Wow, you go, Amanda!! I don’t know her personally but I honestly want to be her BFF now...such a sweetheart. Congrats on AARP, Jill and thanks so much for sharing this!
Congrats on your BHG debut & new assignment for AARP! As always, thank you for sharing best practices. I strive to be like Amanda - #shoutoutgoals ;) xo
I think there's so many people and agencies that can learn from Amanda! I love being able to follow your journey and connect on social media daily - because not only does it build relationships but we can laugh together or get story ideas from it!
Stoooopppp! You are too good to me! The feeling is mutual though. People like you and Jill make the "relations" part of PR easy & fun. I meant every word of what I said!
Loved Amanda's note! It's concise yet specific, and focuses on the relationship part of public relations that unfortunately can get forgotten. I try and set aside time each week to keep up with what writers I follow are doing by reading their recently published pieces and such, and sending a quick note if I have some thoughts to share on it. Glad to hear that this is appreciated by journalists!
I wasn't insinuating Amanda wasn't busy, I said she might have been having a less busy day that day. I teach PR. I teach the technique Amanda is employing. I also teach consideration for people's time and using respect as your primary tool, not faux "relations". But I appreciate your feedback. I think I'm going to respectfully unsubscribe from this conversation now. It was my mistake daring to respectfully disagree with you. That's obviously not really of interest here.
While I always welcome a healthy debate about the many nuances of this industry, I actually didn't realize we were disagreeing at all ... we both see the value in using transactional AND relationship approaches as tools of the trade when appropriate. At any rate, you're of course free to unsubscribe. Have a great day!
I, too, have had a lot of success from this kind of outreach to journalists. But I have to say - I've been in PR for over 20 years. If I relied solely on the journalists I had relationships with a) I would get a lot of less press for my company and b) I couldn't rightfully call myself good at pitching. Some of the best stories I've ever placed were to people I didn't know and came about because of the quality of the pitch itself, not because the journalist liked me as a person. What Amanda did is great - and I encourage every publicist to do it when they can. But the fact that she had time to do it meant she was having a slower day. We don't have those every day - or sometimes even once a week, depending on how busy we are. Transactional pitching - if it is done well, and mindful of the journalist's beat, etc. - is just as effective and shouldn't be discounted out of hand.
Hi Louise, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I think you may have misunderstood my overall message, though, as I certainly didn't discount transactional pitching (in fact, I clearly stated a relationship-focused approach shouldn't be used for everything, b/c nobody has time for that). And I feature plenty of products/sources from publicists every single day who I have no relationship with (who can't even be bothered to get my name right). But I assure you, Amanda is a very busy publicist ... however she chooses to carve out time to prioritize certain media relationships, because they have value to her personally and professionally. As somewhat who's been a working journalist for 23 years (and started her career in PR back in the 90s), I'd argue that if you don't have time to bring some type of human element to your pitching efforts for 15 minutes once a week, then you're missing out on the RELATIONS side of public relations... and that's where some real magic can happen. Of course, everyone has their own style, so there's no pressure to do this if it doesn't resonate!
Wow, you go, Amanda!! I don’t know her personally but I honestly want to be her BFF now...such a sweetheart. Congrats on AARP, Jill and thanks so much for sharing this!
Thank you! And yes, Amanda is good people!
Congrats on your BHG debut & new assignment for AARP! As always, thank you for sharing best practices. I strive to be like Amanda - #shoutoutgoals ;) xo
I think there's so many people and agencies that can learn from Amanda! I love being able to follow your journey and connect on social media daily - because not only does it build relationships but we can laugh together or get story ideas from it!
Amanda’s note exudes alll the warm and fuzzie feels! Appreciate you sharing a little insight into your inbox. ❤️
Seriously! And you're welcome ... thanks for reading :)
I love Amanda’s love note to you… that’s awesome and so sweet!!
It's a far better love letter than anything I've ever gotten from a dude, LOL
HA! My love note to you. LOVE IT!!!
🤣truth!
Haha I just laughed so hard thinking of the email from your ex English teacher dude! Lol
LOL I already forgot about him ... I wrote back, but he never responded!
Amanda is one of the MOST AMAZING people I've met in this industry. I fully agree with all of this!!
She could teach a masterclass in building media relationships! What a gem!
Stoooopppp! You are too good to me! The feeling is mutual though. People like you and Jill make the "relations" part of PR easy & fun. I meant every word of what I said!
Love this! PR is the long game building relationships in your nitch.
exactly!
Love this! Yes, I've found that forging relationships is the best way to go.
So happy to hear you've found success with this approach! Yay!
Loved Amanda's note! It's concise yet specific, and focuses on the relationship part of public relations that unfortunately can get forgotten. I try and set aside time each week to keep up with what writers I follow are doing by reading their recently published pieces and such, and sending a quick note if I have some thoughts to share on it. Glad to hear that this is appreciated by journalists!
That's so smart of you! I know it's an extra layer of work, but I promise you the effort doesn't go unnoticed!
I wasn't insinuating Amanda wasn't busy, I said she might have been having a less busy day that day. I teach PR. I teach the technique Amanda is employing. I also teach consideration for people's time and using respect as your primary tool, not faux "relations". But I appreciate your feedback. I think I'm going to respectfully unsubscribe from this conversation now. It was my mistake daring to respectfully disagree with you. That's obviously not really of interest here.
While I always welcome a healthy debate about the many nuances of this industry, I actually didn't realize we were disagreeing at all ... we both see the value in using transactional AND relationship approaches as tools of the trade when appropriate. At any rate, you're of course free to unsubscribe. Have a great day!
Love this! PR is a long game building relationships in your nitch.
I, too, have had a lot of success from this kind of outreach to journalists. But I have to say - I've been in PR for over 20 years. If I relied solely on the journalists I had relationships with a) I would get a lot of less press for my company and b) I couldn't rightfully call myself good at pitching. Some of the best stories I've ever placed were to people I didn't know and came about because of the quality of the pitch itself, not because the journalist liked me as a person. What Amanda did is great - and I encourage every publicist to do it when they can. But the fact that she had time to do it meant she was having a slower day. We don't have those every day - or sometimes even once a week, depending on how busy we are. Transactional pitching - if it is done well, and mindful of the journalist's beat, etc. - is just as effective and shouldn't be discounted out of hand.
Hi Louise, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I think you may have misunderstood my overall message, though, as I certainly didn't discount transactional pitching (in fact, I clearly stated a relationship-focused approach shouldn't be used for everything, b/c nobody has time for that). And I feature plenty of products/sources from publicists every single day who I have no relationship with (who can't even be bothered to get my name right). But I assure you, Amanda is a very busy publicist ... however she chooses to carve out time to prioritize certain media relationships, because they have value to her personally and professionally. As somewhat who's been a working journalist for 23 years (and started her career in PR back in the 90s), I'd argue that if you don't have time to bring some type of human element to your pitching efforts for 15 minutes once a week, then you're missing out on the RELATIONS side of public relations... and that's where some real magic can happen. Of course, everyone has their own style, so there's no pressure to do this if it doesn't resonate!