Collaborate on Company Receipt Sample for Public Relations with Ease Using airSlate SignNow

Company receipt sample for Public Relations

[Music] I'm Jen Bon founder and president of generation PR and creator of the PowerHouse Pros Community today I'm going to talk about a pitch like using pitch email templates SO pitching I know it's been really challenging for all of us in the media landscape and things are kind of um evolving and we are always trying to figure out what we can do to get that edge but it still remains that the fundamentals of pitching still are required to um land features it's just writing good pitches um coming up with really good story angles um you know that's where you're kind of like okay my brain is maxed out and empty on this topic I don't know what else to say so sometimes it does help to have a template that's a starting place and um we are releasing a template with um some foundational things just to kind of remind all of us to keep in place as we're using this tool and also just thinking through client campaigns and how to connect with journalists in a way that is um meaningful for them and will get results for you and your clients so um you know we can't always do the pitches on autopilot but we know it's the bread and butter of PR it does take a lot of brain power you know coming up with those angles writing out the pitch but using a template will get you just that much closer to an effective pitch so it is something that you can use to your advantage and um a pitch template can help ease some of that stress I know when I stare at a blank page I'm like uh but if I have something that's sort of pre um assembled that I can vet with my own ideas and my own uh understanding of the industry and what this editor writes about now I can customize that to something that they will pay attention to so if there is a proven template which is what I'm sharing then that will really help you craft killer pitches every time so we're going to dive into all things pitch templates what they are why they're such powerful tools and how to effectively use them as a PR Pro it's exactly what it sounds like a pitch template it is an email template that you can follow to craft a customize PR pitch it's going to cover the basic elements of a pitch and we'll have things like a subject line um some introduction that you can customize to make it really attention grabbing your main story angle why you're pitches newsworthy then a solid call to action so that contact knows exactly what to do next in order to move this forward and then you know that conclusion with the next steps depending on your Niche or that pitch you may also have in there we do have it in our template a section that will be dedicated to relevant credentials research stats um something that's current that should be on their radar and that ties in your client or the idea that you have um so that can be in there can also be taken out if that doesn't apply and you may also have different templates for different types of pitches so so a guest post pitch is very different than a product launch pitch so when you have a pitch template that's what's key is that these fundamentals are already laid out for you and they'll let you go step by step step to craft good effective pitches is what we're trying to get for our clients it's literally a proven framework for getting results so why wouldn't you follow it here's why we recommend you would need to use a pitch template the first thing obious viously major timesaver it will cut down on your pitch writing time your thought process and also just staring at a blank screen you know um you've got your story angle in your head you can just start typing it filling it in almost like Mad Libs kind of and just let the ideas flow so that's easier than creating a pites Conta content and format fresh every single time here it is you just sit down and get started you don't have to waste brain power Reinventing the wheel every time you send out a pitch and that is more time effort and energy that you're saving on the writing process that you can dedicate to brainstorming UniQue Ideas Innovative story angles and as a PR Pro your time is way too valuable to be spent sitting at your desk wondering if you should um choose between two calls to action three um is this two bullets is this too long you know you want your talents to have more of an impact when you use them to come up with the ideas you know irresistible ideas for journalists um so that's what you should be kind of harnessing the brain power to use instead of like formatting I'll always tell Miranda she'll say I need you to work on this and I will say I will get bogged down in the formatting it's not a pitch maybe it's um an outline for a new program or a new master class that we want to write and I will get in the weeds with the format like oh formatting this that's you know easy um it's the ideas so if I can't let my ideas flow because I'm worried about you know bullet points and the flow of an outline and is this indent like no that will trip me up so sometimes I will even just record a voice memo and then we transcribe it and that's the starting place and then that can be formatted and made into whatever we need it to be made into so that's when I realized that worrying about structure definitely hinders the flow of creative ideas so we're trying to help take that concern away from you with that process um we want you to create those angles that are going to be irresistible to journalists number two is when you use a pitch template you are not going to forget key details have you ever sent out a pitch and then you realize you forgot to include key details like maybe your experts credentials or their availability or a link to certain brand assets that you know they would obviously want to see if they're considering your feature this doesn't happen when you have a template you're going to have something that will walk you through every step of the pitch writing process to make sure that you're not forgetting something and you're you know leaving no stone unturned when you have templates for every type of pitch you're even less likely to leave you're even less likely to leave crucial details out and when you when you you've been knocking out product launch pitch after product launch pitch and suddenly you have to switch over to pitching your client's expert for TV spots or um guest uh weighing in on um articles as an expert or guest posting somewhere that's when you know that kind of contact shifting it's easy to miss key pitch elements in the process so that autopilot kind of takes over your brain and you're just kind of shifting a little bit but forgetting the fundamentals of that different type of when you can just grab your client expert pitch email template and go to town you're not going to leave out that high priority information um and number three this is my favorite reason to me this is the most compelling is that it's so much easier to get started um I find it really hard like I said to SC stare at a blank screen and figure out what I'm putting on there that's going to get the job done and you know whether you're new to PR or a veteran PR Pro facing some kind of writer block or maybe you're in this kind of perfection paralysis phase um and I'll explain why some of you might be feeling this right now it's challenging it's really hard um things are across the board more sticky and tricky for us in our pitches getting converted to features and our proposals getting converted to new clients and that weighs on you in a way where you second guess yourself so that ends up making you feel like it has to be perfect well just has to be perfect and like why am I not getting traction I don't waste my time and the client's going to be mad or I'm not converting uh proposals so proposals we have templates for we have training for that's an agency accelerator um and they convert um this is like you just wondering like is this going to be good enough is this going to get their attention and it makes you feel um less confident and you second guess yourself and so you get stuck in that Perfection paralysis that's what happens to me and so that's when I have this PR you know writers block this is going to help me and you get over that hump and just writing you know doing what you do get those ideas flowing for a newbie PR Pro pitch templates are a great way to get started in the industry just in general because now you're going to like you never have to wonder like how are other people doing it or what does a good pitch look like um this is going to give you that framework and it's kind of like just plug-and playay right um and then as you send out more pitches with this template you'll learn what works for your Niche and you'll start to develop your own pitching style and then you can tweak your templates or your main kind of foundational pitch ingly and then see where you're supposed to customize it and make it really stand out this kind of template can help if you're stuck in a rut and you have a pitch writing routine I think we talked about that a couple weeks ago like how do you get into that process and flow so that you're set up for Success this will help also get you out of a rut if your routine is feeling kind of stale sometimes just having words on a page right away this is me I have to have something even if they're in Brackets and ready to be replaced which which is what our templates look like that can spark inspiration that can spark the motivation to just start writing plugging in all the elements of your pitch will help you build momentum and even if you're just writing barebones content you want to make edits later having that momentum behind you will make such a world of difference and it just makes the process easier um that's where I am best utilized in my agency it's like reading something that somebody has written and making tweaks or repositioning certain points um punching up and making some verbage a little more compelling but it's that idea that something is already on paper and that final like Jing of like the genh which you guys all have your own version of it it's getting in there and having a fresh set of eyes and really like packing a punch when you have it already 70% of the way there that process comes much easier and it becomes faster to have final pitches ready to go out the door that are really compelling so how do you use a pitch email template the right way number one I did say plug-and play so it's a template not a plug-and playay just because you're using a template doesn't mean that the pitch should be generic as you work through and you fill in each part of the template that's where the customization comes in you know that means fitting it to your media contact their publication the audience that reads that publication hopefully the same that are your clients Target customers and their beat you know what are they talking about here if they're covering lifestyle don't pitch them Tech like that's not what they write about now we're pitching a lot of Commerce editors for products we have kind of veered away from like fashion editors Beauty editors Market editors now Commerce editors because of that affiliate need um so it's a little bit different than it used to be but that means that we're customizing it to really show we understand that need to earn revenue and there's a simple way that we can convey that to them like yes you're going to earn affiliate Revenue this is on Amazon you know 500 five four and five star reviews it's obvious what that means personal details like you have to have like that personalized greeting references maybe to something that you saw on their social media um that they've shared or um something that's important to them that they're talking about just showing your checked in to them and it makes it also obvious that pitch is just for them and we are um also referencing pieces that already written so their latest piece what resonated what you found most helpful you know simple stuff we've talked about this a lot especially in the pitch lab we are um we are making sure that they also know with by doing that that we get what they're up to and this pitch that follows is likely relevant because you know what they typically cover so even though you're using that template as a base your pitch still has to like fundamentals timely relevant targeted to that media contact um one of our members was just sharing uh kind of generic pitch for her publication that she got from a firm but this was now coming from like the founder of the firm and she very candidly in a very helpful way said you know I'm not trying to be negative but I think as an agency owner which I have been for you know almost three decades you I would want to know this and I am getting very generic spray and prey pitches for my consideration that have nothing to do with my publication have nothing to do with what I cover nothing to do with my target audience it is obvious your team is not actually looking and um it's very detrimental m al to your clients because they're doing this across the board not just with me I thought that you would want to know that and she also did call out some people on this U agency's team that were sending more wellth thought out pitches still missing the mark But closer um it's happening across the board and you have to show whomever's receiving that email this is not a spray and prey this is targeted to your Conta and what they cover and what their publication is about and a lot of PR Pros think it's easier to just write a generic pitch send that email and hope the person on the other end will read it and they will see how it fits into their work right you're like I'm giving you information for you to consider this is your consideration so where are you going to put it they're having to do the work this is one of the easiest ways to get rejected to get your pitches deleted and to kind of get on their list right because that shows you're lazy it shows you're not really checked into what they're up to they're already busy enough they don't have to do your job for them um journalists and editors they want to see you understand their editorial Focus you know what works with their audience and that is how you get their attention and land a placement um and again grab our resource this pitch template because we also have a little training up front that we'll walk you through some other things to consider um the second thing in how to use it is don't overload on details with a template like this you have the space to throw in a ton of information but that doesn't mean you should so don't take it and fill it to the brim like oh there's three brackets let me find three things let me reward this so that it could be a third third bullet point if it doesn't really fit the need you don't have to include all of the things you want to avoid that information overload because it is just going to give your media contact just word soup and they're going to have to Wade through this word soup to get to your point and they won't do it instead you want to keep things on the shorter side just send enough information to get your media contact interested in your story angle giving away less information but the right information will hook them in and'll motivate them to reply to get those details to secure the story because if that initial pitch that's kind of a little close to the vest intrigues them they can also assume that their readers are going to be intrigued as well with the right headline that will draw them in don't give away the other side of it flip side of the coin is do not give away such little information that the be pitch becomes overly vague um if you know you're really struggling to hit the sweet spot and you're like just throwing a bunch of stuff in there um that's not going to work well for you may take a few tries to hit that sweet spot but once you land there you'll start hitting it out of the park every time because you know the right kind of balance of um information but not overloaded and enough to Intrigue to get them to want to follow up and then of course this does not give you this is number three this is not an invitation to mass pitch Mass pitching is never okay a lot of PR Pros think that a pitch email template is for spray and prey where you reach out to an entire media list at one time you've got a template so it must work across the board journalists will spot this from a mile away we have been saying this for as long as we've been here it will land you on on their their blocked list and even if you're busy you're overwhelmed with pitches which I know as PR Pros we definitely are feeling that you cannot just fill in your template blast it out to your contacts and then just be like okay somebody will find a way to write about this the spray and prey throw a spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks that is not effective pitching that is not what a good PR Pro does um when they know better that is what a lazy person does when they're trying to just um check the dots check the boxes and uh you know just say well I pitched it you know I wrote a a pitch it's like so it might seem like a waste of time to use a template and then tweak it every time you send out a new pitch but that will get you far more results in the long run and it is worth it a strategic targeted pitch that's clearly been personalized for a media contact is going to have a much better chance of success than a generic Mass pitch and as you get results for your clients your confidence is going to grow you'll become that indispensable part of their team you know you really get their brand you know how to communicate it to the media and you are going to become a critical part of their overall strategy because you're getting the features the um amplification that they're looking for you're getting them the results they came to you for and you're working in a way that allows you to course correct if things aren't resonating and make kind of real time changes um and so that's very valuable to them it's a lot harder for um clients to kind of you know go and find a whole new team get the team on boarded than it is to have a PR firm say you know here's what we've tried here's the approach we're taking and it's resonating a little bit over here um uh and so what we see happening is more leaning into that and we're going to give it a try this month um versus like they're not converting and now we need to start over with someone else that's harder so just know that when they invest in you they want you to succeed they want you to get results and they're if you're very clear about your process they don't need to know you're using a template but you're you can say you're customizing targeted personalized pitches for every contact you're reaching out to which is what makes it timec consuming and they will give you the runway if you explain what they should expect and when and that really does start to happen and then if things are not Landing the way that you hoped how are you addressing that how are you learning from those efforts what did resonate and how can you build a new you know pivot to build a new pitch around that idea that people are kind of into and that shows clients that you're Nimble your paying attention you care you're caring about the details and why wouldn't they want to give you more Runway to make it happen so that's uh when you convince a client that you know your stuff they give you that Runway because they trust you and your expertise so again no Mass fetching no spray and prey I mean it's not that much more effort but does yield a lot better result I think it does show that that's kind of the standard that's out there and we use the fact that we're creating targeted timely relevant pitches as part of our sales process because we can say what the other guys are doing the spray and prey they're going to send you a list of all these places they've pitched first of all none of them are not all of them are relevant and second um they are just using a template they're using mail merge and hoping for the best um we're seeing those pitches and they're they're lazy and editors don't like it so it is a lot better to make deeper connections work with the same editors over and over because of your Niche and you make really good connections inside those outlets and for the contacts that you can support and help make their jobs better and they can help you and so I'd rather have 10 of those contacts than a list of a thousand Publications that I could just send one email to spray and prey and hope that 10 people will open my email and like what they see it's not going to work it's not just a numbers game um there's a lot more Nuance that goes into it so hopefully the pitch template the little kind of mini um introduction that gives a couple pointers will be helpful to you um again not condoning just customizing it for one thing and just sending it out with mail merge or whatever make it personalized for everyone it just is going to save you time because you're not staring at a blank screen um yeah so that's what I have for you thank you so much for being here I'm so grateful for all of you and I will see you here next week thank you so much enjoy the rest of your week take care bye