What do you do if your pitch gets rejected by multiple news outlets?

What the client feels is important may not be what reporters feel is important. For example, a new executive hire may be big news within the walls of a company, but it's probably not exactly a stop-the-presses moment for the media. It's important to have trust with clients so that you can have an honest conversation and come up with angles that are more likely to generate coverage. For example, someone joining as a VP isn't the kind of thing that most reporters are going to write about (unless the company is a major player or the new executive is a known figure), but framing it in the context of an industry trend is far more likely to generate coverage.

Review what is going on in the zeitgeist again. Maybe you were wrong about what you thought would be a hit. Take a media-first perspective to it.

If you are consistently being rejected, there are usually some common problems: You're pitching a feature story while everyone is scrambling on hard news. Or, alternatively, your pitch simply isn't good enough or the underlying story isn't compelling enough. BTW: Have you fact-checked EVERYTHING the client tells you? Often what clients tell you doesn't stand up a even cursory journalistic vetting.

One exercise I’ve found handy is listening carefully to the interviewer's instructions. Did I go off-topic? Did I use the wrong tone or wrong perspective?

Be careful about wasting journalists time. If you're friendly with a particular contact, feel free to ask what's wrong with the pitch, especially if you are meeting them for drinks or coffee. DO NOT challenge a producer's "no" but saying, "Why not?" when they are on deadline.

Your pitch is probably too broad. Make sure you are not pitching Broadcast TV with a "one-sheet" that says something about their "readers."

Almost everything can be improved with a rewrite. Are you watching their newscast and listening to the copy? Are you reading their website and making sure to talk to them in their language?

Networking, or having lunch, drinks or coffee with a contact is almost always a great idea. Journalists are more likely to take your call or read your email if they remember, "Oh yeah, that's the person who has the really funny client stories and has great access and always knows what I need." Buying a table for a charity event and inviting some of your contacts is usually a great way to get a bunch of top tier people from different outlets together. You can "soft sound" some of your contacts before you invest in a table. You don't want to spend the money to find out they don't want to go or for some reason can't accept a seat for the event. (If it's a charity, most news organizations will allow their people to attend.)

Come up with another pitch. Getting a pitch rejected is never fun but I try to come up wiith fresh ideas. My creative instincts help to reenergize me

Sometimes you just have to persevere. I struck out six times pitching a byline article by a client. I was careful to choose targets that were likely to publish something like it, I ensured I was reaching out to the right editors, and I tweaked it to each outlet's unique specifications. Swing and miss, every time. But I was determined to place it -- and not just anywhere but in a publication that would matter to the client and the audience they were trying to reach. Seventh time was the charm.