One of the better ways of eliciting positive responses from bloggers when you perform outreach is to have it be known that you, yourself, are a blogger.  Bloggers then know that you’re “one of them” and that you understand what it’s like to blog and get “pitched” (I actually kind of hate it, and I find that if anyone directly asks me to post their content, I tend not to out of principle and spite — which is why I never directly ask for this when sending e-mails).  Basically, your URL builds trust.

But here’s something I’ve been grappling with as of late: when is/isn’t it appropriate to include your blog or Twitter URL in a pitch?

It’s a source of conflict.  When you’re performing blogger outreach, your client will always give you pressure to inspire “coverage” over their issue.  It’s tangible to them, which is why they like it, and as many times as you try to divert their attention to “relationships” instead of “coverage” they still want to see “results.”  How can you quantify “good will,” for instance?  They like links, because they can forward them to their soon-to-be-happy bosses.

Therefore, you’re pressured to do everything in your blogger powers to get stories “picked up” within the confines of other online social norms (like only e-mailing specific, targeted bloggers based on relevancy, sending individualized  and personal e-mails, not crapstorming 100 bloggers in an hour, etc.).  So, logically, you’d want to include the link to your blog, no?

But clients haven’t necessarily come to terms with the idea that there isn’t such a thing as message control online (and in fact, I’d argue that by not subscribing to the idea of “message control” and instead allowing conversations to take place in other areas, you actually in the end improve “message control,” because the online communities are more likely to have positive feelings towards your brand — and therefore are more likely to discuss these positive feelings…but that’s a whole separate post).

So, by including your blog’s URL, you’re opening up a can of “personal opinion worms.”  You then become an actual, real person with actual independent thoughts and ideas.  And this might not be what the client wants — their primary goal is for you to advocate their one, specific cause.  After all, the smorgasbord of your personal opinions will always be quite separate and distinct from your client’s platform.

How have you balanced these two objectives? You want to build trust with bloggers by showing that you’re a blogger, but you don’t want to interfere with your client’s set of core principles and platforms.  Do you just say you have a blog, and pray that bloggers will “Google” you?  Do you include the URL?  Would love to hear everyone’s take on this.

As for me, I generally avoid including my URL, but as you can plainly see, I’m now rethinking this tactic.

Technorati Tags: blog, blog outreach, social norms, URLs, pitching, online culture, social media