Pitching To The Press: 9 Key Mistakes To Avoid When Pitching Yourself
June 12, 2017
With so many Millennials jumping aboard the entrepreneurship bandwagon these days, competition is stiff. Just visit any Millennial’s personal or business website, and one of the first things you’ll see is a list of all of the press outlets they’ve been featured on.
Pitching yourself to press can be intimidating. What do you say, and what do you leave out? Or if you’ve already tried it, how come you aren’t getting any yeses?
As the host of the #1 Ranked Podcast for Entrepreneurs in 2017 and as a Forbes columnist, I’m in the unique position of being on the receiving end of press pitches. Each month, I get hundreds of emails from people asking me to feature them.
The truth is, however, I only respond to a very small percentage of these emails. The ones I delete all have a few deal-breaking characteristics in common.
Below, Jeremy and I share the top nine mistakes we find most entrepreneurs make to help put you on the right track to crafting a no-fail pitch strategy.
1. You’re Too Focused On Yourself. Don’t be that person who’s only focused on themselves. Nothing turns me off faster than somebody who doesn’t know me and is just trying to use my position to advance their career. “Most people are so ‘me, me, me,’ they have to get out of that mindset or it’s not going to work,” Slate agrees. If you want to stand out in a crowded inbox, don’t start with what you want. Instead, make it about the other person. Find the “win-win”.
