My notes from Scott Stratten's webcast: UnPitching: How "not to suck" at pitching the media.

1. Notes from Scott Stratten’s Webinar:
How “Not To Suck” at Pitching the Media
Webcast by Vocus – August 23, 2012

2.  PR is not Public Relations
 PR is People React, People Respond, People
Reach-Out

3.  Mailing lists are about your clients, not about
you.
 Use them to learn about your customers - to
engage.

4.  Mailing lists are not to be used with a shotgun
approach (how many people can I send this to
in the shortest amount of time?)
 Get people to know you and they will read
what you have to say – build relationships.

5.  Sending mass emails is not a talent.*
 You should make each contact unique.
 The emails you send should be irreplaceable.
* Bonus slide at the end

6.  NEVER USE ALL CAPS IN PRESS RELEASES
OR SUBJECT LINES.
 All caps is the equivalent of shouting (and it is
very annoying for the reader).

7.  The new press is electronic press– it’s digital,
and it’s social.

8.  Match the metric with the mind of who you
are talking to.
 What makes sense to you doesn’t necessarily
make sense to your audience.

9.  Create individual messages when making a
pitch.
 Remember to follow up.
 Cultivate the relationships you start.

10.  People respond to awesome – care about
others and you will be able to create Uber
PR.
 Uber PR – when you create something that
gets talked about because it’s awesome.

11.  The key to Uber PR is reachingthe 3rd circle.

12.  There is You
 Then you have your 1st circle. This is your
immediate Twitter followers, Facebook
friends, etc.
 The 2rd circle is your 1st circle’s, 1st circle.

13.  The 2rd circle is the unconditional circle of
content.
 These people share your content, not
because they know you or like you, but they
because your content is worth sharing.

14.  Once they (the 2nd circle) start sharing your
content, with no “brand umbilical cord”, it
reaches the 3rd circle.
 Then you know you’ve created something
awesome.

15.  Remember, viral can be good or bad.
 Once content is out there, you don’t control
whether it goes viral or not.
 The audience decides what goes viral.

16.  Phrase text in a smart way – as a PR person
you should be able to tell people off and
having them smile back at you.

17.  Make sure there is no double connotations or
inappropriate meanings when you put out
content.
 Specially if it is your logo.

18.  You are not PR, you are the PR expert.
 PR is everybody in your organization.
 Everyone influences the brand.

19.  As a PR expert, you have to train your people
on the impact of social.
 Never tweet, text, email, post, etc anything
you wouldn’t like to see on a giant billboard
with your picture and the company logo.

20.  What you tweet (and post in other platforms)
is a billboard – if you disclose your company
name on your profile, you are writing on their
behalf (even if your bio says different).

21.  People make mistakes. This is ok.
 But when it “hits the fan” your response
should be: Immediate, authentic and
appropriate.

22.  If you make a mistake, own up to it – don’t
forbid people from commenting. Listen.

23.  Never piss off geeks or moms.
 If you piss off a geek-mom, good luck.

24.  PR is real time.
 PR is a two way conversation, it’s a
telephone, not a megaphone

25.  Scott Stratten is President of UnMarketing.com, a
company that combine sefforts in viral, social, and
authentic marketing. He has guided companies such
as PepsiCo, Adobe, Red Cross, and Saks Fifth Avenue
through the viral/social media and relationship
marketing landscape. Scott was name done of the top
five social media influencers in the world on
Forbes.com. He speaks globally on how business can
engage better (or at all!) with their current and
potential customer base using social media, viral
marketing –and just plain old engaging conversation.

26.  The complete webcast is available at
bit.ly/Pkfw1e
 Scott’s books UnMarketing: Stop Marketing.
Start Engaging, and his latest book, The Book
of Business Awesome/UnAwesome are both
available on Amazon.

27.  As Marcello Serpa said: “Alguémtem o email
do imbecil que inventou o Email Marketing?”
 Translation: Does anyone have the email of
the idiot who invented email marketing?