This document outlines the results of a survey of bloggers about their preferences for how PR professionals contact them with pitches. It identifies 10 "commandments" or rules that bloggers specified PR professionals should follow, such as allowing hands-on time with products, not trying to control opinions, targeting pitches to bloggers' specialties, and respecting when bloggers say no. The document provides quotes from bloggers supporting each rule and concludes by sharing a link to the full survey results and analysis on the FINN website.

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05/
survey 2012
Kristien vermoesen
Managing Partner
FINN Public Relations
www.finn.be
kristien.vermoesen@finn.be
Twitter: @kris10vermoesen
FB: facebook.com/FINNPR
the 10
commandments of
blogger outreach

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
or:

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
finn survey among bloggers:
what do you think about pr professionals
efforts when they contact you?
these are the rules the bloggers specified
for pr professionals
all quotes are comments from the
bloggers

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
some fun facts about bloggers:

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
it’s generally okay to pitch bloggers

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10 commandments of blogger outreach

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
in fact, most of them get A lot of pitches
(remember that)

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10 commandments of blogger outreach

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
now, about those commandments

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#1
you will allow hands on time with the
product
“Letting me test the product you want me
to write about is the least you can do, I
think.”
“I couldn’t resist the offer to go on a
roadtrip with a new car for four days.
Seemed like fun.”

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#2
you will not try to control the
blogger’s opinion on the product
“I will write about the product you give
me. But if I don’t like it, I will write just that”
“I don’t mind writing about stuff I get. But
it’s always my opinion and no one else’s.”

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#3
you will get their name and title right
because it’s the least you can do

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
another fun fact

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10 commandments of blogger outreach

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
a 60% success rate isn’t very impressive, is
it? wonder why that is?

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#4
you will read their blog before reaching
out
because you wouldn’t pitch a journalist if
you didn’t know his work or field either

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#5
you will make sure your pitch is targeted
to their specialty or subject
“We have a car blog - strictly about cars
- but we constantly receive pitches about
liquor, watches and other “men” stuff. We
don’t write about that, and yet the same
agencies keep sending those pitches to
us.”

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#6
you will dial down the commercial tone
of your pitch
“don’t treat me like a pr tool. i am human.”
note: this is a complaint that bloggers
share with journalists, incidentally (as
research by jordi xifra shows)

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#7
you will not underestimate the bloggers
“Even though we do this blogging stuff
in our own time, we often know stuff
before you do.”
hint: bloggers also know that hi-res
pictures are not a real payment!! (*gasp*)

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#8
you will not give them the feeling
that they should feel honoured to be
contacted
they know you need them. Yet 23 percent
of them complain about getting treated
like second class journalists.

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10 commandments of blogger outreach

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#9
you will respect the “no”
(or be willing to pay)
“If I like the subject and we can use it,
I will accept. If I don’t like the pitch but
the agency insists I write about it, I expect
compensation.”

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
#10
you will give bloggers the option to
unsubscribe
(do this for journalists too. seriously.)

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
full results & analysis:
http://www.finn.be/blogs/bloggers-and-
pr-it-me-youre-looking

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10 commandments of blogger outreach
FINn
pr | SOCIal | branding | corp comm

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