Wow. As if we don’t have enough issues in the blogosphere already, now bloggers aren’t just allowing themselves to be “bought,” but they’ve blatantly got the “gimmies.” Yuck.

Now I know we have a good selection of folks here who are both regular blog readers and bloggers themselves, so I’d like your thoughts on this.

1. Should bloggers really feel “entitled” to the same perks as traditional media outlets?

2. Do you have any problem, as a blogger, with the idea of joining a network for the sole purpose of getting free stuff / review copies? Is there a better way to go about it?

3. As a blog reader, would seeing your favorite bloggers actively mooching in this way affect what you think of them in any way (or perhaps how you look at their future reviews)?

Here are some of my own thoughts on those issues:

1. In most cases, absolutely not. Remember, there’s a reason tradional media outlets and journalists are approached with things like review copies. In fact, there are several reasons. They offer a large audience with an interest in what the company’s offering, and they’ve generally been around long enough to build trust with that audience.

Can your blog offer that? More than likely, no. Certainly some blogs are exceptions, but those are also the bloggers companies do approach with review copies already. If you want people to respect you and your opinion on your blog, build it up. Promote it. Build an engaged community of readers. Frankly, as a blogger, that’s your “job.” When you do your job, and do it well, you’ll see the perks.

2. Personally, I find it disgusting that any blogger would publicly exercise a “give me stuff” approach to blogging. Again, there are exceptions. For example, if you write a blog exclusively or primarily focused on book reviews, naturally you’d include your address and submission details somewhere on your blog. But you shouldn’t expect to get submissions until you’ve done what I already mentioned – build the audience and build the trust.

Until you get to that point, it’s your responsibility to secure review material – and yes, that often means paying for it in the early phases. The fact that you can instantly publish something doesn’t entitle you to anything. Anyone can publish a blog these days. You’re probably not as “special” as you think. There’s definitely a better way to go about it, and that’s something I’ve already talked about here.

3. From the reader perspective I find the concept of Serendipstick even worse. If I, for a moment, got the vibe that a blogger I read was “in it for the perks” enough to be blatantly asking for access to free stuff, their credibility would be shot with me. I’d know they were reviewing what they could get for free rather than reviewing what might be beneficial to their readers (including myself). I don’t have enough time in the day to read bloggers with that kind of motivation.

That said, I have absolutely no problem with bloggers actually receiving review copies if it’s for a legitimate reason. What do I mean?

Let’ pick on Heather since it was her comment bringing light to the new site.

Heather blogs about PR and related issues. Heather blogged critically about a certain blogger relations event in the past. Now, if that company were to make changes in their next event, and invite Heather along with the open desire to have her review the event itself as it applies to larger blogger relations issues, that would be effective targeting and relevant to her audience given the past targeting snafus and conversation in her space. As a reader of her blog, I would have absolutely no problem knowing she was invited to a free-access event.

On the other hand, if Heather were to sign up for Serendipstick saying that she wants access to these kinds of events, it would be a different story entirely. Why? Because if you’re flat-out asking for it, the company giving it to you is satisfying your desire. They’re giving you what you want (and asked for), and with that comes a certain implication that you’re not going to say anything “bad” about them – at least not much.

In contrast, if you’re putting your focus on your readers and building your blog, and someone happens to approach you, you’re the attractive party with something to offer and not vice versa. By maintaining that position, you have a better chance of maintaining credibility in what you ultimately publish.

Look, there are certainly perks to blogging, especially after you’re established. But if those perks are the real reason you’re in it, do your readers a favor and just quit. Blogging entitles people to absolutely nothing. Sure, you may feel otherwise, thinking “I don’t get paid for this, so I may as well get something.” But if you really insist on getting something out of your blogging, understand you’ll work your ass off to get to that point. Asking for hand-outs in this way is just sad. If you’re not getting enough from your blogging to justify the time you’re spending, find another way to spend your time.

If you’d like to read more on the issue of whether or not bloggers should be treated as journalists, I have a post at NakedPR detailing a chat with ProBlogger Darren Rowse on the subject: Bloggers vs Journalists.

After reading one of the latest comments about someone doing a radio interview, giving their blog URL (www.IrishPolyglot.com) in the interview, and not seeing any increases in traffic because of it, I decided to start this series (yep, it’ll be a series) discussing radio interviews and ways to make them work for you. The difference is that I’m going to talk about not only how you can get media coverage for your blog, but also for yourself as a freelance writer.

Radio Interviews – Are They Worth It?

I’m a fan of radio interviews (and their cousin – the podcast / Internet radio interview). Perhaps that stems from my background – before focusing on online PR, I worked in music PR. Much of what I did revolved around planning and implementing radio campaigns (getting tracks spun on-air, having artists mentioned or interviewed over the phone, or even having them booked for live on-air interviews and performances).

While I don’t talk about PR much here, at NakedPR I used to periodically mention that musicians tend to be far ahead of most webpreneurs when it comes to using the Web for promotion – the same is true of radio coverage. They know how to “work it.”

Radio coverage is certainly worth it if you can get it. The thing is, you can’t measure radio influence through traffic alone. It isn’t the Web, and it doesn’t work in the same way.

Challenges of Radio Coverage (and what to do about them)

A lot of writers and bloggers neglect radio and podcasts, because they don’t feel it applies to them. In truth, radio and related mediums can apply to anyone – you just have to face its challenges and learn how to use it to your advantage. For example:

1. There’s no direct link. Unless you have a unique phone number or URL setup for your radio campaign, you’ll find conversions can be rather difficult to track. Don’t expect traffic miracles. Instead understand that repeated radio interviews can do wonders for your name recognition. It’s like with press releases – one isn’t going to make your blog famous (likely). It takes repeated exposure to establish you or your blog as an interesting or authority source of information. The more listeners hear you being interviewed or mentioned, the more likely it is they’ll remember your URL or think about you later, deciding to visit your site. The point? Stick with it.
2. Timing is everything. It doesn’t matter if you’re being interviewed on the largest radio station in a major metro area if the timing sucks. If you’re being interviewed during relatively dead airtime, where people simply aren’t tuned in, you won’t see results. If you’re being interviewed when plenty of folks are tuned in, but they’re not in your target audience (meaning they don’t give a rat’s furry little behind what you’re saying, what you do, or what blog you run), you’re also not going to see results. All you can do is know your audience. Can’t get an ideal interview time? See if the show will be archived for you to promote on your own (they can also do wonders to emphasize your authority status with your existing audience).
3. There’s no visual. This is why URLs are tricky in audio promotion. Saying the URL isn’t enough. If someone doesn’t have something to write with, and you happen to spit out your blog URL, they won’t have time to jot that down. This is one of the reasons brandable domain names are so valuable – they’re often memorable. Even if people do try to remember your URL for later, they may have gotten the spelling wrong. Never just say it – spell it aloud. Note any hyphens that may be in that URL. Also watch how you’re pronouncing things – if you sound muddled, you won’t do yourself any favors. Say it slowly. Say it clearly. Enunciate every single syllable. Twice.

There’s a reason musicians tend to do well on the radio, and it goes far beyond the fact that they’re promoting audio-based products. They’re generally more comfortable with the medium, used to presenting themselves orally to an audience in some manner (where others can find it nerve-racking and not come across quite as planned), and they tend to be extremely in-tune with their audiences (when they’re around, what stations they’d be listening to, etc.).

Take a few notes from those artists. Prepare yourself. Prepare your site. And understand that offline promotion has benefits that can far outweigh simple immediate traffic – it’s about exposure and recognition. Instant gratification is a Web thing. It doesn’t quite work that way in the radio world.

ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

Who This Book is For

When I purchased this book, from Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett, I didn’t really expect to learn much I could call “new,” that I didn’t already know from experience, reading their blogs, and reading materials from other professional bloggers. I was right on that front. There’s nothing really new here.

However, I still think the ProBlogger book is an excellent resource to have on-hand for bloggers new and old. Why? Because it’s like a collection of the best material from those sources was pulled together into one well-organized resource that you can refer back to again and again.

If you’re a new blogger, you can work your way through it to get your own blog set up and running successfully. If you’re an established blogger you may still appreciate some of the refresher material from time to time, such as:

• Writing effective blog post titles
• 20 Types of blog posts (for when you feel like you’re running out of blog post ideas)
• How to write a successful blog post series
• Different ways to monetize your blogs (such as how to set your own ad prices or effectively use affiliate programs)
• How to buy and sell blogs (including understanding your reader metrics and blog / site analytics)
• How to create and use link bait
• How to run a competition on your blog
• How to use social media and other tools to promote your blog

I doubt even the most successful bloggers couldn’t use a refresher periodically on at least a few of those topics or the many others covered in the book. And sometimes it’s simply nicer to have a book on-hand to page through rather than endlessly staring at our screens (which many of us bloggers do too much as it is).