They keep talking about it.
How to do it.
When to do it.
Who should do it.
If they are doing it right.
I’m going to make this very simple.
I’m not going to mince words.
I am not going to say this again:
Much like in blogging, content is king (or queen). If your content sucks, no one will read you. If the product or service you are pitching me sucks, I’m not talking about it.
Be personal in your approach, be generous with the free shit, even be my friend.
But if the product you are hocking blows-I’m either making fun of it or I am ignoring it.
Even the expensive free stuff won’t help you (see: Johnson and Johnson Camp Baby) and even the continued effort to ‘be my friend’ won’t save you if you
a)suck
or
b)have a sucky product
or
c)try and take me for a sucker with your sucky product and fake friendship.
Let it be known here and now: I am not stupid. Please stop assuming I am.
This is not rocket science. It really is not. I have no idea why this is a huge deal in your life. I have no idea why you keep going over this again and again and again.
Debate for hours on end which is the right way to do it. Debate for months on end if PR needs to change.
I don’t really fucking care.
Successful pitches for ME have done it MY way, not yours and their product or service was actually WORTH talking about.
I may not have the same rules as the blog next door.
I may not even stick to my own rules all the time.
Not fair? Too fucking bad. I am not a traditional business. I am a blogger. I am a blogger with an opinion who knows her mouth and her ‘reach’ and her voice is valuable.
YOU taught me that.
Sucker.
So send me your press releases and send me your products and stick to the old way or stick to the new way.
I don’t really fucking care.
If you suck, I’m not talking about you.
THE END.
*if you continue to need reference on how to do it right, see ‘The Business of Mommyblogging’ or go back to school, because obviously this is all way too complicated for you. Maybe you should think about selling cars instead. Perhaps a nice career in dentistry. Or you really might like working as my bitch. I have an opening if you want to apply.
I hate, hate, HATE that I have to spend half an hour each day moving PR emails to the spam box. Ummm, hello! I’m a blog! What do I need with a hundred press releases over every single little thing.
Please, please… don’t hold back. Tell us how you really feel.
Also, which candidate are you supporting?
🙂
It’s getting worse. Not better. Either there are just more of them off multiplying in some pr college somewhere or they just refuse to listen. they can keep refusing to listen, and I’ll keep throwing their shit in my spam folder.
AMEN!! Good GODS, what do they teach in Public Relations and Marketing school, anyway? If the email starts out “Hi Ms.,” what the hell is that? Take five seconds, click my About tab conveniently located right at the top of the page, and LEARN MY NAME. You know what? If you actually mentioned in your pitch that you knew how many kids I had? I would probably fall all over that shit!
Amazing how this never fails to be true: “Religion is a great force — the only real motive force in the world; but what you fellows dont understand is that you must get at a man through his own religion and not through yours. Instead of facing that fact, you persist in trying to convert all men to your own little sect, so that you can use it against them afterwards.”
Hear hear to both Mr. Shaw and to the Queen. 🙂
I’m not inundated with press releases but get my fair share of pitches. Somewhere along the way I think people were taught the bull in the china shop method of marketing. They seem to think that aggression rules the day. No need to pitch relevant information or actually learn someone’s name. I get emails that call me Mr. which annoys me to no end. My picture and gender are listed everywhere it’s not hard to figure out that I’m female! If everyone just exercised common courtesy (respecting people’s preferences, and time) we would all be better off, but I guest Emily Post is no longer in fashion.
LMAO! You go girl!
I had a flack wish me a happy mother’s day. Yesterday. Maybe she was getting ahead for next year? I too don’t understand why this is so hard for them.
I do wish PR people and bloggers could switch places sometimes… I think both would learn a lot.
This? Was awesome to read.
Thank you!
I am in PR and I thought this was great! Merredith suggested I check you out, now following you on Twitter..your posts are great…
So true. The two that got me in the past week were the one addressed to “Dear Name Not Available” and the one advertising free samples of Clean & Clear so I could have great skin for the prom. Ugh.
Wow, I really could not have said it better myself. Rock on with your bad self!
Great post as usual. Most agencies and marketing companies in my experience have no clue what to do with bloggers and keep making promises to their clients that they have this whole social media thing down. I hope your post resonates with them and maybe they will actually take it to heart. 🙂
Amen. At this point when people try to send me products I just tell them that if they read the “reviews” I’d written they would run and hide.
Recently actually I wrote a scathing review crucifying this marketing email I got about some kids audio tape. A week later I got another email from them reminding me that I should write about them. I’m all “Do you f-cking even *read* my blog? Did you read where I wrote that “I would rather have my eardrums chewed on by wild bears than to have to listen to these hyper-emotional characters. Are they undiagnosed manic depressives? Are they drunk? Emo?”
I’m still getting marketing emails from them.
Hmmm, let me see, are you saying you are tired of this particular meme? lol. Also, I agree with @tabz, it is good to try on the other shoe for awhile. Being a PR blogger, you would be amazed at the really off the wall pitches that I get. It is a good reminder every day. Wait, more like 50 times a day…but who is counting? 😉
So, I’m only wondering this one thing, because I haven’t been blogging that long and maybe I don’t know my way around this place, but am I the only blogger that DOESN’T get hounded by PR folks?
I can’t say much now, because I’m taking a month off to figure out what my blog really wants to be, but I wonder if this is a common problem for bloggers or if it is unique to the very, very top bloggers.
And if it helps, I must say I have been able to avoid this issue altogether by keeping my daily page views to a reasonably low level. 🙂