Blogs have leveled the playing field in the media business. On the production side, blogs make it possible for anyone to publish content. Meanwhile, for those seeking coverage, blogs have developed into an ecosystem where there are hundreds of thousands of specialized media outlets, creating unprecedented opportunity to get your business’ story in front of the right people.
Moreover, if you’re seeking coverage, there is no longer a need to employ an expensive PR firm to pitch your story (though as I’ll explain, it can be a helpful shortcut). However, bloggers can be a particular bunch, and at highly trafficked blogs, the amount of stories to choose from vastly outnumbers time in the day to write them. Without further ado, here are some of the top strategies of highly effective do-it-yourself story pitchers:
1. Identifying the Right Blogs: It seems like common sense, but you’d be amazed at the amount of untargeted, unsolicited pitches that arrive in blog editors’ inboxes. Unless you’re completely new to the blogosphere, you probably already have a few outlets in mind, but to find more and build a list to contact, try Technorati, Google Blog Search, or Icerocket.
3. Interacting on Social Networks: Another way to get your name in front of a blogger is to interact on social networks. The easiest and least invasive way is to follow them on Twitter, and reply to some of their tweets. LinkedIn and Facebook are other options to consider, but since these are reciprocal friend networks and some bloggers are more private than others, it’s not right for everyone.
8. Setting an Embargo Time: If you’re not pitching your story exclusively to one blog, it’s often wise to set an embargo – a specific date and time that you’re asking the publication to honor before publishing a story. Blogs depend on breaking news first in order to get traffic, and if you’re not working with them exclusively, they’ll at least want the news at the same time as everybody else. Along those lines, sending them the news after other publications have already written about it is poor form.
Sound like a lot of work? It is – building relationships with bloggers takes time, as does getting to know how to craft an effective pitch. That’s where PR agencies come into play, as they should already be actively implementing all of the strategies above on an ongoing basis. But, many of them are not, so be diligent in deciding who you hire, and make sure they have expertise and contacts relevant to your niche. Nonetheless, doing it yourself is entirely possible, rewarding, and in the long-run, a big money saver.