3 Tips for Approaching Bloggers
I get a lot of pitches in my email, as I suspect most bloggers do. It’s actually something I like, because I’ve had a chance to learn about new products and books and even review some of them. However, recently, there have been a few things bothering me . . . so here are some tips to approaching bloggers with information about your product or service.
1. Keep records. I recently received an email from a guy who is promoting a book called PULL, on marketing. It sounds like a great book, something that could be quite useful to myself and my readers and he offered to send me a copy to review. I promptly wrote back and said I was interested. So, I was little confused when, about a week later, he wrote me again with the same spiel. I deleted the email, chocking it up to a lack of organization. Since then, I’ve received two more emails . . . all the exact same as the first one. Needless to say, I’m not interested in the book anymore and a filter has been set up to send any of his emails to the trash immediately.
This is a very simple problem to avoid, just make sure you keep track of who you are sending pitches to, mark their response and for goodness’ sake, don’t keep sending and sending the same pitch if people don’t respond.
2. DO follow up on your emails. I’m not even as busy as the big name bloggers and I frequently forget that I meant to get back to someone or take part in an offer. So, I appreciate it when someone sends a quick note saying, “Just a follow up to my previous email . . . ” It’s not pushy, it’s a nice reminder. Note: Don’t just keep sending the same pitch email, though.
One follow up is good, any more is overboard. Also, if a blogger has agreed to do something, like send a guest post, you can certainly send a note to remind them when it is close to the cutoff date.
3. Make sure your pitch is relevant. I write a blog for work at home moms. My focus is on business and life-work balance. So it makes little sense for me to run a post about a new car, a how to book on magic tricks, or boat repair services. Yet, every day, I get pitches for stuff like this. It gets deleted immediately and I’m pretty sure other bloggers have the same issue.
Look for blogs that actually fit your topic. If you want to pitch dog training videos to a wahm, you had better be prepared to point out exactly how this could benefit my readers (ie. starting a dog training school as a side business). Same goes for any blogger you approach.
Are you a blogger? What are your tips for contacting you with a pitch?
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I usually interact with the blogger with comments before I actually approach him/her
That’s an excellent tip! We’re a lot more open to someone we already know to some extent.