Befriending Top Bloggers

If you were on my team, you would already know of my obsession of reading the WSJ in the morning and then clipping and distributing relevant articles to my team. Not only has this given me various insight to what’s being reported on in the business community, but it has also inspired several of my blog postings. Lucky you!

In today’s WJS, Raymund Flandez breaches the topic of getting your company or thoughts on the radar of your specific industry’s top bloggers. Why bloggers and not top print/broadcast reporters, because peeps are turning to bloggers more and more as the Internet is become even more accessible and easier to navigate. And getting play on a top industry blog could put a small business on the map. Why, just because it can. Live with it.

Back to Raymund’s article, there are a number of ways to attract today’s top bloggers. Outreaching to bloggers is a very risky thing to do, as you instantly become fully exposed to potentially millions of current or potential customers. One must be ready for both positive and negative reviews and/or feedback.

Basic steps to blog outreach:
Research – determine who the influencers are in your industry
Resource to determine top industry bloggers – Alltop.com
Read - read what they are saying and what’s being said
Search tools to search your company or industry – technorati.com, Google, ask.com and blogpulse.com
Relationship – create a relationship with the blogger
Ways to create a relationship – comment on various postings, add useful insight and/or information to the discussion, pitch a blog story that you would find interesting youself
Research – read what bloggers are reading (including looking at their blog roll)
Tools to help you keep updated with online chatter and buzz – Twitter, AideRSS, Google Reader

There are also some things not to do: disrespect the legitimacy of bloggers, bribe with free product (while it works for some – I launched a new beer by sending cases, glasses and lemons to various bloggers with a note on how to pour the beer), sending a pitch without reading their blog. More on what not to do in a later blog.

Enjoy! And remember, take your time, don’t rush - everything you send can be easily cut and pasted into a blog. Mistakes and harsh e-mails make for great posts.