HIRE ME TO SPEAK
HIRE ME TO SPEAK

My Name Is

I write about strategies to turn fans into customers and customers into fans. I also share ways to use real-time strategies to spread ideas, influence minds, and build business.

Worst Practices  |  Case Studies  |  writing  |  copywriting

ip.jpgI get hundreds of pitches from people each week, mostly via email.

They want to tell me about their product or service or they want to sell me something. I’m sure you get a bunch too.

Lately there have been many people each day who want to write a guest post for this blog you are reading now. And nearly all of those begin with the inane: “Hi David, My name is…” followed by some trumped up praise for my work from somebody who clearly never actually read it.

I know they haven't read the blog because I write it myself and don't run guest posts. 

Is it just me? Or does the practice of starting an email come-on with “My name is…” annoy you too?

If you set your email up correctly, your name is already displayed at the top. If you have contact information at the end of the email, your name is there again. So why do so many people start by telling me their name?!

I have a theory. I think there is some “how to” guide for generating guest posts on blogs that people use and the advice is to start with "My name is...".  That’s the only thing I can think of since so many of these pitches are nearly identical.

Writing to generate attention

No matter what you are writing—an email pitch, a blog post, or an essay, you must grab the reader’s attention with your original, thoughtful content. That’s especially true of the first line. Writing should educate and inform. The best writing includes conflict and tells a story.

Here is one of the several of these similar emails I received in just the last few hours:

Hi David,

My name is Name Here with Company X. I just came across webinknow.com and was very impressed. Great job!

The reason I'm writing you today is to ask if you would be interested in publishing a 100% unique article that I provide exclusively for webinknow.com? I would only ask for a single link in a short, "about the author" section at the end of the article.

I'm offering this to build my online portfolio, while getting a few links to my site at the same time.

If you look at my site at URL.com you'll see I'm focused on only quality content!

Though I specialize in that field, I can write on just about any topic.

If you're interested just respond and I'll get an article over to you ASAP. If not, I appreciate your time nonetheless! If you would prefer I not contact you again, no problem. Just let me know.

Best Regards,

Name Here