Cristin Mitchell Shares Tips On How To Pitch The Media
This post was originally published on October 27, 2008.
To continue our perfect pitch practice, I asked Cristin Mitchell, my sister AND a former Boston news producer, to share some pitching peeves and positives with us from a pitchee’s perspective. The view is much different on that end.
Heather: Tell us about your background—education and professional experience.
Cristin: I earned my Bachelors Degree in English from Emmanuel College in Boston and my Masters in Broadcast Journalism from Emerson College, also in Boston. I was a Special Projects Writer and Weekend Producer for WLVI-TV for 7 years. I have worked with Fox News Channel and freelanced for CNN and WCVB-TV Boston. (Always the modest one, my sister forgot to tell us that she was also an adjunct professor at Emerson!)
Heather: As a news producer, you received countless pitches. Tell us about the best and the worst.
Cristin: The best pitches are quick, clear and to the point. No legitimate news producer wants to do a commercial for anybody. So, there has to be a hook for your viewer–something that will benefit them, whether it be a product, a book, a study, etc. To use a cliche, viewers want news they can use and producers want to give it to them. A good pitch will often suggest the hook.
A quick example pitch might be:
Money is tight right now for most Americans.
A book out this week will show your viewer how to cut their grocery bill in half. It doesn’t take alot of time, just a little planning. This book will give them a fail safe way to get it done.
We will have the author available for interviews.
With that information, a producer can get the interview with the author, a grocery store willing to let cameras in and a family willing to try out the system. They may find it works, or it may not…either way it is a timely story.
The worst pitch letters are long, wordy and take more than a paragraph to get to the point. I received hundreds that were clearly form letters…and if I’m not interested in reading the information, it’s unlikely I’ll be interested in doing a story.
I think any good pitch should be followed with a phone call-give yourself one more chance to get the info out there. Like everybody, producers are busy, so get to the point.
Heather: What pitching peeves made you trash pitches?
Cristin: The form letters were kind of a peeve…so generic they could have come from your insurance company. Boring.
Heather: What pitching positives made you interested?
Cristin: Again, producers want stories that benefit their viewer. Stories that help the viewer save money, stay healthy, keep their family safe and healthy, teach them something they wouldn’t have known about-whether it be home improvement or protecting their children on the Internet. A good pitch will make that connection for the producer.
Heather: If you would, share some pitching tips that might help mom entrepreneurs.
Cristin: I think that 99.9% of mom entrepreneurs have a product that solved a problem or made life easier for them and their families. It’s likely that thousands of other people have that same problem or want their lives made easier too. That almost gives it a built in viewer benefit. An added bonus is that their stories of getting the product from their mind to the marketplace are always interesting, and often relatable. All of us have said “why didn’t I think of that?” and mom entrepreneurs DID think of that!
Heather: Thanks, Cristin!
I hope you enjoyed the interview with my sister, Cristin Mitchell!
P.S. As I was typing this post, I received a pitch email addressed “Dear Blogger”. I think you can guess where that email ended up. Yup.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Great piece! I like what she said about putting how and why the product would benefit her viewers and getting to that point right away. Thanks for the post! That will be in the forefront of my mind, when I start writing pitches:).
Very helpful indeed. I would enjoy reading more posts from Cristin. We still haven’t figured this pitching thing out. We’re not great about following up with phone calls.
I agree: the pitching thing can be a little tricky sometimes. I have found that I need to be super organized and keep all my pitches in one place, by date, so I can follow up. I did this by creating a new folder within my Email and then sort by date. So far, it’s OK, but if anyone has a better idea, I’m open to it!
I have a question that has really paralyzed me in terms of pitching/pr: Do I send an email, and then follow up the next day? That day? What is too long and what is unrealistically short?
Thanks so much for this blog — I so admire you and all you’ve accomplished!
To anonymous,
I usually like to say something like, “I’ll follow up with you next week.” so they know you’ll be in touch. Most reporters are VERY busy, so giving them a week is usually best. Also, be sure to use a “trackable” method of email, like Constant Contact or “request read receipt”.
Thanks!
Heather
To anonymous,
Forgot to say thanks for the compliments–thank you!
And, you’re welcome for the blog-it is truly my pleasure.
Heather
Hi Cristin! Gosh, talent & intelligence sure runs in the family. Awesome post! Agree with Juggling Act… would like to have Cristin back. PR/pitching is obviously a challenge for many, me included. You guys make a great sister team. =)