Looking at PitchEngine from Afar

Looking through my Twitter feed I came across a post that turned me on to PitchEngine.com. As someone who works in public affairs and has to pitch traditional media more often than I’d like (rather than helping clients publish themselves), I’m interested in ways that make traditional PR pitching a better process.

PitchEngine is trying to bring together PR pros, brands, and journalists.  The PitchEngine software then allows these groups to build their personal profiles and manage contacts, just like in any other online community.  PitchEngine goes a step further though by simplifying the process of sending the release with various attached media (pics, video, etc.) and has a well-organized, simple interface.

Oh, and the PR pros and brands (not sure about journalists) have to pay a fee for joining and using the services.

Not that there’s anything wrong with a fee based network, I just question PitchEngine’s ability to truly make PR pitching a better process.

I’m quickly finding out in public affairs that the strength of any good pitch has more to do with the story being pitched than any other factor.  In other words, if the story’s good, interesting and timely, it will get play.  Does it help to have relationships with journalists to help get published?  Of course.  But, then again, good relationships don’t guarantee publishing, it just increases the likelihood that your pitch gets read.

That’s why I look at PitchEngine and caution against PR pros looking to sign up and think their pitching will be that much more effective.  The same basics that would make someone successful using PitchEngine makes that PR pro a success without it.  Traits like, telling a good story (even when it’s uninteresting), knowing the audience you’re pitching to and brevity, are still foundational to good pitching.

I think handling media relations is best done through the PR person’s personal contacts and through social media activity.  Using email, Twit pitching, building relationships via Facebook and LinkedIn, and following/commenting on blogs are the right set of tools for an effective PR pro in today’s media environment.

We have the social media tools to allow us to succeed.  We just have to use them well and remember that there are no shortcuts.  It’s an old adage but true.

I’m skeptical of PitchEngine.  If anyone else can prove to me otherwise, I don’t see the benefit in it.

Why Blog in Local Politics?

I was involved in a race for state representative here in suburban Chicago a while back where the campaign was not sold on the merits of starting a blog. If you read my blog, you know which side of the fence I stood on. The other side wasn’t against blogging because they thought blogging didn’t make sense or wasn’t worth it. Rather, those against blogging were more concerned the candidate would not have time to write posts to keep the blog fresh and updated.

For several reasons, I thought they were misguided. In a local race, often information about candidates is hard to come because big city media only pays attention to the largest races and/or national issues. Candidates or elected officials’ websites and their blogs, are the best sources of information in the absence of media coverage.

For a local or state race blogs offer the advantage of:

• sustaining conversation with constituents or voters where paid or earned media offers only one-way communications
• putting the candidate on record on important issues so community members fully know where the candidate stands
• blog posts are shareable, meaning if you are “word of mouth worthy,” your blog visitors are empowered to share what they believe is meaningful with others
• regular blog updates (which don’t have to be long-winded essays) are great tools to build community and sustain momentum in a long campaign

Looking back on my “to blog or not to blog” discussions with members of the this campaign for state office, the argument “not to blog” because the candidate would be too busy, actually presented a huge opportunity for others close to the campaign to fill in. What better way to outreach than to give supporters, volunteers or donors the opportunity to guest blog on a candidate or elected official’s website?