Networking

Journalism by its very nature is a social craft. So use your social network to connect with reporters. In general, reporters are always more responsive when you get introduced to them through someone in your social network. In fact, just the other day, I introduced a friend who works in the financial technology company to my editor via email. The more you network, the stronger your pitching will be and the more success you will likely have. People are more likely to respond or go out of their way for a mutual acquaintance than a stranger.

Grammar

So, now that we've covered the basics, let's move on to grammar. Have you ever read an email from someone and it's littered with grammatical errors? This person may be intelligent, but their misuse of grammar immediately challenges their credibility. This same concept applies to media pitching. There's nothing like an incorrect use of their, they're or there for you to get your email either ignored or deleted.

However, don't worry, I've been there too! My mother and I have had an ongoing grammar war since I could utter the words "mom." She's a teacher and took pleasure in correcting my occasional misuse of words up until my early twenties — and these corrections generally happened in the company of friends and family. Armed with my journalism degree and a persistent attitude, I refined my grammar and I now take pleasure in correcting her rare slip-ups. I would never let my mom know this, but grammar is, and always will be, an area that I have to pay extra attention to — even after being a writer for nearly 15 years. So, I say all that to say, there's hope for you if you struggle too.

When creating any media pitch, always follow the Associated Press Stylebook. If you don't already have an AP Stylebook, buy one today. Literally. Do it today, I'm not kidding. I reference my AP Stylebook once a day, if not more. AP style is considered the gold standard of journalism and public relations.

In my last column, I discussed how reporters are busy, so do the work for them. Correct grammar in your media pitch means less work for them.

So, now that you've finished your media pitch and you're ready to send it out, what's next? Proofread your email. When you're done, proofread your email again. Sometimes I'll even write an email and do something else for 15 minutes, just so I can come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. I often find a mistake or two that I missed the first time.

Following Up

You're ready to press send … then what?

If you don't hear back, a follow-up email is always helpful. If you still don't hear back, I like to follow up with a phone call. As with email, brevity is key. When you call a reporter, quickly introduce yourself, see if the reporter has time to talk and briefly explain why the story is of relevance to them and explain what the story is about.

If you still don't hear back after all that, move on. There's a fine line between persistence and being annoying.

When a Reporter Responds

If you're lucky enough to get a response from a reporter, capitalize on it. Respond to them in a timely fashion and have everything ready in the event they want to run the story immediately. In an impromptu poll of some of my reporter friends, one of their biggest pet peeves was that people pitching stories drop the ball. They may send the reporter to the wrong person to interview or not get back to them in a timely fashion. So the point is, don't let this be you. Be prepared!

I hope these tips lead you to a successful media placement. Happy pitching!

Tahira Hayes is a Correspondent-at-Large for CU Times. She can be reached at [email protected].