Over in Tin Shingle’s Pitch Whisperer online forum, a business owner who is a member submitted a pitch email they wanted to send to the Today show. Right off the bat - the first sentance - was wrong. This is a good thing! Easy to fix. Suggestions are below on how to turn this pitch into one of the top televisions programs into one that might get a response.
We’ll keep their name and details of their product out of this article, as the online forum is a private space for members only. But the edit can be public for all to read and benefit from.
The edit is not actually an edit to the pitch. It is an edit to the approach, in order to attempt to shift the business owner’s mindset when pitching any media outlet. The mindset is really important, and helps you know what to write. Once that shifts, new bullet points within your media pitch will present themselves.
In the business owners pitch, they do a few things. They state that they watch the show, in the first sentence. The next part includes that the business was started in the basement. Always interesting to include, but we need more. And finally, when the business owner was submitting this pitch to the Pitch Whisperer Forum, they referred to their pitch as an "ask." That's the mindset we need to shift. A pitch isn't an "ask." It's bait on a fishing hook to catch a fish.
Don't start with that you watch the show. Dead giveaway that you are a newbie at pitching, and probably the business owner. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but the media moves fast, so they respond better to people who know the ebbs and flows of how they need to communicate. I've seen this opener lots of times. If it's to the Today Show, don't do it. If it's to a very small local station, maybe. Either way, the producers will be able to tell if you watch the show because of how you speak to them and what you refer to.
Don't make an "ask". You are telling them You are tempting them. You are asking nothing of them. They are busy in offensive mode, so they are hunting and gathering.
Interesting that you started in the basement. Ok. How long have you been in business now?
Why does the [product] work? This is an interesting concept that you have presented. But why does it work? Is it common? Include more of that in the pitch.
But Wait! If I Don’t Ask, Then How Will I Know?
You might be asking: “If I don’t ask, how will I know what opportunities they are having?” Don’t worry about this part. If you hire a publicist, the publicist may know, because he/she is on a warm email basis with some producers, so they will (or may) just know things through relationships and conversations. You should be watching the show (yay, you already are!) so you can tell the types of things they talk about. From there, you can pitch them what you think they might respond to. This always comes from a place of: what will their viewers like?
Producers are looking for trends. Anything newsworthy in the news now that they can piggy back on. Like…fitness trends, or shifts for people working from home or returning to the office, or fashion shifts into crop and how your special pants address a woman’s midriff during this crop season. Ideas like that.
You Won’t Pitch Once
You won’t pitch once. You’re going to pitch several times, with different angles/ideas.
Need help? Or a guiding light? Or someone to do this with? Tin Shingle’s Membership Program has the online Pitch Whisperer Program, where you can copy/paste your pitch into our online forum, and Tin Shingle’s creator, Katie, will submit thoughts and/or edits. Other members may as well. See our Membership details for more.
If showing your pitch to even our private membership is uncomfortable for you, you can hire Tin Shingle for private services, and we can work directly with you by phone and email to craft your pitch. See our Private Service for that. Members of Tin Shingle do get a 25% discount. Using the online forum, however, is free as it is included with membership.
Talk soon!