Having run my interiors blog getinmyhome for six years now, I have had a fair insight into the working of tens, if not hundreds, of PR agencies.

I sort through emails every day with pitches and pick out the stories I want to cover.

So how to I make the choice from all those pitches? Let me share that with you!

1. Personalise your email

If I receive an email that is clearly a bulk send or even worse, if I have been added to a company’s newsletter without me signing up, I delete and/or unsubscribe and report as spam. [And let’s not mention the times I am addressed accidentally by other prominent bloggers’ names]. Which leads me to…

2. Research who you are contacting

I can’t tell you how many times I get invited to events that are interstate and overseas! I understand that maybe those inviting me to interstate events may think I can get there or have people on the ground who can attend, but I KNOW that those inviting me to overseas events have simply been lazy and not looked up my location.

I stop reading emails from those companies and/or mark them as spam. Know who you are contacting!

3. Give value

There are a few pitches from PR agencies I’ll almost always turn into blog posts. They are when the PR agency actually understands the type of content I post.

They send me original content, like ‘5 tips to…’ or ‘3 ways to’ and bam! This is content that with a couple of tweaks can go straight onto my blog!

As I tell my clients, the media aren’t interested in a company update from you: They want to know about new industry trends or findings, ‘firsts of’ or tips.

Research the type of content your target media publish, then write yours to suit.

4. Photography

I will not publish a post without professional, quality, styled imagery. Invest in photography and you are half way there.

5. Be human and don’t sell!

If a PR rep is easy to work with, has taken the time to understand my work, and is all about giving value (rather than expecting coverage), they are going to get a lot more out of me!