{"id":376,"date":"2007-05-24T22:50:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-25T02:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/getgood.com\/roadmaps\/?p=376"},"modified":"2007-05-24T22:50:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-25T02:50:00","slug":"blogger-relations-extra-credit-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/getgood.com\/roadmaps\/2007\/05\/24\/blogger-relations-extra-credit-question\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogger Relations Extra Credit Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jeneane Sessum<\/a> and Todd Defren<\/a> both posted excellent quizzes for any pr or marketing agency that purports to be a social media or blogging expert. <\/p>\n

I have your extra credit question. <\/p>\n

This week has seen two rather interesting blogger relations mis-steps: the Fleishman Hillard "Marlo Thomas" pitch and the Vocus white paper "spam."\u00a0 Many people have posted about these two incidents; if you need to catch up start here,<\/a> here<\/a> and here.<\/a> <\/p>\n

In addition to all the other advice you can find, on this blog<\/a> and elsewhere, a couple points bear repeating and are the subject of today’s extra credit question.<\/p>\n

First, give something first. Don’t ask the blogger to write about you. Give him something he wants — information, trial product, access, whatever. No strings attached. That’s what makes it a GIFT. And try to do it with a minimum of\u00a0 "marketing speak." If you wouldn’t say it, don’t send it. Try it sometime. Read one of your email pitches out loud. After you get over how stupid it sounds, fix it.<\/p>\n

Second, remember: with bloggers, you do have a window into their lives. Make sure you aren’t approaching them at an inappropriate time. Personal\/life bloggers blog about their lives, so there is no excuse for not knowing. But even business bloggers give clues. Look for them and reach out appropriately. <\/p>\n

Here’s the question: would you pitch me on something this week? Specifically tomorrow May 25th. What would you pitch to me and why? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Okay, it’s the holiday weekend, so I am going to give you the answer. <\/p>\n

Unless you are the manufacturer of a hot convertible and want to give me a demo model to test drive for the next month or you can offer me a set visit to Battlestar Galactica, I would seriously advise you to steer clear. And the reason why is only one click away from this blog, on my new photo blog Snapshot Chronicles<\/a>. I also twitted about it. In other words, the information about my craptastic day is pretty much public record. <\/p>\n

I’ll make it even easier for you. Even though Marketing Roadmaps is a business blog, if you read it, even just once in a while, you’d probably know:<\/p>\n