I recently read Putting the Public Back In Public Relations written by Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge and it had some profound information on how to handle the relations between a business and a blogger. Granted, this book is all about public relations, but for businesses, shouldn’t this be important? After all, businesses should be interested in how the public perceives the company, not the shareholders, banks, investors, etc. Instead of publicity, which to me makes it seem like it’s a celebrity, the term “public relations” conveys a more congenial tone & reflects the business’s intention to serve its citizens.

So what exactly are some tips that businesses can use to reach out to bloggers?

First, learn what blogs exist that relate to your product/brand. Do some searching on sites like Technorati, Google, Delicious, even on Twitter Search and find out whether they are credible enough or not. Are other people citing their articles as evidence of their street cred? Would you be comfortable in their writing style and also do they have a big enough audience? This all falls in line with the next point, which is to read what the blogger is writing.

Perhaps the most crucial of all the tips I could possibly give, if you don’t actually read what the bloggers write, then how can you build a rappor or relationship with the author? Answer: you can’t. Imagine if you happen to be publishing a book or writing your own blog post about a subject you know very well – say it’s automobiles. Then, you get an email from a company out of the blue with a press release for their latest product. If the press release was on gardening tips and trends and they also wanted you to write about it using the info given in the email, you would find that insulting because first of all, that’s not your expertise and you’re not writing about it in the beginning, and second, you have no idea who the person emailing you is so there’s no connection.

What to do next? I’d say let’s look at the posts the author is writing about & since it’s in your industry, you might as well begin the conversation by commenting on some of their blog posts. No, I’m not talking about simiply saying “Hi. Great post.” but something much more interesting. Begin the conversation. C’mon. You are in the industry so you’re telling me that there’s not something you can talk about in a blog post about your industry? Either agree or disagree with something in the post and explain why. If there is a reaction to that blog post, then respond with a reply. Don’t just leave it with one comment and think that it’s enough…because it’s not.

Be authentic & upfront. If you’re going to have a genuine conversation and rapport with bloggers, then don’t lie to them because they’ll definitely find out. And if they find that you’ve been lying to them or have deceived them in some way, you’ll not only hear from them on their blog, but word will quickly spread not only about you, but also your company. Authenticity (yes, that word) is a powerful tool in getting bloggers to pay attention to you. If you’re upfront with them & tell them who you are when commenting or in your correspondence in emails, Twitter, Facebook, etc. then you’ll be better rewarded for it.

Speaking about correspondence, learn how the bloggers prefer to be contacted. I know that one of the most famous technology bloggers, Robert Scoble, prefers a certain method of getting contacted and if you don’t adhere to it, then you only increase the blogger’s ire & distrust as they know you don’t really know anything about them. Pay attention!

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations gives great details on how you should view bloggers. It should be noted that blogger relations will NOT happen overnight. Start now to cultivate these relationships. Another thing to take away is that you always want to be showing bloggers you care and in four distinct ways:

- Know who they are & why what you say is something they need to pay attention to.

- Customize your story to the bloggers. We’re beyond the generic story at this point.

- You’re an expert in the field and bloggers should respect that. You also know key players in the industry.

- Bloggers should view you as a resource NOT as a PR spammer. Learn to give info when asked & just talk.

Brian Solis has also published a free ebook on blogger relations that has much more detailed information than listed here.

As typical with social media and the web, the main point to take away is that you need to listen to the public and also bloggers. Read what is being said and respond accordingly. Do not fear what is being said and through active conversations, you will be able to generate a team of bloggers who will, from time to time (not all the time), be willing to write about your product.

• Building your Brand 101 Series
• Building Your Brand Series – Part 1 – Listening
• Building Your Brand Series – Part 2 – Responding
• Building Your Brand Series – Part 3 – Analytics

In the last post I talked about Google Analytics.
In this post I’m going to cover Feedburner. Feedburner is my favorite & I use it daily. It tells me a quick overview of where my traffic is coming from & also I can tell what pages they’re looking at. I use this tool daily & Google Analytics on a weekly to monthly basis depending on what I’m focused on.
Feedburner is installed just like Google Analytics but it’s much easier because they give you specific instructions. (I installed the html code myself on my blog!). You need to get a Feedburner account, then give it your rss feed & it will create some html code for you.
Feedburner aggregates all of my subscriptions (by RSS & email) & shows me a graph of the # of subscribers & how they’re reading my blog. It is a bit flaky & not consistent but I don’t worry about it.
This is a screenshot for my blog. I use Site Stat’s Incoming the most. This tells me where my daily traffic is coming from. If I see that someone has stumbled on one of my posts then I immediately add more links to other places in my blog because I know that post will get a rash of new readers & I want to help them explore my blog & encourage them to subscribe. (It’s a trick I learned from Darren Rowse, ProBlogger). And like Google Analytics I can see what people are searching for & what’s finding my blog. Those are words to focus on when I’m writing.

You should claim your blog in Technorati. That’s the best place to see your backlinks.

There are many things to consider & I briefly addressed the big picture previously. Today I’m excited to share an example of someone who not only transitioned successfully, but is very enthusiastic about the potential of doing business online!

I met Keith Bloemendaal because he linked to my personal blog. He sells fences in the Raleigh, NC area. That’s totally related to what I write about, right? (Bloggers have egos & whoever lists me with the likes of Chris Brogan & ProBlogger gets my attention!) The evil part of me left a comment with the first sentence as, “My husband would love a rail fence!”. So when Keith followed up on the lead – his first statement was,

I think you should find a local contractor to put up your fence.

But I did compliment Keith on his site & asked to interview him. (There was a reason that he linked to my blog!).

One look at Keith’s site & I was totally impressed because it’s totally sleek & gorgeous. Here is Keith’s story & I hope that you find it motivating! Three weeks ago Keith chose to not only launch a traditional business online, but he also launched himself into the social media scene. He’s been researching & learning as much as he can.

Keith’s new vocabulary includes words like Google AdSense, SEO, Twitter, content management site, Digg, etc. We had a spirited discussion & he’s quite familiar with Technorati already, so he’s well on his way. He even explained the advantage to hosting images on Flickr so that they can be tagged & Google will see them. (I’m presently embedding my images but it’s always good to consider new ideas!)

Before going online Keith did some research & there’s not many people blogging in the fence industry (and he’s hoping that no one else catches on to it!). He wants to increase his SEO as fast as possible. It sounds like he’s been having a great time learning the in’s & out’s! His organic search rankings have doubled & he’s looking forward to continued success in that area.

The fence industry in Raleigh, NC where Keith is at is fairly competitive. There are 35-40 others offering similar services. But some are going out of business. He’s had a tremendous response to his site. All of his leads are from his website. He has one ad in a traditional mailer. He’s primarily using location targeted AdSense & building his network. Craigslist sends him a number of people each day too. He also realizes that a small business owner is a community manager (and I’m glad that he finds my blog helpful!).

On that note the local social media people in the Raleigh area are lending him a hand. I’ve said many times here on my blog how amazingly helpful bloggers are. Keith mentioned that Wayne Sutton has been a great help. (I’m connected with Wayne on both Twitter & Plurk – it’s a small world!).

I asked Keith what the pro’s & con’s have been. He said that the networking is hugely time consuming. On the flip side he loves the research & growing his network. I think he used the word addiction! He said,

Honestly, this is the way of the future – to take your business to the next level. Whether you’re a small sign contractor or in construction you have to stand out (especially in this economy).

Keith said that he’s gotten customers because they said that he knew what he was doing after reading his blog. So if you want inspiration check out Keith’s new business. I look forward to hearing how it grows!