you win some, you lose most.

As you could probably expect, I’m a shameless lurker of the r/PublicRelations community on Reddit.

Someone recently asked (paraphrasing here) why cold calling is so frustrating and if it ever works.

TL;DR: unfortunately, yes… it’s the name of the PR game and how most of us got our start in this business.

media relations = media relationships

If you’re a loyal reader, you know that my first boss was a micromanager and incredibly tough on us.

One of her favorite lines was when she stormed into our war room and asked/shouted, “Why is no one making phone calls?” in the most Miranda Priestly-esque fashion.

“Whyyyy is nobody reaaady???!!!” — Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada

We spent most of our days mass-blasting emails to the ether of media contacts’ inboxes, followed by thumbing through the hundreds of pages in our media yellow books to find the direct lines for them.

It was strenuous, and most of these calls went straight to voicemail. However, some who picked up even hung up halfway through our quick pitch, saying, “Hey you, I just sent you an email about x, and we have y available to talk to you about z.”

A former colleague from the firm still keeps a written rolodex with every booker/media folks’ email from his 20 years in the business stuffed into it. He puts his legs on his desk, then hits the phone harder than you can imagine… however, everyone knows to pick up the phone when he calls.

After a few years of playing this game, I learned how to spew a 10-second or less synopsis of what I had sent. It was tedious, but it paid off in the long run.

A primetime booker I know lives by the motto "email, call, text." This might seem like an old-school way of handling the media/PR relationship, but let me tell you— it works.

And, an aside: this guy is early on in his career.

That said, it’s easier to create relationships with people face-to-face, but it's a close second to doing so over the phone. Some of my close media or media-adjacent friends were made from dialing the phone until my fingers hurt. (Hi Brian!)

But, ultimately, if it’s not working for you, try harder.

Unfortunately, pitching can and will feel shameless from time to time, and you have to put your pride aside, even though the devil on your shoulder might tell you that “cold calling is above you.”

But, just like mass-blasting press releases, you win some but lose most.

It’s all about small wins, even if it’s just getting a journalist to pick up the phone when you call.