Pitch one Marketer, Get one Free Day

 

Catchy title aside, we have seen a dramatic increase in the number of first time pitches to join special communities and blogging platforms lately. At a first glance, the business model for most of them seems to be "build it and they will come".

Indeed, given the nature of the pitches couched as offers for participation, the plan must be go on Twitter, mine for marketers, pitch as many as possible, preferably with the very same pitch that demonstrates the lack of a well thought out plan, and voila' they will help you figure out the rest.

Except for it's not that simple.

We have a term for professional opinion, especially when it's without a relationship as foundation, it's called billable time. 

There is a better way

One that would be win win for you and the busy professional you're pitching. It even involves influence on many levels and doesn't require budgets you may not have, especially if you're in bootstrapping mode (which I admire, BTW). Ready?

• do something remarkable -- hold the pitch until *after* you impressed a whole bunch of people with an initiative or a project that aligns with your mission. In fact, consider the project your pitch. It works. Take for example the Influencer Project by Thoughtlead. Learn about it in my conversation with Sam Rosen, CEO.

• build a tribe first -- if nobody has ever heard of you, you're facing an uphill battle. And are competing for attention with dozens of sites/platforms/tools just like yours. They may not be, that's the perception to harried people. Take the time to attract a group of like-minded individuals who will believe in your project. Chris Guillebeau calls it a small army. If you really want to figure out the lifestyle entrepreneur business, you should check out his Empire Building kit. He even inspired me to join his affiliate program.

• make the technology really useful -- and keep improving it based upon user suggestions. That's how coTweet and Hootsuite got their start. Although the personal relationship feel with Ryan has been inversely proportional to the success of his tool, Hootsuite has really taken the platform to a new level with the recent improvements. And earned the stripes for a paid iPhone app and one for Android, etc.

In other words, do something that earns you attention and, as outcome of that, media. And you better be ready when the attention comes.

Maybe, a couple of years ago, when many were still getting their feet wet, everyone was still experimenting on the technology side, it was different. Today, you're contending with a crowded sphere (notice I did not reference any quadrants, not to get into analyst territory) and asking marketers to basically help you create the execution plan is unrealistic.

There are no average people. There are average marketing messages.

Join today's #kaizenblog chat and learn you ignore failure at your own peril.

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Comments

[Beth Harte]

Valeria, thank you for writing this! I was hounded by a "moderator platform" this week on Twitter and via email. In looking at their Twitterstream, they were doing the same thing to a lot of others.

What's with management putting these kids in charge of driving the bus?

Erroneously, I think companies who offer something in the 'social space' assume that everyone will jump on the bandwagon. As if we are all lemmings... As you pointed out CoTweet and HootSuite earned their reputations first. A lesson to be learned there.

[Justin Popovic]

This comment comes at the most amazing time for me. I have literally just put the wheels in motion on an idea that embodies everything you have recommended here. As I was reading your post I got more and more excited to realize that I am definitely on the right track.

Amazing the timing of some of the content I read online. That is why I love blogs and social media so much.

Great job thanks

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Beth - unfortunately many of these efforts are starting to resemble more cheap spam than serious and revolutionary marketing efforts. More the new "make money from home" scams than spaces to grow new ways to connect. Also, a culture of entitlement is winning over that of earning your stripes. Which is a bad example for young and inexperienced workers to want to emulate. It's much harder to build and run a company than it is to talk about it, etc.

@Justin - glad the post was helpful. There are serious marketers out there who deserve to break through the clutter of subpar junk. One can usually tell a program conceived from experience and passion like the examples I provided.

[ron]

Spam is bad - and all hype with no meat is bad too. Finding those rare gems that get lost in the middle is harder - and honestly should you really be using your time to look for them?