How To Split An Atom

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Before I begin, Steve Jobs has decided to give a $100 of store credit too all those early adopters who feel woefully misused by the iPhone price drop. Good. Now, do we have that out of our system?

If you have been blogging for any significant amount of time, you many have run into the mixed blessing of being approached by people who want you to write about them. Many are really nice about it, and these are the ones that usually get some ink. Some, however, seem to be playing the numbers game, which for most of us is the best way to get a one way ticket to the slush pile.

What’s the secret to getting bloggers to pick up your story? Here are a few tips.

Getting Yourself Noticed

Follow directions. We’ve all made the mistake of thinking that we can cleverly skirt submission forms, contact pages and “general” email address’. The best way to get into contact with me is through the web form. Why? When I read the email that is forwarded from there I know what to expect, I am pretty certain that it is not spam, and I can more easily organize my responses.

When approaching someone to write a story about your next great idea, you want to make their lives as easy as possible.

Be descriptive. “Go to my site, it’s great!” doesn’t cut it folks. When describing your product pretend like you’re writing a pitch. There are a ton of Google Maps mashups out there, I am absolutely not interested in a product that you cannot even sound interested in. Give me your best hook, make it memorable.

The opposite is true as well. Many PR firms want to write novellas about a product that I haven’t even looked at. Give me a starting point, but don’t write my story for me. If I am interested enough to look, I am interested enough to follow up with you with any questions that I might have.

Personalization. All I ask is that you a) spell my name correctly (hint: it’s Steven) and b) take a few seconds to realize what this blog is about. I can’t tell you how many people pitch me stories that aren’t even close to relevant to technology, productivity or Web 2.0. Most of these stories end up being filed unceremoniously in the circular queue.

The point is this, do your research. If you are asking a blogger to do you a favor, at least try to figure out who you are talking too.

Incentives. I would love nothing more than to speak at your event, unfortunately, like many bloggers I have a day job. If you want to arrange startup consultation, a speaking event, or anything that would require more than a few hours of my time I implore you to contact me a few weeks before you need help.

If it is a conference that you want me to attend, a press pass would be appreciated. If it is something that requires my personal attention, put me on a cheap flight so I don’t have to say no just because I am not inclined to get a plane ticket. If you have a product you want me to review, send me a test unit.

In short, if you need a blogger to go above and beyond just putting ink to page, give them a good reason. Everyone likes to feel special, bloggers are not an exception.

Follow up. If you send me an email asking for a product review and I reply, take the time to answer my questions. At least 10% of the requests I reply to fall on deaf ears. If you are interested in staying in the good graces of a blogger, try to get those responses out within 3 days or so.

That leads into a more general rule, be polite. A friendly email from someone who is trying to get coverage for their hard work is much more likely to lead me to write a story than a sterile press release.

Keep in touch. Business is all about relationships. Whether you are dealing with me or Mike Arrington, it is always nice to keep in touch with those who have helped you in the past. There are a select few people who am I almost always willing to write something for. The reason is that they usually send me great content and I know that I wasn’t just a mark.

Don’t give up. Sometimes we all just need a kick in the pants. I’ve had emails sit in my box that I swore I answered weeks previous. If you really believe that you may have just been overlooked, don’t be afraid to follow up.

A lot of other bloggers are really against this idea, but what I mean by “follow up” is that if a few weeks go by and you haven’t heard anything — it really doesn’t hurt to politely check in. If you’re lucky, then you have just grabbed my attention. If it still doesn’t work, at least you haven’t lost anything.

Advertisers. Here is a bonus for anyone who wants to advertise on the site. For private advertising, I deal almost exclusively in text links and 125 x 125 buttons. While I may be willing to try out your affiliate program, I have plenty of those floating around so unless you have a particularly good deal, my answer will be no.

Also, with private advertising your best bet is always picking a product as close as possible to my area of interest. You would think this would go without saying, but unfortunately it does not.

Web 2.0 Roundup

I am always looking for new content to write about, new services to showcase, new interviews to conduct, and new products to play around with. Most bloggers, I am sure, are the same way. All we really ask for are the same courtesies that you would extend to anyone that you are asking a favor of.

The next time you are planning your marketing strategy, keep this in mind: one good contact can be the difference between a product that catches lightening and one that fizzles out.

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