Blog

'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. As Wanda Sykes recently said on Conan: “If anybody drives a Hummer, you should be able to shoot at them.