Creating BR (blogger relations) instead of PR is practically a
new profession, as more publicity buzz gets started by
prominent bloggers. Publicists trying to get media attention
for a new product, book or service are now pitching bloggers in
addition to journalists and the press.
But pitching bloggers is vastly different from traditional
press relations. New rules apply. If you pitch a blogger the
wrong way, you could get written up and publicly slammed by the
blogger for everyone on the Internet to see. So how do you go
about getting a publicity explosion without it blowing up in
your face? Here are a few "do's" and "don'ts" for getting good
blog attention.
1. Don't leave your pitch in the comments of a blog post. Send
a personal email. Leave comments on blog posts, but only to
participate in the conversation, not to pitch or talk about you
and your products, services or book.
2. Do target your pitch to the interests and niche covered by
the blogger. There's nothing a blogger hates more than
receiving pitches completely unrelated to their subject.
3. Don't send a mass mailing press release.
4. Do personalize any pitch or press release with the blogger's
name, spelled correctly of course.
5. Don't ask for links. Invite the blogger to review your
material. They'll do the rest if they think your pitch is right
for their audience.
6. Do develop a relationship with bloggers by reading and
commenting on their blogs before you ever pitch them. Subscribe
to the RSS feed so you'll stay current on blog posts.
7. Know who else is talking about you. Research your area of
expertise through blog searches on Technorati.com,
Blogsearch.google. com, and Google alerts.
8. Offer valuable content. Don't announce your product, book,
or services as if they were the greatest thing to be created.
Instead tell the blogger how you can solve a problem for their
readers. Then mention the book, product or service.
9. Build relationships. Do this over the course of a couple of
weeks by participating in the conversations on the bloggers'
blogs.
10. Have your own blog to show bloggers you "get it." And use
trackbacks so they know you're commenting about them at your
own blog before you pitch them. (Trackbacks are an automated
blogging feature that notifies a blog when another blog talks
about them.)
11. Don't waste bloggers' time on something that isn't relevant
to their blog.
12. Don't use crude language or four-letter words. We see this
in a lot in blogs written by professionals who would never
dream of using this same language in their clients' offices.
13. Remember that anything you say to a blogger might be seen
by journalists because many journalists read blogs on topics
they cover.
14. Certainly, never chastise a blogger for not accepting
comments at their blog. Contact them by email if you have
comments, feedback or praise about their content.
15. Don't point out typos at a blogger's blog. When we find our
own typos, we sometimes don't bother correcting them, because it
would go out into the RSS feed again.
Copyright © 2006, Denise Wakeman
About The Author: For more leading edge Internet Marketing tips
go to http://www.biztipsblog.com. Subscribe to The Blog Squad's
ezine Savvy eBiz Tips at http://www.savvyebiztips.com. To learn
about using social media tools like blogs, go to
http://www.buildabetterblog.com. Denise Wakeman & Patsi Krakoff
are known as The Blog Squad.
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