The purpose of pitching a story is to get coverage for it. That means that if someone offers to write about the topic you’ve proposed and asks for the product you mentioned or simply for more info, you need to reply to their emails. Not keeping track of who you’ve pitched to is a bad idea in such a case. Especially if instead of following up, you resend the same pitch and fail to reply to the second inquiry.

If you don’t know how to keep track, here’s a simple idea: get a list of names and emails of people to contact. As you send your message to them, mark them in a different color. If they reply and need more info, use a third color. It’s easy and a bit playful. And if you’re good at mixing colors, it looks good too.

Following up is a must. For both those who have shown interest and for those who’ve not replied. Those interested will actually publish after you give them what they need to do so and a friendly reminder with some interesting details might help others decide to publish your story in the end. Continue reading

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The first time you meet a potential client is crucial. If you start on the wrong foot, you’ll never see them again, as they probably have 10 other competitors to choose from. Don’t kid yourself that you’re the only company doing what you do in your area or country. The cruel virtual reality is that in most cases, you’re competing with the world.

With so many opportunities, second chances are a rare commodity in business relationships. So making sure you never hear from them again is rather easy. If the potential client called the meeting, some of these five issues might not be so devastating (maybe they’ll brief you on what they do), but if you asked them to hear you out, take these easy steps and they’ll work hard to forget you ever wasted their time!

Photo credit: Engin Erdogan
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This entry will be part of a series of more, based on bad pitches I experience or hear of. Turning them into tips and tricks will probably help those pitching do a better job in the future.

Some blogs have moved, some are simply abandoned. Whatever the reason, the owners are clearly not interested in writing on them. So pitching to these people would be a waste of time and a full scale proof of lack of research skills or of not paying that much attention.

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Popularity: 18% [?]