11 things that annoy journalists and bloggers

Reserve your ‘friend’ requests on Facebook for, well, your friends. And stop ‘following up,’ for Pete’s sake!

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A public relations professional can be one of the most valuable resources for a journalist—a partner who points out relevant news, gives access to valued sources, and provides photos and reliable company background.

Unfortunately, repeated miscues by PR companies frequently turn them into the equivalent of spammers.

Here are 10 irritating habits common among PR media pitchers that can destroy any chance of a lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with a writer or editor. Avoid these mistakes, and you’ll improve your chances of success with journalists across the nation.

1. Blasting mass emails. This is a no-brainer. Marketing is all about personalization, communication, engagement, and listening. The same rules that apply to everyday communication apply to journalists. They hate to be bcc’d or, even worse, cc’d.

Remember you are pitching a news outlet, and no news outlet wants to cover something that everyone else is publishing or broadcasting (unless it’s an earnings announcement, for example, in which case the journalists probably have opted in).

2. Sending the same Twitter @ reply to 30 people. Everyone can see your @ replies. It’s even worse than sending a mass email, because the rest of world can see your ploy. Just don’t do it.

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