All of them send the message, ‘I’m too lazy to read your blog and I don’t mind wasting your time. But I want your help anyway.”
1. “We are looking to increase our exposure online among some of the media that our clients read and respect.” (I found this one yesterday in an email query.)
What that really says: “I’m contacting you because I want something.”
2. “Are there opportunities to write for you?”
What that really says: “I’m too lazy to go to your website and look for the link to your blog. Had I taken 30 seconds to do that, I would have seen right there in your profile, at the top of the page, that you welcome pitches.”
3. “What topics are your readers interested in?”
What that really says: “Spoon-feed me.”
Read my blog. Read my blog. Read my blog.
Then—and only then—pitch.
Tools That Can Help You:
A Simple 5-Part Formula for Delivering the Perfect Media Pitch and Hitting it Out of the Park
On Target Publicity: How to Find, Capture & Convert Your Target Market
I had to chortle at these … they seem so obvious, then I shook my head … they seem so obvious.
I wonder if this stuff is deemed effective from a quantity versus quality POV? If you send out 100 one-size-fits-all query/pitch and get half a dozen semi-positive responses it’s seen as a net gain … and that’s an acceptable lowest common denominator mentality.
The semi-positive responses would most likely come from bloggers who either a) Fill their blog with guest posts or b) Have crappy blogs.
Thanks for your view on this.
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