The Damn, I Wish I Thought of That! blog asked an interesting question: Q. How do we STOP a blogger from writing about us?
The answer: Send them a canned pitch from your PR firm.
These pitches are instant turn-offs to bloggers. We get them every day. And we never write about these companies again.
Getting bloggers talking about you is a good way to spread the word. But the old-line PR approach of blasting out a snowstorm of press releases is counterproductive.
I get dumb, off-point, misdirected, press releases every day. Just about 100% of them are from PR people who clearly have never read one word of my blog. I think most bloggers have that experience and quickly develop a deep disdain for clueless PR people and their irrelevant press releases.
So if you want to get a blogger’s attention (including me), try these things:
- Read the blog. Just a few posts will tell you what their topic is. You’d be amazed how many PR people clearly have no idea what my blog is about and send me insanely off-topic stuff. You’d think the name of the blog would clue them in to the fact that I’m not likely to post about new games or banking services.
- Read the blog policy if they have one. (Here’s mine.) This will tell you even more about what the blogger cares about and is likely to respond to.
- Be part of the conversation. Actually discuss your topic with the blogger. You’ll quickly find out whether what you’re pushing is a no go, or what it might take to make the blogger pick up the story. It would help to be a recognizable name from the blogger’s comments.
- Don’t send a press release at all. Most bloggers take that as a clear sign that you’re irrelevant.
- Most important: Do something worth talking about.
Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 35 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you’ll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com.
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