Gary Andrews

Following on from my rather lengthy thoughts on best PR / blogging practice, here’s a couple of excellent posts on the subject that should be a must read for any PR bod who’s remotely thinking of getting in touch with bloggers.

First up, Vero has an open letter to all PRs from a blogger’s perspective. And it’s a bit humbling to read, because I’m sure I’ve done a few of the don’ts in my time. But, again, a lot of this stuff isn’t rocket science – it’s just good PR that doesn’t differ wildly from how you’d work with journalists, other than a bit of tweaking and knowing the blogger or blog you’re pitching to.

I’m strongly tempted to print out the post and pin it to the water cooler at work.

Secondly, Catwalk Queen’s Gemma Cartwright follows up Vero’s post with a few of her own experiences and a very thoughtful tone. Again, it’s the kind of thing PR-folk should read and take note, and this paragraph is pins much of the debate spot on:

“By nature, bloggers write opinions, they’re honest and they don’t hold back. The freedom of blogging vs print media is what appealed to me in the first place. I know we’re a bit scary because we won’t pander to people quite so easily. We’re also a bit contradictory. We want to be treated with the same respect as press, but at the same time, we don’t want to be treated like press. We want to be recognised for what we are. A new breed of writers who bring together old skills and new ideas in order to deliver content in a new way.”

And any company that, in the words of Gemma, ‘doesn’t do online’ is on a hiding to nothing. If ignoring a huge swathe of people who are interested in your product is part of your PR strategy, fine. But don’t start complaining when you realise nobody is talking about your product.

Ok, so perhaps that’s a little harsh, but with consumers and audiences increasingly fragmenting and traditional media in the midst of a huge upheaval in working and communicating methods, then traditional companies need to be looking at experimenting (although, in all honesty, this is hardly experimenting) by contacting bloggers or engaging with people who want to talk about their brand.

It’s not scary, it’s not hard, and most people will realise – again, to quote Gemma – that you’re just doing your job. And if you do it well, they’ll respond accordingly.

written by Gary Andrews \\ tags: blogging, Catwalk Queen, Gemma Cartwright, pitching to bloggers, PR, Vero

Closing your eyes and diving into the unknown is a somewhat frightening prospect. It’s a little like how I feel pitching to bloggers.

The lines of communication between traditional media and PR are well established and any combustion is usually smoothed over. With bloggers it’s a bit different. Often there’s no existing relationship, and you have no idea how the blogger will react. Not everybody who blogs will appreciate PR bods butting in on the conversation and they’re under no obligation to write anything about whatever it is you’re pitching. Frankly, most of the time they don’t actually need whatever it is you’re pushing, and can happily carry on their conversation without you.

Worse still, get it wrong and the blogger’s got an immediate platform to (justifiably) complain about your cackhanded methods, which will do nothing for your Google juice. And, if you’re really bad, you could end up on a blacklist.

(And given that there appear to be some people out there who aren’t able to pitch to journalists properly, that’s not an unrealistic scenario.)

It’s understandable than some people in all areas of the media are somewhat cautious, even reluctant at reaching out to bloggers. But it would be a mistake to avoid attempting to make contact with bloggers for fear of getting it wrong. If your content, and pitch, is good enough then hopefully you can work into the start of a good working relationship that can be beneficial to both sides.

Strangely, as I started doing some ‘cold’ pitching to bloggers last week I also got an excellent and unexpected example of a ‘cold’ pitch in my own inbox. An email that contains the phrase “And unfortunately I come with no offers of pies, nor biscuits,” in the opening paragraph will get my attention as it’s clearly that

1. It’s been written by a human.

2. They’ve actually made an effort to read a bit about me.

The pitch, from Hyperlaunch, was concise, explained why I’d been contacted, and was detailed on the product I was being pitched. If I’d received it as a journalist and not a blogger [1] I’d have mentally been sketching out a story or a feature in my head by the final paragraph. That’s a sign of excellent PR, even more so when you consider the product being pitched – music site Muzu – wasn’t something I’d normally have paid much attention to. It was professional, personal and an textbook example, if such a thing is possible, on how to make cold contact.

I’ll come to Muzu in another blog post, mainly because I don’t want to head off on a tangent (chance would be a fine thing).

Now contrast this with the only other two pitches I’ve had directed to me-as-blogger. One was a generic press release which was half interesting but I didn’t have time to write about it and there was no sign anybody had made any effort to engage with me. Frankly, if you’re emailing a blogger who runs a one-man site and blogs under his own name, I don’t think it’s asking too much to at least add a hello.

But it was the second pitch that was a classic example in how not to pitch to a blogger. Not only was it something I wasn’t overly interested in, the pitch (now-deleted) went something along the lines of (and I’m condensing and paraphrasing here): “Hello. You’re a blogger. Here’s something we want you to write about. Because you should be grateful we’re bothering with you, please blog this before next week and let us know when you’ve done this.”

This was followed up 18 hours later with a second email along the lines of: “Hello. You’ve not responded to our email. Please indicate if you’re going to blog about it and if you’re lucky we may send you other stuff that we want you to blog about.”

Ok, so I’m being a bit facetious here. But you get the idea. Needless to say, they got a curt ‘no thank you’.

Based on my own experiences, both as a pitcher and a pitchee, it doesn’t seem rocket science to find the correct way to engage with bloggers. To be honest, it’s no different from cold pitching a journalist, and if you can do that, you’re probably not going to hack off the person you want to engage with.

So, for what it’s worth – and these aren’t exhaustive or necessarily to be applied in every situation – a few tips:

1. Do your research. If you know a bit about the person or blog you’re pitching to it helps. No different from any publication, in that regard.
2. Don’t assume that because they’re bloggers, they’ll gratefully hoover up any old shite. Group blogs especially will probably exercise a fair bit of editorial control. Much like any newsroom.
3. Don’t assume that because they’re bloggers, they’re amateurs. Many bloggers are also journalists, or have some experience in these field. Others blog because they know the topic inside out. Or at least better than you do.
4. Make it relevant. Even if it’s perhaps a bit tenuous, you’ve got to give the blogger a reason why they should be interested in what you’re promoting. Like you would to a journalist.
5. Be prepared for an open and honest response. A lot of blogs will be happy to build links with PRs, but that doesn’t mean to say if they don’t like what you’re offering, they won’t criticise it. Like journalists should do.
6. Don’t get offended by an open and honest response. Because since when has screaming down the phone (or email) at anybody ever achieved anything than making you feel better?
7. Don’t abandon the blogger after they’ve blogged about whatever it is you’re publicising. If they’re favourable to your initial approach, it’s a good opportunity for a long relationship that could be mutually beneficial to both sides. Disappearing after getting what you want leaves the blogger feeling like they’ve just had a less-than-fun one-night stand.
8. Include a note at the end to say that if the pitch isn’t welcome, then you’re sorry and won’t contact the blogger again. It’s just a nice bit of courtesy at the end of an unsolicited pitch.

[1] And there’s no reason why these can’t be one and the same.

written by Gary Andrews \\ tags: blogging, Hyperlaunch, Muzu, PR, PR and blogging

The small spat between Techcrunch and TuneCore has provided a bit of minor entertainment on a slow afternoon, but also acts as a perfect example of getting both initial enquiries and PR strategy a bit on the wonky side.

[For those who don't click the link: Techcrunch intern emails TuneCore press email, gets a slightly curt and defensive email back from TuneCore CEO (Why are you asking? How will this information be used? Who are you? Who funds you?), intern re-emails, gets a bit of a curt reply back].

There’s been a lot of (rather amusing) back and forth in the comment between those who think TuneCore’s CEO committed a howler and those who think the initial Techcrunch query was right to elicit the response it did.

Now the initial query looks harmless enough:

“Hello, I’m currently conducting research for TechCrunch’s company database (CrunchBase.com). Can you give me information on the funding TuneCore has had to date? Can you provide me with the rounds, amounts, dates and investors? Thanks for your help.

Peter”

In honesty, I’ve had a lot vaguer, confusing queries come my way. At least this is pretty easy to understand what they’re after. But if you’re a business and get an approach like this, I could see why you’d be wary, especially if it’s from a webmail account (gmail in this instance). Again, I’ve seen a few similar emails to this in the past which raise a few questions.

So, yes, there’s a web address on there, which helps, but when I was chasing stories or information from people who might not get contacted on a regular basis by the press or I hadn’t spoken to before, then this would all be laid out. And it was largely done by phone and probably still should be, if the person on the other end was contactable or there was a reasonably obvious number.

The web and social media is fantastic for building relationships and developing contacts but sometimes there’s just no substitute for picking up the phone, even if you have to repeat yourself in the email later. At least you get a rapport and can explain yourself and what you need in the first instance.

Now there’s a not unreasonable argument that if you’re a startup you should have heard of TechCrunch, but that’s still an assumption and in journalism and PR you should never assume anything. Just as with PR, the more information you can give, the better the response is likely to be.

But whatever the merits or otherwise of the initial enquiry, it certainly didn’t warrant the response it got. By all means query it but if the email was sent to a press contact address then you’ve got to accept that anything you say could end up in the public domain.

As for the language – fair enough, Jeff Price might not have been too impressed with the initial enquiry (and lord knows I’ve seen enough that make you want to headbutt the desk in sheer frustration) and may have even suspected the email was bogus. But, if it’s come through on the press contact email, as far as you know you’re dealing with the media until proven otherwise.

And, at the end of the day, there’s just no excuse for rudeness. You may think the enquiry isn’t worth your time, you may be in a bad mood, it may have caused you more problems than necessary, but a sarky line will kill any chance of building any future relationship with the organisation. It works on both sides – as a journalist, there were several PR people I’d do my best to avoid because they were more trouble than the story was worth. Similarly, PRs will mentally note any journalist that’s especially difficult to deal with and do the same.

Put simply, even if the person on the other end of the email or phone is making you want to scream, keeping it civil usually pays off in the long term. I’ll never forget the absolutely maddening PR person who rang back a few weeks later with a great lead.

As for setting the press email to send direct to the CEO, that’s just plain daft. Even if you want the CEO to respond to most requests, they’re likely to be a busy person. At the very least somebody should be filtering and responding before it gets there.

The whole Techcrunch post could be printed out and discussed in media training schools across the country, even if it was ultimately a bit unnecessary and achieved nothing bar providing a good giggle for anybody reading it.

As Mark Twain once said, it’s far better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you’re an idiot than to open it and confirm that.

And yes, given that I file anything relating to me under the category idiot, I most definitely would earn the disapproval of Mr. Twain.

written by Gary Andrews \\ tags: journalism, manners, PR, Techcrunch, TuneCore

Very nice piece by Damien McCrystal in the Guardian today. I especially liked this bit:

“Why are people deserting journalism for PR, or going straight into PR from university?

It might be the lure of money, because journalists’ average pay has been in decline in real terms for some time, according to the NUJ. But I don’t think that’s the only reason. Money was certainly a motivator for me, but I would have crossed over anyway to what PRs gleefully refer to as “the dark side”, because PR is more fun than journalism these days, and fun is what we were after (with the exception of a few crusaders) when we became hacks in the first place. It was cool to tell people what you did for a living and see how impressed they were.

It was cool that important grown-ups listened to you and treated your opinions with respect, or at least pretended to. And it was cool to get your own back in print when necessary. It was fun. But where’s the fun in having to produce so much copy that you don’t have the time or budget to meet your contacts? Or in being scared to ask for a pay rise? Or in not being allowed to devote sufficient resources to get your story right?”

Yes. Yes to all. I loved the good bits of journalism but I didn’t enjoy working every hour that god sent, not having the time to follow through a good story and, yes, indulging in Churnalism to make sure there were enough stories for the next day. And pay. Pay is a massive issue with pretty much every single one of my friends who was or still is in journalism.

PR was, to me, never the easy option. Just a different option. And, in my current role, one that allowed me to look at how the internet could be harnessed for all media. The challenges are different, not easier (although having time for lunch is still a novelty). Just as I always had respect for good PR people when I was in journalism (who could be worth their weight in gold at the right time), so I always have respect for good journalists now I’m on the other side of the fence.

Would I ever return to journalism? Possibly. But I like what I do too much to go back at the moment. Anyway, I have this blog and other assorted writings that keep my hand in, and part of my mindset is still set in journalism mode, and I doubt that’ll ever change. That’s probably a good thing.

Besides, both professions are changing because of the web, and that’s the area I want to stay in more than anything else. Ultimately, we’re both storytellers and the way we tell stories is changing. Are you excited about that? I certainly am.

written by Gary Andrews \\ tags: Churnalism, Damien McCrystal, journalism, PR

Sometimes us PR people can cross the line a tad, especially when it comes to pestering journalists for this, that, and t’other. There’s nothing more irritating than having your personal peace and quiet disrupted by a rouge email to your inbox or a phone call to your personal mobile number. An old journalist colleague even had a marketing person ring their land line at all hours trying to push less-than-stellar interviews.

But a ‘cold’ email to the work account? That’s fair enough. I used to get plenty in my inbox when I was a reporter and every now and then a real unsolicited nugget of a press release would crop up. If the PR bod was repeatedly emailing me when it was clear I was the wrong person, they’d get pointed in the right direction.

Now, on the other side of the fence, if I can get to chat to the journalist that I’ve not had contact with before and give them a heads up, brilliant, but sometimes there’s just not the time and a ‘cold’ release has to do. And if I get a request not to email, or to send the release elsewhere, that’s not a problem.

But what to do with bloggers? I’m always of the opinion that if the blog is either good enough or influential enough then I’m happy to treat requests and releases in the same way I would any other journalist or reporter. After all, they’re getting the message out there, which is the key part.

Obviously this is within reason – if a national newspaper or broadcaster needed something, be it a response or clip, asap they’d probably get preference. But then if the blog wanted something quickly and the other requests could wait, they’d go to the top of my intray.

But how to make first contact [1]? Now there’s the rub. If I was rushing to get a release out and wanted to make sure it got to a blog I’d not worked with before then there’s a possibility I may send it to a personal email address by mistake, and incur said blogger’s wrath.

One reason some people I’ve met in both journalism and PR are a bit wary with bloggers is the reaction they may get when they make that first contact, or even second or third contact. If a journalist doesn’t like your release, chances are they’ll hit the delete button and have a few minutes of exchanging cutting remarks with colleagues before getting back to whatever they were doing.

Bloggers will occasionally take that one step further and take that tirade online. Sometimes this is justified if whatever they’ve been sent is utter garbage or completely crosses the line. Other times it can be unfair to the PR bod who’s put in a lot of work only to see it trashed.

Ok, this isn’t that common and a lot of blog editors are happy they’re finally being taken seriously as a medium, and from a personal point of view, it’s incredibly gratifying both from a journalist and PR perspective when your work does get picked up and discussed around the blogosphere. But getting it out there is always tricky.

At the end of the day, contact has to start somewhere and if it isn’t always obvious or clear where to go to, there’s always the risk of winding up in a personal inbox.

As a rule, if I’m contacting a blog for the first time, I’ll make it clear in the opening email that I’m happy to send material to a different address if I have picked up the wrong one by mistake. I’ll also ask them to email back if they don’t want releases full stop, or they do want releases just on topic x and not topic y, and so forth.

A little bit of dialogue can often go a long way, and it’s as much feedback for me as it is for anybody working predominantly online.

[1] So to speak. Bloggers and blog editors aren’t alien lifeforms, although some in the media would have you believe otherwise.

written by Gary Andrews \\ tags: blogging, new media, PR