Make it Easy for Bloggers to Cover Your Org -- Update

Update: May 2, 2008

I registered at the WE site and received an email confirmation, but not untill the next day. I would have loved to hear from them within an hour (easy to do with an auto-responder) while they were still on my mind. Lost opportunity for WE.

One more suggestion for WE -- the email I received was 100% generic, not reflecting any of the infromation (beat, interests, other sources) I submitted to them. I wish the org had taken the same kind of time I did to customize its response.

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Just do what the WE Campaign does in its online press room, a model for nonprofit press outreach and one you can follow for your nonprofit, even if you didn't just launch.

1) Reach out to bloggers along with the traditional press. I'd include social media folks (who talk about you on Facebook, YouTube, etc.) as well but this is a good place to start.

2) Make it easy. Get a sense of press/bloggers interests plus contact info. Then let them know when there's relevant news.  The WE Campaign asks bloggers for basic contact info (email, name, blog name and URL), frequency of posts, topics covered, news sources, political orientation, take on the Campaign's mission and an open-ended response on how WE can help. This a great way to build relationships with the folks that matter most, but WE should do the same for other press as well.

3) Offer other means of staying in touch. WE invites press to subscribe to email distribution of its press releases and to a "releases plus" feed via their blog readers.

4) Follow up. Nothing's more annoying than a great system never implemented. The jury is still out on the WE Campaign. I submitted my info last week and am waiting to hear. I'll let you know when I do.

Any other ideas for nurturing relationships with the right bloggers? Please share your strategies in Comments below.

Learn more about crafting a satisfying online press room here.

Photo by Steve Rhodes.

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Comments

[John Haydon]

Jordan has a great point about video. A colleague of mine works with non-profits to create very cheap, but highly professional videos that are eventually used in viral marketing and social media campaigns. A 60-second video that is well edited gives the press, board members, constituents, employees and potential corporate donors a consistent and powerful message about the non-profit's brand.

The interesting "brand effect" that WE creates with their press page that folks eventually associate WE with being "cutting edge", new media savvy , "in-the-know", and youthful. This "brand effect" is a subtle call-to-action for folks to get involved and get on board!

John Haydon
www.CorporateDollar.Org

[Jordan V]

Great advice here! I was just telling someone about the WC press room the other day and how they address not only the mainstream media but bloggers as well. Another tactic I'm seeing used more often by communications professionals is video in press rooms and blogger outreach. It adds another, sometimes more personal, dimension to outreach efforts.