Want to break into a community? Are you doing outreach for your product and not gaining a foothold? Is your success batting average below the Mendoza Line? Could your mom out-pitch you?
Did you ever stop and think that perhaps, you are targeting the wrong people? Think back to your last round of outreach. Were you successful? What worked, and what didn't? In all likelihood, you were probably extremely successful with the least popular/influential bloggers and journalists. The reasons? Access and barriers to entry.
Great, you secured some prime cut-and-paste action on a few Google Adsense blogs and coverage in a few local papers. That's not going to cut it. You are going to get smoked by those people in the business who have access and ties to more upper echelon writers and reporters. They'll get the front page of Wired; you'll get in an argument with a mommy blogger over a pair of crocs.
Guess what, though? Don't you think that their are plenty of people just like you on the other side, looking for exposure? People who are just as hungry for success as you are? Well, duh. Of course there are. The key is being able to identify, meet, and engage with them before they become unreachable. (And trust me, they will eventually become unreachable.)
The same philosophy applies in every profession. Hungry people want to eat. If you have food, than they will gravitate towards you and work with you rather than against you. Those who have food don't really care about what you are offering. You can feed the starving people (bad bloggers), too...but most would agree that those publications would probably die off anyway.
How can you identify a hungry up and comer in the blogging or reporting world though? Is their some secret code that they all adhere to? Do they glow in the dark? Or are there easier ways to recognize and court them?
Here's How to Determine the Next Chris Brogan:
1. Determine frequency of content. Extrapolate volume (and be conservative). Find someone who is relatively new, but posting great content frequently? Cha-ching. Target that person as soon as possible. They could be a potential gold mine. Typically, around 3-5 months you can determine if this person is going to stay or burn out.
2.They're passionate. Like, "I'd kill you for content" passionate. You can't last if you don't have the willpower to keep creating content, reacting to comments, and engaging with your readers on their blogs. This is more than a full time job and it becomes daunting extremely quickly.
3. They engage people in other places besides their blog. Social media is built on learning from, interacting with, and sharing valuable content with others. It's essentially a feel good business that relies on promoting others in order to gain attention themselves. (Seems counter-intuitive but it actually works...usually.)
4. They predict trends effectively. Sometimes the craziest person in the world one year turns out to be the smartest the next. It's all a matter of having foresight to identify those people who are brilliant and innovative from those who are brilliant...but kind of crazy.
5. They evolve. You can separate great bloggers from good bloggers with this simple litmus test: go back and read their first few posts. Is the tone/quality the same as their current ones? If it is, you've identified a good blogger. If it sucks compared to the content that they are writing now? Engage immediately. This person is clearly learning, growing and engaging with those around them to gain influence and has all the makings of a great blogger.
The difference is in the evolution. Good bloggers could have a ceiling. Great bloggers don't.
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tagged as blogger outreach, influential blogger, pr blog, pr blogger, Public Relations, social media blog, up and coming blogger
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