- ISBN: 9780321917614 | 0321917618
- Cover: Paperback
- Copyright: 4/26/2013
Reviews from popular websites can make or break your product. So why do so many developers throw opportunities away? Some devs work on their apps and hardware for months or years and then send in weak, quickly written pitches that fail to sell their excitement. These two-minute e-mails and months-in-development ideas quickly move from the blogger's inbox to the trashcan rather than getting featured on the front page of a site. Have you wished you had an "in" with blogs to get your product reviewed? This book provides it. It offers tutorials on how to develop effective pitches. As long-time tech bloggers, Sadun and Sande have seen their share of short and sweet pitches that capture attention, and shared a good laugh at some dismal failures. They share tips on how to help your pitch avoid inbox deletion, describe ways to keep tech bloggers in the loop about what you're working on, and point you in the right direction on maintaining good relations with the public and the press.
Erica Sadun (@ericasadun) writes lots of books and blogs at TUAW. When not writing, she’s a full-time parent of geeks who are brushing up on their world domination skills. According to her academic dosimeter, she’s acquired more education than any self-respecting person might consider wise. She enjoys deep-diving into technology and has written, co-written, and contributed to dozens of books about computing and digital media. Sadun has also blogged at Ars Technica, O’Reilly, and Lifehacker.
Steve Sande (@stevensande) is considering an intervention to heal his addiction to writing. He’s the Hardware Editor at TUAW and has written millions of words for the blog. Steve has authored numerous books for Que, Take Control Books, and Apress, is married to a rocket scientist, and spends his days being bossed around by a cat. His gray beard and baseball cap can be seen every Wednesday afternoon at 5 PM ET on TUAW TV Live (http://www.tuaw.com/tag/tuawtvlive).
Sadun and Sande are the founders of Sand Dune Books and co-authors of the best-selling Talking to Siri: Learning the Language of Apple’s Intelligent Assistant
Steve Sande (@stevensande) is considering an intervention to heal his addiction to writing. He’s the Hardware Editor at TUAW and has written millions of words for the blog. Steve has authored numerous books for Que, Take Control Books, and Apress, is married to a rocket scientist, and spends his days being bossed around by a cat. His gray beard and baseball cap can be seen every Wednesday afternoon at 5 PM ET on TUAW TV Live (http://www.tuaw.com/tag/tuawtvlive).
Sadun and Sande are the founders of Sand Dune Books and co-authors of the best-selling Talking to Siri: Learning the Language of Apple’s Intelligent Assistant
Preface xviii
Who This Book Is For xviii
Why Pitch Perfect xviii
How This Book Is Organized xx
1 How Blogs Work 1
A Typical Day at a Major Blog 2
Review Requests 2
Smaller Blogs 4
Making Sausage: How Reviews Happen 4
What Do Bloggers Look For? 5
Why Do Bloggers Review? 6
Attracting Readers 7
Providing Criticism 7
How Do Bloggers Perform Evaluations? 8
Performing the Review 9
What About Accessories and Other Hardware? 10
Elements of Review 10
Graphics and Design 12
User Interface 12
Value 13
Utility 14
Settings 14
Options 15
Features 16
Finish 16
How Much Time Is Spent Reviewing Each Product? 17
What Kind of Timeline Crunch Are Reviewers Under? 18
How Long Does It Take to Tell You’re Trying Out a Lemon? 19
What Kinds Of Reviews Do Bloggers Write? 19
First Look 20
Overview 20
Hands On 20
In Depth 20Choosing a Review Type 21
Why Blog Reviews Matter 21
Marketing Realities 23
Wrapping Up 24
2 The Attractive Product 27
Product Definition 28
Who Is Your Customer? 28
What Problem Does It Solve? 29
How Does It Pop? 29
What Makes a Good Product? 30
They Have Awesome and Easily Understood User Interfaces 30
They Empower Users to Do Something 31
They Change to Meet a User’s Needs 32
Successful Developers Know Their Markets 32
They Are Polished 33
They Keep Current 33
They Are Relevant 33
Why Good Interface Design Matters 34
Refining the Product 35
Beta Testing Your App 36
Falling in Love with Your Product 37
Nondisclosures, Embargos, and Exclusives 38
Competing Against the Big Guys 39
Building in Self-Promotion 40
Wrapping Up 42
3 Crafting Your Pitch 43
Designing the Pitch 44
Essential Pitch Components 45
A Motivating Subject Line 45
Product Name 45
Product Price 46
Links 46
Screenshots 47
Video 48
Description 49
Feature List 50
Contact Information 50
A Sample Pitch 51
Remind Us Who You Are 52
Capturing Attention Through the Subject Line 53
The Subject Line’s Role 53
Good Subject Lines 54
Why Subject Lines Fail 55
Subjects for Non-Review Pitches 56
Promo Codes 57
How to Send Promo Codes 59
Creating a Product Link 60
Creating a Company Link 61
Tokens for Mac 62
Going Free 63
Differences Between Hardware and Software Pitches 64
Design 64
Value 66
Functionality 66
Hardware Pricing 67
Video Gold 67
Hardware Review Logistics 68
Benchmarks 69
A Word About Kickstarter 70
Case Study: The Une Bobine Video 71
Common Hardware Product Categories 72
Cases 72
Headphones/Earphones 73
Docks 73
Speakers 74
Drives 75
Power Supplies (Batteries, Chargers, Car Chargers) 75
Camera Accessories 76
Books/Ebooks 77
Cables and Gizmos 78
Hardware Pitches 79
Wrapping Up 79
4 Pitching Do’s and Don’ts 81
Know the Site 82
DO Address Requests to Specific Bloggers 82
DO Aim for Series Posts 83
DO Consider Being a Podcast Guest 84
DO Consider Non-Review Posts 84
Scheduling Out 86
DO Provide Specific Dates and Timelines 86
DO Bring Up the Topic of Exclusive First Looks 87
DO NOT Jump the Gun 87
Leverage Personality 87
DO Offer Access 88
DO NOT Hijack Conversations to Pitch Your App 88
DO Listen When the Blogger Offers Feedback 89
DO Be Friendly 89
DO NOT Subscribe Us to Your Personal Email List 90
Communicate Well 91
DO Leverage Success 91
DO NOT Name Drop Celebrities Unless You’re Getting VC Funding 91
DO NOT Snitch on Competitors 92
DO Know Who You’re Writing To 92
DO Avoid the “Ugly Sister” Scenario 93
DO Use Native Review 93
Checking In 94
DO NOT Harass the Blogger 95
DO NOT Spam Bloggers 95
DO NOT Presume That a Promo Code Request Leads to a Review 97
DO Presume That a Tangible Product Request Leads to Coverage 97
DO NOT Expect a Reply 98
DO Jump on Replies 98
DO NOT Resubmit Your App Pitches 98
Watching Your Timing 99
DO Accommodate Current Events 99
DO Build Opportunities 99
Gaming the System 100
DO NOT Astroturf 100
DO NOT Offer to Pay for a Review or Prioritize Your Product 100
DO NOT Try to Make Us Pity You 101
DO NOT Pretend to “Just Be a Customer” and Talk About a Product You Just “Discovered” 102
DO NOT Quote Reviews Out of Context 102
DO NOT Specify “Terms” for Your Review 102
DO NOT Lie and Mislead 103
Avoiding Offense 103
DO NOT Be Racist, Sexist, Etc. 103
DO NOT Burn Bridges 104
Submitting Through Channels 104
End Run Exceptions 105
When to Pitch 106
Dealing with Apple Review Headaches 107
Wrapping Up 109
5 Case Studies 111
Case Study: Short But Sweet 112
Case Study: The Solid Query 112
Case Study: The Professional Pitch 113
Case Study: The Lost Holiday Opportunity 115
Case Study: The Meh Pitch 115
Case Study: The Completely Inappropriate Pitch That Made Us Smile 116
Case Study: Winning by Charm 117
Case Study: Completely Missing the Mark 119
Case Study: The Perils of Autocorrect 119
Case Study: Buzzwords 120
Case Study: Not Enough Detail 122
Case Study: The WTF We Don’t Even Pitch 123
Case Study: The Pitch That Got Away 123
Case Study: Don’t Submit Multiple Products All at Once 124
Case Study: Machine Translation 124
Case Study: Avoid Unspecific Bullets 125
Case Study: The Excellent Response 126
Case Study: The Pitch Rewrite 127
The Original Pitch 128
The Rewrite 130
Case Study: Remembering That the App Is the Hero 130
Case Study: The Twitter Pitch 131
Final Tips: Avoiding Grandiosity 132
Wrapping Up 134
6 Preparing for PR 135
Get Your Product into Shape 135
Prepare Your Marketing Text 137
Choose Strong Branding 137
Website Essentials 138
Add a “Contact Us” Link 139
Take Care with Company Branding 140
Creating a Reviewer’s Guide 142
The Tao of Reviewer’s Guides 143
About Press Releases 144
Preparing That All-Important Product Video 145
Recording Videos 146
Good Demo Videos Qualities 147
Editing Videos 147
Tightening Your Pitch Video 148
Video Music 149
Posting Videos 150
The Live Demo 150
Preparing Review Materials 152
Do You Want the Product Back? 152
Should You Include Other Items in the Package? 152
Should You Submit Full Copies or Time-Limited Demos? 152
Social Media 153
Be Interactive 154
Be Diplomatic 154
Don’t Be Hostile 154
Be Human 154
Be Focused 154
Be Informative 154
Be Active 155
Use Automatic Posting Tools 155
Cover All Possible Outlets 155
Be Giving 155
Wrapping Up 156
7 The Care and Feeding of Your Blogger 157
Establishing Relationships with Bloggers 157
Be Patient and Persistent 158
Be Understanding 158
Accept Criticism Graciously 158
Advocate for Yourself 159
Be Human 159
Be Available 159
Be Aware of the Blogger’s Focus 160
The “Be a Decent Human Being” Rule 160
Responding to Reviews–Both Good and Bad 161
Handling Good Reviews 162
Responding to Negative Reviews 162
Inconsistent Reviews 163
Incorrect Facts 163
Using Comments 163
Why Wasn’t My Product Reviewed? 165
Wrapping Up 166
8 Worksheets and Checklists 167
Know Your Customer: Developing a Customer Profile 167
Worksheet 1: Likely Customer Overview 168
Competitive Analysis 169
Worksheet 2: Evaluating Competition 169
Potential Market Size Calculation 170
Worksheet 3: Market Size Calculation Worksheet 173
Pitch Checklists 173
Worksheet 4: Checking Your Subject Line 174
Worksheet 5: Checking Your Pitch 174
Reviewer’s Guide Checklist 175
Worksheet 6: Essential Reviewer’s Guide Elements 175
Blogger Relationship Database 175
Worksheet 7: Blogger Contact Details 175
Wrapping Up 176
Index 177
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