At some time or another you will get PR pitches that are either poorly written, not a good fit for your site, or something you aren’t interested in promoting. It is easy to hit the delete button and move on. But, I have found that many times the person who sent the pitch represents numerous companies. Rather than delete, I send a polite email declining the pitch.
Dear PR Professional:
Thank you so much for considering me for this opportunity. Unfortunately, I don’t feel like it is a good fit for my site. Please feel free to contact me if you have another opportunity that may be a better fit. Topics that are a good fit for my site are (insert blog topics here). I have attached a copy of my review and giveaway policy for future reference.
Sincerely,
Suzy Blogger
or
Dear PR Professional:
Thank you so much for considering me for this opportunity. Unfortunately, my blogging schedule is full for the next few months. Please feel free to contact me if you have another opportunity at a later date. I have attached a copy of my review and giveaway policy for future reference.
Sincerely,
Suzy Blogger
I use a form letter and store it in drafts. It only takes a few seconds to respond and you never know what doors can be opened by a short polite response. Some of my best blogging opportunities came because I declined something first. Unless you are getting 100′s of pitches a day, spending a few minutes returning these emails can really pay off.
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Thanks for the form letter idea too!
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Great suggestions!
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What bothers me most about PR pitches and press releases is that I feel a lot of these companies are trying to take bloggers for a ride. In other words, they are trying to obtain free advertising for their clients. So a lot of times I struggle in responding to pitches. I feel that IF they are a reasonable fit they should offer to pay! After all, I’ve worked hard to build a community on my site…why should I become a free billboard for these companies?
I recently responded to a PR company that wanted me to post about their event saying that I would do a sponsored post for them or sell them a button on my blog. Guess what? They wrote me back saying they didn’t have any money for advertising. BINGO! So their marketing strategy was obviously to target bloggers for free advertising. This trend bothers me. A lot.
I hope SavvyBlogging will continue to discuss these sort of topics. I think more can be said about relationships bloggers have with PR firms. And I’d love to see folks from PR agencies weigh in too.
Thanks.
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I too would love to see tips on what to include in your review/giveaway policy as well as tips for preparing a media kit.
Crystal
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I just did this post http://katsdailyinspiration.blogspot.com/2010/07/special-moment-recognition.html after a few emails back and forth.
After I had posted it, I emailed her back with the link and said that I hope to be able to do more for them.
You just never know where your opportunities will come from.
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But you’re right — you don’t know where opportunities will go. I won’t work for free for them, but I should respond back to each and every one of them. Some of the advertising I’ve been offered, or paid trips, have been after a relationship was established with a media group.
Thanks again!
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