PR Interview: How to Get Featured in ‘Inside the Marketer’s Studio’ Blog

Contact Information
David Berkowitz
225 E. 86th St., #208
New York, NY 10028
212-703-7257
Dberkowitz(at)360i(dot)com
Marketersstudio(at)gmail(dot)com
http://www.marketersstudio.com/

Background
Berkowitz has been Director Emerging Media at 360i, a national search marketing firm, since February 2006. He also writes the Search Insider column for MediaPost. Berkowitz came to 360i from Viewpoint Corp., where he was hired to revive Unicast, the company’s rich media advertising brand. Before that, he was Marketing Director at iCrossing.

Berkowitz has been a writer and editor at eMarketer and Kohman Inc. He speaks regularly at industry events and has a psychology degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Readership
Berkowitz’s blog receives about 1,000 visits a week and 2,000 unique visits each month. His readers include marketers who are mostly interested in digital media, social media, search and interactive marketing.

Examples of Coverage
Past posts include comments on Yahoo’s control of open search … links to SEO articles … introduction to a new Web 2.0 identity aggregator called Socialthing! ... outline of a new trick from Google Docs … comment on new “social network business card” options from MySpace and Facebook … book reviews … a link to H&R Block’s social media campaign in The Wall Street Journal.

How to Pitch Berkowitz: 6 Tips
->Tip #1. Read his blog
The first thing Berkowitz looks for is a sign that you have read his blog. If someone says: “You just reviewed this book, here’s another one you might want to check out,” Berkowitz says he’s more likely to investigate.

->Tip #2. Make it personal

An email blast that isn’t addressed specifically to Berkowitz or is completely off topic won’t reach his inbox. “There are a lot of pitches I get where I’m wondering why they’re writing me,” he says. “My label in Gmail is ‘crap I don’t really need.’”

->Tip #3. Make it new

Berkowitz prefers something new: a new site, new book, new product, etc.

->Tip #4. Get to the point

Why are you pitching him? What’s in it for him? The message needs to be front and center, stated early on, so he doesn’t have to scan the whole email.

->Tip #5. Name drop

It’s the first thing that gets his attention. If you represent a known entity or are someone who has said something relevant before, you’ll get a response right away.

->Tip #6. Avoid attachments

He’ll open an attachment if your pitch is compelling enough. But if the essence of why you’re pitching him is in the attachment, not in the email, he probably won’t open it.

NOTE: Berkowitz responds to every targeted query unless it’s an impersonal email blast with no connection to his blog. If your pitch is remotely relevant, he says he generally responds within 24 hours.

How Not to Pitch
Don’t send Berkowitz a press release or a news item. “I’m generally not as interested in the daily news. If you put it in a press release, then it’s probably not something that I cover on my blog.”

Where to Meet Berkowitz
Berkowitz speaks regularly at Digital Hollywood and MediaPost events. To see his speaking history and upcoming events, visit: http://marketersstudio.com/speaking_history.html. “For an incredibly juicy story or a really incredible person to meet with, I will take meetings in person in Manhattan,” he says.