Since I last posted, there’s been quite a bit of coverage around this topic, including several high profile posts that have referenced this series.

In part four, we’ll explore how to write for and initially reach bloggers more effectively, using existing and new tools and services. In part five, we’ll review outreach techniques for good old fashioned relationship building.

The previous article discussed, “Reaching the Blogosphere – Finding Bloggers in Your Market” using tools such as Technorati, Sphere, Google’s BlogSearch, Blogpulse, Alexa, CyberAlert, BuzzMetrics, Cymfony, and Umbria.

Now that we have walked through examples of how to identify the right bloggers for your market, we need to determine how to best reach them and why they should even receive your news in the first place.

According to a presentation by Nan Dawkins, Partner, RedBoots Consulting, at a Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo I attended in San Jose:

• 50% of Bloggers write about companies once per week
• Only 21% report regular contact from companies they write about; most in the form of unsolicited press releases
• 48% say they are NEVER contacted by companies
• Only 2% say they don’t want contact from the companies they write about

I guess the only other thing to do here is to give you an invitation.

In all seriousness though, it is truly important that we take a step back here to first understand that just because bloggers are requesting contact, it doesn’t mean you should spam them or conduct blogger PR in a “business as usual” fashion. And, just because wire services provide a push channel for companies to broadcast to bloggers, it doesn’t mean that they’ll automatically pull the information. You have to do your homework and tap into the inner Hemingway in order to write a compelling, focused, and informative press release.

I’ve heard many discussions lately surrounding PR 101 in regards to writing press releases. Everyone says, write well, write clearly, get to the point, reduce hyperbole, etc. But as with every educational institution, there are always different “schools” of thought on how to write well. So PR 101 doesn’t mean much if you didn’t learn the right things along the way. This really shouldn’t be open to various interpretations. Take the following advice at its core and don’t deviate from it.

Bloggers, like traditional reporters, are busy people. They will never ever get from a release what your product marketing and marketing department try to shove into it.

So, to write effectively:

• Steer away from buzzword or marketing-centric copy
• Do not include fluff quotes. Think about it and what an exec really should say
• Keep is short and sweet
• Include links for customer references and images
• Focus on the news and its importance/relevance to the gatekeeper and the ultimate market
• Most importantly, include links to market data and a competitive landscape

Another way to create a “better” press release is to think about it as taking the news release you would have written and then condensing it into a solid pitch letter. Get to the hook and the relevance ASAP. The process forces you to distill what really is important, why, and to whom it impacts. The end result should be a compelling, new-style press release which bloggers — and honestly, traditional reporters, too — will appreciate.For those of you that are a little further along in your careers, you may want to consider using a Social Media Release. See here for more info.

Now, that you’re thinking about the news, let’s look at a couple of options for getting the word out. There are traditional services as well as a new movement in the PR industry which leverages the power of social media - which is one of the driving factors behind the rise in global blog influence.

For more information, please read a brilliant article posted by Chris Heuer, founder of the Social Media Club, which highlights the importance of Social Media. For what makes a news release “social,” follow this link.

I will cover Social Media Press Releases in a separate post since it warrants its own discussion. In the meantime, let’s briefly review a handful of wire options.

Wire Services
Several wire services reach traditional media, but also integrate social media optimization (SMO) and search engine optimization (SEO) elements that appeal to bloggers (because the releases can provide the information in a format that they can appreciate). These services include:
PRweb (traditional, SMO, SEO)
PRNewswire (traditional, SEO, multimedia)
Businesswire (traditional) and the new, pseudo SMO BusinessWire (alliance with PRWeb)
Weblogwire (traditional - but only tech bloggers subscribe to this service)
Marketwire (traditional, SEO - working on SMO)
PRXbuilder - (SMO through its alliance with PRNewswire)

All of these services are good in one way or another for reaching your ultimate market. But since we’re specifically talking about bloggers in this series, try to break-out your tactics specifically for traditional media and bloggers. This is key, and, it may actually require two versions of the same news.

Some wire services reach different markets better than others. It doesn’t hurt to ask a blogger in your space which services they subscribe to.

While some bloggers sign-up to traditional newswire services, and others rely on new media channels, they “all” dread long, traditiional, hype-ridden, useless quote bearing press releases.

Before you launch, research the various packages that each of the services offer (because they are the most dynamic they’ve been since the birth of the wire).

Here’s the most important part: Make sure your company (or your client) offer an RSS feed in the online newsroom. This helps interested bloggers easily subscribe to future news releases. Follow this jump to see how to add an RSS feed. Follow this jump to see an example from SiPix.

For additional information on Blogger Relations 101, please also visit Lee Oden’s Top Rank Online Marketing Blog.

Next up: #5 Social Media sidebar and #6 Making outreach to bloggers

By Brian Solis, principal of FutureWorks, blogger at PR2.0, co-founder of SocialMediaClub

Tags: pr, pr2.0, briansolis, bloggerrelations, blogger+relations, newpr, guykawasaki, briansolis, toprank, smo, seo, socialmeda, socialmedarelease, smpr

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