Off pitch

Have you ever wondered what goes through a journalist's head when they read your pitch?

Here's a blow by blow, so that you can avoid a few classic pitfalls.

"Dear Sir/Madam"

I neither know nor care who you are either.

"I hope this email finds you well."

I hope the bottom of this very deep well finds your email.

"[Company] is disrupting the [industry] space."

Bold claim. You have any evidence to back it up?

"[CEO name] is available for comment."

Is he though? Because last time I took you up on this ...

"This is an exclusive."

An exclusive only matters if competing outlets want the same story.

"I'd love to set up a quick fifteen minute call to walk you through it."

Yeah, nah.

"We think this would be a great fit for your audience."

You haven't bothered to look up my name, but you think you know who my audience is?

"Happy to provide high-res images."

This might be useful if the story was at all newsworthy.

"Just following up on my earlier email."

I look forward to the follow up to the follow up, so that I can ignore that one too.

"Let me know if you need anything else!"

I definitely won't.