How to Field Others' Pitches

I learned some lessons about putting out a call for sources for my new Business With Passion TV series.

Have someone review your request. You know who you're looking for, but it's easy to not be 100% clear in your request. Have others read you request and note all ambiguities.

Create a special email address. Instead of using your normal email address, create a special address just for this purpose. It'll make sorting your normal emails simpler.

Respond to every pitch. Having pitched my own business a number of times only to hear -- nothing, I was determined that everyone that took the time to pitch me at least received a polite email response.

Use an autoresponder. Had I used a special email address (see above), I could have set it up so that emails to that address received an automated reply confirming their pitch. That would've saved me a bunch of time responding to every pitch.

Categorize the pitches. I used my email program to organize the pitches into five categories: Yes, Probably, Maybe, Probably Not, and Definitely Not. If you're unsure about a pitch's category, bump it up to the higher category. You can always downgrade the pitch, but you'll be focusing on the pitches in top-down order.

Prepare an overview. Although you have an image of how you'll use your sources, your potential sources don't. Create a single page overview of your project with specific dates/needs. It'll ensure that everyone is working together.

Pre-screen. Some people look great on paper (e-mail), and some look great in-person. Make sure that your sources match your needs. If you're going to be doing an audio or video interview, pre-screen the potential guests (by phone). Although there are no guarantees, you will have a better idea of how they will be.