Pitching In Public
Earlier this week, Robert Scoble suggested that the best way for PR pros to pitch him is via his Facebook Wall. This no doubt sent two shudders through the ranks of the PR world.
Shudder #1 – “Crud, guess I really have to set up a Facebook profile now… to join my profiles on MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.”
Shudder #2 – “Waitaminnit! This means that EVERYONE who visits Scoble’s Facebook profile will see my pitch?! I’ll be exposed for all to see?”
Yes. Check out Melinda Roberts’ pitch for Renkoo, in the screenshot above. Relevant, funny, quick.
Now let me quote an earlier post to explain why this sort of approach is a GOOD thing for the PR industry:
“…PR pros (will soon) lose the luxury of working behind the scenes. More and more often, in these early days of the blogosphere, a bone-headed pitch will be instantly revealed/reviled. The crappy PR firms, the dialers-for-dollars, will get smart or get out. Those that remain will likely have faced up to the fact that more and more of their agency’s work will be disinfected by the sunlight.
“PR has always been about finding the right words and concepts to influence those who could influence the fortunes of our clients … The fact that much of that work happened ‘in the shadows’ did not make that work dishonorable or disingenuous; it was just the way it was done …
“But this back-alley way of doing things allowed too many lackluster PR firms to survive (and thus darken the reputation of the industry as a whole).”
The more exposed we PR pros are, the better job we’ll do. (And if you are curious as to HOW-TO do a good job, out in the open air, check out my friend Brian Solis’s recent post, on this same topic.)
Whether or not Facebook will become the be-all, end-all for PR’s intersection with social networks remains to be seen.
I certainly do not think that “Facebooking” is a requirement for PR people to prove to the outside world that they have “relationships” with journalists or bloggers. A good pitch by email (or better yet via the good ol’ telephone) is still a relevant way to pitch a story idea to a writer, whether you “know” them or not. Relationships have to start somewhere/sometime. Sometimes it’ll be through Facebook. Sometimes not.
As Brian’s post notes (as quoted below), the point is to understand that social networking – whether on Facebook or some other service – is often done in the open, and thus it is PR’s responsibility to get it right.
“The price of admission is respect, listening, and transparency. This is about relationships. And remember, this isn’t the one and only time you may need to reach certain people. So take the time to do this the right way.”
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Comments
Wow -- another new wrinkle for PR people to incorporate into their arsenal. Good luck! I'll cover this new development in more depth on my blog (21stcenturymediarelations.com), but I wanted to leave one relevant comment here: not all pitching is done behind the scenes just because "that's just the way it's done." It's also done that way because journalists who want to resell your information as their own, after they add their perspective on it, don't want the playing field completely leveled. They want the information exclusively and quietly. That's why that's the why it has been done. And btw -- what are people pitching Scoble for? His blog?
Posted by: Jon Greer | July 11, 2007 08:02 PM
I get Jon's point about journalists wanting to pass information through their own filter. But 90 percent of the bloggers and other online folks I "pitch" aren't journalists. Do they have the same motives as journalists when it comes to information, or are they really just trying to figure out a system that works best for them?
As for transparency and the disinfectant of sunshine, I was under the impression that we should write our pitches with the understanding that the blogger (or whomever) always has the option to publish your pitch verbatim anyway. You can't look like a pathetic tool if you don't write anything that makes you look like a pathetic tool. I thought that was just a basic principle of PR and communications.
I really think so much of this stuff is pretty easy if we just stick to the fundamentals. Or am I missing something here?
Posted by: David Wescott | July 11, 2007 10:21 PM
You are both right.
Jon, if you check out the original post of mine that I quoted from, it goes on to say that the "stealthy" ways of the current/past system were put in place to serve reporters' needs for privileged access, just as you note.
And David, you are REALLY right: all of our pitches *ought* to stand up to scrutiny at any time, but the fact of the matter is that there are too many firms who assign this critical task to barely-trained greenhorns for whom a "mass blast email" filled with lame and irrelevant content is still considered "a-okay." This practice is exactly what will come to an end as more transparency comes to bear.
BTW, guys, not sure I've seen your names on the Commenters list before. Welcome! And thanks for your input.
Posted by: Todd Defren | July 12, 2007 11:06 AM
This isn't new, either. Previously, Scoble had expressed a preference for being pitched via comments in the Scobleizer blog-- but he also has talked about how to pitch him via phone.
He evolves quickly, and often with the social media tools he is using. As with all reporters, we have to keep track. Scoble just moves faster than most of the rest.
Posted by: Doug Haslam | July 12, 2007 09:32 PM
Todd - thanks for the link ref. To pick up on your following point: "A good pitch by email (or better yet via the good ol’ telephone) is still a relevant way to pitch a story idea to a writer, whether you “know” them or not."
Agreed. However, the key word here is "good". We all know that the overall quality of pitching is poor - and there are various reasons for this, such as the activity being delegated to account execs with little or no training/experience. I guess the point I was making about FB was that it could offer a way for journalists to share info about their focus/interests/availability that should help for better pitching - or provide no excuse for poor pitching.
And to your comment: "Relationships have to start somewhere/sometime. Sometimes it’ll be through Facebook. Sometimes not."
Absolutely. I spent much of my early PR career spending a lot of my own personal time simply meeting journalists for a drink - no agenda, no pitch, just getting to know them as people - and in some cases, nearly 20 years later, they are still valued contacts (in many cases now working on national media). There is still nothing to beat that kind of personal contact. FB isn't a silver bullet - but I am sure it offers a model for improving things in the world of PR.
Posted by: Andrew Smith | July 13, 2007 05:04 AM
Andrew, I can't disagree with a single word. Thanks much for stopping by, with a thoughtful comment.
Posted by: Todd Defren | July 13, 2007 12:51 PM
Todd -- thanks for the welcome. What I don't get is the assumption that mere "sunlight" is the difference between a good pitch and bad pitch. Sure, almost all pitches should, almost by definition, be able to withstand the light of day. But that still doesn't address the journalists' perspective, that they want and NEED exclusive access to information that they can repackage. Unless what you're really saying is let's see all non-social media dead and buried as quickly as possible.
Posted by: Jon Greer | July 14, 2007 08:32 PM
It was kind of ironic too, because Scoble said that less than a handful of PR people came to stop by that day. I mean the guy was there for a full day, waiting to talk about "new" tech ideas. Man I wish I could have fire hosed him.
Posted by: Celeste | July 16, 2007 02:23 PM