You’ve heard plenty from me and my clients, students, and colleagues on how to pitch to the media, and in this episode with veteran journalist Cedric “Big Ced” Thornton (of Black Enterprise and The Industry Cosign), you’ll hear about pitching from the receiving side…
Like, how about waking up to 200 new email pitches every morning plus 200 or 300 more pitches blowing up your inbox — every day?
That’s why Big Ced is thankful for his large network of friends, publicists, managers, and artists that bring him great stories so he doesn’t have to read through hundreds of emails to find them.
And that’s why it can be hard to get a journalist to read and reply to your pitch.
So, tune in and learn: the best way to get Ced’s attention, a popular pitch method that won’t work on him, why his inbox is the last place he looks for story ideas, how he uses social media, his best advice for pitching to anyone in the media, your very first step when you do … and more!"Make sure that you’re pitching to the right person or people, that the audience is vital to your growth as well.” – Cedric “Big Ced” Thornton
Highlights From This Episode:
- How Big Ced got started in journalism (hint: MC Hammer & Biggie)
- Why he never has to look in his inbox for story ideas
- Why he feels good (and bad) about getting 400+ pitch emails every day
- The best way to get Big Ced’s attention
- One popular pitch method that doesn’t impress him. At all.
- Why you should pitch to Big Ced first instead of last
- Think On It: What future success is your current job readying you for?
- Big News! Big Ced’s first cover story (and his best interview in a decade)
- Success Story! Using an old-school approach for a new project
- Your pitch needs to be interesting for an audience, and alsooooo…
- The blessing and curse of social media
- A veteran journalist’s best advice about pitching to the media
- Why ego marketing doesn’t help you (or anyone else)
- Your very first step when pitching to the media
Resources:
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