How Not To Pitch

Got this pitch the other day:

Hi Jerry,

[Company Name] is partnering with [Company Name] to promote their [Survey Name].

The survey will benefit the entire Enterprise 2.0/collaboration industry by helping us better understand how emerging social and collaborative technologies are being used within organizations. It only takes about 5-10 minutes to complete and all responses will be kept in confidence.

Access the survey here: [LINK]

As a thank you for completing the survey, you will be given immediate access to a handful of case studies on companies that have implemented enterprise collaboration. These beneficial studies will provide you with real-life context to enterprise collaboration principles.

Thank you for participating,
[Name]

Here’s some of the things the pitcher forgot:

What’s in it for me as a PR blogger? I need to be told that clearly.
Browsing your case studies is not a reward for anyone but your company.
Clarity. Why pitch me to participate but not to blog about it?
How did you get hold of my address? In what email list am I in right now?
I have hundreds of other emails calling out for my attention. Why should I bother about this, when it isn’t even a personal email?
Don’t be so sure that 5-10 minutes is short for me and don’t thank me for participating before I’ve participated.

Now, don’t be afraid to pitch me. Please do, I don’t mind. But make sure you email me as an individual and make sure that you’re not blasting me as a part of some obscure list somewhere.