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What Does A Great Blogger Outreach Email Look Like?

August 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Blogger Outreach is a difficult process and one that many PRs, brands and marketers really struggle to grasp. This post isn’t going to explain the process and its merits (this post does some of that), but it will give one simple piece of advice – how to send an introductory email to a blogger.

I’ve never seen a good one…

Back in April I highlighted a particularly awful blogger outreach email I’d received. I’m going to make a bold but honest statement here… I have never received a quality introductory email from someone looking to build a relationship with me and my blog. Ever. So what would one look like? In my opinion, this:

Dear (insert the bloggers name, if you can’t find it, then take a serious look at yourself)

My name is Davy McDavid and I work for Obese Purple Monkey Pills Inc, a manufacturer of slimming aids for obese purple monkeys (you’ve introduced yourself and the business, a nice simple start)

I’ve been reading your blog and particularly like your posts on the plight of obese purple monkeys, you seem to have a strong grasp of the issues effecting these poor primates. (note the fact that this picks out a particular theme from the blog in question. What it doesn’t do is over-egg things by saying ‘I’m a huge fan of your blog and have been forever, you are a truly awesome guy’ which is the norm. That just reeks of bullshit. A little compliment is a nice touch.)

I wanted to introduce our company and discuss the possibility of partnering with you. (Straight to the point.) We have a selection of great content that I believe would appeal to you and your readership. I understand how well respected your blog is and I wouldn’t be contacting you if I didn’t believe us working together would only enhance that. (Tells the blogger what they, and more importantly their readership would get from the partnership and shows a level of understanding of bloggers and what drives them.)

I understand that you have had no prior relationship with our business and that you may not even wish to consider working with us, however if you would like to discuss this further, you can email me on davymcdavid@obesepurplemonkey.net or alternatively, call me on 020800000000. (This recognises that the approach is perhaps a bit ‘out of the blue’, but also makes it very personal in that it supplies a valid email address and even a phone-number. Often outreach emails are very faceless which creates zero confidence or will to communicate.)

Thanks,

Davy McDavid

Common sense

Did you notice something while reading that sample email? Every bit of it is just common sense and courtesy. It is to the point, honest and most importantly, highly relevant the the blog in question. Why is it so hard for this to be common practice? Time may be an issue. A lack of understanding of bloggers? No doubt. Of course, the intro email is just a tiny part of the process, there is work to be done before sending it and indeed after. A great intro email is obviously not a guarantee of success.

Am I asking too much? Are there more factors that make this simple approach impossible? Perhaps the mass email approach is too ‘successful’ to be dropped? What do you think?

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Filed Under: Blogger Outreach Tagged With: ,

How Twitter Can Help You Settle in a New City

August 29, 2012 By 4 Comments

I have a confession to make: I judged people who use Twitter. I thought people who tweeted were raging narcissists with poor grammar. Oh, you tweet? Yeah, I just stopped taking you seriously. That was the old me – before I quit my job and moved to a new city.

Get to Know Your City

A funny thing happens when you’re the new kid in town and have no job. First, you spend a lot of time in coffee shops. Second, you open up to the value of social media. Four months ago I joined Twitter, and I’m glad I did.

During my second week in the city, my car got a flat tire, and I found myself in a rough neighborhood. Like bullet-casings-in-the-street kind of rough (damn you, GPS). Long story short, after I tweeted about my plight, I got a text from an acquaintance with the name and number of a reliable auto mechanic nearby.

Not only have I found a mechanic, but a fantastic sushi place, discounted train tickets and free networking events. Using Twitter to aggregate job posts and city news saved me time and money. Because let’s face it, who has time to check 40 different sites for that kind of information?

Make Friends

Sometimes a surge of desperation comes over me when I meet new people. I go into speed dating mode like I have two minutes to win them over. (Look, I can turn this cocktail napkin into a swan! Please like me!) Nobody likes a Desperate Debbie. I needed to leverage my network better so I turned to Twitter.

I followed people who lived in the city and engaged the influencers and those active in the social scene. If they mentioned an affinity for cupcakes or craft beer, I clicked “follow.” Simply letting people know I’m new to town opened up doors. Followers whom I had never met contacted me with the names of people they suggested I meet. Those people introduced me to more people and so on.

Find a Job

Few things suck more than being unemployed. Just like everyone else does when it’s time to find a job, I dusted off the old LinkedIn account and shouted to the world, Hire me! But I knew that wasn’t enough. You see, in my line of work—marketing and PR, social media is a big deal. You need to have a voice, and you need to shout a little louder than everyone else.

I jumped on any piece of industry news or trending topic I could find. I followed recruiters, company VPs and media sources. I even put in my Twitter bio that I was looking for a job. And then a cool thing happened. People reached out to me with advice, and in a few cases, freelance work. A well-known news contributor asked me to pitch blog topics after I tweeted an article of hers.

The point is that you never know who’s listening (or reading in this case) so why not put yourself out there? I’m not suggesting you fire off any ‘ole tweet like “I just barfed up fish tacos.” Best to keep those to yourself. Please. The point is to tweet relevant messages that align with your goals and engage with people who can help you. Because guess what? Moving to a new city is scary. You need all the help you can get. Put the power of social media to use.

Have you used Twitter or other social media to help you settle in to a new town? Any big success stories? Or horror stories? Do tell!!!

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Filed Under: Social Media Jobs Tagged With:

Friday Freak Out – Crappy Freaking Infographics

August 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Infographics have been hot property on the web for a few years now. They are everywhere. Some of them are even really good, full of interesting facts and appealing visual quirks, delivering the data within them well. They are handy for SEO too I believe. You can look at the advantages of infographics, in the shape of infographic here. Ok, that’s the sensible part over…

STOP USING FREAKING INFOGRAPHICS WHEN SOME WELL-WRITTEN COPY WOULD DO A BETTER JOB!!!

There are too many truly awful attempts out there. As soon as I see a nasty one I immediately dis-credit all of the content held within. Us humans like things that look nice, they draw our eye and suck us in. If your infographic is the female equivalent of Susan Boyle, as opposed to Megan Fox (sorry Susan. She does read the Penguin you know..), it will struggle to make any impact and generate the interest and social shares you so desire.

Why go down the infographic route when some well-crafted copy may well have the same effect? Infographics take a serious amount of time (and often money) to to do well. A well-versed writer adept at getting information across in a succinct and punchy manner should be able to rattle out something of equivalent value in a couple of hours. You then need to take the time to get that copy out there and get people sharing and talking about it – the immediate impact may be slower than using an infographic however crappy infographics get found out pretty quickly. Focus on the quality of the written copy and the results should be as strong. Infographicing for the sake of it is just plain silly!

Am I being harsh on the humble infographic are are you also sick of the site of rubbish efforts? Do tell!

Image credit – Me. No-one has such little skill!

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Remember the Social Media Gurus? Measurement Killed Them.

August 21, 2012 By 4 Comments

Over the years, I’ve written my fair share of posts about social media gurus, ninjas and so forth. There was a time when the web was full of them, offering fast solutions and immediate wealth in the blink of an eye. It was all a lot of bullshit and unfortunately many businesses fell for it. People with next to zero experience of social media for marketing (and in many the cases the wider digital marketing area) were clambering to be the next ninja on the block. It was a bloodbath and one that I watched with amusement but also with more than a hint of concern. I think that time may have been called on the SM guru.

Is the Social Media Guru Dead?

Firstly, anyone putting themselves out there as solely a ‘social media consultant’ etc should tread very carefully. The guru age has undoubtedly tainted anyone that publicises themselves as a SM expert. The fact is, to truly be in a position to make the most of social media for a business, you need to be taking a holistic view of digital and beyond. Integration is key and treating social media as a standalone activity is the trademark of gurus everywhere. I believe that an increase in awareness of social media and digital marketing in general from within businesses is leading to a safer landscape for those who are seeking assistance. The phrase ‘it is really difficult to measure ROI’ will no longer fly and that is where those who are ensuring that measurement is at the heart of their offering will prosper.

Trust is a Killer

Clear and transparent measurement builds trust. Without it, those paying for digital services will struggle to ever really understand and indeed trust digital. This isn’t just ‘well 72% of your tweets got a click this month’. Stats like that can only be hidden behind for so long. In order to be truly valuable, the business must see exactly how their digital budget is generating business. That’s new and retained customers, people entering the sales funnel and where they came out and so on and so forth. Is it difficult? It can be without taking the time to get the right processes and metrics in place. When these things are rushed, the value drops immediately. Technology isn’t really a barrier either, with Google Analytics available to all for free, there is no major road-block in place, it is a case of using a mixture of the right free or low-cost tools. Of course there are expensive paid solutions out there, but they are often out of reach financially for the average business. Trust can be built with valuable stats and numbers, however there are many other factors of course. That’s a whole different blog post.

Is This Really a Guru Free Social Media World?

No it isn’t and perhaps it never will be, however I do think the numbers are rapidly diminishing and this is due to stronger awareness within business, actual examples of return from social media existing and an increase in quality and available resources.

What do you think? Has the presence of the guru faded? Are you in business and feel more comfortable with the benefits of social media? Are you a guru that is prospering? Whatever your thoughts, please do share them in the comments section below. 

I’m in the process of setting up my digital marketing and communications consultancy and can help you to measure and assess the impact of your social media and digital marketing activities. See here for more info.

Image credit – Me. No-one has such little skill!

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Filed Under: Anti-Guru Tagged With: ,

Will Klout Turn Us All Into Douchebags?

August 16, 2012 By 4 Comments

So Klout has changed it’s algorithm and will now make measuring people’s online influence ever easier. In fact, they reckon the can now even tell how influential a person is offline too. Hmmm. It seems that influence scoring isn’t going anywhere and as much as it riles me and many others, it continues to command attention. Will it effect the way we act? Perhaps…

A Bunch of Klout Douchebags

Klout has been and will continue to be used to offer people discounts and free stuff via their ‘Klout Perks’ scheme. In fact a number of businesses have even taken upon themselves to offer people preferential prices and service based on their scores. Everybody loves free stuff. If a direct effect of having high Klout levels means that people can get said free stuff and ergo feel super important, will the social web become a nasty place, full of people gaming their scores in order to get their lips round a cheap nasty Pina Coloda next time they visit Vegas? The value of the space drops as more and more people get wise to schemes like Klout.

Image courtesy of a 5 year old. Ok it was actually me. I ain’t no artist.

The Klout Super Whore

Will we see a rise of super ‘influencers’ who hold brands to ransom, brandishing their Klout score like some kind of deadly weapon? Sad, shallow people demanding free items and better service with the threat of nasty tweets and Facebook updates if the business fails to comply. Or the other side of that, a web full of false reviews due to people feeling a duty to write good testimonials purely because a business gave them something for free. The social web is built around transparency and this type of scenario could really endanger that.

But Does Klout Actually Matter?!?

Things begin to really matter when the general public and not just us techy/web types become aware of something. The press around Klout is fairly strong (Google trends tells me that searches around the service have tripled in the past two days) and this will lead to Klout and what it offers becoming more and more apparent to your average man/woman/elephant on the street. That is when the douchebags and Klout whores may well start to take over.

Are You Serious Mike?

Ok, this post may be a little sensational, however I do believe that if influence scoring really cracks the mainstream, we may well see a change in the way the social web works and a not nice one at that. Oh and one more thing, I don’t even really know what a douchebag is.

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Filed Under: Klout Tagged With: ,

Know Your Tech – Square

August 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

It would be fair to say that if you’ve heard about Square, it’s more likely to be due to the CEO than the company itself. The CEO of course being Jack Dorsey who is otherwise known for being a co-founder of Twitter. But the buzz surrounding Square isn’t just about the man behind the company. Square has big plans and an impressive offering that deserves it’s own spotlight.

Quick facts about Square:

- Currently available in the US only but with plans to expand abroad

- The name Square comes from the concept that a square deal is a fair one and when two parties settle a deal they “square up”

- Square is based in San Francisco and has over 100 employees

- The company is currently valued at $3.2 Billion USD after a recent

What Square is really about:

Square has 3 product lines:

Square Card Reader

Photo credit: squareup.com

Square Card Reader essentially turns your iPhone or Android mobile it a credit card scanner. You simply plug the scanner into your headphone jack, download the app, sign up for an account and add your bank details. Within a few minutes you’re completely set up to take payment. And that’s only half of what makes this product so sweet for retailers. What makes Square reader so “disruptive” is that the retailer is charged one flat rate regardless of the type of credit card used for payment. That is completely unheard of in the retail industry and, combined with the ease and access of set up, removes the  barriers that keep small retailers from accepting credit card payments. The August issue of Wired Magazine said that it “would democratise the credit-card industry.”

Square Register

Where Square Card Reader transforms an iPhone into a payment system, Register turns your iPad into…well, a register. Aptly named. The interactive app allows a user to add a custom inventory and when combined with the Card Reader makes for a very fast check-out process. The information from the sales is stored and can be used for in-depth reporting on which products are selling and at what times. The app can also be linked to a cash drawer.

Pay With Square

Pay With Square, if it takes off, could really begin to match Twitter for it’s mass appeal. The video on the Pay With Square site (which I can’t sadly can’t embed here) highlights the process but you basically download the app, add your information and then use the app to pay and received rewards at any participating retailer. And if you’re doubting whether this actually has legs, Square recently signed a deal with Starbucks that will soon see this service available in nearly 7000 Starbucks locations in the US.

Do you think Square is revolutionising mobile payments or is it only hyped because of its famous CEO?

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Filed Under: Start-ups, Technology Tagged With: , , , ,

My Life is Awesome Even Without Mashable

August 8, 2012 By 23 Comments

It was four weeks ago to the day, I’d just read a post on Mashable title something like ’5 Reasons Why We Usually Always Have a Number at the Start of our Posts’ and I decided that enough was enough. I unsubscribed from the RSS feed. I unfollowed them on Twitter. They never followed me back anyway, the bastards. I stepped bravely in to a world with no Mashable…

Nothing has Changed

I always thought that I may miss out on some amazing piece of social media or tech news if I removed Mashable from my cluttered digital world. I thought my peers would point at me and laugh. I was wrong. You see, cutting out Mashable has reduced the amount of content I am exposed to so much, that I actually notice more relevant news and content from other sources than ever before. The Mashable road-block has gone.

Desperation

Mashable used to be a worthwhile and trusted read. Pete Cashmore has done so well to grow it and I can’t take that away from him. Not that he would care anyway. He never followed me back. The bastard. He’s not a bastard really. Don’t sue me. Where was I? Ah yes, desperation for coverage. This really hit home around a year ago when Amy Winehouse sadly passed away. Mashable jumped on it so quickly and published an article announcing her death, dressing it up as example of how digital can amplify a fanbase etc etc etc. This wasn’t about her death, hell, why would anyone be using Mashable as a source for such news? It was blatant link bait dressed up as a tech story to try and deflect that fact. Cheap? Yeah. Relevancy is key to quality content.

Too Big?

Did Mashable get too big, causing its quality to suffer in the quest for high quantity? It certainly covers a massive amount of topics. The reliance on lists (and yes we have some lists on this blog…) harks back to the need for massive hits and shares. Everyone knows that lists fly around the social web at a huge rate of knots, but making them around 80% (that’s a guess) of your total output is just bonkers.

Take Heed

If you’re a business looking at creating regular content, perhaps in the shape of a blog, it would pay to learn from Mashable. It is a huge site and worth a lot of money, a true success story and remains valuable to a lot of people. However, its approach in the last two years has led to many of the people who got behind it back in the day and saw true value from the content deserting it. Those early advocates are key to any business and valuable content can go a long way to creating those. Bear that in mind when you are setting out your content plans – you need to maintain quality and not let that suffer by getting over excited and publishing for the sake of publishing. You need to avoid a point in the future when your principles around quality have been blown due to overkill – you can lose people very quickly and bringing them back can be very tough.

I’m off to revel in a Mashable free life. I feel free. Like wearing chinos with no underwear.

I’m in the process of setting up my digital marketing and communications consultancy and can help you form your content strategy. See here for more info.

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Banks Still Struggling to be Sociable

August 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Photo credit – telegraph.co.uk

News that the banks are scaling back their spend on social media makes for some scaremongering headlines.

‘Is This The Data That Finally Proves Social Marketing Is Bunk?‘ says Robert Tyson in the Tyson Report, and ‘Businesses are right to be turning away from social media‘ says Digital Media Editor Emma Barnett in the Telegraph.

Tyson suggests that the banks will soon ‘find’ somewhere to reinvest their savings, and that it will be in email marketing.

Barnett suggests that the transparency of social media has just added fuel to the fatcat fire, following several high-profile news stories.

Are banks a good indicator of social trends? Should business be scaling back their spend as 2013 approaches?

The problem with banks, and it happens to businesses large and small up and down the country, is that they’ve thrown too much cash at it, expecting it to extract them from between the rock and the hard place.

The marketers have convinced them they need to be doing ‘social media’ without convincing them they need to clean up their act, modernise their business practices, or use it as a ‘channel for change’.

Yes, email on the whole will, for a while yet, be a better digital marketing tool. Print and TV will continue to be lucrative for banks for some time too.

Social media would have been the perfect opportunity for banks to focus on their customers and sort out some of the negative publicity they’ve attracted, but instead, the industry is still awash with story of fat cats, big bonuses and other shareable topics. Did no one tell them social media was transparent?

I’ve seen a few people raging about their banks on Twitter recently, but have seen no responses from the corporate giants and meaningless numbers have followed through their threats and jumped ship.

Yes, social media is an amazing customer service tool, is does pretty well at marketing too if you know how to sell your products.

But at the end of the day, if you don’t inspire any confidence in your customers, they’ll simply lose interest, pun intended.

Social media is an enhancer. If you’re doing things right, Twitter et al are great for spreading the good word, and if you’re doing things badly, that will spread too. Scaling down social media spend is just another knee-jerk reaction to a knee-jerk reaction.

The actual problem lies elsewhere.

Could banks have done things differently to see more success on social media? Do you care whether your bank is on Twitter or not? Leave a comment and let us know!

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Filed Under: Digital Marketing, Online Measurement, Social Media Customer Service, Social Media Marketing, Social Networks, Twitter Marketing Tagged With: , , , , ,

What do Social Media Users Know About the Olympics? [INFOGRAPHIC]

August 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The social media space is buzzing with chat about the London Olympics, but what do the tweeters, Facebookers and bloggers actually know about the sporting extravaganza? The chaps over at Lab 42 carried out a light hearted study and produced the following infrographic…

There you go, a bit of fun for a Monday!

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Filed Under: Infographics Tagged With: , ,
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