There is no right or wrong way to decide which bloggers to work with. You may choose a small blog in a targeted niche because it fits with a certain promotion you are doing. Other times you may be looking to generate as much buzz as possible and be looking for larger blogs. No matter your approach, we all have times where we need some guidance to find the most influential blogs in our target market. Luckily there are several online tools that can help.

Jennifer James wrote an article titled PR Professionals: How to Determine a Mom Blogger’s Influence Without Asking Her that I think is a great overview of the different online tools available.  Don’t be scared away if you’re not a PR professional, anyone considering working with a blogger can use these tips to do their due diligence.

Any resources you use for researching a blog that aren’t listed? Submit a comment and I will add them to this article.

Because I am both a mom and a business owner, I often find myself arguing both sides of a debate in my head. Lately I’ve been giving alot of thought to review & giveaway blogs. The mommy in me likes the idea of reviews and giveaways because we’re all on budgets and getting things free really helps.  But as a business owner I struggle with the idea of attracting only “freebie seekers”  These are the people who are only interested in things for free and won’t ever spend money with your business. Creating a mix of reviews, giveaways and content seems to me to be the winning combination. It attracts all of the right type of people and as a business looking to participate in reviews and giveaways, I feel like there is a wider audience.

I realize that it takes alot of time to write reviews and promote giveaways and that bloggers can only do so much. But there are some quick and easy ways to get great content:

1. Accept guest posts. Whether it’s related to a specific theme such as “great summer activities to keep away boredom” or just general articles on topics of interest to your readers, guest posts are great because they don’t require any of your time to create. And an added bonus is that you will create a relationship with another blogger which could lead to other opportunities.

2. Write about a favorite site. Everyone has sites that they visit regularly or think are cool. Write up a quick blurb and let your readers know about it.

3. Republish a news story. Whether it’s an announcement about the latest pregnant celebrity or a serious piece on our economy, if it’s breaking news (and something your readers are interested in) it’s a quick addition to your blog. One source I’ve used before is FARK.com. When I visited just now there was a link to an article in the Daily Mail UK titled “Spouses found to cause you more stress than bosses”.  That’s a quick blog post right there (so I did just that and added it to my blog Parents Only Zone).

4. Put up a video. Everyone knows about YouTube as a source of videos.  But there are other sites ripe with interesting videos you can use as content – eHow videos and 5 Minute Video are both full of ready to go content. There is a list of others in this article on Mashable.

5. Feature another blog. Swapping features with another blog gives your readers an inside glimpse into what other bloggers are doing. And like guest posts, it’s yet another way to form a relationship that could bring bigger things later.

6. Create a list. One of the things I do on my blog Parents Only Zone is create lists on topics such as “Great Picnic Ideas” and “Cool Art for Baby’s Nursery”.  These posts are just compilations of interesting resources on these topics. As a reader I love these because it saves me time researching the topic.

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These are just some of the ways you can get interesting content for your blog. It doesn’t have to be time consuming or award winning journalism, but cultivating a readership of people looking for more than just freebies will bring rewards for you in the end.

Until next time,

If blogging is your business (or a hobby you’re hoping will become a business), chances are you’ve already written a pitch or two.  How successful were they? If the answer is “not very” then this post is for you.

It’s important in today’s world of social media to learn how to write a pitch email that will get you noticed. Whether you’re looking for product to review, sponsorship or want to form some sort of partnership, it often begins with a killer pitch.

As a retailer (Pipsqueak Boutique) and product creator (Define*Me Clothing and Bella Photo Jewelry), I receive alot of pitches from bloggers.  Some are really good, most are not.

To help out anyone who doesn’t have experience with pitching (and to be honest so I can hopefully start getting better pitches), I thought it would be useful to develop a checklist of the things I need to see in a pitch to even consider it…

Make it personal

My name is all over my sites and my blogs.  It only takes a couple of seconds to find out what it is, and I know the same is true for most small businesses like mine. If you are pitching a larger business it is worth a phone call to find out the name and direct email of the proper person to contact.  Starting off with “To whom is my concern” is the absolute wrong first impression to make.

Be specific about what you are proposing

Start out by telling me what it is you would like me to do.  Send a product for review?  Host a giveaway?  Sponsor you?  Pay for advertising?  Often times it is a good idea to start small.  If someone asked me if I wanted to do a guest post for example I would be responding YES in a heartbeat.  It’s a good way for me to test the waters and an easy start to a hopefully long term partnership.

Tell me what I need to know about your blog

If I am going to consider spending money to work with you (and providing a product for review or giveaway does cost me money), I need to know what you have to offer me.  Give me as many relevant stats as you have about the demographic of your readers and the amount of traffic you get (if you don’t have stats, at least explain why).  Links to other similar reviews is also a good idea so I can see how you did the writeup, whether you include personal photos and how it was received by your readers.

Make it worth my while

Just because a blog is new or small, does not mean I won’t work with them.  I’ve worked with several up and coming blogs because I thought they were great and I really liked the people behind them.  But in order to entice me, you may have to offer something a little more than just a review opportunity.  If you have a low number of unique visitors every month and you’re posting a couple of things a day, I will be off the first page in no time after receiving hardly any looks.  Make it worth my while by also providing a button ad for a month or a series of reviews.

Keep it short and sweet

We are all busy and our inboxes are overrun with email.  I appreciate it when people understand this and get right to the point with their pitches.  Give me a quick intro and what you are hoping to do and why you think we’re a good fit to work together. Then tell me what I need to know about your blog to get me excited that your demographics are a good fit and that you get some traffic.

Be sure you tell me how to contact you

I often get pitches that mention the name of the blog but don’t have a link to it.  Be sure to make it easy for me to click on the link and visit your blog, Facebook, Twitter, whatever you use.  If I am considering working with you I will want to check out what you do so knowing where to find you on the web is important.

Above all else, writing the perfect pitch is about being yourself. Let it show through that you are a real person with a business goal just like mine – to get the word out about great businesses and products!

If you have any questions or would like help crafting your pitch, feel free to contact me.

Until next time,