Posted on December 11, 2007
Filed Under Commercial Interruptions |

Every once in awhile I’ll get a “pitch” email from a Web 2.0 startup. The vast majority of the pitches I’ve received haven’t been very impressive so I’ve not felt compelled to write about any of the startups pitched, even though I could easily write some negative reviews that would be of little interest to readers.

I received a pitch today that, like most of the others, failed to impress me and I thought to myself, “Even if a startup doesn’t have a chance, it’d be a whole lot more interesting to receive a well-written pitch.” Today I’m giving advice on how to write a good pitch so that I hopefully get pitches that are more enjoyable to read.

To start, the pitch I received follows. Because I’m not a complete asshole, I’ve removed the startup name and links.

Hi,

I’m writing you as one of the founders of deleted. This is a social shopping site that went online in December 2006, has recently received funding and has been featured in publications like the Wired Magazine and The Times as well as techblogs like Mashable and Blognation.

I have been following Drama 2.0 and believe that deleted could be of interest for you. It is a service that allows users to publish and share products with the broader public which they find cool, innovative, exceptionally beautiful, or just weird. Every user has the option to rate other users’ postings. The more people vote for a product, the greater opportunity it has to advance to the front page and be exposed to even more visitors. It does, in a way, represent consumers’ shifting preferences toward unusual products, while still looking for what others deem as cool.

You will find our press kit, reviews, and our press releases here: deleted.

Please don’t hesitate to contact if you need further information.

This in my opinion is a less-than-compelling pitch for the following specific reasons:

In short, the email above says little more than “Digg for shoppers.” Given the way it is written, I also suspect it’s a template that has been sent out to lots of bloggers.

If you have a startup and are going to pitch your wares to a blogger, here’s my advice:

In typical Drama 2.0 fashion, I’ll end with an analogy: pitching your startup is like picking up a woman. Success is dependent on approaching at just the right time, piquing her interest and making a great impression very quickly.

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Comments

2 Responses to “How to Pitch Your Startup to a Blogger”

  1. Stanley Miller on December 11th, 2007 3:04 pm

    Brevity does have its place as does long flowing prose. When I’m at loss for brevity in my writing, I typically favor the long flowing prose. To those who find themselves in the latter category, it’s always helpful to section your work with headers so the reader can ffwd on demand. This compromise allows the writer to maximize information presented, while giving the reader the option to choose.

  2. John Philip Green on December 13th, 2007 9:03 am

    Good tips. Also might add that a lot can be done in the subject line to grab attention and be noticeable in the blogger’s inbox wasteland.

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