Boost Blog Coverage of Your Nonprofit, and Offline Coverage Will Follow

“Don’t overlook mainstream media blogs,” advises Kevin Maney, technology columnist, reporter and blogger for USA Today. “Blogs that run on sites like ours can be perfect targets for breaking news and industry tidbits. For example, my blog on the site is always hungry. And the space is much less precious than space in a newspaper. It’s a much easier entry point into the media,” he assures.

Maney recently offered these additional tips and techniques for PR practitioners seeking entry into the blogosphere in a recent issue of Journalists Speak Out e-news:

1. Provide fresh information, without the positioning. Most nonprofits don't have a lot of breaking news but when you do, get that out to bloggers ASAP. What nonprofits and foundations do have frequently is research. Get it out much more broadly than you are today, sans framing. “Blogs are simpler. We want to post things that are interesting and new — so it’s no big sweat for us to pop a quick factoid into a blog. That means it’s got to be short: raw information is best,” Maney says.
2. Offer experts and access, and expect quick turnaround. Maney looks for big names in their  issue areas.
3. Hone relationships with key bloggers, and your pitch (just like you would to any print or broadcast journalist). Don’t be a newbie — read blogs, build relationships, then pitch unique content that matches a particular blogger's interests . Maney advises  not to count on the blanket approach you might use to reach dailies. "That kind of blanket approach won’t work with us. We want fresh stuff and we want to hear from people who read through our blogs,” he stresses.
4. Give bloggers a month to cover your story before you follow-up.  “Most bloggers are like columnists,” says Maney. “That means we don’t always ‘publish’ every day. Our schedules are very personalized and depend on how we take in information and put it together. That means, for example, that we might mention your item a few times, instead of just once, as with a newspaper."

Read 5 Steps to Building Relationships with Key Bloggers for more tips on boosting blog coverage of your nonprofit.