As a blogger, if there is one sure way to get a traffic bump, it is to "out" PR pros. That is, to post a list of PR people's email addresses that are banned from your inbox for undue harassment and sending spam, among other offenses.

We have the infamous list of over 300 PR emails that Wired EIC Chris Anderson publicly banned this past fall to much fanfare.

Now, Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani (pictured left) has posted the PR Spammers Wiki, a cut and paste Gmail filter that will instantly block hundreds of PR addresses based on their domain name.

Not that either need the traffic.

Inspired by a post on Matt Haughey's blog, it's really pretty simple, "The entire PR agency domain goes into the From: and you set it to delete immediately. Instantly, no more PR spam from Alice, Bob, or Steve, forever, and I don't have to ask to opt-out of something I never opted into," he writes.

It's a shame that it has to get to this, but not surprising.

Gina's personal site has the following disclaimer:

Personal correspondence to gina at ginatrapani.org

Lifehacker-related email to tips at lifehacker.com.
Please, no press releases or Lifehacker story pitches to my personal email address.

There is no way one can read that statement and then proceed to send a press release Gina's personal email address.

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[Grand Theft Auto IV screen shot (image cred)]

It can sometimes seem as if it is always PR people that are begging the media to feature their client. In most exchanges it is. However, when that exchange is between a video game editor and the PR manager for Grand Theft Auto IV, the scenario changes a bit.

Rockstar Games, which created the wildly popular video game, is known to be extremely conservative with their publicity, according to PRWeek.

Writes Frank Washkuch:

Often, producers send copies of new video games to multiple publications under embargo, or invite reviewers to play the game at a centralized location. Rockstar granted gaming Web site IGN an exclusive review of the game, which angered reviewers at other gaming sites. IGN gave the game a 10. Some called into question the practice of granting exclusives to one publication, saying that it gives the manufacturer undue influence over the score.

The "some" referenced above include mostly rival video game editors.

"They're in the enviable position of being, kind of like their name - rock stars... they can basically tell the press what to do, because everyone wants a piece of it," said Jeff Green, editor-in-chief of online PC gaming magazine 1Up.com.

Remember Mo Rocca from the Daily Show? So do we. Instead of delivering his jokes on Comedy Central, the comedian is now a spokesman for Bank of America.

A social media campaign featuring Rocca is being pushed out through the web-o-sphere, and some don't find it very amusing. Writes blogger B.L. Ochman:

Do you want a comedian involved with your money? I don't. I also don't want sexual innuendo in my bank's advertising. Or a lame pitch from their PR firm.

We agree. Cute and funny are fine for some campaigns: banking not one of them. Things that are important to this PRNewser when it comes to his bank of choice? They are open late, have locations near my office and home, 24/7 reliable customer service, and of course, nice employees.

(image: clipart.com)

While most of the pitches we receive here at PRNewser come through email, there are an occasional few that arrive to us via alternative channels.

When sending swag, or any other type of buzz seeking materials, the line between cute and scary is often a thin one.

A good example of a successful campaign is that of Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo of Capulet Communications. When promoting their book, Getting to First Base: A Social Media Marketing Playbook, the duo "postal mailed love letters to the authors of 10 major marketing blogs -- complete with perfumed paper and handwritten praise. The letters directed each blogger to a personalized landing page featuring a personalized video describing the book and a link to a review copy."

Overboard? Maybe, but in this case it worked out. 178 blogs wrote about their book, including 6 of the 10 "A-listers" they focused on.

Now, for the scary campaign - a Midwestern branding firm sent what amounted to, "Anonymous sexually-suggestive" love letters to a Chicago-based Advertising Age reporter. One of the letters included a "pair of pink panties in an otherwise empty envelope, which was scribbled on by what appears to be a crazed teen admirer ('U R My Idol!')".

Needless to say, the AdAge reporter was not impressed.

Next time you're planning a creative pitch that involves something besides an email, think in advance: how well do I know this person? What would they find funny versus offensive? If you find yourself having any second thoughts, err on the side of caution and tone it down.

Lots of sites (ok, two) are posting "how to pitch" articles this week. Hey, it's great link bait! And helpful, too.

Despite the title of this post, we won't delve into a list themed entry here, with every detail of how to best pitch us. Fact is, we don't get a ton of pitches. Shocking, we know.

However, they are starting to come in at a faster pace, with a majority fitting into the following two categories:

We won a new client!

We hired somebody!

These announcements are fine, we all issue them - and we will run them in our Spin the Agencies of Record series and other posts, on occasion.

Here's the real challenge: say what you will about him, but we agree with TechCrunch's Mike Arrington when he says, "The story I want to write is often the one you don't want me to write."

Elaborating on that point, tell us why you won the client, who you beat (if you know). Talk about how you scored a killer media placement.

The tipster who sent in the item yesterday about Blinn PR / LinkedIn is a perfect example. You can be assured that the next time that person emails us, they will have our eyes beceause we know they understand what we're looking for.

Well then, that wasn't so bad, was it?

(image cred)

We'll begin by stating the obvious: media has changed, but unfortunately the way PR people pitch the media has remained mostly the same. Press releases, emails, and follow-up calls remain the norm.

Marshall Kirkpatrick at tech news blog Read Write Web lays things out today in a post titled, "Five Wrong Ways to Pitch RWW and One Great Way."

The one great way? RSS feeds. Now we admit, given the nature of the publication Marshall writes for he may be more open to new ways of pitching than others. Certainly there are many journalists, and PR people for that matter, that have never used an RSS feed or may not even know what one is.

That being said, creating an RSS feed for your clients blog or news annoucements seems like a can't lose situation.

According to Marshall:

The information that comes through these feeds is obviously public and there's no embargo - but if we didn't see something interesting in an embargoed email then we'll see it in RSS. Likewise, many companies blog about things that they might not consider cause for a press release but that we definitely want to write about.

He goes on to say, "I know that's where I get most of the stories I write about, not from email pitches."

Valuable information for sure, but how fast until this spreads into other areas, besides just tech-savvy journalists? While RSS is great, in our opinion, nothing beats a trusted relationship. Has a journalist ever asked you to add him or her to your client's RSS feed?

(image cred)

What's that sound you hear? It's the sound of a thousand news desk staffers asking that you please don't call them.

These next two weeks will surely be even more of a challenge for PR folk, with the Papal visit and the all important Pennsylvania primary upon us.

TVNewser has a detailed roundup of who's assigned to cover Pope Benedict's first US visit.

Our tip: stay away from general assignment desk reporters, producers, or any others who may be pulled in as extra resources over the next two weeks. If you can, stick to specific beat reporters who may not be as affected by the news.

Really, I'm not one to complain much about bad pitches. Sure, they are annoying, but thankfully, we somehow don't get too many of them here at PRNewser. (knock on wood)

Today was an exception as I received a pitch touting a new channel on a video site around home and garden topics.

What really got me was the intro, which was:

Name Joe,

Joe was the only thing in the email in blue text, everything else was black. Now, I have no problem with sending out a notice about new content to home and garden bloggers or others who may be interested in this content, even if it is a form email. But for a PR blog? Seriously, how do we even get on these lists? Also, it came to my personal address, not the one that is listed in Cision.

Silly me, I clicked on to the release, which was in some weird social media format, with links that did not work - at least not in Google Docs.

I'm not going to out anyone involved, but lets just say it was from a large, well respected agency.

Oh, and the new content heralded in the pitch? Turns out it is "15-second pre-roll video placements and half-page ads."

[Peter Shankman]

Peter Shankman, the well-known publicist, has received quite a bit of attention from his "Profnet like" service, Help A Reporter. The group, matching journalists with sources, quickly outgrew Facebook and moved on to Peter's own site. For some background, click here or here.

Yesterday, freelance journalist Erik Sherman, a member of the group, noticed that PR pro Nicole Lascelle was posting the journo queries straight to her blog, including contact info.

Eric quickly informed Shankman, who banned Lascelle (her blog is now gone) from the list and sent the following pointed email her way.

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(NewsBreaker Challenge; brickout with a news feed)

It's getting really tough to reach a niche audience these days. We all have something better to do than read the trade mags of our respective industries such as Life Insurance Selling, Wood Digest, or Fierce Health IT (fierce?).

Bypassing the influence of their trade, MSNBC.com created a video game so their B2B niche of media buyers & planners can say "I'm playing pong for work!"

PR people can play News Breaker Challenge too though your excuse, "I'm checking the wires" won't be as strong, and you won't win any prizes. As you knock your bricks out, actual headlines drop from the sky. It's maddening if you actually try to read them. Collect 25 and...get a life!

To win the one-day MSNBC.com homepage takeover ad on behalf of the charity of your choice, you have be an employee "of an advertising, media buying or media planning agency located in one of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia as of the date of entry and prize award." Other stuff you can win includes an XBox, a Zune, Blue-Ray Disc player and more. You also hide your addiction and play the game for more than three weeks (game runs from 4/14 through 5/9).