Are you sending releases to blogs? Read this.

Back in October 06, PRBlogger named Tom Coates one of the UK's most influential bloggers for his site, PlasticBag.org.

Since then, Tom says he has been inundated with press releases from PRs eager to get their messages out on his blog. It's not surprising - an increasing number of PR types think that blogs are an important means of distributing stories and engaging with the public.

But guess what? Tom isn't a hack and he isn't being paid to receive your client's news. And he's a bit hacked off with the idea that he is.

Like Drew says,  perhaps it's time to start thinking outside the press release box if you want to engage with the blogosphere.

Comments

[Stephen Davies]

Hi Sally,

Just to be clear. I didn't send any releases to any of the people on the list. I made a UK-specific version of the Technorati 100 last year and Tom thinks PR people have been using it to send press releases to the blogs that are listed on it.

While I'm sorry that Tom is hurt by PR people sending him releases I’m not sorry for making a list using information that is already freely available on the internet. And while I feel quite humbled that people think my little old blog can cause such a major PR attack I don’t think that particular post is fully responsible.

The blogs on that list have a lot of visibility. Much more visible than I anyway.

Also, many bloggers do appreciate receiving news releases as long as they're relevant to the blog’s content. But I personally wouldn't send them to those that haven't agreed to do so. Far too little to gain from it.

Sally said: “Like Drew says, perhaps it's time to start thinking outside the press release box if you want to engage with the blogosphere.”

As I said on Drew’s post, some bloggers don’t want to have a ‘conversation’. They just want the press release so they can create the content to attract more readers to charge for advertising, thank you very much.

It’s not a one size fits all.

Cheers,

[Sally]

Hi Stephen

Thanks for commenting.

Firstly, I am sure you wouldn't have sent releases to Tom, I think his post is pretty clear in that PRs are using your list to distribute releases.

Second, I guess the problem here is an extension of a problem many hacks have with some PRs. Which is that we get carpet bombed with releases that aren't appropriate to what we do, and certainly aren't tailored or targeted effectively.

As a hack, it's an occupational hazard and not one I lose a lot of sleep over. It's my job to read releases, the PRs job to send them. But as a blogger? It's not my job to read releases. Dealing with potentially dozens of releases every day is pretty invasive, pretty inconvenient. Perhaps - as in Tom's case - I find it insulting that PR people seem to think I'm a medium for their sales messages.

It's an interesting issue, and my personal view is that the PRs Tom is talking about have leapt to include social media in their news distribution strategy without stopping to think about how to engage with bloggers, how one blogger might differ from another or even whether the blogger wants to hear from PRs in the first place.

[Stephen Davies]

Your last para just summed it up right there. Such a shame though as this conversation has been going on for years now.

I mean, it's not rocket science either, it's simple common sense.

Why do I feel that by writing that last comment on **this** particular blog I've just asked for it? :-)

[Sally Whittle]

Ask for it? Can't imagine what you mean, guv.

Although I would say in my last par you could replace "blogger" with "hack" and it would just as true, just as well-worn - and just as widely ignored by a minority of PR types. Just cos something's common sense doesn't mean it's common knowledge, apparently :-)

[Richard Millington]

I would suggest thinking outside the Press Release box entirely. At least in the sense of putting press releases to the back of the PR arsenal for a bit and seeing what can be accomplished without them. The results might be pretty surprising.

You know, I really would suggest that a group of hacks start getting together and creating a blacklist of PR agencies which send irrelevant press releases. Imagine if something like that caught on, where entire agencies could be blacklisted by spam filters if they sent irrelevant/poor releases.

Would they suddenly put a lot more thought into every single contact on their distribution list? Would it be popular with everyone? No. But it might just make things a little better.