{You’re gonna love this next guest post. Her Nashville magazine editor Ashley Haugen offers up three ways to improve your PR pitches. And if anyone should know what works, it’s someone on the receiving end.}

As editor of Her Nashville magazine, and having served as editor at several publications over the past 12 years, I’ve received more than my fair share of PR pitches, for better and for worse. My experience on the receiving end has taught me this: I could probably do a bang-up job at getting through to the editors that a lot of PR folks can’t seem to reach. Why? Because I know what works and what doesn’t from this side of the desk. Here are three tips that may prove (more) effective in getting your pitch not only heard but publicized.

Know Who You’re Pitching
Nothing says “I don’t really care about this product/company/person I’m wasting your time telling you about” than an inappropriate pitch. I receive upwards of 50 pitches a week, and I can weed out the good from the bad pretty quickly based solely on the press release title or topic. For instance, if you’re pitching me — the editor of a local women’s publication — on a men’s conference in Seattle, odds are you a) didn’t do your homework, or b) are doing a blanket pitch to anything with a media pulse. Either way, you’ve lost me. When you’re trying to sell me on your subject, tailor your pitch to my outlet; your hard work will pay off.

If You’re Gonna Go, Go All Out
Even after all these years, I still get excited when I get a press package. It’s like Christmas morning! I drop everything and open it right there on the spot! That said, the excitement is often met with the same degree of disappointment when I open a piece of mail only to find the most lackluster press kit. It’s YOUR client! If the press kit tells me YOU aren’t excited, odds are I won’t be either.

I understand small budgets, trust me, but get creative. I’ve met some PR folks in my time who after years of pitching projects and people that were uninspiring, they had lost their desire to inspire others. If you’re uninspired, it’s time to shake up the client list or find a different job. In the meantime, rouse me with your roster, and you will be handsomely rewarded! (DISCLAIMER: If the person/project you’re pitching is just plain bad, no amount of creativity can save it. Sorry.)

Know When It’s That Time of the Month
Get your mind out of the gutter. That “time” to which I refer is deadline time, silly. If you have called 25 times and followed up with 38 emails all in the matter of a week and I haven’t responded? Well, if you haven’t irritated me, odds are that I haven’t responded because I’m slammed with trying to get an issue to press. If you’ve met the above criteria, you’ll at least get some sort of response from me, I promise, but it will be after the mag goes to press. Until then, be patient, and chill out on the follow-ups!

Ashley Haugen is editor of Her Nashville magazine, Middle Tennessee’s only women’s publication offering intelligent, inspirational editorial content. Read past and current issues online, and check out the blogs, at HerNashville.com.