I have\u00a0written\u00a0a\u00a0lot\u00a0of stuff recently that\u2019s more on the instructional side, and I promise you that this isn\u2019t going to become a Substack that\u2019s entirely how-to guides. I also realize that the content has begun to oscillate rapidly between cultural analysis and How To Do Stuff, but hey, it\u2019s free, right? If I charged money I\u2019d feel worse about it.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I was thinking recently about how my job works, and how much of it really comes down to writing an email that makes someone do something. It\u2019s definitely reductive to say that\u2019s the\u00a0only<\/em>\u00a0thing, but it is also remarkable how often the process comes down to whether I can get someone to do something based on an email or a DM.<\/p>\n Which is why I\u2019m writing a newsletter that\u2019s basically all about how that works, and what it means. Some of this may seem obvious, but based on 99% of PR pitches I see, it isn\u2019t well-known.<\/p>\n Oftentimes emails are sent with little regard for their purpose or existence. Sometimes it may seem like they have a point \u2013 a PR person sending a \u201cstory idea\u201d that\u2019s barely if at all related to you, for example \u2013 but doesn\u2019t seem to have that logic flowing through it. The very soul of what you write should be dedicated to actually doing something, and everything in it should be part of that purpose.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the email needs to actually apply to the person it\u2019s going to. This means you should research them and understand not only who they are and what they do, but how you can make the email you\u2019re sending applicable to them.<\/p>\n For example, a bad PR pitch is usually bad because its purpose \u2013 \u201cgetting a story\u201d \u2013 is fairly vague, and doesn\u2019t actually connect to the content of the email itself. A good PR pitch is written and delivered to someone that it\u2019s applicable to, and actually does stuff to get that thing to happen. In essence, you\u2019re not \u201cgetting a story,\u201d you\u2019re trying to get the person in question to talk to the client, click a link, read a thing and take action upon it \u2013 basically making it easy to do the thing you want so that the other thing you want will happen.<\/p>\n If I\u2019m pitching a reporter with the intention of getting them to cover something, I\u2019ll send them a short email saying what it\u2019s about, and end it with a clear call to action \u2013 either here\u2019re the assets for the story (assuming they\u2019re a reporter that would write a story based off of an email, some quotes and images, which does happen in specific industry press), or the same thing but it ends with the assets (because they will need them) and a question of when they\u2019re free to talk to the client in question.<\/p>\n You want to make it clear what you want and give them \u2013 the person reading it specifically \u2013 everything they need to ideally make the decision you want.<\/p>\n This applies to basically any situation you find yourself in where you need something. You want to be writing something for the person reading it that\u2019s applicable to them with clear intentions.<\/p>\n Say you\u2019re complaining to a hotel manager that you had a bad stay. The temptation that a lot of people have is to go nuts with threats and nasty words to scare them. That doesn\u2019t motivate anyone! What you want to do is lay out exactly what happened, the consequences of what happened, and what you would like in return. You can even layer on that you\u2019re unhappy, and that you won\u2019t be staying there again unless there\u2019s compensation. The important thing is that the email isn\u2019t simply a screed of anger and poison \u2013 even if you feel that way, the person in question likely didn\u2019t personally do the bad thing, and even if they weren\u2019t helpful at the time, being persuasive and illustrative is a hundred times more effective (and moral) than hurting someone.<\/p>\n In the realm of PR, writing an email to someone about something should generally come down to some basic things:<\/p>\n Say I\u2019m pitching Gumbus.AI raised $40 million in a Series B. They\u2019re a company that uses AI to tell you the best vendor for enterprise clients. Most likely a reporter wants to know, on receiving this email, who funded them, when the news is going out, what the company does (in short, but also not so short that it makes no sense) and why it matters to them. The latter part can come simply from good targeting \u2013 reading their stuff and understanding what they cover \u2013 so you can simply write an email that endearingly tells them\u00a0there is news, it\u2019s happening here, the news is this, and this is the person to talk to.<\/strong><\/p>\n It may be a little simpler \u2013 say, a reporter you read a lot of that you want to grab coffee with, or learn exactly what they want to hear about. Make the email short and sweet \u2013 hey, I read a bunch of your stuff, I know you write about XYZ, but would you wanna grab coffee and chat about what you care about in detail? Or perhaps it\u2019s a simple \u201care you interested in this kinda thing, I read your stuff and it\u2019s on the edge I think?\u201d<\/p>\n In many cases with reporters it\u2019s not exactly\u00a0the thing<\/em>\u00a0to say \u201cI want you to write about this story,\u201d mostly because their evaluation of whether something is a story doesn\u2019t really come from just an email. What you\u2019re doing is giving them the tools to make that evaluation themselves, and usually them taking a call is a sign that yes, there is potentially a story that they need to investigate themselves.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re trying to talk to an investor about investing, most likely your short email should include the metrics that would matter to an investor \u2013 total addressable market, revenue (unless you don\u2019t want to share it in a quick email), growth % over X amount of time, unique things about you and, crucially,\u00a0a very clear ask at the end \u2013\u00a0<\/em>hey, can we grab 30 minutes with you? Can I send you my deck?<\/p>\n You don\u2019t need to include\u00a0everything<\/strong>, you need to include\u00a0what\u2019s necessary.<\/strong><\/p>\n Whatever it is you\u2019re asking, make it the easiest thing in the world to actually deal with. Want them to talk to you for 30 minutes? Give them your calendar availability, or a\u00a0Calendly link\u00a0so they can pick one themselves. Need them to speak to a client? Be ready to respond and loop in said client,\u00a0and please god, respond quickly<\/strong>. Want them to write a story about something based off of your email? Include everything they\u2019d need \u2013 pricing, screenshots or images, facts and figures \u2013 and make it super easy to read, like in a Google Doc.<\/p>\n Pitching a story that you want to write for an outlet? Make it a tight 4 or 5 bullet point thing that clearly illustrates a narrative, how you\u2019d get the story done, and how much time it\u2019d take, and make it clear you\u2019re available.<\/p>\n Sending a proposal? Lay out exactly what you\u2019d do, who you\u2019ve done it for, how much it\u2019d cost and when you can start.<\/p>\n People who are very good at getting people to do stuff do not do so using black magic. They do so by offering people as quick and easy a decision as possible, directly aligning it with their interests and making the process of saying \u201cyes\u201d as easy to say as \u201cno\u201d as possible. And they accept a \u201cno\u201d gracefully \u2013 any response is usually a \u201cthanks for reading anyway\u201d or, if it remotely challenges it, is similarly quick and easy to read and address or dismiss.<\/p>\n A lot of people treat the very basics of communication as a monolith. They want to cram every slice of information into it as possible, and write what they believe is a \u201ccompelling email,\u201d when most compelling things aren\u2019t based on the linguistics involved but on the actual content of the words the person is reading.<\/p>\n Obfuscating fact with fanciful language is a great way to get ignored. Writing a huge amount of text is a great way to get ignored. Anything you do that will make the person say \u201cnah, I\u2019m not reading that\u201d is useless to you.<\/p>\n Pragmatism is always your goal. Always. And even if it\u2019s a no, you always want to get your emails or messages read and responded to. If that\u2019s not the goal, what the hell is?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have\u00a0written\u00a0a\u00a0lot\u00a0of stuff recently that\u2019s more on the instructional side, and I promise you that this isn\u2019t going to become … <\/p>\nWhy Am I Sending This Email? And Why Am I Sending It To This Person?<\/h2>\n
What Do I Want? And What Do They Need To Know?<\/h2>\n
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Be Useful (And Easy)<\/h2>\n