Why “Hi There” in Emails Will NOT Get You Far

“Hi there” – the dreaded words that killed your email pitch, and if you still don’t know why, you should reconsider your line of work.

Hi there…. almost makes me believe that the truth is out there. But it’s not, OK?

“Hi there” tells us, jurnos (or former jurnos turned PRs in my case) that you are too damn lazy to research who you are addressing.

“Hi there” may also tell us that you are just sending that same email to hundreds out there, that you are fishing, or baiting, to use a modern term; and, in the end, that you – in all honesty – don’t respect us (pretty much like “dear communicator” coming from some of you big shots in the PR industry – but this, another time).

“Hi there” is impersonal, empty, redundant and childish. “Hi there” is stupid. “Hi there” is the strategy that killed your email pitch, no matter what great things you had to say after that line. “Hi there” is not a greeting – you may redefine it as the two words that prove that DIY PR sucks. Heck, “hi there” sucks.

It sucks, especially because all respectable news outlets have a clear contact structure, with detailed contact names, phone numbers and addresses. It even sucks when some news outlets don’t, and you just buy those emails from a third party, instead of actually bothering to do the groundwork yourself.

“Hi there” is impolite. “Hi there” is dumb. You are an amateour for using it, or, if you ever hired PRs who did that, fire them, and ask for a refund.