But I recently got a pitch I responded positively too from  PR person over at DittoePR. They seem to be a great firm, but I think this practitioner forgot the basics.

She did the pitch right by sending a specific letter targeted to me and for my audience. I responded positively. She followed up with a request for a phone meeting that day, plus additional info. Perfectly done.

But when I said I couldn’t make a meeting that day, it seemed to fall apart.  I offered other days that I could be available, and mentioned today was a good day for me. I didn’t hear back by days end (which was Friday), and moved on to enjoying my life at home.

She did reply, but after ‘regular’ hours on the East coast. But her reply was more of a demand. She gave me a phone number to call on Monday at a specific time. OK, I thought, a little pushy, but I’m open at that time.

So at the designated hour, I called. No answer. I waited a few minutes and called again. Still no answer.  After a third attempt, I sent this woman an email asking what’s up. I got a response a couple of hours later saying that she called off the meeting because I didn’t confirm.

First, she didn’t ask for a confirmation. She just TOLD me to call. Second, hello there? Even if she did ask me to confirm – and I didn’t, isn’t it her job to find out from me?

So why am I telling you this? Partly to vent… but there is another reason:

PR is about building relationships first. That’s why you don’t always NEED a publicist to help you – because if you’re good at the relationship part, the rest will be easier.

Post from: EveryJoe

PR means relationships (AKA how to really tick off a blogger)

Recently, I sent out  a call that I wanted to interview authors and other experts. I was pitched one CEO who I thought would interest all of you, so I agreed to interview him. I was excited because the technology they were using could be very beneficial to all of us. And having the founder/entrepreneur to talk about his startup pains would have been great stuff too.

But the PR person got back to me and said he was out of the office a lot and served up another person for me to interview instead.

Now I’m bummed and feel a bit duped.

Look, I am a publicist so I know you have no control over your client’s schedule. But as a journalist, I can say this is a big faux pas.

In my teleclasses and other presentations, I emphasize that if you send out a release or a pitch make sure you can back it up – and part of that is delivering what you promise.

Post from: EveryJoe

Have I gotten the bait & switch?