Blog Yourself: Using Blogs to Grow Your Business
August 19, 2006
Launching an online business is very exciting – so much so that more than 6,000 new sites go live everyday. But getting noticed in that tsunami of new web sites is tough, especially when you’re on a tight (or non-existent) marketing budget. PPCs, even at a nickel a click, are too pricey and banner ads are out of the question. If you spent your entrepreneurial budget on getting your site up and running, you’re going to have to get creative with the marketing side of your enterprise.
Free Ink
Press releases lead to free ink – free exposure in traditional print outlets (newspapers, magazines, journals, et al) and virtual outlets like other web sites, and web logs called blogs. Getting written up in a blog is free advertising and free is really good when you don’t have the bucks to catch visitors’ attention.
But what makes you so special? Why is your site of interest to anyone other than you and your closest friends? Well, that’s your starting point for getting your site blogged.
What’s Your Story?
What makes your site interesting? Content? Purpose? Real creativity on the world wide web? You’re going to need some kind of hook to capture the interest of bloggers. If you’re just another site selling the same old same old, blogging your way to success is going to be a slooooow process.
So, step one: find the hook. What makes you and/or your site interesting and different? What makes it a topic about which others would want to read? If you can’t define what makes your site special, don’t expect a blogger to provide a definition. That’s your job.
Stay Close to Home
The range of topics covered in blogs is as diverse as the spectrum of human interests. Politics, investing, collecting, raising kids and square dancing all have a presence in the blogsphere. So, start searching for blogs that cover your particular business, service or cause. If you own a site selling custom-made racing bikes, you’ll have a much better chance of getting picked up by a cycling blogger than one who publishes recipes for eco-vegans.
Research what’s out there. One useful resource is the Technorati Blog Directory which lists thousands and thousands of individual blogs by category. That makes it a whole lot easier to find a blogger willing to cover your grand opening.
Read the short description of each blog in the directory and cull your list down to the 20 most likely candidate blogs.
Don’t Automate Blog Submissions
Most bloggers are carbon-based life forms and as such they hate spam just as much as you do. There are services that’ll help you contact bloggers, services like PRWeb.com or PRFree.com. But the likelihood of actually making contact with the brain behind the blog is pretty remote using automated services. Influential bloggers are inundated with requests from individuals and businesses just like you and, using an online submission service is unlikely to deliver the results you’ll get when you contact bloggers one by one.
That’s why you cull your list down to the top 20 blogs you’d like to contact. Then, contact them.
What Should I Say?
You’re about to compose a very important email – one that will be sent to bloggers who might be interested in running a piece about your site. The manner in which you approach bloggers and your tone will often make the difference between getting free ink and getting clicked off to the recycling bin.
Keep it short and get to the point. Bloggers don’t need your whole life story. Just the facts about your site and what makes it worthy of a blog entry.
Be polite. Be nice. Start with a compliment about the blog. How interesting the posts are, how well-written, insightful and readable. Every writer likes to hear nice things about his or her work.
Then, cut to the chase. Be direct. “I’m writing to ask if you’d do an entry on my site because ________.” You fill in the blank, but don’t take too long to do it. Short and sweet, nice and polite.
In your email offer the blogger something in return for a post. Bloggers don’t make a lot of money – even the really successful ones – so a link to a relevant blog from your home page might be enough to entice a blogger to throw some of that free ink in your direction.
Or, how about some merchandise from your cyber store? Here’s a sample email from a site that sells old 45 rpm records. The site owner is looking for some free ink in a collector’s blog. If you were blogger Craig, would you want to know more?
Dear Craig:
I’m a long-time fan of your work and I wanted to ask if you’d be interested in running a short piece on my ebiz. I sell collectable vinyl 45 rpm records and I know, from your blog, that you’re a collector, too. If you have a minute, please check out my site at yeolderecordstore.com.
I’ve got a pristine copy of Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” in its original slipcase that I’d be happy to send to you in exchange for a little PR on your blog. How about a link off of my home page, to boot? Sound interesting?
Please drop me a line at your convenience and let’s talk vinyl. There’s nothing like it when it comes to listening to music.
Wishing you and your blog continued success,
<insert your name here>
<insert your link here>
See? Easy. You say something nice, you get to the point, you make your pitch and you’re out of there. Send 20 similar emails (don’t forget to change the name) and you’re bound to get picked up by at least one or two bloggers.
Bloggers Talk To Bloggers
The blogger community is a friendly bunch for the most part and many are willing to share content. Great, that works to your advantage. If you get a post on one blog, bloggers with similar interests may pick it up and before you know it, your PR piece appears on six or seven different blogs. That’s viral marketing in its purest form.
Stay In Touch
You won’t pique the interest of every blogger you contact. But, you should respond to every one who contacts you directly. Even a “No thanks” is a small opening in the door. You and your email were noticed!
First, send acknowledgment that you received the blogger’s note and thank him/her for taking the time to respond. Be polite.
Now, you shouldn’t bombard the blogger with endless appeals for free ink, but it’s perfectly appropriate to contact that same blogger six months down the road when you add a new product line or expand your service offerings. Just don’t come across as a cyber stalker. Keep it friendly and professional at all times. And, because bloggers’ needs for content change by the minute, the blogger who said ‘No’ in April may be interested in running a piece on you in November. Keep a file of all responses to your emails from bloggers. It’s valuable marketing data.
Blogs are unlikely to turn a startup into an instant success but they can show an improvement in your bottom line. So, get the word out to the blogsphere that you’re here and you’re open for business.
It’s free ink and that’s good news for every site owner.
Copyright 2006 © Website Source, Inc.
back to top
