Submitted by Sabina Hitchen on | 0 Comments
We love hearing from our small business members because we get a direct look into how people like you are growing your business every day.
Early one morning, we got an email from Maria Moss Davidson, who was jumping up and down with excitement (or would have been if we could see her on the other side of the email). Maria is the Director of Communications and Marketing for VERG (Veterinary Emergency Group in Brooklyn) and is a member of Tin Shingle. She attends our weekly classes (even when home with a sick child!), participates in our community, and has been through the Pitch Whispering program.
The night before, she had cold-pitched Inside Edition. Inside Edition had not only responded to her pitch, but were interested in sending a camera crew out to cover the story. Says Maria: "If I hadn't joined Tin Shingle I would have never had the confidence to send out all those emails last night. You're the first people I told. :-)"
Maria gave us permission to share her email pitch with you because it was so on-point, we wanted to dissect it and show you why it worked. Take a look. This was Maria's first time cold-pitching the show:
SUBJECT LINE:
Exciting veterinary procedure happening in Brooklyn tomorrow
Hi Alison,
I hope all is well with you. Sorry to send you a pitch with such short notice- but this is so cool I thought you might be interested. It's pretty hot so I'm typing this to you on my iPhone, forgive me!
Tomorrow morning, a 4 year old dog is going to walk in our hospital almost completely blind.
-having cataract surgery on both eyes
-the cataracts were genetic
-hasn't been able to see his owners in months
-the following morning, this same dog will be reunited with his owners who he will be able to see perfectly clear
-cataracts are somewhat common in dogs
-some get so severe that they completely lose vision
-most people don't know that veterinary ophthalmologists exist and can cure this problem.
Have a great night! Call my cell if you would like more info! xxx.xxx.4954
Best,
Maria
WHY THIS PITCH WORKED
Usually you don't want to send a pitch to the press at 9pm, from your iPhone where you can't format and bold things very easily. But - the pitch was very timely, was to the point, and pulled at the emotional heartstrings, aka "the hook" of the pitch. Here's a recap of why this pitch worked:
- She got to the point quickly.
- She acknowledged that yes it was short notice but she still thought they would love this story.
- She got to "the hook" quickly – the way she described a dog walking into the hospital blind, and would leave seeing his owners after not seeing them for the past few months pulls heartstrings immediately.
- She knew this was just the type of story that Inside Edition loves (know your pitch’s audience).
- She bulleted out the main points of the story, rather than write in a long paragraph.
- She shared how the producers could come and get great visuals (TV Is always about visuals).
- She showed that they were flexible and easy to work with, even when it didn’t end up making it on air, Maria proved herself to be a great asset for stories and an easy person to work with.
- She went for it! You’ll never land a story if you don’t start pitching!
Good news for her?
The show ended up having a scheduling conflict, which is common for daily programs. Even though she didn’t land the pitch, Maria DID land a new press relationship, and that’s even more powerful. She now has a member of the press who knows her and sees she is fast and flexible. Now when she pitches them stories in the future, she can be sure they’ll recognize her name and most likely respond.
