Initially, I was humbled that someone thought my opinion may be of value to someone else so they were pitching to me. But then the pitches started increasing in volume and repetition.
At that point, I figured it may be helpful to write a post on how I can be coaxed in to writing about you, your idea, your product or your company. But I wasn't sure how to approach this topic. So I decided to initiate email conversation about it with Jeremiah Owyang, someone better plugged in the blogging world. His initial response led me to research further:
I think common sense is the best way to do it, and remember that the bloggers are in charge. Not sure if a policy or rules of engagement are needed. Guy Kawasaki and Scoble have discussed at length 'how to pitch to a blogger.'Jeremiah also mentioned in his follow up reply and blog entry about building relationship before pitching. From my research, it seem that most bloggers are advocating building relationship before pitching.
It appeared counter-intuitive to me. Relationship is typically required for trade media journalists and industry analysts so that they eat your pitch and regurgitate in their reports and articles. Am I being considered an industry analyst or trade media journalist? Hope not!
For me, blogging is a creative outlet and a way to building new relationships with like-minded industry professionals. I never thought of relationships (paid or unpaid) providing content for the blog like they do for analyst reports or trade articles.
Yes, relationship will get me to read your messages or listen to your pitch for few minutes, but it will not necessarily get you the coverage on my blog. BTW, I read all messages regularly irrespective of who sent me except messages on subscribed lists. So, if not relationship then what can get me excited to write about you, your idea, your technology, your product or your company? Now the cliffhanger, I will discuss this further in my follow-up post.
Relevant Links:
How to Suck Up to a Blogger
Don't Be a Bad Pitcher!
Tips for Pitching Blogs
Pitching to Bloggers: For 2.0 Involvees
How to Ruin Your Corporate Blog: 100 Tips by 10 Bloggers
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