Marketing and all things related

Yesterday, I published a post on Marketing Blurb called Avoid Blog Blasting where I discussed the importance of avoiding mass emails that solicit bloggers to write about your product or company.  Blog blasting is considered spam and can appear in the form of mass emails to bloggers or as mass commenting on blogs to promote a product.  In yesterday's post, I focused on the former definition of blog blasting, and I promised I would follow up today with the top 5 tips for connecting with bloggers to create an online buzz. 

Remember, first you should spend some time on the blog you've identified as one that could effectively reach your target audience by reading and commenting on posts.  Once you've accomplished that first, critical step, you can use the following 5 tips to help you write an email query that a blogger is apt to read and respond to positively:

1. Introduce yourself and describe who you are and reference your comments on the blogger's blog to establish your relationship.
2. Fully describe your product, brand or other message you'd like the blogger to convey to his or her readers or offer to write a guest post.  Be certain to include a link to informative pages on your website.  Nothing is more annoying for a blogger than receiving a request to write about a company or product with simply a link to the company's website and no other information.  Bloggers are very busy.  Don't make them do extra research.  Give them the details upfront.  They'll research further to verify information or get additional information, but by helping the blogger upfront, you'll have a better chance for success.
3. Offer to send additional information, a product sample, a logo or photo (web-optimized) for use in the post, and anything else you think the blogger would find helpful.  The blogger will let you know which items would be helpful, but offering upfront makes the blogger's job a lot easier.
4. Include your website URL and contact information. 
5. Personalize your email query!  A mass email isn't going to compel a blogger to write about you or your company or product.  You need to connect with the blogger and tell him or her how writing about you, your company, your brand or your product will help his or her readers.  You need to establish a connection with the blog's author, his or her readers and your message.

Remember, relationships are an important part of the blogosphere, so start out by making some contacts and participating in blog conversations before you approach a blogger with a request for him or her to write about you.