I always thought most conversations about what is PR, or what PR should be in the new era of blogs, are missing the point. Yes, bloggers should be researched and understood before being pitched – you should find out what they are interested in and if they even want to hear from PR people.
But here’s the punch line. YOU SHOULD DO THAT FOR ANYONE YOU ‘PITCH.’
Got that?
Not only are the days of generating a list from MediaMap and spamming or dialing away over, it never worked in the first place. Of course we’ve all had our hits from blind dialing or emailing, but those are few and far less than the reporters we’ve pissed off with irrelevant pitches.
I could say that until I’m blue in the face. It’s got me a lot of funny looks from agency types. It’s probably lost me a few job opportunities with agencies who swear by the practice. Which is why it was interesting to read Shel Israel’s account of the same debate playing itself out 25 years ago.
PR people need to be facilitators, not mouth pieces and certainly not gatekeepers in suits and nice dresses.
Well, maybe $3,000 suits. But you get the idea.
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