PR Slugs

Anyone with a blog knows that there is a terrible place out there somewhere. A place that must be dark and horrible, where the inhabitants long to cry out in pain but can't muster the courage or energy.

That place, is of course, is the offices of PR firms. Judging by the volume of crappy suggestions I get from them, they must be filled with low-earning, life-hating people just begging for something useful to do. I have gotten emails from poor, helpless PR lackeys asking me to write posts about Trident gum, Clorox, and many other captivating products. All in exchange for.... NOTHING! Yes, Corporate America expects me to fill my website with garbage benefitting them for free. I wonder what the hit rate is. How many people really got so excited about that Trident flavor that they just had to share their feelings with the world? My guess: exactly zero*.

Which is why it is so important that cold emails do not come from PR people. Send them directly. You'll get a much better response.

For example, I got an email from Widgetbox asking me to sign up for their blog network. I didn't know they had one. I gave it a shot - the widget is in the bottom right of this blog right now. I don't know if it will work, but I appreciate the fact that they took the time to blast these emails out themselves rather than via some PR flack. I also appreciate that the offer somehow benefits me (in theory, at least).

Two lessons here:

1. Don't outsource your relationships.
   
2. If you're boring, you must also be helpful. Boring and useless gets you nowhere.
   

*I am well aware of the illogic of me writing about me not writing about Trident, et al. Consistency is overrated.