Pitch Your Thing To Journalists – PR 101

First rule of thumb: Say what you do and why you are pitching between the subject line and first (short) paragraph, in the most simple way possible. If you are worried you won't get a reply after that first paragraph you should likely rethink pitching at all.

Nail the first paragraph by keeping it simple (journalists REALLY appreciate this, meaning your entire email is more likely to be read), then provide any supplemental content in the following paragraphs.

Also, don't worry about getting every detail in the initial pitch. If the journalist is interested there will be plenty of time in the follow-up.

-Your thing likely does not require a press release so skip the articles that try to teach you the 'perfect' press release. Reporters, in my experience, don't give much of a rat's bum about them.

It's business execs who think a press release is the end-all, be-all for media relations and that miraculously, reporters will see your press release somewhere and your phones will be ringing off the hook. In my relatively short (5+ years) PR career, the number of times that has happened is exactly 0.

Instead, focus on crafting a perfect 2-3 paragraph pitch and fine-tuning a list of reporters who cover your thing. The most important thing when crafting this perfect pitch is editing, in case you couldn't tell that that was a recurring theme in the better articles.

-Some of these posts are really good and some are totally bogus. Don't take any advice from the ones that are from people whose method has a name. Your product is unique and so should your approach to announcing it to the press; don't apply some cookie-cutter formula.

Also, eschew the ones that recommend you subscribe to an expensive media contacts database like Burrells or Cision. Those things cost upward of $1,000/year and contain information that, with some reasonable Googling skills, you can find online gratis. Yes, they'll make your life easier but if you're a startup you're likely better off dropping the cash elsewhere.

-One thing none of these seem to address is: you got Johnny Cakes from ZOMGTechBlog to agree to speak to you or your spokesperson about your widget. Now what? How do you make sure you don't stick your foot in your mouth?

-IMHO these are the better ones: Cheat Sheet, DailyNewArticle.com, Top Story PR, PRtini (for as much as I hate the name), Jason Baptiste's, VentureBeat and PRDaily.

Hope that helps!

Grammar errors really stand out at font-size: 20px :)

EDIT: It's fixed now.

Everything you say to a journalist is, by default, publishable. Stuff that is in a normal context clearly meant to be kept private is not private. The journalist will publish it if there's a good story.

So don't make lame jokes, they will be published. Don't waffle, it will be published. Before you talk to a journalist, know what you intend to say and say it. There's no obligation on you to do any more than that.