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A one-day DIY publicity intensive in Atlanta, GA taught by two high-level editors who love helping brands learn to pitch effectively and to find more success. 

TOP PITCH TIPS

10 Reasons Why Editors Might Reject Your Pitch

It’s easy to land press when you connect your product to the pages you want to be a part of. But certain mistakes, often even made by PR professionals, will send your pitch straight to the poubelle. Here’s what sends an editor reaching for the “delete” button. Avoid these and you’ll be that much closer to seeing your product or story in print!

1. Your pitch doesn’t fit on one page. In fact, the pitch is shrinking by the day. If you can’t get our attention in two paragraphs, then you need to work on it a little longer.

2. You don’t address the writer by their name (or you misspell her or his name).

3. You call the editor instead of emailing a proper pitch.

4. You attach the pitch as a Word or PDF document, instead of pasting it in the body of the email.

5. You attach high-resolution images and your company logo for the editor (instead of embedding a low-res image directly into the email). Most editors won’t open attachments.

6. You fail to include a link to your website, your email address AND your phone number. If we call, we’re ready for business and on deadline.

7. You CC other media contacts in the same pitch or you BC other media contacts and leave the intro vague (even though we know you just emailed every other editor in your address book).

8. You didn’t read the publication or blog before you pitched. We have a spider-sense for this!

9. You use a number of different texts, emoticons and italics to get your point across.

10. You tell us how you think it would be a perfect fit for our pages.

Flipboard: create your own magazine?

These days, everyone is an editor, and I mean that literally. Last week, the social magazine app Flipboard issued their newest initiative, allowing readers to create their own magazines and share them with others.

Something for everyone, says Flipboard's website. I'll say.

Looking good, Maslo!

I spy Maslo Jewelry in a roundup of must haves on the gorgeous English blog, Hey Jo! We love seeing client's work featured in all the right places. Keep it up!

1. Shirt - Zara

2. Scarf - Imogene + Willie

3. Earrings - Erin Wasson

4. Publication - The Gentlewoman

5. Art - Ethan Cook

6. Tea Bowl - Tabuchi Taro

7. Jeans - COS

8. Lingerie - Roseanna

9. Necklace - Maslo Jewelry

How many ways can you tell your story?

Even the smallest effort to put a new spin on a predictable headliner (the April issue  = Green issue) goes a long way with an editor. When pitching media remember this simple truth: editors don't have time to hear your entire story. They are most interested in the sliver of your story that is the best fit for the pages they produce!

We Heart Grace Kang of Pink Olive!

Grace Kang knows a thing or two about retail. She owns the east village jewel, Pink Olive, and pens the blog, Retail Recipes, where she helps nurture emerging store owners on how to figure out that BIG opportunity that will take their business to unexpected levels. She wrote about Recipe for Press on her site yesterday and talked about extending the DIY PR practice to your store as well.                                 

The Power of a Picture

I harp on this a lot (and devoted an entire chapter to the power of the picture in my book, Recipe for Press). Still not convinced that pictures are the most important component of a pitch?

Big news! The Southern C Summit

I'm a speaker at the inaugural Southern C Summit, May 1-3 on Jekyll Island and super excited about this talented lineup of guests! Join us!

Market Yourself March, Top 10 Tips for Pitching

I contributed a guest post to Spoonflower's online community as part of their Market Yourself March series! Read it here.

A show of support

I gave a DIY PR workshop for small business here at home in Athens, Georgia tonight and to a diverse group of artists, craftsmen, and business owners. In a show of support, another local eatery, Martis at Midday, sent food for our guests! That's love and that's creative marketing! Thank you!

Editor's Edicts!

My dream date with ADAC!

Earlier this week I presented a special DIY Publicity class at the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center to over 150 of Atlanta's most talented interior designers and stylists. After, we all made our way over to the gorgeous BRADLEY showroom for my book signing and nibbles. Thank you, ADAC and BRADLEY, for making this such a successful event, and for all of you who participated. Every attendee will be receiving a special pitch kit supplement in their inbox on Monday!

Paper-Cut-Project is featured in the March issue of Lonny magazine!

Thank you, Lonny magazine, for the writeup in your beautiful new issue. Paper-Cut-Project, the company I co-founded with Nikki Nye, has big news: new limited edition prints!

Get fired up!

Back by popular demand: DIY PR for Small Biz, Athens, GA

Help me choose!

It's an exciting time at Recipe for Press. We're branding the brand, preparing to launch a new website with new services and new products. Whew! Would love some feedback on our mark for the Twitter feed. Which do you prefer? And why do I have to pick just one!

Next stop for my DIY PR workshop: Chattanooga!

Next Tuesday, March 5, I'm headed to Homespun Parties and Events in downtown Chattanooga to give my DIY PR for small business workshop. There's still time to sign up!

Q&A with Amy

 In short, yes! Bloggers and many online magazines may run a short writeup, include your product or mention your service in a roundup without giving you a heads-up (which is my case for providing great product shots on your website and well-written, updated information). But you can keep track of any and all mentions on your name or company by using Google's "alerts" service. That way you will know who to thank or where to direct your comments!

A funny thing happen on the drive home

Two weeks ago I addressed students in the retail-merchandising program at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Anyone who has driven the long, still, back roads between my home in Athens, Georgia and Tallahassee knows of the “Pin-worthy” sites along the way: moss-laden live oaks, dilapidated barns, cows grazing in a junkyard where the cars are overgrown with ivy. But the lawn of gorgeous, weathered ceramic containers picture here, located in a small stretch of road between Warwick and Sylvester, Georgia (just past that field of collard greens on Hwy 300 beyond Albany if I was directing another Southerner) forced me to hit the brakes.  

 I turned around, pulled into the drive and before I could get out of my car, owner, Jennifer Davis, ambled out to welcome me. “You are in Oakfield, Georgia,” she reported in the sweetest Southern drawl, “and you are standing in the middle of my blessing!” Jennifer is a trained interior designer who moved from bustling Atlanta back to her family farm. She bought Purdy Antique’s a few years ago and restored the main shop that now houses a selection of French and English antiques and some contemporary art.  In a warehouse out back, a local craftman designs (together with Jennifer) and builds furniture from reclaimed wood. Also heirloom quality, they are signed and dated before going out the door.  

As for the pottery? “Oh, they’re just my advertising!” says Jennifer. “They are a well-made assortment from Italy, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and they really do get people to stop.” 

By the end of my time at Purdy’s Antiques I had made a new friend, committed to two large vessels that are so heavy I have to go back and retrieve them with a van I don’t even own and, quite remarkably, sold a book. Like a true Southerner, she had many questions about where I had been and about the subject of my talk at FSU and before I could even finish telling her about Recipe for Press she had decided, “I just have to have the book!” Her goal: to see Purdy’s on the pages of Southern Living or Garden & Gun. I’d say she’s that much closer.

 Everyone has a story and, I suppose, I’m the curious type who will always turn the car around to hear another. And I’m a richer person for it.