Chapter 16
Pitching Over the Phone
In the early 1980s, Colorado consultant Debra Benton decided she was ready for serious media coverage and kicked off her campaign with a call to a Chicago-based columnist whose style she admired. “Mr. X, this is Debra Benton of Benton Management Resources in Fort Benton, Colorado,” she said. “I know you must get 100 calls a day from people who say they have a story for you, but I think you really would be interested in what I do.” Then she shut up.
“What is it that you do?” the columnist asked.
“People describe me as teaching executives how to have charisma,” Benton replied.
The columnist took her number and called her back a week later. They spoke for an hour, and 10 days after that she knew his article had ...
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