The PR Lead for a Frommer's Travel Gift Guide went out to our private membership here at Tin Shingle, and a flurry of small businesses clamored to answer it to have their business featured in a Frommer's Travel Gift Guide for Gifts Mostly Under $100. Two Tin Shingle member businesses, RestoPresto (a self-contained mat blanket) and Stojo (a collapsible pocket cup) were selected from possibly hundreds of submissions. That's a big deal!! Want a tip on how it happened?

Over here at Tin Shingle, we really like giving and receiving feedback. Especially when we are about to pitch the press. Because you know how it is - you're really excited to email a media outlet that you would LOVE to have your business featured in, and what happens? The words get in the way. Either you write too many, too few, or heck, you don't even make sense because you're just so excited to be pulling the trigger.

So we created a special section devoted just to giving and receiving feedback in Tin Shingle's private Message Boards/Forums called "Pitch Workshop". In it, we nerd-out over pitches. Someone copies and pastes their pitch that they want to send to the press, and someone else writes in to give their impression. Even better, others can learn from it who are reading the back and forth conversations, and following which changes were made to the pitch, and why.

RestoPresto, founded by Candi Obrentz, a new business who joined Tin Shingle as one of her first buzz-building moves, submitted her pitch to the Pitch Workshop. She was so excited, that she wrote the title in all caps: "FIRST PITCH EVER! Frommer's Gift Guide" Naturally, I dove in to see how she did. Because later on, it was this pitch that she used to email into Frommer's and was honored with the inclusion into the gift guide. You just never know!

Highlights Of Why This Pitch Worked

Candi was kind enough to share her full pitch with Tin Shingle members here in the thread, but I can tell you the highlights of what went down edit-wise:

• The first paragraph nailed it and was customized for the editor's audience.
  She described her product swiftly in a short first paragraph that targeted how a traveler would use it and need it.
• Put main points in bullet points.
  Candi actually used 2 sets of bullet points in her pitch - and that's OK. The first set described the sales details of the product, like price point, fabric, how it works. The second set of bullets listed very shortly how different people use it in different situations. This is great, because people often want to know the How and the Why at the same time. RestoPresto is a mat blanket, and is Candi's own invention, so it is unique. It requires careful explaining.
• Candi stated the Frommer's Travel Gift Guide a few times.
  Repeating waht the product is being considered for is a nice touch, because it signals to the writer that you have done your homework and that you are pitching to something specific.
• Word-choice was important and debated.
  Being that RestoPresto is a newly created and patented product, word-choice is very important. As a reader, there were few words that I stumbled over that did not create the feeling that Candi was going for. In my feedback, I was able to identify those times, and Candi was able to incorporate changes that worked with her legal lingo for her product, as well as entice a potential customer.
• Great product photography on hand.
  After the editor received Candi's pitch, he emailed back asking for high resolution photos. Yes, Candi had those! And photos with a white background to give it a more professional look. Here is the image that Candi sent over with her pitch:

Would you like to pitch the press with more confidence? Listen to our Tin Shingle TuneUp Training Webinar, "How To Write The Perfect Pitch to Land Amazing Press". It comes with a template! Start a membership with Tin Shingle to get instant access to make that happen faster and with more confidence.