Friday, May 25, 2012

Yes, no


Say, 10 years ago, I used to say yes to pretty much anyone who wanted to interview me for their magazine, or newspaper, or website, or radio show, or TV show, or whatever. Now I'd estimate I say yes maybe 25% of the time and say no or ignore the request 75% of the time.

There are a few reasons for this.

One is that people ask the wrong way. The most common mistake is that they think you want the PR. Like the internet has turned everyone into a PR whore, and it hasn't. Like you have nothing better to do than sit around and be interviewed by people you've never heard of and only heard of you from excessive Googling one night.

Increasingly often, they don't even say why you should do the interview in their pitch. Like what their readership, viewership, or listenership is. It's as if every American's secret dream is to be ... interviewed, and they expect you to start slobbering at the chance.

It's not my dream. It takes time out of my day.

And if I check out your show, and it sucks, that means I'm doing you a favor for a venue I don't even respect. Why would I want to do that? I wouldn't.

Of course, there are exceptions. I loved doing this, and this was cool.

My point is that we don't need you. Thanks to the internet, we can publicize ourselves. Why would we want you?

Related: "Flattery Will Get You Want You Want."