Scoring coverage: Anatomy of a successful email pitch

A few weeks ago, I got in some hot water with some of my fellow PR professionals for being too tough on an agency employee who sent me an off-topic pitch. Since then, I’ve received my share of pitches. Copyblogger‘s Brian Clark really inspired me today, after reading this excellent monster list of recommendations on how to pitch properly.

As it’s never my intention simply to point out what’s wrong with our profession—but to try to point out what is right—I’d like to highlight this recent email I received, along with my comments, to point out why it works.

Here is the headline and the first paragraph:

It was addressed informally, “Hi, Claire,” but that’s cool. She spelled my name correctly, which is also cool (very cool).

Second, she included a crucial detail. Because I contribute to PR Daily, she immediately made the connection that she thought it suitable for PR Daily.