How To Pitch Me

Are you trying to sell me something?

How to pitch me: Notes and advice for publicists, marketers, and advertising salespeople

(Please read this page before you contact me.)

How to pitch me:

I'm a self-employed freelancer and self-publisher (as well as having my books published by a major travel publisher). I try to make myself accessible, and I'm always happy to hear from fellow travellers and fellow journalists. Feel free to call me if you're if you are a traveller who wants advice; if you are a journalist looking for expert comment for a story of your own; or if you are interested in hiring me as a consultant, having me speak at your event, or having me appear as a guest on your talk show.

I get a lot of useful information from publicists and marketers. But I also get a lot of sales and public relations pitches, including cold calls. And if I gave them all as much time as they want, I'd never get anything written. Unnecessary commercial interruptions are extremely costly, especially when I'm trying to write and it takes time to recover my concentration. If I were making more money, I could afford to hire an assistant to filter the calls and e-mail, but I'm not and I can't.

I read all the e-mail sent to the e-mail address on this Web site, and the phone number on this site is my mobile/cell phone number. Here are some suggestions and tips that will save us both time. Please read these before you send me a press release, call me to pitch a story, or put me on your press list:

Don't:

Don't call unless you already have an established relationship with me, or unless it's about something genuinely urgent that you are confident I will want to talk about. E-mail first. Sometimes I'm out of e-mail and/or phone contact for as much as a week or two at a time when I'm travelling overseas, and e-mail isn't always reliable, so it's OK to follow up with a brief phone call if you don't get a response to your e-mail within a few days. But don't be put off if the answer is, "Yes, I got your e-mail. Thank you. Good-bye." That might mean I'm working on it (and may or may not call you later, at a time of my convenience), that I found it interesting and have filed it for future reference (but not for anything I'm currently writing), or that I vaguely remember getting such a pitch but that it was of no conceivable interest, and I deleted it. For non-urgent matters, snail-mail is OK, but avoid thick press packets or anything too large to fit through the mail slot in my door. Few things you can do will create a more enduring bad impression than making me go down to the post office to collect an oversized mailing -- especially if it's just elaborate packaging for a press release that, it turns out, I'm not interested in. Save a tree, and save our time. E-mail first.
Don't expect me to remember you. Sorry, but I get far too many pitches for that. "Hi, I'm the publicist for (client company) calling to follow up on a press release that was e-mailed to you for (product or service)" is more likely to jog my memory than "Hi, this is (name) from (name of p.r. agency). Did you get my e-mail" ("I don't know. Who was it for? What was it about?")
Don't be afraid to seem brusque, and don't be offended if I seem so. You're busy. I'm busy. I may be paying international roaming charges to receive your call, or have only a limited amount of time available to make my VOIP calls at a cybercafe. Get to the point, promptly.
Don't send attachments or HTML-mail. If you've got something to say, say it in ASCII, in the body of your message. I read e-mail on a variety of devices, and display only the text version of multi-part messages. I'm sometimes in places with slow and/or expensive connectivity. Unsolicited attachments are a security vulnerability and will either be ignored (I might not notice that they even exist) or the messages containing them will be deleted unread. The most counterproductive common thing you can do is to attach an MS-Word document when all it contains is the text of a press release.
Don't assume that I or my readers all use Windows or MS-Office. The most common single type of computer carried by independent international travellers is currently an Asus EEE-PC running Linux. I use Pegasus Mail, not MS-Outlook. I do have a Windows computer for use in testing services, software, and Web sites that are so poorly designed that they require Windows, but I use it as little as possible. I do have MSIE installed, but I'm even more loathe to use it because of its built-in insecurity. I don't have (or want) a license for MS-Office, and I don't use or recommend using bootleg software. Your product, service, software or Web site is much more likely to be useful to me and my readers if we can use it with any browser, office suite, or operating system, on any device of our choice -- regardless of where we are or what tools we have available.
Don't tease me. Instead of, "I want to talk to you about a great new product we're about to announce," just say, "We're about to announce (brief product description -- one sentence or paragraph). E-mail or call if you'd like me to send more information, or if you have questions." If you want to send me an embargoed press release or background information, let me know in general summary what it's about, and ask first.
Don't treat me like your employee, contractor, or marketing department. If you want to hire me as a consultant, make me an offer. Otherwise, I don't work for you. My readers don't buy my books or visit this Web site to see your press releases or advertisements. I might write about you, your client, or a product or service, if I think there is a reason to do so, but I will write and publish my story, not your press release.
Don't assume that you know better than me what will interest my readers. I'm in charge here. You're not my editor. You may actually understand my readers, but most of the p.r. pitches I get are from people who obviously don't have a clue what would interest my readers. Instead of, "I've got some news I'm sure will interest your readers," just tell me what your "news" is and let me make the call.
Don't expect me to write my story with the spin you want. There's a good chance that if your pitch interests me, it will be for some reason or from some angle other than the "story" you are pitching. You are unlikely to "sell me on a story". Don't be surprised if, when you tell me about a product or service, I have questions about some aspect of it that isn't in your latest press release. If the only information you have about your client is what's in the press release you already sent me, it's probably a waste of both our time for you to do anything more than e-mail me that release.
Don't expect me to take what you say for granted. I'll believe it when I see it, touch it, or try it for myself, or when I can confirm it independently. I'm a journalist. It's my job to be skeptical, and to verify what any single source claims. Don't take it personally -- that's the way I am with everyone. That's my job.
Don't be offended if I'm not interested, or ask critical questions. I'm just doing my job. I'll try not to be offended that you've interrupted me (briefly) to confirm that I got your e-mail, if it seems like you made a reasonable effort to figure out whether it might interest me before you sent it. Deal?
Don't put me on a list without asking. If you have, for example, an array of pitch lists, tell me what they are and let me choose which, if any, I might want to be on.
Don't contact me through Twitter if you want to send a private message, or receive a private response (or any response). That's like spray-painting a message on my door, or posting it on a bulletin board in the town square, instead of putting an envelope through my mail slot. I use Twitter as a way to broadcast items of general interest that are too short to warrant an article in my blog, not as a substitute for e-mail or the telephone for private messaging.
Don't program your fax to call my voice line. I don't have a fax number.
Don't post a comment in my blog as a way to send me a private message or advertise yourself, your company, or your client. I moderate comments from new commenters, and p.r. spam and pitches will be deleted. You are walking a fine line if you post a comment about a product or service you think is genuinely relevant and likely to be of interest to my readers. I'll make the call. I'm much more likely to approve such a comment if your relationship to whatever you are touting is explicitly disclosed.
Don't try to control my schedule. Many things only become worthy of news or commentary in light of much later events. I may use something from an interview or news release in an article, or an updated edition of a book, months or years later.
Don't ask questions if you aren't prepared to listen to the answers.

Do:

Let me know about things that interest you and might interest me and my readers, even peripherally. I welcome story ideas, tips, and information. I have wide-ranging interests. I often find interesting bits of information buried in stories and press releases about other topics. Often what you have to say will be interesting or useful to me only in conjunction with something I learned from a completely different source. I love to hear from whistleblowers, leakers, and insiders. I prefer identifiable sources and am unlikely to rely on unverifiable information, but if you have reasons not to want to be identified, feel free to contact me anonymously or to ask that I not cite you as a source or not identify you publicly. I can't guarantee that your enemies, or mine, won't figure out who you are, but if I promise not to deliberately reveal your identity, I'll do my best to keep that promise, even under duress.
Read what I write before you send me a press release or pitch. Try to figure out who my readers are. If you aren't sure, ask. Rather than an endless succession of unwanted pitches that waste both our time, I'd much rather get one message from a new publicist saying, "I'm putting together (or I've inherited) a list of travel journalists. I've looked at your Web site, but I'm not sure what types of stories would interest you. [Hint: the subjects on my home page, the tables of contents of my books, and the category labels in my blog are good places to start.] Could you send me a message back, or call me briefly at your convenience, to let me know how we could best work with you?"
Keep in mind that I have readers all over the world, and regularly get press releases from companies all over the world. I hate struggling to find the clues in a release that tell me in what city or country a property or event is located (no, I don't take for granted that everything worth reporting happens in New York, or London, or San Francisco, or wherever you think is the hub of the universe), in what currency (U.S. dollars? Canadian dollars? Singapore dollars?) prices are stated, or in what time zone a contact is located. If you want to reach international travellers, start by internationalizing your press release stylebook. If you need help, I have some suggestions in the "Practicalities" chapter and the resource guide in "The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World".
I have a diverse readership including business travellers, backpackers, travel industry insiders, politicians, regulators, bureaucrats, Eurocrats, and NGO's concerned with travel-related government policies in the USA and around the world. My readers include independent travellers of all ages, budgets, and demographics. If you're trying to sell me on a destination, tell me about services for independent travellers in all budget ranges. How easy is it to get around on your own, and what are the best ways to do so? What sorts of accommodations and other services are available for independent travellers who arrive in the area without reservations? What are the best ways and resources for independent travellers, not on a tour and without a guide or advance reservations, to find accommodations and travel services? How much is it likely to cost? If no prices are mentioned in your press release, I'm likely to assume that my readers can't afford whatever you are promoting. If you only mention package tours, I'm likely to assume that services for independent travellers are lacking (or that you're not likely to be a source for information about them).
If your product or service is only available to citizens or residents of, say, the USA, or of other particular country or countries, say so up front. If you don't say, expect me to ask. I have readers who live in, and have passports from, countries around the world. (I write about the USA, for example, as a destination for visitors from other countries as much as, or more than, as a destination for domestic visitors.) Do you accept credit cards with billing addresses in other countries? Do the forms on your Web site accept telephone numbers, addresses, and zip or postal codes with different formats or numbers of characters than in your own country? Addresses with no zip or postal codes at all? Have you tested them to make sure?
If you are making a claim about a "discount", include the basis of comparison. Is a particular rate at a hotel 50% less than the "rack" rate, or 50% off the mean rate that paying guests actually paid in the same month last year? As I regularly remind my readers, "discount" claims without an explicitly stated basis of comparison are useless at best, misleading at worst, and discredit both you and your client. If I bother to follow up on such a press release at all, I will ask about the basis of comparison. So why not just include it in the first place?
If you are promoting a "free" product or service provided by a for-profit entity, expect me to ask what the provider's revenue and profit model is, and why you think consumers or travellers are better served by this profit model than by a service that they pay for directly. Since you know I'm going to ask anyway, why not just include that information up front?
Be aware that I rarely write about specific deals, destinations, hotels, resorts, tours, concerts, contests, or festivals or events (unless they are really huge -- the Hajj, the World Cup, the Olympics). I am interested in news about them, sometimes as case studies or examples and more often as data points for reporting about trends and patterns. So feel free to send me these news tidbits. But don't expect much obvious, immediate, or specific uptake unless it's a really unusual deal or of particular relevance to my particular readership.
Put the subject of your message in the subject line. Your message is more likely to stand out from the spam if it's identified as a p.r. pitch in the subject line. Put the substance of the announcement or pitch at the top of the message.
Include a URL where I can find additional information if I am interested. If you have something really secret to announce, that isn't yet online, ask me before sending me any attachments. Unsolicited attachments will be deleted unopened.
Tell me why and how -- not just what. My readers want and expect me to explain how things work, the reasons for my conclusions, and what's inside the "black box". Conclusionary statements like, "It's the greatest" or hand-waving about "new and better technology" are unlikely to persuade me and won't give me what I need to justify making recommendations to my readers.
Expect me to test your product, service, or Web site before I write anything about it. I will try, as hard as I can, in the available time and with the available resources, to break it. I will try to find problems with it. Your job is to tell me what's good about it. My job is to evaluate whether those claims are true, and to find out what's wrong with it as well as what's right. My readers rely on my expertise at identifying hidden defects. That's why when I do recommend something, they are inclined to trust me. It's a package deal. (If you are lucky, I may also identify applications or advantages that you hadn't thought of.) I will also ask you, "What are the competitors for this product or service? What are the most significant weaknesses or limitations of this product or service, both in isolation and with respect to its competitors?" Be prepared to answer.
If I find problems or defects, be grateful for the free product testing, quality control, and expert advice. The best way to prove that you are sincere in trying to improve your product or service is if I hear directly from the people making changes in response to my criticism, and if you (or they) follow up later when there is an improved version.
If I tell you I don't think my readers are likely to be interested, be grateful for my donation to your market research of the time I spent evaluating your pitch.
Be prepared for hard questions. That's my job, and that's what my readers expect and count on me to do. I'm an investigative journalist and consumer advocate. If that's not who you want to talk to, don't call me.
If you're an outside publicist or with an outside public relations agency, expect me to want to talk directly to your client. I am extremely unlikely to trust a company enough to want to say anything favorable about them in print if they are unwilling to have any of their staff talk to me directly. If they are only willing to deal with me through a publicist or p.r. agency, it raises red flags: "What are they afraid of? What are they hiding?" Once you've gotten me interested in talking to your client, you've done your job. Put me in touch with your client directly, then get out of the way.
Expect me to want to talk to engineers and/or operations or product managers, not just flacks. I'm a technical person and an industry insider, as are many of my most faithful readers. Even my non-technical readers are interested in knowing how the inner working of products, services, and the travel industry affect their travel experience. Expect technical questions. If you don't know the product or service inside out, be prepared to put me in touch directly with someone who is. If they aren't going to be willing to talk to me, you're probably wasting both of our time with the initial pitch.
Expect me to put you in my "kill file" or e-mail blacklist if you say, "Do you have any questions about (product or service)?", I say, "Yes, (question)", and then I never hear back from you or your client or you only repeat the same statement that was in the press release you already sent me, and that prompted my question.
Let me know what you think of what I write (including but not limited to what I write or don't write about you or your clients -- or their competitors). I welcome feedback, especially constructive criticism.

Guest bloggers:

I occasionally publish contributions by guest bloggers. To date, I haven't been able to pay for guest blog entries, but I'll give you credit with a link, and ask only for nonexclusive rights.

If you're interested, send me a brief pitch summarizing what you'd like to write about, preferably with a link to your own blog or some other sample of your writing. I'm especially interested in guest columns by experts (guidebook authors, people who are from or live in or have travelled extensively in the destination, etc.) on independent travel to destinations to be visited in upcoming episodes of The Amazing Race. There are usually spoilers of most of the route as the race is being filmed, one to six months before each season is broadcast. If you are an independent expert on the destination of an upcoming episode, contact me as far in advance as possible (although a guest column may be possible even at the last minute).

If you want pay me to run your content as a "guest" blog entry, forget it. I don't accept advertorials, infomercials, or "paid content", except in the form of clearly identifiable advertising. To the extent possible for a one-person operation where the writer/editor is also the advertising salesperson, I maintain a separation of advertising and editorial content.

Advertising sales

Yes, I accept some advertising on this Web site. You can see that, so you don't need to ask. I don't accept any ads for unknown advertisers or without reviewing them individually in advance. I don't have a standard ad rate -- it depends on the ad, the placement, the payment scheme, etc. Make me an offer. Don't waste my time and yours asking if I accept ads without making a firm offer with the ad and the price.

Send me a copy of the ad, or a pointer to the URL where I can see it, with a message like this: "I would like to place the ad (attached) (at URL) for (client) for (product or service) on your page (URL) (run of site?) (page placement?) for (time period?) (open run?). I will pay (US$___) (___% of sale) (per impression) (per click) (per action)."

If you are offering an affiliate relationship, don't beat around the bush: "I would like to offer you an affiliation with (vendor, product, or service). We pay (explanation or URL with compensation scheme). You can sign up at (URL)."

Vague ad sales or affiliate enquiries without this information will be ignored -- I can't afford the time to worry about them.

All ads or affiliate links will be fully disclosed, and I'm likely to be suspicious of advertisers who don't require that their advertisements, product placements, paid content, or affiliate links be fully disclosed.

Link exchanges:

I don't "exchange links" with anyone. Don't bother to ask. If you want to link to my site, link to it. If I want to link to your site, I'll link to it, to the specific URL and in the specific manner I choose. If you've got a site you think might interest me and/or my readers, tell me about it and tell me why I might want to link to it. (Not why you want me to do so, but why you think I might want to do so.) I link to another site only if I think my readers might find the link interesting or useful, or if it's a paid or affiliate advertisement link clearly identifiable as such.

Content licensing:

Make me an offer if you'd like to license or syndicate content from this Web site, my e-mail newsletter, or my books. There's no need to ask permission to link to this site (or any other), but it's a kindness to let me know that you've done so. In general, unless you are prepared to pay for a syndication license, the answer to all questions of the form, "May I copy your article from (URL) on my Web site?" is, "No. Link to it instead. That's what links are for, and that way if I update it, visitors to your Web site who follow the link automatically get the updated version." I've had too many problems in the past trying to keep mirror copies of my FAQ's in sync.

Feedback:

Got a problem with this page? Suggestions for how to improve it? Send me an e-mail message. Thanks for your help!

Contact information (after you've finished reading this page)

Copyright © 1991-2010 Edward Hasbrouck, except as noted. Use of any information obtained from this site for the purpose of sending unsolicited bulk e-mail is expressly forbidden, and is a violation of your license to use this copyrighted material.

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