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Holtz Communications + Technology

Shel Holtz
Communicating at the Intersection of Business and Technology
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Form letter pitches

Dan York is learning what so many journalists covering the technology industry have known for years: A lot of people working in PR have no idea what they’re doing.

Dan produces a podcast called Blue Box that addresses security issues pertaining to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), an undertaking that has gotten him press credentials at shows like the Fall VON 2006. Once in the database of media attending VON, Dan was deluged with form letters from PR reps pitching interviews, looking to get ink for their clients and companies. Problem is, the companies don’t offer any products or services related to VoiP security.

One last pitch sent Dan over the edge, prompting him to draft a form letter of his own that he may start sending back to PR people who find it easier to blast their pitches to every reporter attending the show than to learn a bit about the reporter’s interests.

As noted here so often before, there are lazy-ass dullards in every profession, but they are more visible in ours. That visibility increases when frustrated targets like Dan vent their frustration on their blogs for everyone to see. That’s a good thing, since it may serve as motivation to behave more professionally.

Dan, you should send these pitches to the good folks over at The Bad Pitch Blog and increase their visibility.

12/31/69 | 7 Comments | Form letter pitches

Comments

  • 1.Shel,

    Thanks for the comments... I did actually think about sending them to the Bad Pitch Blog, but the pitches I got actually weren't good enough to send there! I mean, they weren't bad in a way that would merit them being enshrined on that blog... they were just generic dumb form-letter pitches. That was probably what annoyed me most... it wasn't even that they were pitching me as a generic "podcaster". No, they didn't even go that far. They are just spamming me as a generic "press" contact, without having even a remote clue about who I am.

    If I do get one that is bad enough for that blog, though, I definitely will be sending it along.

    Thanks,
    Dan

    Dan York | August 2006

  • 2.Dan should write a form letter to send the Marketing VPs at the client companies. I bet he'd get a reaction then.

    Sherrilynne Starkie | August 2006 | Isle of Man

  • 3.Sherrilynne, what a great idea! Of course, there are clueless clients, too.

    Shel Holtz | August 2006 | Concord, CA

  • 4.I never understood this mentality, this doesn't even qualify as "work"! But, I guess the same mentality that breeds true SPAM breeds the easy email. Why not just blast a bunch of stuff off to a list of people and see what sticks? If you get one or two meetings out of it, you can probably consider the very few minutes put into the whole project a success.

    I don't know about you, but I'm finding it's more difficult than ever to get on people's scheudle for shows. So many journalists don't want to book meetings so they can just walk the floor and attend the sessions. But maybe that's only the tech shows I've been working.

    Chuck T | August 2006

  • 5.As a freelance journalist in Hong Kong I wrote a column on consumer technology - PDAs, cool websites, digital cameras, etc. I used to get call after call from PR firms telling me that HP's VP in charge of PCBs was coming to town. Would I like to have lunch? Yeah, because my readers who are looking for recommendations for nifty MP3 players would also love reading about quarterly sales forecasts.

    I'd get about 100 media releases/week and they wondered why I never read them.

    Steven Lewis | August 2006 | Australia

  • 6.There’s been some griping about bad pitches among PR bloggers in last day or so.?? Shel Holtz tips a form letter written by Dan York??in rebuttal to the many form letter pitches he’s been getting for his Blue Box podcast.
    Kevin at the Bad P...

    http://strivepr.com/wordpress/2006/08/16/getting&# | August 2006

  • 7.Shel, your point is well taken. PR, if executed correctly, is a time-consuming and difficult job. It requires a great deal of research, creativity and personalization. Before pitching reporters, it is always recommended that a PR professional familiarize her or himself with their past work to get a sense for what angle they might find interesting. Secondly, stories about even the most mundane client products can be made relevant if they are framed within the context of a pertinent debate or topic.

    In the end, it really does depend on how PR agencies train their staff members--who are usually young college grads. They need to be mentored and taught to respect their professions so that they are proud of the work they do on behalf of their clients. This takes time, energy and dedication.

    NabeelaKhatak | August 2006 | Washington, DC

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