How to Ask for a Request from an Influential Blogger

As an experienced blogger, John Little of Blogs of War receives dozens of requests a day from public relations (PR) professionals. Blogging for over nine years, John has attracted over 100 million views to his blog over the lifetime, establishing himself as an influential voice in the world of war, terrorism, diplomacy and intelligence.  After getting thousands of PR requests, John estimates “less than 1% know how to do their job”.  SocialCatalyst was lucky enough to catch John when he was in mid-thought on the subject.

 

John, thanks for taking time out of your busy day to talk with us. How are these PR professionals currently reaching to you?

I was ranting a bit so don’t hold me to that 1% number but I will say that about 1% of the emails sent to me result in some kind of action beneficial to the sender.

 

What is your reaction when you get these requests?  How do you respond to them over email?

They key problem here is that most of these outreach attempts are spam or poorly obscured spam. They seem to start with the assumption that I am just dying to devote my time and reader’s attention to promoting their widget. Many of them start off with an assumption so absurd that I stop reading after the first sentence.

“I’m sure you’re always looking for scholarship opportunities to share with your readers.”
“I know your readers are looking for the hottest, freshest, tunes.”
“We know your readers are tired on credit cards with hidden fees.”

While they may include their name and phone at the bottom of the email, and attempt some kind of personalized introduction, the assumptions and immediate hard sell kill any chance that I’ll devote my time to considering the request. Spam is spam.

 

How would you prefer that they would make their request?  Could you be very specific?

Three things need to happen

1. Understand who you are contacting.
2. Establish contact before you pitch.
3. If you are going to pitch on first contact keep it focused and short.

One advantage to keeping your emails very short is that I am less likely to weed them out as spam without reading them. “We have just released a new documentary about Yemen that you can view online at …” is much more likely to result in action than a 600 word synopsis and director bio – that I won’t even read.

 

What advice do you have for PR people that are running an influencer based social media strategy?

I can tell you what works with me. I respond to professionals who establish contact before they pitch and who respect my time and audience. Also, think about ways that you can be of service to your influences beyond providing them with self-serving content. What is in this for them? Promote their work, retweet them, and make connections for them. A mutually beneficial relationship is one that will result in more meaningful action.

Just having these tools (email, social media, etc) at your disposal is no substitute for understanding your target. Tailor your strategies both to your target group and the key individuals within that group before you launch into your blitz.

Thanks so much, John.  We all have lots to learn. For more pointers, here is a slide show on pitching to influential bloggers.

What do you think about this conversation?  Are you a PR professional with another perspective on this?