Strive Notes

The blog on Are we giving away too much? seems to have hit a nerve with more of you weighing in than on any previous Strive Notes blog.  Interestingly enough, two commenters were dogs.  Is Strive Notes the first blog to attract comments from dogs?  Probably not. Are we the first ones to attract PR dogs?  Probably.  Is this a good thing?  Dunno!  Are there many PR dogs in the blogosphere?  I guess we’ll find out. 

But PR dogs aside, I want to look at blogging from a pitching point of view.  What are you Strivers doing in this respect?  Are your clients interested in targeting bloggers at all?  Are you participating on journalist’s blogs?  What about you in-house people…do you track industry blogs? 

Here are some top tips on PR pitches to bloggers (they will sound v familiar to some of us old PR dogs):

Read the blog.  This is Pitching 101 regardless of the medium.

Comments & Trackbacks.  These are top of a blogger’s agenda.  Will your pitch help them attract either?

Passionate Experts.  Unlike most journalists, bloggers are passionate about their subject and that’s why they blog…not to pick up a paycheque. They get that from their day job…which is what makes them expert.  They have a much deeper, more specialist knowledge than most journalists.  Angle your pitch accordingly and forget the BS.

Offer exclusives.  Bloggers thrive on street cred, and they have egos, just like the rest of us.  Being approached with an exclusive, or being offered an interview with the CEO plays to this. 

Engage in discussions.  If your issues are being blogged about, you need to be involved. But, as in all things PR, honesty is the best policy.  Ensure your postings identify who you are and on whose behalf you are posting. 

I used information from Olgivy PR’s website as a source for this list. But, have I missed anything out? Are there other things you Strivers are doing to engage in the blogoshere?  Let us know.

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