Last week I attended a really great seminar held by the Bulldog Reporter. At first I felt a bit intimidated--a Blogger amidst some pretty well known public relations experts. I even felt like a groupie when I approached my favorite PR professional, Sally Falkow, to introduce myself and thank her for all of the great advice in The Daily Dog. However, I became more at ease as I discovered that as much as I wanted to learn and absorb all I could about public relations, those in public relations wanted to learn and absorb all they could about Bloggers, something I'd say I am an expert on.
It was around this time last year that pitching Bloggers was really beginning to take off, so I'd have to say that a year later, I am surprised that many professionals in PR are still unsure and uneasy about approaching Bloggers. I'm sure it has a lot to do with fear of being publicly chastised if they pitch incorrectly or even more, if they make it onto a black list and considered a spammer. At the seminar some wanted to know how to pitch to the Perez Hilton's of the blogosphere, the snarky blogs that tend to garner the highest readership, although their client may not be a fit. I desperately wanted to tell her that it's not about quantity of readership, but quality. A blog with a lower readership that is her client's target market will have much more success when promoting the brand than one with thousands of readers who aren't. It's really that simple.
Many PR professionals wanted to know where to find the best bloggers to send their pitches to. Technorati was mentioned a lot, although I disagree. A simple search for "best fashion blogs" or "best beauty blogs" (or whichever the industry) is easy enough and then simply look at their blogrolls, as well. Also, the top rated bloggers are sometimes the ones who consider pitches untargeted spam and will simply click delete.
It all comes back to basics:
1. Know your client's target market and find blogs that are reaching out to it.
2. Be sure to read through a Bloggers "About" page to see if they explain how they want to be contacted.
3. Also make sure to read at least the blog's front page to see if the blog is a good fit for your client's product.
4. Be sincere..."I just found your blog and I love it" has been said many times before you wrote it.
5. The K.I.S.S. method also applies to Blogger pitches.
6. As with Editors, relationships with Bloggers take time.
7. Do not pitch in the comments section.
8. Don't be pushy.
9. Expect honesty.
10. Be professional when promoting a client's products; "*Free* products for you" in the subject heading is tacky.
So let's get a dialogue going--Bloggers post in the comments about how you want to be pitched and those in PR--feel free to ask me or Bloggers in general your questions on how best to approach them.
Related Post Etiquette Protocol For Pitching Products To Bloggers.
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