Archives for 2012

How to Pitch This Blog

Before I start this post, i just want to give a heads up that it’s geared towards PR folks and advertisers.

If you’re more a “normal reader” of the blog, and don’t fall within these two industries, feel free to skip this post completely and come back on the next regularly scheduled updates. 🙂

So, with that heads up out the way, let’s get cracking.

How to Pitch Your Story or Partner On Your Product

I get a lot of pitches form either PR agencies or consultants on behalf of their clients, or from business people themselves wondering if I’d be interested in taking a look at their new product or service.

This is cool – after all, this blog looks to help you, the reader, in being more successful in whatever it is you want to succeed in, from your business and where social media fits to understanding blogging and everything in-between.

The problem is, the pitch needs to fit the audience here – and very often they come nowhere near that. In the last week alone, I’ve received pitches on vodka and fashion news.

Now, while I might like the odd vodka shot now and again, I’m anything but fashionable and single malt scotch is my tipple of choice (though Whyte & Mackay may change that!).

So, here are some ways for you to increase your chance of being shared here:

1. Know my readers

They’re a huge reason this blog exists so understand who they are. A really simple way to do this is use the Demographic feature on Alexa. You can also use tools like Quantcast to grab more information about this blog’s audience. If you’re looking for me to introduce you to them, at least give them the courtesy and respect they deserve by understanding whether or not they’re right for you.

2. Know my topics

I don’t think I’ve ever written about fashion. I know I haven’t written about healthcare. So why pitch these topics? I make it really easy to see what this blog is all about – you just need to check the black category navigation menu at the top of every page. Or, simpler still, check the About This Blog page. If you don’t take the time to see if there’s a fit, why should I take the time to make the fit?

3. Check the archives

A lot of the time when I’m pitched, it’s clear the person behind the outreach hasn’t carried out even the barest of research on this blog. If they had have done, they would have known I’d already talked about their topic before, often more than just the once. Save your time – use the Search This Blog option in my sidebar (or homepage), and use the keywords for your pitch/product/service. If the story angle has been covered, it’s not likely I’m going to do it again.

4. Know my style

I recently received a pitch where the PR agency wanted to control the editorial; only allow for positive praise; and moderate the comments for negative replies. I told them to go shit a porcupine (maybe not in these words, but you get the drift). The voice of a blogger is his or her currency when it comes to readers and their trust – don’t compromise that. Ever. If you don’t understand the tone here – upfront, no bullshit, honest and questioning – then don’t pitch me.

Save Time By Being Diligent

These are just some tips to help you have a better chance of sharing your news here. While the tips are mostly geared towards PR outreaches, they can also be applied to advertorial content and partners.

It’s pointless asking me if I’m interested in advertising skincare products or painting materials, when this blog is primarily about marketing, social media, business, digital/mobile trends and occasionally the odd blogging tip. So try and make the advertorial partnerships a relevant fit for that kind of audience.

If you want to interact with some of the smartest folks on the web, then I’m very fortunate to have them share their expertise in the comments regularly.

They’re probably also interested in hearing from you – as long as you do it right. Sound fair?

Note: While these tips are for this blog, you can pretty much transpose the basics to any blogger you’re looking to connect with.

Announcing the For Bloggers By Bloggers 30 Day WordPress Workout Program

This post originally appeared on the For Bloggers By Bloggers blog resource centre.

One of the things we?ve always tried to do at For Bloggers By Bloggers is offer you the most relevant and helpful information to help you grow your blog.

We?d like to think that our tips and posts are helpful, and have helped you get more results from your own blogging goals, whatever they may be.

However, going by emails we?ve received and comments left on various posts, it?s clear that we also have a lot of new bloggers in our audience, or people that are looking to start blogging ? the problem is, they don?t know how.

While there are many reasons shared, the biggest one is ?How do I start a blog and which platform do I choose??.

Taking that into consideration, and being that all our team are die-hard fans of the WordPress platform, we?ve created a special course to help you, the new or prospective blogger.

Introducing the For Bloggers by Bloggers 30 Day WordPress Workout Program?!

So How Does It Work?

While written blogs are great for sharing advice, more often than not people react better and learn more from visual aids. It?s why we?ve produced graphics and videos in the past to help get a certain point across.

With that in mind, we?ve created a comprehensive 20-part video series that will take you through the complete WordPress experience when starting your blog.

From choosing which version of WordPress to use, to understanding how custom menus operate, to working with themes, plugins, multiple users and more, the For Bloggers By Bloggers 30 Day WordPress Program? is designed with you in mind.

We?ll help you choose the right option, get set up, choose a theme, help decide the best plugins for your blog, and much, much more.

As well as the 20-part video series, we?ll be providing you with free ebooks to complement the videos, as well as set up a support area (optional membership) for ?What Next?? questions.

Who?s It For?

As I mentioned earlier, we have a lot of new bloggers, and bloggers-to-be, in our audience. We also have bloggers that are on other blog platforms, but are curious about making the switch to WordPress.

This video series is for you.

It will help you understand the benefits of WordPress, and all the bells and whistles behind the scenes of the WordPress dashboard.

Complemented by our ebooks and membership section, the video series will really help you become a fully fledged WordPress blogger in 30 days or less (of course, this depends on the time you can allocate).

And, we?ll still be posting all our usual blog tips here at For Bloggers By Bloggers for you to take advantage of, and use on your newly-created WordPress blog.

How Much Will It Cost?

The full 20-part video series and ebooks will have a price of $67. However, there will be a special introductory price of $37 at launch, and you can sign up using the form at the end of this post to be alerted to the release, and receive your FBBB discount code to get the $37 price.

Additionally, we may be releasing each video in the series individually, so you can pick and choose which modules are best for your needs. Pricing on this is still to be confirmed, but expect them to be around the $5 price per video.

Membership fees will be low, and we?re looking at how best to serve you ? and also how to make sure your membership (if you decide to join that area) is really valuable to you.

So, we?d be offering strategies, offers, partners and more that we?d normally charge consultancy fees for, but for our member area, these costs will be greatly reduced.

Again, we want to make sure we have this nailed down so you really get a valuable offering, so we?ll announce that pricing soon as well, but expect it to be low, around the $20 per month range.

And for those interested in making some money, we?ll also have an affiliate program with 40% shared revenue on any program sold!

Ready to Get Blogging?

With all that having been said, here?s a taster video of the course series. The full 20-part version follows this format and, as you can see, is very easy to follow and clearly laid out. We’ll be announcing the full line-up of topics soon!

We want to make sure you don?t get lost with a bunch of buzzwords and technical talk ? after all, that?s not why you?d be interested in this series!

We hope to see you there when we launch, and make sure you sign up below for updates on when the For Bloggers By Bloggers 30 Day WordPress Workout? is launched and to get your special discount code!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMhIzy3Aipk[/youtube]

[gravityform id=”9″ name=”FBBB 30 Day WordPress Workout Pre-Launch Update”]

The Best Practice Guide for Blogger Outreach

If you’re a regular reader here, you’ll know one of my pet peeves is the (more often than not) crappy pitches that PR agencies and consultants send to bloggers.

It’s almost like there’s a bulletin board somewhere that says if you have a campaign or product to launch, and you want bloggers to write about you, you treat them like idiots.

You can send pitches that make absolutely no sense, or you can make it completely impersonal and almost meat-market in approach.

Of course, there are always great examples of how to do a blogger outreach well, and how to really engage a blogger in a way that truly encourages engagement and appreciation from the blogger.

Sadly, the good ones still seem to be outnumbered by the bad ones.

Which is why Forth Metrics’ new ebook, The Best Practice Guide for Blogger Outreach is such a well-timed and much-needed read.

Compiling best practices and examples of how PR and bloggers can get along better with each other, this ebook is literally the blueprint for all PR practitioners to follow if they want to successfully connect with a blogger and his or her audience.

It includes words of wisdom from the likes of respected professionals Shelly Kramer, Paul Sutton, Gini Dietrich, Tonia Ries and many more, all of whom understand the core principals of successful blogger outreach and relations.

Oh, and it includes some Scotsman as well, if that floats your boat…

The ebook includes:

How to set objectives for an outreach campaign
How to research a campaign properly
How to develop relationships with bloggers
How to approach a blogger and what you can offer them
How to optimise your approach
How to track and measure your performance
How to keep a ?win-win? relationship going
All supplemented with loads of tools and resources

It’s available for free, and really is your primer for your next blogger outreach campaign – and will probably stop curmudgeons like me writing about your latest bad pitch. Who can argue with that?

Get your copy by clicking the image below.

Your 10 Point Checklist to Help You Grow Your Blog

For many bloggers, there are a variety of blogging goals ? growing your blog, monetizing your blog, attracting more readers and more.

While the intent of setting goals is always a good one, often it can be easier said than done. Things get in the way, like life, work and more, and even the most intent blogger can soon let their goal slide.

Yet it doesn?t need to be this way. Just like any commitment, it just takes willpower and stamina. The good news for bloggers is that stamina can be replaced by a blog schedule or maintenance calendar.

With that in mind, here are 10 steps you can take to help you grow your blog .

1. Evaluate Your Blog

Every blogger has goals when they first start out. These vary depending on the blogger. It can be traffic and readers/subscribers; making money; raising awareness of your expertise; or many other reasons.

So check how you?re doing on your goals, and make a list of what you haven?t (yet) achieved.

2. Prioritize Your List

Once you have a list drawn up, start to prioritize from top to bottom in order of the things you want to achieve first.

If there are some that you feel have equal priority, think which one you could leave for another day versus one that?s really bothering you with its absence. Make that one your very top priority, or Want.

3. Build a Reverse Schedule

Now that you have your most important Want as a priority, you need to build a schedule that defines how you?re going to meet this goal. The easiest way to do this is to make it a reverse schedule.

This involves starting as if you?ve succeeded, and then work your way backwards from there to see what pain points you might meet along the way.

These could include vacations, work schedules, family events, etc ? anything that takes?time away from your blogging and therefore your?goal. Then, adjust your goal?s finish date accordingly and make it more realistic based on the pain points.

By making?something realistic, you?ll have a far better chance of achieving it.

4. ?Gather the Tools

Now that you know what goal you?re going to work on first, and the time it?s going to take you, you?ll have a better idea of the tools you need to make it happen. So, for example, if it?s monetizing your blog, you may want to look at affiliate products.

If it?s gaining readers, consider an email list tool. If it?s a redesign of your blog, start looking at themes and frameworks to help you in this.

My preferred choice is the Genesis framework (affiliate link) purely because they make it easy to get going, and provide a rock-solid basis to start your blogging journey. Tools maketh the artist; choose yours wisely.

5. Set Your Success Metrics

Now that you have your Wants and Goals in mind, and the tools needed to get there, you need to set some success metrics. The reason for this is simple ? if you?re not measuring your progress, you don?t know how successful you?re being. This will stop you from making necessary adjustments.

So, if your goal is to monetize, aim for X amount by month 1, then month 2, then month 3, and so on. Same for readers, subscribers, email list members, percentage of visitors from search results and more.

Keep monthly comparisons as these will help you plan an Exit Strategy.

6. Plan an Exit Strategy for Your Blogging Goals

In business, there?s an option called an Exit Strategy. This can be knowing when it?s time to sell a business, or leave?a failing one. But you can also use this for your blog.

If your goals aren?t being met, sit down and ask yourself why.

Is your subscription box not prominent enough?
Have you picked the wrong affiliates?
Are you passionate about your topic?

Knowing where you?re failing ? and why ? will help you either switch paths on the fly, or cull altogether and start afresh.

7. Leave Your Blog Alone

While this might sound crazy ? after all, how can you grow your blog if you leave it alone? ? it?s not. When I say ?Leave your blog?, I mean spend around 70-80% away from it. You should only be there when writing content and replying to comments.

The rest of the time? Promote, promote, promote.

Share on social networks; take part in #BlogChat; comment on other blogs; join communities like BlogEngage and ComLuv; and present at local and national blogging events.

Simply put, the more you get out and about and get to know other people, the more you?ll find those people come to your blog and begin to share it.

8. Have a Locked Down Hard Stop

The biggest mistake many bloggers make when trying to achieve their goals is letting them drag on for?too long when they?re not working. Don?t make this mistake too.

When you have the date you want to achieve something by ? the realistic one we spoke about earlier ? stick to it. If it doesn?t work, it probably wasn?t meant to be, so try something new.

There?s nothing wrong with failing ? failure is just another path to success. Remember this, and you?ll understand what it means to be successful.

9. Re-Evaluate and Redefine

Depending on how you prioritized your goals, you should have a good idea of how many are realistic throughout the timescale you set out to measure your success. Don?t take on too much ? remember, grow your blog in one area and solidify that success, then move onto the next area.

At the end of 12 months, look back at what worked, what didn?t, and then start the process again. Remember, this is a marathon, not a sprint ? true success comes from longevity, not a fast burn.

10. Read For Bloggers By Bloggers

Okay, hands up, this is kind of a cheeky one. Kind of. Yes, I?m biased, but I really feel we have a great collection of some of the best tips around when it comes to growing your blog, and both our core authors and contributors offer something different in how they present their tips.

We know the pain points you?re experiencing, because we?ve been through them and overcome them.

Yet we?re still learning too ? and that shared experience will help you grow your blog the way you want it to. So keep on dropping by and subscribe to get the latest posts ? you know it makes sense.