Wait for a Writer's Green Light Before Sending Your Client's Unsolicited Commentary to a Query

Plus: Save the date for our January Top Tier Talk and study our 2024 Best Practices!

Happy 2024, subscribers!

Wow, that feels crazy to say! Sounds so futuristic, yet here we are :)

We’re excited to create another year of content aimed at helping publicists build and maintain relationships with journalists, rise to the top of busy writers’ inboxes, and get maximum ROI for each outreach effort — aside from our weekly Substack newsletter, we’ll be continuing our monthly Top Tier Talks, small group workshops, and 1:1 consulting sessions.

Keep reading to learn the details for our January Top Tier Talk, catch up on awesome content you might have missed during December, and for this week’s topic: Why it’s great to be eager and proactive when working with a journalist, as long as you stay mindful of the proper order of doing things!

Have a wonderful week and an amazing start to your new year,

Jill & Nicole

PS: We’d SO appreciate you helping to spread the word about Top Tier Consulting. Please hit the share button below to send this newsletter straight to your colleagues!

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Catch Up on Content You May Have Missed

In case you checked out early in the holiday season, now’s a good time to catch up on our last two posts of 2023, including:

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We Miss Your Faces: Save the Date for Our January Top Tier Talk

In the next day or two, we’ll be sending out a dedicated Substack with details on how to RSVP for our January Top Tier Talk.

But go ahead and reserve the date/time on your calendar now:

• Friday January 12th

• 10 am PST/1pm EST

This will be an open forum where you can ask us anything. We can discuss pitching, the state of the industry, seasonal gift guides, sources/experts, best practices, writer pet peeves, AI, interviews, products, deadlines, affiliate programs and more!

As always, this perk is reserved for our paid subscribers, so consider upgrading to a monthly or annual subscription today!

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This Week’s Topic: Why You Should Always Wait for a Writer’s Green Light Before Emailing Responses to Their Query

Recently, Jill was sourcing for an expert for an article … her query simply listed a very broad topic without any specific details (how to store garlic) and the type of expert she was seeking (chef). She included this note:

“Hint: Sell me on why your client is super familiar with this ingredient.”

What she received were a slew of pitches that:

1. Did not event mention the chef’s personal/professional experience on the subject matter (her hint was entirely ignored)

2. Didn’t include bios or social media links or anything useful to demonstrate that the client is, in fact, an expert

3. Included 1-2 sentences on storing garlic (read: unsolicited responses) along the lines of “put it in plastic wrap” and “store in fridge” — as if these lame and generic answers are going to earn your client a featured spot in an article?

While writers certainly appreciate your enthusiasm when it comes to quick responses (perhaps in hopes of “beating out other options”), it’s crucial not to put the cart before the horse.

Now, those first 2 items above are non-negotiable … it’s 100% your job to PROVE why your client is the best expert for the interview, especially when we receive dozens of similar responses to our queries.

Required reading: How to SELL Writers On Your Client vs. Just Telling Us They Exist

But this third item — the unsolicited responses — is what we’re focusing on today. There are at least 5 reasons why using this approach is not a best practice (especially when the responses are generic, but even if you think you’re delivering impressive responses!). And then you’ll see why providing unsolicited responses is ultimately a disservice to you, your client, and the journalist you’re hoping to work with because it could waste everyone’s time and force an awkward conversation.

Uh oh, there’s a paywall! 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