Planting Story Seeds: The Pitching Trick You Need to Try
Learn the strategy one PR pro uses to pitch journalists in as little as 10 words.
Joni Sweet is a seasoned writer, editor, and content strategist with 13+ years of media experience. In this newsletter, Joni reveals her current assignments and insider tips to help PR professionals sharpen their pitches, avoid rookie mistakes, land coverage for their clients, and build stronger relationships with writers. Get ready for candid advice, a touch of sass, and secret strategies to make your pitches stand out.
There’s a PR pitch I can’t stop thinking about. It starts: “This Hotel’s ‘Bike Butler’ Will Put Your Kid on Wheels, So You Don’t Have To…” In just two sentences (64 words, to be exact), the rest of the pitch delivers a compelling story idea that I (an avid cyclist and traveler) am dying to write. And I’ve felt this way since I received it several months ago—basically an eon in PR pitch time.
Why does it work so well? Well, friends, let me tell you about “Story Seeds,” a pitching technique developed by Courtney Young, media relations manager at Rachel Harrison Communications.
It’s proof that short and smart can break through the noise in journalists’ inboxes, where hundreds of pitches a week compete for attention. And it’s a technique that might just inspire you to rethink how you craft your own pitches.
I asked Courtney to spill the secrets behind this method, and here’s what she had to say...