Everyday we get about 15-20 pitches sent to the contact-us form. I am talking JUST pitches not requests to advertise or anything else just pitches for us to talk about a product/website/service. About half are just some general form letter aka “Dear X, Here is our press release please write about it”. Those quickly get deleted and then we get a few spams.
But their are 3-5 everyday that have promise but fall short and never make it. Here is why.
I have said this a zillion times. Just get to the point. Tell me what it does and how its different from your competitors. THATS IT.
You lose me when you:
1) Go on to tell me I need to write about it because all these other bloggers are.
2) Write a book with 5 pages of background on the CEO.
3) After you tell me what it is you tell that you understand why I would not write about it (WHAT?)
4) Tell me “I know you wont right about it and when you don’t you will prove me right” (What kind of jedi mind trick bullshit is that?)
5) Dont act like you know – “Hey I know you wont like this”, “Your readers will love this”, “You owe it to your readers to post this”. Guess what? This is no a publicly held company or a news site. Its my personal blog and let me be the judge of what is good to post here.
Anyway maybe I am the only person who feels like that… or ?
January 3, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I agree with you Shoe that I hate it when people tell me what to do and what not to do, and it is crazy to say “I understand if you don’t want to do a post on this,” “Prove me right and don’t do a post on this.” Really what kind of crazy person would basically not believe in their product enough to automatically accept defeat. You always need to believe in your product as well as yourself, but you need to remember that some people may not see it the same way you see it so don’t push it down their throat.
Simple just advertise whatever you are selling the way you would accept it if you were the one receiving the product.
Thanks
Mr. School Fundraising Ideas
December 16, 2008 at 9:36 pm
hahaha Great post
December 15, 2008 at 11:22 pm
good job. thnx
December 15, 2008 at 3:54 am
I hate spammers…And people who make pointless e-mail.
December 15, 2008 at 12:12 am
press releases, written well, I think would get attention. Just as with any business, just follow directions.
December 11, 2008 at 2:46 am
It is interesting that you ignore the press releases, you would expect these to be the most legitimate.
December 10, 2008 at 4:36 am
I feel the same way and I really HATE it when people don’t get to the point.
December 10, 2008 at 1:47 am
“I know you won’t like this but…” has got to be the worst way to start a pitch.
December 9, 2008 at 11:39 am
Great post man
Thanks
December 9, 2008 at 8:17 am
I’m totally with you on that one Shoe. This is your baby and you the only one who can decide what best fits your readers interest. This is your expression outlet.
December 9, 2008 at 7:46 am
very good post. true getting a good product is a must
December 9, 2008 at 5:28 am
Sadly, those who write the “I know you won’t post this” are the ones who are writing something original. Why not craft something good, after all it as ad copy (maybe copy for one, but an important one). When writing copy I remember Mark Twain: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Long copy is lazy, short is powerful.
Sounds like others are just cut and pasting.
December 24, 2008 at 3:01 am
To me, those people sound like they think he will just discard their email after reading it. They sound scared.
December 9, 2008 at 2:56 am
I also receive those kind of messages. LOL! Am I a good advertiser?! Hahaha
December 9, 2008 at 2:00 am
Jedi mind trick – lmao. Yeah, I guess when you are as popular as you are – the kooks come’a'knockin’ at your door
December 9, 2008 at 1:49 am
I think it would be pretty funny if you could post some of these emails so we can get the full experience.
Or… how about you add a new feature: Weird Email of the Week.
December 8, 2008 at 10:50 pm
Agreed Jeremy…I like your blog and may be there are many people who agree with me that,famous people are bothered a lot
December 8, 2008 at 7:00 pm
lol, I also receive lots of those messages…
December 8, 2008 at 6:22 pm
You know Jeremy, sometimes people may have a hard time approaching you and breaking the ice…..they might actually look up to you and do not want to be brushed off and this post does not help the situation either……just take it easy on them….now I agree about the spamming situation…that part is whack…but people who are trying to honestly get an interview or ask a question…give them a break please….they just don’t know what exactly to say.
Make sure you keep a connection with your readers, as that is the reason for your success. I remember on theuniversitykid.com blog, I asked him a question about a post he written and he answered me back in like 3 days. He was quick and got straight to the point. I appreciated that about him and that is why I brag about his blog on my own blog and suggest him to other high paying affiliate networks. Just remember to stay humble, Jeremy.
December 24, 2008 at 3:00 am
I didn’t see anything wrong with his post. It doesn’t make him stuck-up or anything. What he said is called common sense.
December 8, 2008 at 5:19 pm
1. You have an exclusive!
2. No CEO..Who needs a stinking CEO. It is the product that matters
3. I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to write about this!
4. Hey we let the product speak for itself around here.
5. Anyone would be an idiot to assume to know your judgement…but might I suggest that I dig it and maybe you will as well
Two Words — Massive Widget
December 8, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Aww point no. 1 is a shame. Shame on those who sent you that!
December 8, 2008 at 4:32 pm
make a questions account on twitter and have them post it to there. that way they have to get to the point.
December 8, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I asked a question once – simple and to the point. No answer
I’m guessing he just didn’t see it. That’s what happens when you’re a busy guy
December 8, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Ah! I get this kind of crap all the time too.
December 9, 2008 at 8:51 am
Everyone get these, not new thing
December 8, 2008 at 4:08 pm
ha ha ha … good points shoe …
Darin
December 8, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Well put. No jedi mind trick bullshit. Ill have to think of another tactic.
December 8, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I’m kinda lost tooo o.0
December 8, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I’ll get right to the point. Can you get me into Fight Night for the Troops? I’ve got a Flip MinoHD just dying to shoot some videos for Fighters.com
December 8, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Now I’m left wondering how an email or two I’ve sent you may have been written better.
December 8, 2008 at 12:59 pm
It is your blog and you can do what ever you want to do.
December 9, 2008 at 2:14 am
He is just asking for suggestion
December 8, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Interesting, especially #4 is really weird, even worse than the insurance guy that knocked on my door lately…
December 8, 2008 at 11:47 am
I bet Jeremy reads the first sentence and then he’s out of there. People got to get to the point, nice and sweet.
December 8, 2008 at 11:39 am
Nice post. I still think you need to create an API for fighters.com so I can use your data in a few MMA related applications I am building. Thats the only pitch i’ve sent you, OPEN fighters.com
December 8, 2008 at 11:22 am
Your blog, your rules it is as simple as that.
December 8, 2008 at 10:47 am
Lol, good rant. I guess some people just never learn!
December 8, 2008 at 10:29 am
It’s interesting to read a post “Top 10 worst pitches ever”.
)
tanerarslan
December 8, 2008 at 10:28 am
I agree with quite a few points on you Shoe. Especially the info about the person behind the request can be quite ridiculous. I mean, I’m really interested in your product only, and I’m not so interested in the man himself. Also the why I won’t post it…. Jeez, it’s a real turn off especially when it is my personal blog. :/
December 8, 2008 at 10:19 am
haha that was actually true especially at point no. 2
December 8, 2008 at 10:10 am
I see this all the time from other companies. I run a digital media company in which we do public relations for clients and so many people do what you said above. I think especially with bloggers you need to give each a personalized email that is unique and make sure you know about the bloggers as well. It can be time consuming but one great review of a product from a popular blogger can generate thousands of sales.
December 8, 2008 at 9:53 am
It’s interesting to read a post “Top 10 worst pitches ever”.
December 8, 2008 at 9:50 am
hahah … I guess that I am still old school. When someone says, “you probably won’t like it” … I believe them and move on. DELETE
December 8, 2008 at 9:47 am
Well, I think I would feel the same way. I am going to send a message via contact form and I promise that it will not take you 5 mins to read.
December 8, 2008 at 9:23 am
nope, I would feel the same way. The whole “get to the point…” is the greatest notion EVER!
December 8, 2008 at 9:21 am
i would love to learn some of these jedi tricks. there are deffinitly alot out there its just i have never personally learned of em
December 8, 2008 at 9:18 am
The “elevator pitch” as they call it is difficult to perfect, but it’s one of the first things any new company/project has to get right, or at least try to get right.
A lot of good ideas are lost or realized by someone else simply because of poor execution. It takes more than a good idea but the ability to present the idea and the drive to “get out there” and make it happen.
December 8, 2008 at 9:06 am
I remember when I sent you a noob pitch a while back and instead of just ignoring it you at least gave me tips to improve next time, which was great.
December 8, 2008 at 8:55 am
I agree, a few sentences getting to the point of the product would be great. We get a tremendous amount of that as well my eyes almost never make it more then a sentence deep because the intro starts off so horribly.
December 8, 2008 at 8:33 am
I’m also curious if these people have any sort of discrimination when sending out their vanilla, not well-planned pitches. Are they emailing a hundred people wishy-washy emails in the hopes that one of them will pan out? They might have better luck doing the Sudanese bank transfer gig…
Fred
December 8, 2008 at 7:57 am
Although, ironically it may have been more interesting to read one of the pitches, rather than you moan about them ^_^
But hey, your blog, your call.
December 8, 2008 at 8:43 am
Heheh, yeah, would be interesting to read a post “Top 10 worst pitches ever”.
That would be cool
Cheers,
The Moneyac
December 8, 2008 at 11:55 pm
I am also looking forward to that post. Hope Jeremy will do something like that.
But we can only hope because that’s his blog….his call
December 8, 2008 at 10:37 am
Totally agree with you. I seem to be agreeing with the readers more than Shoemoney himself.
December 24, 2008 at 2:55 am
Eh, maybe those pitches aren’t worth even half a blog post.
December 8, 2008 at 7:07 am
Yeah nothing makes you feel more special, than when you get a Dear Mr. X. I love your blog…blah blah. The entire contact form isn’t even completely filled out.
December 8, 2008 at 7:03 am
Jeremy,
Jeremy,
Do you know off hand how many pitches that you act on and what percentage of those actually make you money
Thanks,
Jim
December 8, 2008 at 6:57 am
Yes, that would kind of suck. I personally hate when people bank all their success on being able to network and make the right contacts. Like these dudes think being on shoemoney.com will break them into the big times. Networking can take your business to the next level…you should be able to get pretty far with just you and a computer. At least that’s my view.
December 9, 2008 at 12:37 am
Always need to have a spare option in the event of a crisis. -)
December 9, 2008 at 1:42 am
There is a considerable amount of link-love to be extracted from being featured on a premier blog like Shoemoney, that goes without saying. It can hardly be the only marketing tactic if you wish to have a successful endeavour!
December 8, 2008 at 6:56 am
Man, it’s your blog indeed, but what if you hate the product and your readers love, it what will you do then?
Will you let them go over your competitors’ blogs and buy it from there?
December 8, 2008 at 6:55 pm
lol according to your logic, shoe should post about EVERY pitch emailed to him since they all basically say ‘your readers will love this!!’
if you’ve been on the net for a while, you develop a feel for whats good and whats trash. I’m pretty sure shoe’s got it down pat, so like he said, its his blog and he’ll post about whatever he feels like if he wants to
December 24, 2008 at 2:54 am
What do you mean what will he do? It’d still be his opinion. He should flip flop just because his readers like the product & he doesn’t? People like that are called people that can’t think for themselves.
January 3, 2009 at 1:49 pm
I think for the most part the readers of ShoeMoney blogs have the same interest as Shoe, because they read the blogs, so would it not stand to reason that if he doesn’t like it then we probably wouldn’t either? Well that is just my opinion.
Thanks
Mr. School Fundraising Ideas
December 8, 2008 at 6:40 am
lol….I’ve been getting a lot of those “post this or else” e-mails too. Are you kidding me??
December 24, 2008 at 2:52 am
Haha “or else.” What exactly do they think they can do?
December 8, 2008 at 6:37 am
in agreement with you. It’s my blog. I’ll write what I want. Follow me, subscribe to my blog, make some worthwhile comments — then maybe we can talk. Maybe.
Have a great week!
Deb
December 8, 2008 at 7:51 am
I totally agree man. Although with someone like Shoe it would be hard to break the “barrier” by simply commenting on his blog and following him – there’s a chance when reading your pitch that he just might remember your name popping up *somewhere*. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
December 8, 2008 at 11:00 pm
He only has about 31,000 subscribers. No white noise there
December 9, 2008 at 1:33 am
Good point Matt! Just dropping in out of the blue, versus an old acquintance, or somebody who’se existence you’re at least aware of, makes a big difference.
December 8, 2008 at 6:35 am
You’d at least think those press release people would do a little ass kissing first as befits your status.Tsk.
December 8, 2008 at 10:29 am
Sometimes they make the ass too wet with a surplus of flattery.
December 8, 2008 at 11:42 am
Wet??
No tongues Static!!!!
LMAO
December 8, 2008 at 11:48 am
“What kind of jedi mind trick bullshit is that?”
I love it!
December 24, 2008 at 2:48 am
I seriously laughed out loud when I read that. Gold.
December 8, 2008 at 11:49 am
hahahahahhahahhahah
December 8, 2008 at 1:31 pm
HAHA what!? funny.
December 9, 2008 at 1:35 am
Seems like excess flattery can be used as a cure for constipation……interesting where this post is going, for sure!
December 9, 2008 at 2:58 am
wtf? can we talk about something other than ass-related stuff?
December 9, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I don’t like it when there are people who write ambiguous e-mails. Sometimes they jsut want to get a link for free and when I tell them a price, they ask me if I don’t have any other free deals
I also don’t like e-mails who are not personalized to me and are selling me something I don’t want in exchange for something I don’t sell.
Example:”
“Hi,
Would you be interested in getting a templates/animated banner/ logo/ header/ footer/ icons/ mascot
Designs/ article submission/ Directory submission for free of cost.In return I need text links from your
blog or website. Let me know your interest.”
December 18, 2008 at 5:40 am
Hei? I received the same email with you. I did receive more than 5 times from same company and same email but different staff. In the first email, I did reply them and said what kind of template that you offer me? They show me some example but I’m not interested, but they keep email me about this. Grrr!! Now, once I received it, I point my mouse to “Deleted”!
December 9, 2008 at 3:03 am
Wait a minute!!!
Aren’t you Dave Fawler from this amazing blog where you write about fitness and getting in shape with other 2 great bloggers?? OMG!!!
So, would you write about my amazing product that’s so amazing you’re going to be sorry if you think you shouldn’t write about it, because every other blogger already is writing about it, but I’m giving you exclusivity!!!
HEHEHE!!!
Cheers,
Alex
December 9, 2008 at 5:45 am
LMAO
But how the hell will I ever get famous if you don’t spell my name correctly?
Surely that has to be ass kissing lesson #1 ?
December 9, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Sorry about that..
I actually always double check, ‘coz I know how annoying it is when someone doesn’t spell your name correctly.
It’s like calling you Shirley instead of Dave.. Same thing. well, almost.
Cheers,
Alex
December 10, 2008 at 4:11 am
Alex, no problem, it cracked me up.
Too many people are too serious. It’s good to have a laugh.
And I loved the old Shirley joke – where did I first hear that? Airplane!
It’s all good. And if I can shed the weight, maybe I will be famous?? Hahaha.
December 9, 2008 at 12:35 am
That said okay.
December 9, 2008 at 1:39 am
The use of language is so important to get the correct impression across. “I know you won’t publish this….” type pitches or proposals are doomed to failure because it seems like the author has no confidence in his or her own submission.
I love the money attracts wannabes analogy! Well put!
December 17, 2008 at 7:13 pm
most people are so bad at sharing their ideas. They either cant communicate their ideas to others well or just dont get excited enough about their own ideas
January 2, 2009 at 12:39 am
well said.