Know bloggers’ pitching preferences; avoid ‘me too’ emails

Every Publicity Hound needs a media database of journalists, including contact information and pitching preferences.

During my teleseminar series on How to Create a Media Plan, I explained all the details you need to gather, like when they’re on deadline and the time of day or week when they prefer to be contacted.

That list should also include bloggers you want to target. Don’t assume that deadlines for journalists and bloggers are similar. Many bloggers post as soon as they start their day, and sometimes very late at night.

That’s what David Kiley, senior business correspondent at Business Week, mentions in this interview about pitching with with Bulldog Reporter’s Brian Pittman:

“Always help us find a way to move the story forward. For example, I really like it when somebody says, ‘I saw something you blogged on and here’s a detail or fact that wasn’t quite right’ or ‘Here’s an angle you haven’t covered yet.’ If you email someone like me something like that and it’s not too self-serving, chances are that we’ll look at it and end up doing a subsequent post. But we can’t do that when it’s just a ‘me too’ thing.”

The article offers additional tips for working with A-level business journalists like Kiley. You can also read more tips on how to pitch bloggers.