Ain't too Proud to Beg

Ok,

So today in the short 4 hours I was in the office, I managed to delete 500 mass emailed press releases, sort through about 20 PR phone messages and deal with 3 annoying "why did I pick up the phone?" pitches.

But the one that stands out the most today... was a pitch from a woman who has been stalking me for some time now. A few months back I agreed to meet with her to talk through some of the things she had been pitching. Mind you, its not that her ideas were bad or that her clients were even lousy, no, its that she has literally been stalking me for weeks on end. Emails, phone calls--unending amounts of time uselessly used up saying "no" over and over again, but she just doesn't seem to get it. And the thing that gets me is that she says she used to be a "producer."

Now some people will tell a journalist these types of things just to get on their good side. Its a relating tactic they use to help drop the journo's guard. They are presumably looking to get the journo to cut them some slack, since they were once on the other side of the table.--or so they say. Unfortunately, its become blatantly obvious that this Flack has never been on my side of the table. EVER.

She left me a message today regarding a possible interview, that she had heard through the grapevine, we were going to do. Now from all of my knowledge, we aren't planning or even toying with such an interview, but she has it in her head that we have already set the plan in motion and its as good as done. As a result I got this voicemail message:

Hi--I am calling in regards to the possible interview you may be doing with a guest and think that at the very least you could interview my guy because he just lives and breathes this topic. Much more so than the person you are considering. Given the conversations we have had over the previous months, I would hope you would consider just doing a "pre-interview" with my guy and see what I mean. I am...well... begging you.

What struck me the most were two things--

1. The passive aggressiveness--the way she said "the very least you could do" and alluded to the "relationship" we had built via email over the past few months. Please note: if you have to allude to the "relationship" or remind someone of its existence, it quite obviously does not exist in reality and you are just plain making it up.

2. "Begging" is an interesting choice of words. I have heard stories from PR friends of green Flacks "begging" a journalist to run a story or quote their client. Many of these stories are the butts of jokes we all get together and tell at the end of the day. Which brings me to my second rule:

Rule 2: Never EVER beg.

Begging will get you no where in the media world. If you tell a journalist on a tight deadline "I am begging you to do this or I could lose my job," you aren't doing yourself a world of good. More than likely the journo will say, "Oh gee that sucks, I have a deadline to hit and you haven't got a story. Goodbye."

The funny thing about this story--is that it doesn't end with a phone call.

Oh no.. I get a follow up email.. another source of major griping for journalists--"the follow up" contact. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have substituted the name of the guest with "Guest A" and "my guys" to protect identities and prevent embarrassment. Check it out below:

Before you schedule "Guest A" to discuss financial topics, I want to remind you of "my guys." Their book was based on tons of interviews and provides the tools, tips and strategies to low risk financial investing based on interviews with a number of investors; people who have had great success and failures and have learned the best strategies to take when creating long term wealth.

"Guest A" is a successful author of many best selling books. "My guys" live and breathe this topic every day and can speak better to the subject matter than "Guest A" can. "My guys" have each been interviewed by national media --CNBC, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, etc.

Before you agree to an interview with "Guest A," please pre-interview one of "my guys." I have video of all three gentlemen to share with you.

Warmest regards

It always astounds me.

Apparently some Flacks simply "ain't to proud to beg."