Firstly I commend you for addressing the bad press from which Perl suffers. I really hope that it nudges a couple of your connections slightly.

With a marketer's hat on, the article is rather long (you already know that from your answers to comments) and I struggled to read to the end even with a vested reason to continue. It's dry and not especially interesting to the audience you are wanting to reach - why would anyone who thinks Perl is dead/outdated/irrelevant read it?
What's in it for your reader? What's in it for someone who doesn't want to be enlightened about the wonders of Perl?

Unfortunately, promoting anything to someone who thinks they don't want it is a tough call. Be that a new car, ham sandwich or programming language.

Perhaps the best angle to sell Perl is grabbing interest by excitedly explaining this cool and sexy system you built. Go through all the world changing features it has and how they will make the reader's life so much better. Then add on the end that it is all created in the amazing Perl language that makes programming great solutions so easy and enjoyable.
You tried that with your opening about how Perl helped you personally - fabulous stuff that needs building on.

Let's hope you manage to nudge one or two to think a little more highly of Perl. It's a great first article and I hope it won't be your last.