[aleph_minus_one]

> Then, 6 months later a separate project I was adjacent to was starting to pick up steam. I reached out to him asking if he wanted to cover us. No response. [...]

> I reached to Benji again saying "Hey would you like to chat again, now we have some coverage?" And he finally responded, but said he couldn't report on me because he had a directive that he could only report on things that didn't have any prior or pre-existing coverage (?)

> I thought that was rather strange, especially since we already had built up a relationship.

The US mentality might be different, but at least having grown up and living in Germany, such an annoying hustler who wants to use some journalist as a marketing influencer for his private project is a huge no-no. In other words: it is a very reasonable decision (perhaps even the only right one) for any journalist to fob off such a hustler.

[albedoa]

That is the US mentality too outside of a small but persistent bubble of hustlers, supported by their symbiotic relationships with publications that need them just as much.

[aizk]

If simply saying "Hi, would you be interested in covering this?" characterizes me as an annoying hustler then you know what I'll take it.

[aizk]

I'm not hustling enough to be honest.

[0xDEAFBEAD]

>The US mentality might be different, but at least having grown up and living in Germany, such an annoying hustler who wants to use some journalist as a marketing influencer for his private project is a huge no-no. In other words: it is a very reasonable decision (perhaps even the only right one) for any journalist to fob off such a hustler.

Yeah there seems to be a thing where in the US, what's seen as "selling yourself" or "putting your best foot forward" is considered excessive self-promotion / tall poppy behavior in other cultures.

[stuxnet79]

> Yeah there seems to be a thing where in the US, what's seen as "selling yourself" or "putting your best foot forward" is considered excessive self-promotion / tall poppy behavior in other cultures.

It is a uniquely US thing & is a common struggle for foreigners who are new to US corporate culture.

Can be especially tricky if you are a 3rd culture individual that has to manage relationships spanning different cultures in your daily life. You can't easily turn "hustler" mode off and on.

It is a huge faux pas in almost every non-western culture and can wreak havoc in your personal life.

[aleph_minus_one]

Slightly off topic:

Why is excessive self-promotion considered "putting your best foot forward"?

I understand that you need the money, so you do self-promotion. But this is clearly not "putting your best foot forward", but a "put a bad foot (annoy other people by excessive self-promotion) forward because you need the money", i.e. what many US-Americans do is by my understanding the opposite of this life advice which they give.

[ambicapter]

You're coming off as clearly not understanding the other side here. Obviously "putting your best foot forward" is not simultaneously "annoy other people by excessive self-promotion" in the mind of a single person.

There are two different types of people, and they think of the same action in two different ways.

[0xDEAFBEAD]

I could equally well ask why putting your best foot forward would be considered excessive self-promotion. Consider the example of contacting a journalist. Why would it be a huge no-no? Why can't the journalist just treat it as any other lead? Skim the email, if they're not interested, ignore or delete. That's not a significant burden. If they are interested, such emails actually help the journalist do their job, by providing ideas for stories.