# The 6 PR Pitching Mistakes

Named failure modes from Chapter 7 of *Traction*, based on interviews with reporters like Jason Kincaid (TechCrunch).

## Mistake 1: Wall of Text Emails

**What it looks like:** Long pitch emails with dense paragraphs, backstory, feature lists, and multiple angles.
**Why it fails:** Reporters scan, not read. A wall of text gets filed as "not worth the effort."
**Fix:** 150 words maximum. Short paragraphs. Scannable structure.

## Mistake 2: Unclear Launch Timing

**What it looks like:** Pitches that don't specify when the news is happening. "We're launching soon" or "sometime next month".
**Why it fails:** Reporters work on deadlines. If they can't tell WHEN to publish, they don't publish.
**Fix:** Specific date and time in every pitch. If there's an embargo, state it.

## Mistake 3: No Emotional Angle

**What it looks like:** Feature lists. "We built X that does Y." Neutral descriptions.
**Why it fails:** Readers share articles that make them feel something. Satisfaction is a non-viral emotion. If readers don't share, reporters don't get traffic, and they stop pitching that angle.
**Fix:** Ask "what emotion will readers feel?" Surprise, outrage, delight, curiosity. If the answer is "satisfaction" or nothing, find a different angle.

## Mistake 4: Bundling Failure (Announcement Drip)

**What it looks like:** Pitching small milestones individually instead of bundling them.
**Why it fails:** A reporter covering "we shipped feature X" next week and "we signed partner Y" the week after has been asked to write 2 weak articles instead of 1 strong one. They'll pass on both.
**Fix:** Jason Kincaid's rule: bundle smaller announcements together into one bigger announcement whenever possible.

## Mistake 5: PR Firm Via

**What it looks like:** Early-stage startup hires a PR firm that sends templated pitches on behalf of the company.
**Why it fails:** "Most print reporters we talked to said they ignore almost all pitches from PR firms but do listen to most founders." PR firms are expensive and produce lower response rates at early stage.
**Fix:** Founder-direct pitches. Save the $10k/month PR retainer for a later stage when the scale matters more than the authenticity.

## Mistake 6: No Specific Reference

**What it looks like:** "I love your work!" or "I'm a big fan of your writing." Generic praise.
**Why it fails:** Reporters get 20+ of these daily. Generic praise is worse than no praise — it signals the pitcher hasn't read anything specific.
**Fix:** Reference a specific article, a specific point in that article, and how it connects to your pitch. If you can't do that, don't mention their work.

## The Meta-Pattern

These 6 mistakes converge on one failure: **the pitch doesn't respect the reporter's time**. Every mistake makes more work for the reporter to extract the story. The fix is always the same — do more work upfront so the reporter does less work to decide "yes".

## Additional Failure Patterns (not numbered in book)

- **Pitching outside their beat:** Emailing a consumer tech reporter about a B2B SaaS product.
- **Follow-up spam:** 3 follow-ups in a week to a non-response. One follow-up after 5 days is acceptable.
- **Exclusive inflation:** Offering "exclusive" to 10 reporters simultaneously. One exclusive at a time.
- **Missing news hook:** Pitching without a time-sensitive trigger. "We've been around for 2 years" isn't news.

## Source

Chapter 7 ("Public Relations") of *Traction* by Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares.