Poor Blogging Practices
The blogosphere is a tightly connected group of net influencers. They start trends, make products popular and always seem to be passionate about some idea or trend.
And, much like any group of ‘artists’ they are particular about they way they are treated. To market in this ‘market’ you’ll need to listen to what they are saying and apply what you learn.
For instance, don’t overeagerly pitch your product. From Blood Boiling Blogging Practices at ProBlogger.net:
What made me angrier was that on the weekend just gone by (Saturday - a day I try to stay away from things online) I had received a phone-call from this company who had found my number on my blog. The call did not go well. For starters the line was terrible (it sounded like he was calling from a bad voip connection or something), secondly within two seconds of me answering the phone the guy launched into a product sales pitch and then asked me to blog about it. I had never heard of him, his company or his product before and couldn’t see how it related to the topic of this Blog. There was a tenuous connection but despite me saying on a number of occasions that I didn’t think it fit the focus of ProBlogger he began to argue the case further.
Most bloggers won’t promote a product unless they’ve used it. They have ethical standards and they aren’t going to say they like something unless they do.
My advice to companies wanting to bring the blogosphere on board is:
- offer them private invites to ‘unveilings’
- offer them a sample to keep (and don’t require they post on it or send it back)
- actually read their blog before pitching them
- make your pitch blog-specific
- speak with candor and be self-effacing
- know their time zone (IMPORTANT)
FYI Darren’s an Aussie so your Friday is his Saturday
I’ve collegues in Poland. My midday is their evening. - above all, be polite and respect their time
Tags: blog-practices, blogging, business-blogging, marketing, PR, PR-blogs, rss-marketing