and hawing and building up to what your pitch is about. 

 Your pitch must grab the journalist’s attention immediately and 

it must offer her something she wants—the chance for a good story. 

 Be sure to use the right terms.  Newspapers and magazines 

have readers. TV and radio outlets have viewers or listeners, also 

called an audience. 

 Let’s look at the right way and the wrong way to pitch. In this 

example, let’s pretend you’re a CPA who has a new book about taxes 

to promote. 

YOU: “Hello, my name is John Smith. I’ve been an accountant for 20 years, 

and I have a book to promote about taxes.” 

JOURNALIST: “Go away. I have a big dog.”

 Why is this wrong? First, unless you are already famous, I mean 

Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt famous, the media person on the other 

end of the line doesn’t care what your name is. Don’t lead the con- 

versation with it. 

 Next, nobody cares what you do for a living, same as your name. 

 Third, nobody cares that you have something to promote. Ev- 

erybody who calls has something to promote. Media outlets are not 

in the business of promoting books or products, unless you want to 

buy advertising. They are in the business of informing and/or enter- 

taining their audience. And selling advertising. 

 Finally, the subject is boring. Who wants to talk about taxes 

unless they’re getting a refund? 

 Okay, so how do you pitch? Let’s try again. 

THe RIGHT WAY TO PITCH 

YOU: “Hello, I can tell your readers/audience how to slash their taxes by 

25% in 15 minutes.  The information is based on my new book, How to 

Legally Cut Your Taxes. 

JOURNALIST: “Will you be my new best friend? I want to make  

you famous.” 

 Why is this the right way? 

 First, you started with the hook. You got the journalist’s attention. 

 Who doesn’t want to reduce their taxes? 

 Then, you backed up your statement by indicating that you 

are an expert on the subject.  You wrote a book. If the journalist is 

interested, she will ask who you are, what makes you an expert, and 

if you have a press release or media kit.

 But what if you don’t have a book? You adapt your approach. 

YOU: “I’m calling to tell your readers/audience how they can cut their 

taxes by 25% in 15 minutes. I’m a CPA with 20 years experience. I have 

literally saved my clients tens of millions of dollars—legally and simply. 

JOURNALIST: “I want to have your children.” 

In this example, you still led with a great hook. And you in- 

dicated your expertise; you’re not some fruitcake with bizarre ideas 

about taxes. 

 Of course, journalists won’t really say the above words, though 

if you bore them, annoy them, or pester them, especially when they’re 

on deadline, they may get a restraining order against your phone. 

 That’s why it’s critical to catch their attention immediately 

and offer something of value to them. 

It’s a good idea to practice pitching with your friends before you pick 

up the phone. Remember the saying, “You only get one chance to 

make a good first impression.” With journalists, you get about half 

that much. 

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A great headline can also be a guide to help you write the release.

Here are some templates you can use, there are many more, to help you craft eye-catching, publicity generating releases. Some of them use the number 10, but  you could also use 5,7 etc. Whatever works.

So here they are:

The Top 10 __________

The Best __________

The Worst __________

The 10 Best Ways to __________

The Easiest Ways to __________

Why You Should Always __________

Why You Should Never __________

Why You Should Always __________ When You __________

Why You Should Never __________ When You __________

10 Reasons to __________

10 Reasons Not to __________

10 Questions You Should Ask Before Choosing a __________ (doctor, lawyer, mechanic, school, charity, etc.)

You may notice that there are actually 12 headlines above. You may wonder why, when the title of this post says there are 10. I’m using one of the principles of business success: Always under promise and over deliver.

Thanks for reading.

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This means streamlining the communication process as much as you can.

In my work as a journalist, I’ve had several people pitch me stories who then told me I could find out the background information I needed by reading several pages of their web site, they weren’t sure just where, but if I hunted around, I could find it.

More than one got testy when I told them I didn’t have time.

Think about this situation from the standpoint of human nature. Forget about journalism for a moment. Imagine that someone asks you to do them a favor. When you agree, they put all kinds of conditions on you as to how the favor must be performed and when, so that they are not inconvenienced.

How would you feel, especially if you had several things of your own that you had to accomplish before the end of the day?

Now, journalists are not doing you a favor. They are looking for good stories, but they have a lot to choose from. Who is more likely to get their story in the paper, the person who is helpful, or the person who puts up roadblocks?

One time I asked the spokesperson for a nonprofit a question and she told me to go read her 96 page white paper. There was no way I was going to do that, not to find one simple piece of information that she could have told me over the phone. Guess whose story didn’t appear in the paper.

So do whatever you can to make the journalist’s life easier and you’ll find yourself getting more and more free publicity.

Adapted from the book, You Can Be Famous! Insider Secrets to Getting Free Publicity