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How to persuade bloggers to promote your service?

by Raindance
7 replies
Recently, I was reading about less used methods of promotion online. One of them was persuading bloggers to blog about your product/service. The explanation to that part was just that if you're providing a service that is very much in demand or will really help the readers, the bloggers won't mind publishing about it.

I agree with the part that the service has to be worth recommending, but it isn't as simple, is it? I keep getting emails all the time from various people who ask me to promote their product, to write about them on my website, to use their product/service for free and leave a testimonial, but 9 times out of 10, I don't respond to these requests. However, getting your name published on an established blog can do wonders to any service.

Thus, if you had to reach out to anyone with the hopes that they would talk about you, what will be your strategy in approaching them? How will you propose it to them? Especially when yours is a new service, and you are not well acquainted with anyone in your niche.
#bloggers #persuade #promote #service
  • Profile picture of the author Alex Sanderson
    Do you have a budget you can work with? why not offer them some sort of financial reward for them to promote your product?

    Alex
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  • Profile picture of the author DubDubDubDot
    Bloggers with a lot of traffic are unlikely to recommend you for nothing in return. Their traffic is their asset. That's what they sell.

    If you've got something unique or truly newsworthy they might do it.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      It depends on whether you're talking about serious bloggers or shills whoring themselves out by publishing "sponsored posts" and passing them off as editorial.

      The second group can be had simply by waving money under their noses.

      The first group is tougher. Some of them do sell "sponsored posts", but they identify them as such. It's similar to buying advertorial space in a magazine or newspaper.

      To get the kind of coverage I think you're talking about, though, you pretty much need two things. You know you need something worth talking about. You also need some kind of 'cool factor', something about your product or service that catches the imagination and makes the subject interesting for the blogger's audience.

      Come to think of it, the same could be applied to guest posting on legit blogs. Since it seems like half the forum is peddling some sort of weight loss deal (and I use the term 'peddling' with affection), how many legit health blogs need yet another "7 Tips to Lose Fat" post? Give them something they can't get for themselves in 15 minutes.

      Sorry about the side trip.

      Okay, you have something worth talking about, and it has a coolness factor that makes it interesting to the blogger's audience.

      Last, you need to be able to communicate that to the blogger without coming across as someone looking for a free ad. Trust me, that's harder than it sounds, at least based on my email.

      Good luck...
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  • Profile picture of the author JimDucharme
    Ryan Holiday wrote a best selling book about blog marketing titled "Trust Me, I'm Lying" and you might want to give that a read.

    The best way to establish a rapport is to start participating in the discussions on their blog IMHO. Comment and add insight to the topics at hand. When approaching a blogger, don't do a PR type release! Contact them and relate to a post they've made or a favourite topic which relates to your product or service. Find out what their interests are that you share and relate to them on it. Start a conversation. This is not a fast process, but it can be very effective.

    Basically, if you want someone to talk about you, make sure you focus the initial conversation not on you, but them.

    Regards,
    jim
    Maropost.com
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  • Profile picture of the author Jo Stone
    Give them a financial reward at the beginning.
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  • Profile picture of the author Moneymaker2012
    Hello,
    You can offer them cash and other rewards.So it would be possible that they help you but not guaranteed!
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  • Profile picture of the author figuringmoneyout
    I'm a blogger too and I get dozens of PR pitches and random emails asking me to doing something/promote something every day. I delete 99% of them.

    If you want to stand out from the rest and actually make some traction, you either need to offer the blogger something for their time (free product, money, etc.) or already have a relationship with them built through consistent commenting and social media interaction. Personally I hate getting emails out of the blue where the first line is something about loving my blog for months... yet I've never heard of this person. It's a turn off and an instant no from me so the second involves more work on your part but it gains you favor with bloggers and that favor can be turned into promotion.
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