Join Ed Zitron for a Special Author Q&A Today

Looking forward to it!

It’s a half an hour away, y’al! Do you have your questions for Ed ready??? ^ep

BobRentItToday Happy you’re here, Bob!

Am I early? Am I late? Am I anything?

Am I the only person walking on a treadmill right now?

Did someone bring treats?

ginidietrich birthday cake oreos

belllindsay I can’t ride and type at the same time. It’s perfect for meetings, but not for working.

belllindsay Thanks for having me. I like the fact that I can get paid money to email people I already want to talk to on the internet. Sometimes I meet said people in person and I talk to them then. I don’t even have to talk about work. It’s great. 

I sound like an insane person, but I like the talking to reporters a lot. Also my clients are all great and I enjoy talking to them. Which isn’t common for PR.

ginidietrich That’s why I love the treadmill! 🙂

Woohoo! Welcome edzitron! Looking forward to this!

edzitron Ever met someone you thought you would REALLY like, who turned out to be a moron?

ginidietrich RobbWexler Thanks…I still don’t understand why more people in a creative industry send non creative invites.

RobbWexler ginidietrich Made my day! I hope you get those steak knives!!

RobbWexler ginidietrich Because 95% of the time nobody reads what you put in your LinkedIn invite. Same logic behind why people don’t put much effort into Okcupid messages or, indeed, pitches.

belllindsay edzitron Does that include family members?

edzitron RobbWexler ginidietrich Wait. Was Robb hitting on me…?

belllindsay Eleanor Pierce ginidietrich OK, so edzitron. What’s your position on snacks?

ginidietrich I have been wondering about that “college” thing for years. What ARE they teaching them?

Eleanor Pierce Do you want to know what’s funny? People sent me peanut butter and bread after that post.

Eleanor Pierce Because you never know when said post is irrelevant due to circumstances around them. Boston Bombing for example – there were a lot of (undeliberately) crass things going out around that time. Also it’s not really an interaction when you’re just calendaring everything you say or do.

LauraPetrolino Sigh.

ginidietrich My answer to that is “have you met people?” Usually stumps them and then they think about it and occasionally get depressed. 

I’m helping.

Eleanor Pierce YES! And I was at a party on Saturday night and a friend handed me a jar of peanut butter!

belllindsay edzitron RobbWexler ginidietrich Lindsay…no of course not…I only hit on people on Thursdays.

ginidietrich Eleanor Pierce Wow.

I’m only about seven or eight months removed from being the exec editor of a largish daily newspaper. I don’t think I ever bit on one “pitch” sent via Twitter. Can you offer a strong strategy for effectively using Twitter to pitch journalists?

edzitron ginidietrich How would both of you answer that interview question today?

ClayMorgan Don’t do it? Ever? Like stop doing it. Forever. Put your pitch tweets in a box and sail them out to sea and let them drown.

Unless it’s a reporter that specifically asked you to pitch them via DM, which I have had. 

Otherwise don’t do it ever, ever. Nobody likes it.

DwayneAlicie edzitron If I were asked why I wanted to go into PR? You know my answer…to change the perception that people have about the industry. We’re not liars and flacks. We are part of an investment an organization makes in its future.

LauraPetrolino This is like picking my least favourite child.
The answer is probably that most people go into the industry thinking it’s going to be this party-planning socialite party atmosphere. 

Another answer is that they think that they’re automatically smart and cool and awesome, and that they enter into the world of PR as a self-edification exercise when this job is more akin to politics or lobbying, which if you know about either of those jobs you’ll know that they suck for – unless you get lucky – at least the first 5 years.

ClayMorgan edzitron Please give me the names of anyone advising this – links too – and I will publicly shame them.

edzitron ClayMorgan *swoooon*

edzitron LauraPetrolino Funny enough I started my career in politics…..so yes, exactly!

You seem to have great sympathy for reporters (me too, I was one and still have may reporter friends). What’s one thing you wish  more PR people understood about reporters?

Eleanor Pierce edzitron RobbWexler ginidietrich I did two PR courses in college and 99% of what i learned in PR was simply through the fact that my first job constantly threatened me with being fired because – unsurprisingly – I didn’t know what I was doing. I learned to pitch like a guy in prison learns to shiv people because he has to otherwise someone else will shiv him.

That example is inelegant.

I was also a reporter for 7~ years and the truth is that that only helped me in the sense that I feel like that defined me more as a person than my PR career did. Hence I didn’t go in with this thought in my head of “I’m gonna do the social medias and be a maven” like some do.

belllindsay edzitron LauraPetrolino TV I find kicks you in the junk much, much more quickly. You don’t take long to suffer.

edzitron belllindsay LauraPetrolino Not sure how I lasted 20 years. #ruined

You focus on PR for tech and gaming. Is it harder to ‘be real’ when doing PR for more traditional industries?

DwayneAlicie ginidietrich edzitron Wanna know why I went into PR? Because i got bored of London and I was wholesale lied to about what the job was, because I thought it was all party-planning and hanging out with reporters who wanted to hear about my cool products, because my boss at the time lied and said he had clients like Samsung or whatever. Had anyone told me the truth I’d have probably stayed in England.

MattLaCasse belllindsay edzitron LauraPetrolino That’s so funny, Matt! I wonder why you thought that?

LauraPetrolino ginidietrich I would SO hire you to plan a party for me.

belllindsay Gaming isn’t really my focus anymore, so it’s more tech/b2b/etc. 

You can “be real” in moderation – there’s only so many reporters you can swear in an email to (not at them) or make particular jokes with. But for the most part most will respond well (if they respond) to something that’s up front and real. I don’t mean this in a cliché “be real, man” way, I mean literally describing the product and why it matters – it does X, it’s good cause Y, you should talk to Z, alright, talk to you later buddy.

belllindsay Eleanor Pierce Oh no. We all already know that.

ginidietrich It’s an important metric if you consider the fact that most PR emails are ignored – or at least I’d say 90% of the reporters I meet tell me this, or show me their inbox and do a sort of “Lol what is this” face that makes me sad but also happy because ha ha ha they read my email.

So, yes, open-rates are important. Unless I’m misunderstanding the question – when you say “reading pane” what do you mean? I use Yesware. It tells me if the person read it, from what domain, etc. I recommend it.

edzitron I abhor jargon and business-speak. I’ve read blog posts where I’ve finished and said “I don’t understand a SINGLE word of this!” LOL

Tell us about your worst PR mistake.

ginidietrich edzitron Oh. Maybe I wasn’t clear. Don’t use Outlook read receipts, they suck. Use Yesware, or ToutApp, or Slack maybe (never tried Slack). If you can’t measurably say it was opened then you shouldn’t bother.

Are we ever going to rid the world of terrible pitches? What can we do to help put an end to them? Is public shaming the only answer?

I loved the short analogy about Allen Iverson in your book? Can you discuss a little about how you prepare to pitch a publication? How much advance research do you do? Do you role play a little before pitching? Maybe most important, how do you identify the best person to pitch a story to, especially as beats seem to be falling apart?

Eleanor Pierce belllindsay edzitron Yep. That happened to me. And that guy who rewrote it wrote several PR books that said not to do that.

edzitron That’s awesome. I too have *opened mouth inserted foot* once or twice. 😉 It’s a hard lesson to learn, but much needed.

SusynEliseDuris Imagine one of the slave boats from olden times. The middle manager and upper managers have the whip, the lower level PR people – untrained – have the oars. They must row, otherwise the ship does not go (IE: WHERE IS THE RESULTS). They’re not told better. 

Alternatively they think they’re super smart and just do it because they want to be lazy, in which case I look forward to feasting on their clients.

Is there any life-changing “eureka” moment piece of information you know now that you wished you would have known in the early stages of your career?

ClayMorgan I role play only in the sense that I dress as a wizard on weekends and pretend to cast spells at passers-by on the Embarcadero.

The ‘advance research’ I do is usually constant in that I’m reading constantly. I really recommend just everyone reading. And ‘research’ on a reporter might be as simple as looking for whoever covered something similar (like the Android projector I’m working on). Sometimes it’s months (or years) or following them on Twitter. Sometimes it’s meeting them in person and saying “dude, just…god…tell me what to send you. Please.” Sometimes it’s an email to that effect.

Identifying the best person to pitch to is sometimes very hard and requires a ton of reading – sometimes it’s just a question of asking someone else you know at the outlet. “Dude, who covers X?” is a powerful weapon in my arsenal. As dumb as that sounds to write.

edzitron ClayMorgan Just ask. It’s so simple, and no one does it!

Eleanor Pierce The answer is to publicly shame the AGENCY. Most of the people form pitching I’d put into two categories:
1) Low level person who doesn’t know better.
2) Consultant who doesn’t know better.

The former’s agencies need to be publicly shamed. I could name three off the top of my head that deserve to get tarred and feathered for what they do. There’re some really bad players in tech – and honestly some of the WORLD’S LARGEST AGENCIES FORM PITCH – and there needs to be some sort of public declaration. But even I am not ballsy enough to do that. However I will gladly in private talk smack on them. 

The low-level consultants I usually just respond with some form of errant troll that they’re not expecting. It never works. I don’t know how to deal with them.

SusynEliseDuris I remember this young lady at a local PR agency would call me every single month – every single month – and pitch me the same darned story ever single month – usually on my voice mail. And I’d not call her back every single month.

One day she actually caught me on the phone and I asked why she keeps doing it. There was a pause, and then she whispered, “I don’t have a choice” and hung up.

Didn’t hear from her again…until the next month.

ginidietrich MattLaCasse belllindsay LauraPetrolino Probably because most of the PR’s I dealt with were government entities.

edzitron Eleanor Pierce I’m ballsy enough to do it.

edzitron Eleanor Pierce In the entertainment world, agencies who send actors on auditions who behave badly are blacklisted by some casting directors – perhaps journalists consider that with bad agencies/pr consultants? Or maybe this is already the case. These PR folks must learn, and if it’s the hard way, so be it…

sumnerj14 I’d say “read the book” but that’s just chintzy.
There was no real moment, but one client – Scitable – that came along that I just clicked with. The CEO and I got on really well. I learned with him how to re-describe the entire project as a social network versus ‘a hub’ or the language they were using. We bonded a lot and I started to realise that the reporters I was talking to responded to certain things.

The secnd is when I got a first-wave e-reader and it was an easy pitch – people wanted it even if you were just a duck that was able to somehow type eight words about it. However that there were component elements that people were interested in (IE: “it was cheaper than the Kindle. It held X amount of books. It was independent. It looked nice.”) and I thought “why would I mention anything other than these things and then “you could play with one”?”. So I suppose that’s as close as I got. It was also the first time I stopped having to struggle with pitching people and getting them to care.

ginidietrich edzitron Eleanor Pierce HOLLA!

ginidietrich Eleanor Pierce Bless her heart!

LauraPetrolino  Any experience with the new Publicize? Another one for startup PR.

LauraPetrolino Are you talking about PressFriendly? If so I think these platforms are smart, and cool and run by people who generally get it – I’ve met and spoken with Joel from PF a few times and wrote about them on Inc, and I have respect for him. I don’t think they’re the best at pitching but they’re a damn sight better than most. 

They do try and push the “make a relationship” part a lot – but that’s a LOT harder if you have just one company. Lots of clients = lots of points of contact. 

PF is also not an automation platform.

I actually got a call from Greg Gallant from Muckrack yesterday because I canceled my subscription – and that’s a guy who really gets it. I tore him a new one on certain things (I’m a bad person and I am to honest) and he really, really cared about getting it right. When people like that are working on these tools, I’m excited for them.

I’d recommend against anything that ‘automates’ PR. Anything that streamlines it is good.

Eleanor Pierce LOL

Hi everyone, a little late to the party! Great to join you.

SusynEliseDuris LauraPetrolino No experience but I talked to them yesterday. From what I can tell they’re a very low-fi tech PR agency that’s using startup mechanics to help with launches for very bootstrapped companies. Conrad is a smart guy and knows a lot. I was negative on them first and then talked over email to him for a LONG time about it. He’s a bright, honest person and someone I’m happy to see doing it.

I don’t see much actual technology in there, though.

belllindsay SusynEliseDuris Eleanor Pierce edzitron If someone offered me a Kell On Earth type series, well, I hope they like to see me sitting in my underwear and constantly sighing at the computer. And trying to housetrain my dog.

edzitron belllindsay SusynEliseDuris Eleanor Pierce Sounds a lot like working for Arment Dietrich ….

Eleanor Pierce edzitron belllindsay SusynEliseDuris EXACTLY like it, in fact.

Eleanor Pierce Again, which is my worst son? These are all points that address said misconceptions.
– Reporters are all different people. Young old big small or damaged or with easy lives or from weird or normal cultures or whatever. Living breathing people.
– Reporters are not empty vessels for your news. 
– Just because they covered someone like you doesn’t mean they’ll cover you.
– It’s not their fault if they don’t like your product.
– Sometimes they may dislike your product and be wrong! Don’t get mad.
– Reporters are actual human beings with lives and emotions and feelings.

edzitron HA! 😉

biggreenpen Join in. I’m full of horrible words.

edzitron What if a person just wanted to ask you how your day’s going?

belllindsay edzitron It sounds like they’d get an earful about dog training (and maybe about underpants).

Fifteen minutes, folks! Don’t let edzitron rest his digits!

SusynEliseDuris ginidietrich Eleanor Pierce I lived there for almost four years, and though I’m home in Oregon again now, I’m still not swearing as much as I used to.

belllindsay edzitron I should add that I can stick around longer 🙂

edzitron Eleanor Pierce I hate phones. A lot.

edzitron Eleanor Pierce I’ve always said the phone is there for your convenience, not the caller’s. I love the do not disturb button.

edzitron ginidietrich AND they’re killing Archie!

belllindsay edzitron ginidietrich I do not have any views on the Archie thing other than “well that’s cool that he saved his friend” but I’m not really sure how Archie Comics, the company making the comic Archie, is going to continue with Archie being dead.

ginidietrich edzitron What the heck does one cook in a sous vide machine?

LauraPetrolino edzitron belllindsay I don’t know how the two of you can work here and not know this.

ginidietrich LauraPetrolino edzitron belllindsay I’m very ashamed!

ginidietrich LauraPetrolino edzitron belllindsay  Gini. You sous vide MANUALLY? Sheezy. When are you cooking dinner for us???

FYI everyone – I can stick around longer than the hour if you want to keep asking questions – very much enjoying the conversation.

Eleanor Pierce LauraPetrolino edzitron belllindsay I do and it’s a huge PITA. Like Ed, I cook constantly and I’m not too shabby at it. But a sous vide machine (and vacuum) would make it a lot easier.

ginidietrich Eleanor Pierce LauraPetrolino edzitron belllindsay Get a blowtorch too.

ginidietrich Eleanor Pierce LauraPetrolino edzitron belllindsay I’m a pretty good cook, but I haven’t stepped to that level. I’m not sure I want to …

edzitron ginidietrich Eleanor Pierce LauraPetrolino belllindsay See this is why my cooking style is super simple. A blowtorch?!? I am happy when I get through the day without harming myself with a paring knife

edzitron belllindsay ginidietrich My husband cooks. I just sit and look glamorous.

ginidietrich Education! Getting in those PR classes! Remember how you were featured in my PR class? I thought that was a big win for you. And I spread the word about your book, which a couple of my fellow students bought and read!

The last prepared question I have: Why does spin suck?

LauraPetrolino edzitron ginidietrich same here …

belllindsay ginidietrich edzitron LauraPetrolino you all know my response to the prospect of Laura cooking w/a blowtorch right? #video

ginidietrich Because spin by definition means that you are hiding turds in a cat litter box. Spin – if you take the less evil definition – is really just sandblasting away the nonsense around something and saying “alright here it is, love it or hate it.” Finding the real value is the way around spin.

ginidietrich edzitron Also works a charm on dating.

edzitron People forget that you should develop relationships. Build trust first.

edzitron AND DATING! (I loved dating.)

edzitron ginidietrich Yikes! Well, I am glad you’re all about it now! It’s so unfortunate that there are bad eggs who perpetuate the bad story about PR. I’m more of a marketing communications person, and I believe in convergence of all our practice areas. We’re all marketers, really — or at least we have to all think like marketers. As in the four Ps and a relentless focus on segmentation, targeting and positioning.

Getting any pushback from PR guru types for your rather vocal take downs of the industry and the old-school practices?

ginidietrich edzitron Thought they might be just tipsy.

belllindsay I should also add the Penn State teacher – my alma mater – who rambled about how bad my advice was on a post syndicated to Ragan. I responded to her by saying “well if I’m so bad then why didn’t PSU teach me better? Do you guys not have any honor or respect for your alma mater? Perhaps you can ask why my teacher won’t respond to my emails saying I’ll gladly come in and teach a class?”
That was a laugh-riot that ended up with her being very apologetic.

ginidietrich True.

SusynEliseDuris edzitron Perhaps you’re missing my point. You have a life outside of your job. Your job can be helped by knowing these people but hey, sometimes your life can be helped by knowing these people. Treating people in networking solely as a potential conduit for success is something that might work but treating it also as an opportunity to meet more people you might care about or enrich your life experience makes everything better.

belllindsay ginidietrich edzitron I just tell people I’m a ninja. It pretty much clears everything up.

edzitron I think our message is the same – we just tackled it from different directions. 🙂

SusynEliseDuris edzitron yeah. I’ve approached every conversation obviously with the goal of getting coverage, but usually I’m happier if I get a new friend. because I’m lonely. So lonely.

ginidietrich Kind of you to think so. I just don’t think I had an idea of PR beyond media relations, basically. That first year was rough.

edzitron thanks a bunch, Ed! Great Q&A.

Failing that you can also hit me on twitter at @edzitron and I’ll try and get to you.