Caveat: If you’re not interested in the swirl that is new media, click away. How about an old post? Something about, oh, Vienna? Now, below the jump, rambling about PR and bloggers.
Last night I sat in on #journchat on Twitter. I couldn’t look away. Admittedly, a lot of what I saw went past me – acronyms used in the PR industry, discussions of ROI and metrics – PR folks spend time thinking about things that aren’t completely familiar to me. That’s okay, I get what they do on a very basic level: They get coverage for their clients – in the press, in magazines, on blogs.
I’m on the receiving end of a lot of that stuff, I get press releases and email pitches every day. Some of the PR folks do a very good job – they know my name, they know what I’m interested in, they know what I’ve done in the past. I get focused, personalized messages about new travel related books from Holt, the people from Hawaii are just plain awesome at staying in touch because they know I’ve written a guidebook and can’t wait to get back to the islands. And there are a handful of others who have actually taken the time to crack my blog before they contact me. I love hearing from them and while I wouldn’t go all crazy and say they’re my best pals, they are real people to me. They do the work that PR often talks about, they’ve built a relationship. I genuinely enjoy hearing from them.
There are also lots of people doing it wrong. I get pitches for properties in New York, Los Angeles, New Hampshire, anywhere but where I am. They’re not invitations – “Hey, we’d love to have you come out and see our destination” – they are straight pitches for a place that I haven’t covered in the past and don’t have plans to go to in the future. “Awesome for you, ” I think, but that stuff just isn’t going to end up on Nerd’s Eye View. Delete.
I also get pitches for the latest and greatest in photo and travel gear. “Cool,” I write back, “Can I try that out?” More often than not the answer is “Um, no, we don’t have any product to send you.” Not “Let’s see what I can do to get you samples.” Or even, “Wow, we have no more to send out, but can I get in touch when we do?” Just “Nope, got none.” Well, thanks for letting me know that the USB powered TSA approved espresso maker exists. Um, okay then! Delete, again.
In these cases, I think the PR rep thinks I’m lazy and that I’ll just rewrite – if I can be bothered to do even that – the press release and put it on my site. If I was more sensitive and unaware that some bloggers do just that, I’d be insulted. I’m not insulted. I know there’s a bit of fishing with dynamite going on here. I get that there’s a mailing list with 4 billion names on it and that it’s probably not even tagged by subject matter. But I also keep hearing “How do we reach bloggers?” and “Where are the bloggers?” and “What do the bloggers want?” and “We know we need to work with bloggers, but we don’t understand them.” I can’t answer for every blogger, but here’s my two cents.
Here’s what I wish PR understood about working with me:
- If I didn’t see it, eat it, wear it, use it, sleep there, etc… you are not going to read about it on my blog. You’re also not going to read about kids stuff (don’t have ’em), anything related to the diet industrial complex (think they’re evil), most – but not all – contests (worry they’re just trawling for free stories/photos/videos/other), and other items as of yet to be defined.
- I have NO budget. Zero. I’m an independent blogger and while my blog does make a little money, it’s not the kind of cash that’s going to pay for me to attend the grand reopening/celebrity cruise/seven course/weekend package/etc… You’re going to get a lot further by asking where I’m going and what I’m working on then you are by spamming me with press releases about stuff I’ll never experience.
- I’m going to Austin in March, odds are good I’ll be in Chicago in July. I’m working on a story that’s British Columbia focused. I’m interested in Pacific Northwest stuff because I live here. And I’m always interested in Hawaii stuff because, frankly, I’m obsessed. Just sayin.
- I’m a really good writer. (Can I say that?) While I might not always have an assignment for some other publication or website, I write the kind of storytelling that PR is always saying they want to see. I’m a credible blogger with a reputation for honesty. You could do a lot worse than to get your client some virtual ink on my little blog. (Checking ego now.)
- I sometimes take comps and press trips but I’m not a shill. Thing is, I tell my readers I’m comped so they know I’m a guest, not a 100% impartial observer on someone else’s nickel (see above under zero budget). But if I don’t like what I get, I’m going to say so. You’re not buying a good review by hosting me; you’re making a review possible.
- I have a day job. I don’t make my living blogging so sometimes, it takes me a while to get that book review written or to plan a trip. Spamming me over and over about your product or service is a non starter. On the other hand, if I’m traveling, I tend to be really fast about stuff. If I’m onsite at your destination, odds are good I’m blogging about it right then. Check in with me, that’s totally cool. Plus, that way I know you’re reading and I really like that.
- I’m not as grouchy as I sound, I’m actually pretty easy going. And I really want to work with you. You make stuff possible that’s not otherwise possible and I really appreciate that.
Any questions?
Sort of related, here’s a podcast of Sheila S and yours truly talking with Todd Lucier of Tourism Keys about bloggers and PR.
Thanks for such a thoughtful post.
You not only had great points, you were sensitive to the fact that PR professionals have a job to do and that there are PR pros that do it right. In my opinion such individuals are too often lumped into the group of PR reps that tend to take the “spam” method and I appreciate that you made the differentiation.
I participated in #journchat last week and it is interesting to be in the conversation as both a blogger and PR professional.
And, thanks for linking to the podcast with Todd Lucier, I will have to check that out.
Happy Holidays!
Hi Pam,
This is a great post. You’ve inspired me. As a PR pro, freelance travel writer and blogger, I ‘get’ what you are saying about building relationships.
I, too, participated in #journchat and appreciated that the PR folks who are dialed in truly want to figure out how to work with bloggers.
It’s refreshing when you write an article about traveling via Eurail and a PR rep leaves a comment on your website noting they enjoyed your post and hey, would you like to check out the Napa Valley Wine Train? Love that.
So far so good! I hesitated before hitting “publish” because I really didn’t want to be cranky or bossy. And really, deleting spammy PR pitches is just not that much work, but it’s also not effective for anyone.
Thanks for the positive feedback.
Agreed!
I recently received a promo request from a guy who makes craft spirits. I was totally interested–it’s one of my many interests–and he seemed to have a cool story behind the product. But, like you, I don’t just hand out promos; I really want to know about the product through firsthand experience. I invited the person to send me some samples. He then said, “Well, I don’t really have a budget for that and they’re expensive to send.” And I just though, “Gee, how do you expect me to review the product then?” I received a similar message from the author of a book I’m reviewing. She sent it to me and wrote, “It cost me a lot to mail this, so I hope the review is worth it.” Really, I hope the book is worth it. (So far, it hasn’t been).
The best take away from this post, though, is that PR–like all social media–is about relationship building. It’s easy to forget that; thanks for the reminder!
There’s a company that I’ve done reviews for – they send out samples AND include shipping labels so you can UPS the stuff back once you’ve had a chance to check it out. If you’ve got limited funds to get your stuff to reviewers, or the stuff is too expensive to give away samples, this seems like a perfectly good compromise. I did some stuff for a few outdoor gear companies here in the PNW and they typically told me this: Please take care of our gear, we need it back for others to play with. I am A-OK with that – and while I didn’t baby the stuff while I was using it, I also didn’t loan it to friends, leave it lying around the yard, etc… there is a middle ground, I’ve seen it.
I previously listened to that podcast you mentioned with Todd Lucier and found it very insightful
You have a very direct and honest way of writing and I totally agree about your approach to PR reps. They need to build a relationship in order to gain credibility and respect from bloggers. On the other hand, I think it’s understandable that many of them don’t have the budget/resources to always send samples and such. You’re not the only prominent blogger they’re contacting and they’re not going to send a sample to just you, while sending samples to everyone would be too costly. Certainly I agree that you can’t write a review without seeing/sampling/reading the product. But in certain situations I think it’s understandable that they can’t send something.
-Jeff