Get Your Father’s Day on!

If you have a product or service that appeals to dads, now is the time to be pitching like a demon. Long lead magazines are almost done with their Father’s Day stories, but you still have time to get in there with your great pitch. By this I mean, your product or service REALLY is something good for Father’s Day and isn’t a reach. Magazines need your product or service for their gift guides; remember that the June issue of magazines generally hits the stands between May 15-20th, so jump on it!

For regional magazines, blogs and newspapers, you have even more time, so don’t worry; no matter what, you’ll get yourself some press if you’ve crafted great materials and a fabulous pitch.

Good luck!

Yes, he's pretty suave*

It’s important to find a way to speak to your audience/customers/clients in such a way that they can hear you and get what you’re saying.

Each of us has our own authentic voice; you’ll notice that when you’re telling a great story in which you’re totally involved, your listeners are also fully engaged; they are responding to your passion and enthusiasm for the subject, as well as to the actual way you speak and the words you use.

When you talk about your business, product or service, it’s important to find a way to speak about it in your own voice, not just the industry-speak. This is the voice of you and your brand; it’s the YOU that makes it different from others in your field or market. Just because some people in your industry describe something in a particular way, it doesn’t mean that that’s the only way to talk about that thing – you may have a slant or perspective on it that others don’t; it’s good to find those points of differentiation.

This is on my mind because at the moment, I’m doing a lot of writing for a new client. I’ve had to think a lot about their target audience, of course, but I’ve also had to think about them and how they think and speak about their product. You may be walking a fine line between speaking to your spot-on target audience, speaking to as many people as possible, or finding the lowest possible common denominator that might appeal to an even bigger audience; you need to make a decision about who you’re actually trying to reach.

Your language, idioms and references help your core audience feel comfortable with you. If you have a product that appeals to a higher-end, higher-educated audience, I think it’s important to use language that appeals to this group, without being 100% inaccessible to the rest of the world. So bust out your big vocabulary if it’s applicable. If you have a product for teenagers, you need to speak in a voice that appeals to them; it’s a good idea to know your market and know their cultural references – you may think George Clooney is the epitome of suavity, but to a 13 year old, he’s older than their dad (gulp!). And when pitching to women, a lot of people (read: men) think you need to use “girly” language, when actually, it’s important to talk to women the way you actually talk to women – the way you do when you’re engaged in the subject and are excited to tell them all about it; use those words and that voice – that’s the real you.

To reiterate, I don’t believe in dumbing down your language to a 3rd grade level; people are smarter than you think, and no one appreciates being talked down to – man, woman or child. So think about your target audience; talk directly to them as if you’re talking to a friend. Be clear, be engaging and most of all, be YOU.

* Sorry – don't have the credit for this image

No, not this kind of pitching, but you gotta love Mariano Duncan! *

We had a fabulous Bonus “Ask Lizzy” call today with Beauty blogger extraordinaire Lianne Farbes, the founder of www.themakeupgirl.net. Lianne is also an expert at throwing live Twitter events that help to radically increase one’s Twitter reach and following.

Today, we talked about Lianne’s tips for effectively pitching to bloggers. She emphasized building good relationships – do your research; address the pitch to the right person; personalize it; make sure you check your emails before sending them out so that they have the right name, right details, right blog or publication, etc.  She gave examples of what to do and what not to do.  Lianne also addressed when to send samples, how to “vet” a blogger, how and when to follow up (the difference between persistence and stalking) and much, much more.

We also talked about Twitter events – what they are, how they can help you and also some of the ins and outs of creating a Twitter event (Lianne’s own Cocktails & Couture live event is in New York on February 11).

We had great questions from the listeners, covering such diverse topics as what kind of products can be pitched to a Beauty blogger, how to pitch an existing skin care line (that doesn’t have new products to introduce); how to tie your pitches to holidays or current events to make them topical and much, much more.

You can listen to the recording HERE.

Lianne was so generous as to create two info docs for “Ask Lizzy” listeners and fans. You can read them here, or download the PDFs if you prefer.

Lianne Farbes’ 14 Tips for Pitching to Bloggers:

1.    Comment First Pitch Later – Be genuine in these interactions, add value to the conversation happening on the blog and show that you’re not just there to ‘take’ but to ‘give’. If a blogger has a genuine connection with you they are much more willing to respond positively to you than if you approach them cold. The longer you interact with them the better. Networking is a great way to accomplish this.

2.    Personalize it – Nothing is a bigger turn off to most bloggers than an auto generated email (or one that lacks any personal touches). Use their name, mention their blog, show that you’re not sending out an email to thousands of people but are talking directly to them.

3.    Get The Details Right – Another turn off for bloggers is being pitched to by someone who gets the personal details wrong. I’ve been on the end of many of these – where the person pitching the idea has gone to the trouble of copying and pasting unique details into an email – only to forget to change a detail from the last email on some important part – like my name. OR the email will start out like this, [Insert Blogger Name Here] and even paragraphs at the beginning that say things like “make sure you compliment the blogger on her site, say something nice”. Getting the person’s name and URL spelling right is a basic. I have received packages meant for other bloggers as well as emails addressed “Hey Felicia”

4.    Show You Know Who They Are – To touch on that last point, mention something that they’ve recently written, compliment them on something unique to them, ask them a question that shows you’ve dug a little deeper than finding their name and email address on a list in preparing your pitch.

5.    Introduce Yourself  - This might sound very basic – but I’m amazed by the ‘out of the blue’ nature of many pitches.  Take the time to get to know who you are pitching.  If you have met them before, consider reminding people who you are and how you’ve interacted with them before if you’ve had contact with them previously. They may remember – but they may not.  Also use clever subject lines if you want me to open your email.  I get hundreds of emails per day – so make yours stand out any way you can.

6.    Images & Press Releases – If you are doing a mailing – the preferable way to receive press info is a thumb drive.  If I get a paper press release from you and then have to ask again for low-res images that’s a waste of time and resources because the paper ones are just going to get recycled anyway.

7.    Please Don’t Pitch Me a “Partnership” if There Is None – I can’t count how many times I have been pitched an “exclusive partnership” that involved me doing a bunch of work for nothing in return.  I will not place a link on my blog for nothing – that’s called advertising.

8.    Research Your Question – Many of the questions that people ask bloggers could be answered by simply taking a moment or two to look around their blog. Look on their about page – see if they have a FAQ page and do a search of their blog to see if they’ve written on the topic that your question is on. Similarly – if you’re pitching a story idea – check to see that they haven’t already written about it by scanning their archives.

9.    Don’t Stalk – Obsessively emailing a person multiple times in a short period of time to ask question after question doesn’t tend to go over well. If you think you’ll have multiple things to ask – hold off on sending an email until you have them all in the one place, then send one email with bullet points.

10.    Be Persistent – On the flip side of the obsessive stalking is the pitcher who gives up too quickly. Don’t be afraid to send a reminder email asking nicely if they got your first one. I don’t mind getting these myself as I do find it difficult to respond to everyone on the first try.

11.    Keep On Topic – If you’re pitching story ideas you can do yourself a lot of damage by pitching irrelevant stories to bloggers. If their blog is about makeup, don’t send them information on sunglasses.

12.    Vet Bloggers Before Sending Product – Protect yourself.  Check out the blogger before you blindly send product.  Many but not all bloggers are in it just for the free product.  Do your homework and check their traffic, Twitter, Klout score, Facebook Fan network, and how their readers react/relate to them.  Most times, I prefer sample sizes unless it is skincare which I like to test for a longer period of time.

13.    Offer an Exclusive – Bloggers love to break stories. It helps them build traffic, establish credibility and profile and gives them the perception of being more connected in their niche. Offering some sort of exclusive angle on a story, access to interview a key person or even given them the exclusive rights to be first with a story is something that might help you get your story featured on a blog. A quick warning though – if you tell someone that they have an exclusive but end up offering it to numerous others you could end up doing more harm than good.

14.    Build Relationships – Interact with bloggers.  I have built some amazing relationships over the years with PR Reps. I support their products and releases because they work well with me.  I go out of my way to make appointments to see them and find out what the latest offerings are.

You can download the PDF HERE

Lianne Farbes’ 10 Tips for Having a Successful Twitter Event:

So you want to have a tweet-up huh? Tweetups are serious business these days and a fantastic way to build your brand and gain loyal followers in the process.  I have organized and executed my event Cocktails & Couture for the past 5 seasons at New York Fashion Week.  Here are my top ten tips for a successful, stress free event!

•     Tweet Tweet Once your locations and sponsors are confirmed, promote your tweet-up through your social channels.  Get the word out so you can have a good turnout!

•     Location…Location Depending on the size of your event, you may need different types of locations.  Always try and barter for the location in exchange for promotion.  Remember, you are bringing them business.

•     Sponsors If you aren’t good at sales, get good at it. If you want sponsors for your event you have to convince the sponsors that it will give them a good ROI (return on investment) so that they feel comfortable giving you their money.

•     Food + Drinks This also depends on location and what type of party you are having.  If it is a private event then you can get a cocktail sponsor and then use your sponsor $ to get a caterer for nibbles.  If you are just having an event at a bar/lounge you may be able to negotiate reduced rates on bar items in exchange for logo placement.

•     Step + Repeat Red Carpet Runway has great deals on packages for a party backdrop.  Put your logo, the logo of the venue and any high dollar sponsors on it.

•     Photographer You will need photos of your event – hit up sites like Craigslist OR the job boards at local art schools.  Great ways to get quality photos of your event for low $ (make sure you look at their photos or ask if they have a website before you hire them!)

•     Raffles Some sponsors may want to donate items in lieu of sponsorship if you have a raffle.  Raffles are a fun way to get partygoers exited about the event.

•     Invites Hit up a student graphic artist or if you know photoshop – save your self some money and make your own.  Or you can use sites like www.pingg.com and www.paperlesspost.com to create invites.

•     Management If you are using an invite that you have created, you can use a management site like www.evite.com to keep track of RSVP’s and upload a mailing list.  They even have a feature that you can download a guest list for the door.

•      Have Fun No event is any fun if the host is frazzled, remember to smile and have fun with your guests.  Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, eat something and keep the drinks to a minimum so you can be alert if any issues arise.

You can download the PDF HERE

* Future Hall of Famer and current NY Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera is truly the greatest relief pitcher of all time. He is (as of this writing) a 12-time All-Star; he is MLB’s all-time leader in saves (603) and games finished (883); he is a five-time World Series Champion. During his illustrious career, he has garnered 5 AL Rolaids Relief Man Awards, the 1999 World Series MVP Award and the 2003 AL Championship Series MVP Award. His list of records is so long, it can’t be contained here. Check the Wikipedia page and be astonished. He is still playing for the Yankees and is a god of baseball.

Give it a Rest!

It’s a good idea to know when to NOT promote yourself or your business.

If you are being interviewed by a journalist or editor, keep in mind that the interview itself is promoting your brand – there’s no need to keep saying “my (product) does this…” or “my (service) does that” every answer or every few minutes. The interviewer really does know that you want to promote yourself; let the journalist’s questions naturally evoke the things people need to know about you.

And also remember that most of the time, there will be contact information included about you – whether it be a link, a print URL or phone number, or a verbal mention. Your interviewer will do their best to get your info out into the world.

Waiting…Waiting…

If, after receiving a press release, a pitch, or finding you on their own, a journalist contacts you – please respond right away. There is no waiting game here; journalists are on a deadline, so 99% of the time, they need your response NOW. In these days of 24/7 connectedness, if you’re not available to answer a question, send an image or a sample, give a comment or whatever it is they need, they will go on to the next-most-interesting person, product or business.

Your PR success depends on your ability to respond in a timely manner, and journalists may use a variety of ways to contact you. So, make time to check those emails & texts and listen to your messages; we want you to get that piece of press!

Here we are in the middle of the Holiday season. This is a great time to think about letting people know that you love them, their business, product or service.

Sometimes it’s good to cast your bread upon the waters; you never know what will come back your way. We all like to help people who have helped us; it’s just human nature. And if someone has been nice and helpful to us in terms of spreading the word about our businesses, it’s only natural that we’d return the favor.

As you know, I am a publicist, so it is my job to mention my clients whenever and wherever possible. That said, I will only represent people whose product or service knocks me out; that way, I get to feel like I’m doing the world a favor letting them know about whatever it is; I promise it is always something fabulous. So I feel like I am coming from a great place when I post, tweet or blog about my clients.

When spreading the love for the rest of the “world”, I will say here – I think intentions are important. When I post, tweet or blog about a non-client – a person, product, service, place, food, article, etc. that I’ve come across and want to tell people about, my true intention is to spread the word about something I like or love or feel will be of interest/service to my peeps; I am not looking or asking for reciprocity.

If you spread the word about someone only because you are hoping that they’ll return the favor, well, I think that’s not a good intention and I do think it somehow comes through in what you’re saying; it doesn’t feel like a genuine recommendation – and probably won’t do much for you or the person you’re mentioning.

So open your heart, consider who you think is fab and let’s get proactive at this holiday time of love and sharing. Let’s make your love list:

• First, make a list of your biz pals who make a product or service that you like, or, even better, actually use.

• Then make a list of peeps you don’t know, whose product or service you like or use.

• Then make a list of peeps whose businesses, products or services align with yours, or seem like natural extensions of what you’re doing – these peeps will be of extra interest to your followers, likers or subscribers.

Now – share the love. Plan out tweets and posts and start getting the word out to your friends, likers and followers. If you’re a blogger, this is a great time to creatively and organically fit links to your faves into your blog posts. But really keep in mind that you’re doing this to spread the love, not for some specific reciprocity. Spreading the love is always good, and I promise it will come back to you in often-surprising ways.

Happy Holidays to you!

Ask for Testimonials

Testimonials are a fabulous way to build trust in your brand – which is a main object of PR. Your satisfied clients and customers are one of your best assets – so use them! Testimonials can be used on your website and in your collateral materials.

So – while your peeps are in the Holiday spirit, this is a great time to send them your season’s greetings and ask them to write short, to-the-point testimonials about your product, business or service – don’t forget to ask them for a photo, too; they’ll see that they get some exposure in return for their kind words.

It’s a win-win for both of you!

Hey, if you've got the wall space…

The “quiet” time as the year draws to a close is a great time to look ahead and start getting organized for your PR push into the new year. You want to be able to hit 2012 like a tidal wave!

A great way to do this is by calendaring out the 2012 pitch year:

Make a 12 month calendar on 1 page (this is a visual aid so you can “see” your whole year ahead); you can find great calendars online – iCal and Google Calendars are great; there are many more, of course.

Make sure each month block has room for 5-10 pitch ideas.

Now, consider your target media’s lead times:

Magazines (national/glossy) – 4-6 months

Magazines (local) 2-4 months

Newspapers 1-2 weeks (unless breaking news)

TV news 2-7 days (unless breaking news)

Blogs/online 2 days-3 weeks

Radio 1-2 weeks.

An exception to keep in mind is that most media outlets start compiling for Holiday Gift Guides as early as end of May or beginning of June – even shorter-lead magazines and papers; so it’s a good idea to calendar inquiries for mid-May; ask your outlets when they are actually starting to compile for their Holiday pitches.

So backing into the correct dates, enter your pitch ideas so that you’re ready to pitch when your outlets are ready to listen. Once you’ve made your reference calendar, you can schedule everything into your actual calendar and you will be organized and ready to go.

Now get to work on those fabulous pitches!

Inform Your Industry

When something great happens for your and/or your company, don’t forget to let your industry know about it.

If your field has a trade publication (or several), make sure they know that Bloomingdales ordered for all stores, that you just opened a new store, hired a new CEO or that you were named as “Realtor of the Year”.

And don’t neglect any trade organizations or associations to which you belong; they like to hear what their members are doing – it gives them something to report in newsletters or blog posts – all of which are searched by Google, etc., so that translates to more press for you.