It’s Time to Delete THIS Word From the Subject Line of Your Pitches

Your subject line is THE most important content you write — and using this word does you no favors when it comes to open rate

Happy Thursday, everyone!

Between our crazy travel schedules, assignment loads, and personal lives (what? who has one of those?!), we had put our 1:1 consulting sessions on hiatus for Q1 … but we’re bringing them back by popular demand!

See below for more details about what obstacles we can help you with — from perfecting a pitch that isn’t getting traction and preparing a killer press package that will deliver ROI to planning press trips and hosting media events.

This week, we’re diving into a topic that’s sure to make a quick impact on the open rate of your pitches. There’s one word we see over and over again in publicists’ subject lines that is doing you no favors … it’s probably lowering your open rate and therefore reducing your chances for a response and coverage.

Before we dive in, a little housekeeping:

Want to Pick Our Brains? We Have 3 Slots Available for May!

Here’s a reminder of the consulting sessions we offer, both to agencies and solo/freelance publicists:

All Your Questions Answered Session

Have a bunch of questions you’ve been dying to ask two top-tier journalists? Here’s your chance to learn about what goes on behind the scenes. Book a panel with us and prepare your list. You’ll walk away with all of your questions answered, plus we’ll sprinkle in our best practices throughout the session to help give you (and your clients!) an edge in this highly competitive media landscape.

Pitch Perfecting Strategy Session

Ready to take your pitches to the next level? Or are you wondering why certain pitches aren’t getting much response? Learn how to take your emails from, “Here’s a client I represent,” to “Here’s a story idea you can’t possibly turn down.” Between the two of us, we receive thousands of pitches per week, so we have many tips — and examples — of what works and what doesn’t. From coming up with the perfect email subject line to improve your open rates to sealing the deal with your closing remarks, your word choices matter throughout the entire pitch. We’ll help you perfect them.

Become a Journalist’s BFF: Networking and Relationship Management Session

Some publicists seem to have a transactional “wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am” approach to their work, but highly successful publicists know that building long-term relationships with journalists is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Learn how to meet new journalists, and discover best practices for staying in touch, following up, and creating meaningful relationships. You’ll also discover how to become a writer’s go-to source, how to stand out when answering a writer’s call for sources (whether that’s on HARO, a FB group, Twitter, or Substack), how to avoid common writer pet peeves and more.

Press Package 101 Session

Looking to mail out samples of your clients’ products in hopes of landing coverage? Great, but there’s a list of things you should know before dropping them off at the post office — things like planning, packaging, and communications will make all the difference in your ROI. We’ll help you make your packages more enticing, while actually saving your clients money in the process. And we’ll discuss how to target the right audiences, how to handle post-delivery follow-ups, and more.

Press Trips Invites and Itineraries Session

The two most important aspects of pulling off a successful press trip are nailing your invites and itineraries. First, we’ll dive into journalist targeting and invitation etiquette do’s and don’ts. Then, you’ll learn how to build a press trip itinerary that will actually land you coverage. We’ll focus on striking the perfect blend between offering media the chance to experience a destination, while zeroing in on quality and unique experiences that can lead to coverage — and help you find that elusive balance between keeping writers entertained vs. not overbooking them.

Hosting the Perfect Virtual and/or In-Person Media Event Session

Events are efficient ways to connect with a lot of media in one setting. During these sessions, you’ll learn the ins and outs of how to create a media event that journalists will A) Want to attend B) Will stay engaged at C) Will work into coverage. We’ll teach you how to target the ideal attendees who are there for article ideas and not just the free swag. We’ll talk venues, guest lists, and what to say in your presentation, plus how to coach your clients to interact with media at events in the most beneficial way.

Your Custom Session

The above options are just a sample of topics, based on questions we get asked about most frequently. But if you have something you’d love to discuss that you don’t see on the list, we’re happy to create a custom session around it. Let’s dive deeper!

Interested in hearing more? Email us at info@toptierconsulting.NET.

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Ok, back to this week’s topic

We get a lot of emails from publicists — some great, some... not. But there’s one tiny, consistent mistake we see over and over again that could be quietly tanking your open rates.

It’s a single word. One you’ve probably typed a thousand times without thinking twice. And the kicker? It’s doing absolutely nothing to help you — in fact, it’s holding you back from even greater success!

Let’s talk about the one word you should stop putting in your subject lines immediately.

Shoot, there’s a paywall and our best advice lives beyond it! Not a paying member? Here’s what you’re missing out on:

• Full access to our weekly newsletters

• Access to our extensive archive of paid posts on every PR topic under the sun

• The ability to attend/participate in our monthly Zoom Top Tier Talks

• Discounts on all our most popular group workshops (like our upcoming Pitch Perfecting Workshop)

*Note: Our consulting sessions, workshops, Zooms and Substack newsletters are strictly educational. Signing up for anything has no bearing on landing coverage in any of our outlets. Our role is to fine-tune your approach and tactics so that you can apply these learnings when pitching other journalists.