We also take good pitch submissions!

Someone mentioned on your NewComm podcast that you should pitch bloggers as you would pitch media...the line is blurring.

Interesting point: the most effective form of communication is IM. But you don't elaborate on that Josh! You just mention that you need to know the person you're IMing to. Well that's big news! I believe that most of us PR experts (or whatever we call ourselves) know about relationship building - whether it's with old or new/social media - but what we want to know from folks like you is how to make the initial contact (via new media and their tools). Once I know somebody, I know how ot move forward!

Tina:

To make initial contact submit a comment to the blog that contributes to the discussion of the original post. When you comment just about all blog software sends the author an e-mail that says NAME at EMAIL just left the following comment. We'll read it and remember the name.

Start with that and continue to build the conversation.

Disagree Josh - sorta. If it's comment for comment's sake, and not for the conversation, that drives me insane.

If the PR person has passion, is interested in the topic, and can contribute to the conversation, then yes, post a comment. If you are posting to say "great blog! i love it!!" - then shut up and back away from the keyboard.

Yep, same question came up to me at BlogOn. :)

Thanks, Josh, thanks Jeremy. I guess what I still don't get is why IM is the way to go. I comment on blogs (like this one when I am interested in a topic) and usually don't email bloggers (well unless it's the "i love it" email...just kidding Jeremy) but I find it hard to just IM somebody I don't know. Any further insight?

yes, pitch bloggers as you would pitch media...but don't make it too technical, yet!

No worry about the tech stuff. All right, will try and let you know whether it indeed works.

Yes, yes, yes. I recently had another bad experience with a pitch to me. No relationship, no explanation, no nothing. Just sent me a press release (to my private email address mind you) and expected me to write about it. Was ridiculous.

But can't I BUILD a relationship by providing a blogger I don't already know with content about which he wants to write?

Shel, I think you can do that too. I don't think we always need to dance to get in good with bloggers.

Discovered hyku over from Bad Pitch. Thought I’d add my 2¢ on a point made by Tina Lang.

IM, while a more immediate form of conversation without the lagtime regular email suffers from, is also more personal because of that immediacy.

Some may view IM as just another tool to reach out to consumers these days, but I look at it as something a person tends to be more protective of. Most expect business to be discussed via email, not via IM.

Other thing I’ve noticed, even among friends, is that although their user icon shows up as being online, they may be busy talking with someone else and have no time for me then. It’s important I respect that.

Now, imagine if I was hardly known to them and interrupted them, I risk annoying them.

I'm going to have to disagree about the sensitive nature of IMs, as I am quite good at ignoring users (and blocking some).

When I was an online content editor, I would receive a majority of pitches through IM. It saved me a lot of time (no days wasted responding to emails), and that was appreciated. IMs could be considered more personal, but they're primarily more efficient.

Ultimately isn't the biggest criteria whether you have something relevant and newsworthy to pitch? Otherwise it's just chatter...