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Scanning my feedback email at MLive, I found an interesting pitch from MSNBC. One of their reporters pitched a special they put together on the quality of U.S. bridges. Sounds like a pretty cool data set.

I checked it out, and the pitch wasn’t spam. Besides the MSNBC bridge project, the reporter also said we could use the data collected in downloadable Excel files in any way we want - so long as we noted our source of MSNBC.

Normally, I’d automatically delete this message. But since we’re experimenting with data sets, I forwarded it on to one of our producers.

In most cases, this email will get ignored

Here’s the reasons:

1. The email was sent to my feedback queue. Although online journalists should practice better feedback response habits, feedback emails aren’t always at the top of the email reading list. It’s likely this email could be overlooked.
2. The sender is someone I have never met. They’ve attached their company (MSNBC) with an MSNBC email, but how do I know that this email still isn’t spam?
3. I didn’t see the point of the pitch until the end of the fourth graph, which stated the information was gathered to “aid reporting by other journalists.” Great! Does that mean I can use it on my site?

Sharing is important

Sharing your content is a great idea for getting more eyeballs on your site. This has been a practice among bloggers for a while, but it can be applied to news sites. If your site/news org produced an awesome package, but no one ever sees it, who’s fault is it? Someone linking to your content isn’t stealing your content, they’re driving traffic to you. Turn down the competition level and start enjoying the fruits of cooperation.

Tips for the pitch process

If the right people link to your pages, it can help generate traffic for your site. So what things should you consider in your reaching out strategy?

10. Get to the point - In an email pitch, tell pitchees what they need to know right away. Want someone to use your data? Tell them what the data is and that they can use it, how and how to link back to you. Bang, bang, bang and bang. Expecting someone to read a few graphs in an email before you tell them what they need to know will likely get your email sent to the trash that much faster.

9. Tell bloggers / news sites how your content benefits their readers- If pitchees can use your data or adapt your content - great! Take the mystery out and tell them how this can help their viewers. That extra nudge might be enough to give them an idea they hadn’t thought of before, leading to them employing your pitched content. Just be careful to not overdo it.

8. Tell pitchees how to credit you - Getting credit where credit is due is great. But grayed out text at the bottom of a package doesn’t cut it anymore. If you’re encouraging people to link to your content or use your content and credit you, give them the link text and the links you’d like them to use to refer users to the original source - you. That way, you solidify yourself as the source and you control the link text as much as possible.

7. Be honest and don’t BS - Great content is great content. But that content doesn’t always generate traffic. Don’t over-promise anything. Give your thoughts on the benefits of linking to your content or using your data sets, but don’t overhype it.

6. Link back! - If someone is crediting you with their adaptation to your content, link back to them. Help guide users through all the interpretations of your data sets and content. If you’ve already done this a few times, subsequent pitchees will see that you’re sending traffic to people who adapt your content. They’ll be more apt to use your content, cite you as the source and then receive the added bonus of the link straight from the source.

5. Personalize your pitch. Email blasting is bad, always. Know who your sending your content to and help them understand how your content benefits them and their audience. Everyone’s favorite word is their own name, right? So start there. At all costs, avoid sending a press release.

4. Talk to bloggers in your niche - Are you creating content about the environment? Then pitch your content to that niche, people who care about your subject. Those are the people who are more likely to take an interest in your content. Don’t even worry about pitching them. Just ask them about their opinions on your content and they may end up blogging about your project all on their own. If not, they can at least give you some advice as to what else could make your content better. (via Search Marketing Gurus)

3. Participate in the conversation - If people in your niche know you’re out there with great content, people will find it even without you having to pitch it. If someone does end up using your pitched content, link to them, as I said before, but also comment and send them follow-up emails. Recognition is key for content producers in any media.

2. Be polite - Someone may not like your idea. Don’t blow them off and tell them they don’t know what they’re talking about. You’ve already made contact and begun establishing a relationship. Down the line, you may have other linkable content that might catch their interest. (via ProBlogger)

1. Network! That’s right folks. Get to know the recipients of your pitches. Build relationships using Facebook, Twitter, comments or a host of other social networking services. Nearly every online news org has or should have at least one person on staff with a social web profile you can connect with. Make that connection and your pitches will likely get more consideration.

Got any other ideas? Have you reached out to external sites to link your content? How did you do it? What were the results?