Use Me

I get a daily mailing from Pink, a web-site (formerly a print magazine) dedicated to women in business. One daily email included the following on shameless promotion via bloggers (excerpt below):

February 17, 2010
Get Blogged About

“Social media and blogs are just as important as traditional media outlets now,” says Amy Binder, president of the $12 million PR firm, RF|Binder Partners. “Some companies don’t want to talk to bloggers, they are afraid of what they’ll say. But they’ll say it anyway, even if they don’t talk to you. That world exists and you can’t ignore it. There’s not one company out there that can afford to ignore online media.”

Bloggers can be your best advocates, says Binder, not only in boosting your branding but protecting your business. Her best tip? Read blogs. “You need to know who is most influential, and who is most substantial. And bloggers take it personally if you pitch them and you’ve never read them.”

So how do you get bloggers to write about you?

WebMarketCentral.com, ModishBlog.com, InformationWeek, BuildaBetterBlog.com and Understanding Marketing suggest strategies like pitching to their niche and becoming a user before you pitch.

Which bloggers are best to pitch in your industry? Check out Technorati for the most commented blogs and Quantcast for most viewed.

The influence of a blog is assessed by page views and comment numbers. A thriving blog brings in readers who care and want to discuss the content. In the excerpt, they are called “users” rather than “readers” because of the interactive nature of the blogosphere.

I write these posts for me. Writing helps me think, and it gives me an outlet for anger, humor, and awe. I put it out here on the web because I hope it will make someone else think as well. I also hope my users feel free to comment, even if they want to tell me I’m an idiot! And if they want to do that peudonymously or anonymously, so be it!

This week I have finally gotten analytics into my blog. I will now be able to see how many people are looking at my stuff, among other wonderful, googley things. I hope I can make this blog better for me and for my users. Oh, it will remain a collection of whatever catches my fancy, but I will know more. And for a researcher, data rules!