PR: Pitching TechCrunch, Scoble, and other Influentials

Anyone else notice that advice on PR these days is all starting to echo the same Catch-22: "Have a bunch of users and you'll have no trouble getting great PR!" You might as well say, "Be popular and you'll get more popular!"

While the statements themselves aren't false, they're not very helpful to those of us who have built products and are now trying to get those products in front of people. It would be great if we could get more advice / anecdotes / insight into taking those very first steps. What happened in the moments before the big bang?

What ever happened to the good old fashioned tried and true method of ass kissing?

With all the people that are meant to be innovating, surely someone can come up with something interesting (and different) to grab one of these people's attention for a few moments in their tech-filled, busy schedules.

For example Robert Scoble: I know that he has a mild interest in Astronomy... so I would use information like that as a basis for a unique gift, something that he wouldn't normally expect - but would probably pique his interest.

What's the right phrasing/terminology to make the distinction between the thing you are pitching and who you are pitching to?

I read this and by the first paragraph was wondering why I'd try to convince anyone to invest in or give attention to TechCrunch or Scoble.