Having first dipped my toe in the online arena as a freelance writer, I can tell you firsthand how frustrating it can be to wade through terrible PR pitches.

If you’re looking to establish genuine connections with bloggers through PR pitches, please:

DO NOT

• Address me (or anyone for that matter) as Garcia, Garcia_Lori, Blogger, Mommy Blogger, Hey There, Blog Miss, Mommy, or [Name] (<— as in, exactly like that). Address your intended recipient by name or even blog name if the author’s name is unavailable.
• Pitch products and/or services outside the scope of their blog.
• Pitch contests or boring product information to share with their readers. Knowing how hard bloggers work to not only earn but cultivate their readership, asking a blogger to serve as a commercial messenger for a product or service that fails to serve their audience is a waste of your time and theirs.
• Ignore the power of the Bcc. I know a lot of the bloggers on your mailing list, but no one wants to be copied on every subsequent request to be removed from it.
• Invite bloggers to events on the opposite coast – that is, unless you are offering to sponsor their travel. Yes, it’s always nice to be invited to things, but if a blogger writes about living in New Jersey and you’re regularly flooding her inbox with invitations to events on the west coast, she’s likely delete the invitation every time.
• Write a novel. You’ve heard that brevity is the soul of wit, well, it’s also the soul of a great PR pitch. Reserve the first few lines for pleasantries and key information about the product and/or service you’re providing. Provide links to more detailed information for anyone interested in learning more. There’s no need to include high-resolution images, complete specifications, customer reviews, etc. in the initial email.
• Ignore basic grammar.
• Assume all bloggers are the same. Just as lifestyle bloggers are different than tech bloggers, parenting bloggers are different than food bloggers. Sure, sometimes there’s overlap, but time you invest in getting to know your pitch recipients will be targeted time well spent.
• Offer a backhanded compliment. “We see you’ve written about things your children need to learn before moving out and we believe you’ve left a few things out.” Please don’t do that.
• Act as if a blogger is working for you. When a blogger has a platform on a popular website, it might be tempting to ask/tell/otherwise encourage them to write about your product on said platform. Please know that if a blogger thinks your brand is worth discussing or would make a good addition for an upcoming article, they’ll most certainly include you. Otherwise, feel free to pitch large websites directly.

DO

• Get to know your blogger, at least a little. By knowing a little bit about the individual, their blog, location, and audience, cold pitches become warm ones.
• Spell check and double-check your PR pitch. There’s nothing worse than like five slightly different variations of the same pitch.
• Offer fair and equitable compensation for what you are asking for.
• Be sincere, brief, and respectful.
• Pitch early. Don’t wait until Christmas Eve to pitch a bunch of stuff about Christmas. By then, it’s just too late.
• Respond quickly.
• Trust that a blogger knows their audience.