BLOG Image Credit: www.ereleases.com
Cultivating relationships with the media and consumers is key for PR practitioners. With social media being increasingly noted for providing timely and legitimate news stories (sometimes breaking stories before mainstream media e.g. news about Michael Jackson), traditional mainstream media have begun relying on Twitter feeds and Blogs as a source of news. So, the PR practitioner of today has to build relationships with yet another influential group – Bloggers.
Some view bloggers as amateurs who threaten professional journalists and make mis-informed attacks, but most recognize the key role that Bloggers play. Bloggers are influencers and connectors; by commenting on a particular topic and sharing bookmarks, they help connect PR Practitioners to a larger audience and help grow an organization’s readership. Bloggers’ opinions matter in the blogsophere – you can’t ignore them or dismiss them – they will post anyway and it is best to address any criticisms. Some PR Practitioners even credit bloggers for helping them build better blogs since greater interaction with bloggers enables practitioners to quickly learn the craft of blog writing.
Pitching news stories to a blogger is somewhat similar to pitching to the media. Here's my pick of top 3 pitching guidelines:
1. Send only relevant stories that relate to the blogger’s area of interest and that would resonate with his/her readership.
2. Send an individualized, personal invitation to the blogger telling him/her why they are the appropriate person to cover the story and why the news story is important.
3. Keep the news story short and concise, making it easy for them to write a blog, comment on the topic or forward a story.
Ultimately, PR practitioners should seek to cultivate long term relationships with bloggers and not just focus on the short term gains of getting a blog published. As a blogger yourself, what are your thoughts about ways to cultivate relationships with fellow bloggers? : )
That is really nice picture. Blogger have very strong relation with their work and word. They are very creative to write innovative things based on different keywords.
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Thank you for your comments, Lary. I do agree with you that bloggers are creative and credible people. We must value their opinions and seek to cultivate effective relationships with fellow bloggers. : )
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