Buzz Mommy

Much has been made of ill-timed and ill-fated pitches made to bloggers, especially Mommy Bloggers and how NOT to talk to Mommy Bloggers.

The savvier Public Relations agencies are doing research about pitching bloggers, in fact I just got off the phone with a representative who was interviewing mothers who blog.

For those business owners or small agencies who do not have research budgets, I thought I’d venture a few proactive tips. Many of these tips may have broader applications, and I do not claim to speak for all mommy bloggers, but hopefully some others will join in so more PR pitches “get it right.”

1. Do your research: When you add someone to your pitch list, you should also add information about their focus, audience size, real names if available, etc. If a blogger responds, treat them as a resource to whom you reached out, not like a stranger who wandered in off the street asking for a handout. You initiated the contact, after all.
2. Treat the blogger with respect: Believe it or not, many bloggers have careers, prior experience, extensive educations, or other talents. Talk to the blogger as you would any other business contact.
3. Know what you want: Someone told you to pitch blogs. But why? Are you looking to get sales? Reach an audience? Associate your brand with a taste maker? Build quality inbound links? If you do not know why you are pitching, step away from the computer. Thinking about this ahead of time will help you approach the correct blogs in the right way and avoid disappointment.
4. Be clear about what you want: Random press releases that do not make a specific request are likely to be deleted. Do you want the blogger to interview your client, review a product, give you their opinion, link to a site?
5. Customize if you can: Take some time to target bloggers who are actually interested in your niche. Refer to other, related posts to show why you chose their blog to pitch.  If I’ve written a post called “Ten reasons why I hate widgets,” your pitch will have a lot more resonance if you include reasons why your widget is a superior innovation.
6. Personalize if you don’t have the resources to customize: Include names and blog titles if available. At the very least, don’t send a pitch to “Mr. Obviously Female Name” or “Sir or Madam” if the gender is obvious on the blog.
7. But Don’t Fake It: If you can’t customize and personalize correctly, just don’t do it. A mass pitch may just get deleted, but an obviously poor attempt at customization and personalization, riddled with errors, may get you mocked. You won’t build a good relationship sending pitches with “Merge Name Here” still in the greeting, the name of another blogger, or the name of the blog misspelled.
8. Offer something of value: Many mommy bloggers like to help out other mom business owners and share great finds with their friends. If you are pitching a blogger, that person has most likely worked hard on her blog. Her time and image are valuable. If you are asking for her consideration, offer something in return. Depending on the situation and the type of blog, this may take the form of a purchased advertisement, product sample, exclusive interview, a sneak preview, a link on a press page, or something else…be creative. Do not offer something you aren’t prepared to give.
9. Ask Questions, Accept the Answers: You can always make requests, but understand that many bloggers place a high value on the editorial integrity of their site. If you want guaranteed placement, using your own images and words, take out an advertisement. If a blogger’s terms do not work for you, politely part ways without bickering.
10. Become One With the Blogger: Networking is a longterm project.  Build a relationship, and your pitching will feel more natural and be more successful.  Even if you are a single guy in his early 20s, you can still connect with mommy bloggers by starting a blog, linking to reviews written about your business or your clients, using bookmarking services to spread the word about great posts, blogrolling some of your favorite bloggers, participating in social networking sites, and generally becoming part of the blogging community.

We’ve spoken with a lot of fabulous mom (and dad) entrepreneurs who have fantastically brilliant ideas, but do not know where to go from there.

If your idea is a fairly simple t-shirt or snapsuit design, you can often produce these fairly inexpensively or float a test balloon at CafePress.

But what if you need a more involved prototype?  One businesswoman has not only started up a company with a marvelous idea, one-piece rompers that look like outfits, with the clever name “Stylease“, she’s also launched a small business blog that takes readers on the ups and downs of business planning, product development, launching, marketing, and more.

Her latest post, So You Have a Great Idea, Now What?, discusses the next steps once you’ve done your market research and developed your idea.

Her last paragraph shows why she is such a savvy businesswoman:

Think of the product as a small piece to a bigger puzzle. If you are serious about investing in your idea, it’s not just about developing a product, but also about what to do with it once you have it. Development can be expensive and it would be a waste of time and money to create something without also considering what you will do with it once it’s created, in order to get a return on that investment.

Go read her full post and check out her archives to learn more about how she got her own business up and running, including an honest self-assessment on her successes and challenges.

If you get fixated on your product, that could blind you to the opportunities for success that await you.  Don’t lose the forest for the trees!

A lot is written about “black hat” SEO and marketing and if that is the way you wish to do business, it can bring in some more sales in the short term.  In the long term, however, I do believe that the old fashioned values of vision, hard work, and networking are what sustain a business.

Anecdotal illustration:

Katja is a genuinely sweet person who had something positive happen for her business.  A cute pair of ladybug shoes for Suri Cruise she helped select made a short appearance on Oprah’s interview with Tom Cruise.

If you are a small business owner, you know how big national media can provide a huge bump in sales.   And when people visit Katja’s store, Skimbaco, they’ll see a hand-picked selection of children’s products that reflect her own unique perspective on fashion–exactly the sort of taste making that brought a Cruise/Holmes family friend to rely on Katja’s expertise.

And, even though the shoes appear for just a few seconds in Oprah’s hands, people are going to find out that Katja chose them.  Why?  Because she’s spent the last year networking with and helping other small parent-owned businesses.  She’s reached out on various social media sites.

I saw the interview and immediately posted about Suri Cruise’s Ladybug Shoes.  When I got Katja’s facebook message that she had actually picked out the shoes for Suri herself, I wrote back that I had noticed the shoes and already linked to them at another shop.  Katja asked if I could add a mention–even if I did not link to her store or blog.  And I actually went back and edited the post.

And a lot of people, even if they have nothing to gain financially like me, are going to tell everyone about Katja’s celebrity baby styles, because she is genuinely a good-hearted person who has worked hard and smart.

Most importantly, Katja knows that success is not a zero sum game.  You can get there alongside other entrepreneurs who share your work ethic and positive spirit.

PageRank is, at the simplest level, a number that Google uses, in part, to determine your place in search results.

To complicate matters, PageRank is dynamic. Your PageRank is continually calculated and re-calculated.

However, you cannot see this number changing. Every three months or so (or when they feel like it), Google “propagates” an update of the static PageRank and that number is visible to the denizens of the Internet.

You can check your static PageRank, using various websites and toolbars (these are downloaded and added to your Internet Explorer, Firefox, or other browser):

• PageRank Checker
• Google Toolbar

How Is PageRank Calculated?

There is a complicated algorithm, which Google regular tweaks and keeps very quiet, that calculates your number.

I’ll leave it to the conspiracy theorists and tech geeks to speculate on why the formula is so hush hush (suggested answers range from the pure desire to provide quality search results to the cynical drive to milk customers for all they are worth).

Does PageRank Matter?

Every PageRank update is preceded with great anticipation and much speculation in the webmaster community and then dissected on message boards, blogs, and tech sites. And every time, some one declares that PageRank is dead.

And yet, people continue to try to find ways to legitimately build PageRank, websites are devoted to how to cheat the system, and sites regularly attempt to buy and sell links for the purpose of building PageRank.

Our answer is that PageRank is helpful, but it is not the final word on the success or failure of your site. A survey of search engine user attitudes found that the vast majority of Internet users utilize search engines. Google is the search engines of choice. And few searchers get past the first page of results.

Anything that boosts your order in the list of search results is beneficial to your business. However, there is more to Search Engine Optimization and Marketing than just PageRank. You can improve your natural search engine results through additional techniques that produce quicker results while working on your PageRank as a long term strategy.

How Do I Increase PageRank?

Although we do not know exactly how Google determines PageRank, we do know a few things:

1. It takes a while to be assigned PageRank. It may be anywhere from 3-6 months until your PageRank first appears as a number.
2. Links are good. A big part of the algorithm seems to be the number of inbound links you have from quality sites.
3. One-way links from higher PageRank pages are better. More than just the sheer number of links comes into play. Also factored in is the quality of the site linking to you, including its PageRank and its number of outbound links.

How Do I Build Links?

Legitimate link-building is your key to raising your PageRank. Some ways to build links are:

• generate quality content that encourages others to link to you
• utilize social media and bookmarking to network with other site owners and connections
• create indirect link exchanges (you offer a link from an established site in exchange for a link to a new site)
• host contests that require links for entries
• contact review sites about reviewing your product or service
• submit your listing to legitimate directories such as dmoz

Obviously this is just a beginner’s guide for non-techies and there is a lot more. Just be careful not to get suckered in by costly schemes “guaranteed” to raise your PageRank or off-topic link mills that will list your site along with thousands of others in exchange for a reciprocal link on your homepage.

Concentrate on the quality of your site and build a good public relations and marketing campaign and the links will come.

You have a fierce product and you just know you are ready for some national media and celebrity exposure, but you do not have the time, connections, or money to make this happen.

Put your energy into local media.

Small businesses may not have the resources to get noticed by the big guns.  However, local news channels, newspapers, and magazines are always on the look-out for heartwarming stories about local entrepreneurs and philanthropists.  Even if you don’t have a bricks and mortar shop, you are still a productive member of your society!

Follow this easy three-step process to getting local media coverage:

1. Get involved with your community.  Donate product, time, or expertise to local charities.  Join your local chamber of commerce.  Network with other local business owners and work together.  Look for areas where you can have a big impact.  Donating $200 worth of shoes to the local shelter may be more effective philanthropy than donating $200 cash to the $50,000 annual fundraising extravaganza.
2. Write a killer press-release with a local angle.
3. Make personal contact with Lifestyles, Business, and Arts and Entertainment editors and programming directors.  Pitch them stories they can use.  Every month or so, check in to see what their feature calendar will be and discuss ways you might fit into their schedules.  An occasional plate of cookies might not hurt either.  Locally, a little kindness can go a long way.

Relationships are important in life and in business–and that goes doubly when you look at local opportunities.

Don’t forget to follow up by getting that press release distributed on the Internet (this helps with your natural search engine ranking).  And you never know–a local celebrity may just notice your efforts or you may tap into a local market you did not even realize existed.

We want to help moms, dads, bloggers, and other small business owners promote themselves.  Periodically, we’ll post some free tips, suggestions, and advice for doing business on the Internet.