Sheila's Guide To The Good Stuff

A good pitch is timely, short, punchy and answers the question WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) for the recipient.

If this sounds familiar, it should. A good pitch to bloggers is very much like a good pitch to any media person.

At BlogWorld and New Media Expo West in Los Angeles, I talked to Jared Degnan from Brandware Public Relations about pitching bloggers….the video is about a minute long, and here’s the direct link to it on YouTube in case you can’t see the embed box below.

Did I get it right, or was I too simplistic?  Leave a reply down in the comments….thanks!

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I’m fresh off of a short Southern road trip between the Tourism track at BlogWorld and New Media Expo West in Los Angeles, and the Symposium on Social Media in Tourism (SoMeT) in Tunica, Mississippi.

In between LA and Tunica, I landed in Jackson, MS, put on my travel blogger hat and drove north for a few days while working on an article for Automotive Traveler.

Allow me to give a HUGE shout-out and thank you to my hosts at the Jackson, MS CVB (Convention and Visitors Bureau) especially their Public Relations Manager, Marika Cackett.

Marika, Sophie McNeil and crew went well beyond the call of duty to ensure that I got a well-rounded view of their city, even though I didn’t have much time there. I was on the football field at a Battle of the Bands to hear the Sonic Boom of the South marching band from Jackson State University, I ate one fabulous meal after another all over town, I visited Civil Rights landmarks like Medgar Evers’ home and I heard the Central Mississippi Blues Society at local joint Hal and Mal’s.

The most wonderful moments, however, were with the enthusiastic and fun Marika as she connected me with the people who are creating an incredible renaissance in the historically African-American Farish Street district, and when she and I made happy fools of ourselves singing along with Marvin Gaye and Etta James on the jukebox at Peaches Cafe.

Here’s the above-and-beyond part: I didn’t organize my travel plans as well as I usually do, and I hadn’t properly lined up a FIAT 500 from Jackson’s Enterprise car rental (for the Automotive Traveler story.) I was swamped by BlogWorld preps and just blew it.

Marika said, “Hey, I’ll call Enterprise for you about the FIAT rental.”  I felt like such a disorganized moron that I tried to turn her down, but she cheerfully blew me off and made the call anyway. A few hours later, my phone rings in Los Angeles. “I got your FIAT!” she says. I’ll swear, I could have crawled through the phone and hugged her. She saved my bacon.

Thank you so much, Marika and all of the tourism folks who help us out even when we don’t really deserve it.

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In the wildly diverse and ever-growing world of bloggers and other online publishers, how do you sort through the stack to find the ones who interest you?

The ideas below were adapted from a comment of mine on the SpinSucks post “Blogger Outreach: Three Steps to a Successful Program“….in the spirit of more content in less time, I’m also going to put the same information here as a blog post.

Where do you find bloggers who might want to know about your destination, attraction, product, service or book?

I’m not sure I’d recommend that old warhorse Technorati for much of anything these days – I’d go for Alltop.com instead, if you’re looking for online publishers in lots of different subject areas.

Pssst – there’s an Alltop Tourism Industry channel, too!

Consultant Christina Pappas suggests looking for blogrolls (lists of favorite blogs, usually found in the sidebar) which is good when you can find blogs that still do them. Also look at Twitter Lists on Listorious and the membership of open Facebook Groups (one travel blogging Facebook Group has over 800 members; no harm in asking to join a Group if you have something to contribute, but don’t go in there and start overt marketing or you’ll probably get a digital spanking.)

Consider Twitter chats – many travel bloggers hang out on the #TBEX and #TBU hashtags, for example, and they also attend the associated TBEX / @TBEXEvents and Travel Bloggers Unite / @tbloggersunite travel blogging conferences, so show up there and participate.

It’s very effective to connect OFFline by going where the geeks are;  events like BlogWorld & New Media Expo, SXSWi (South by Southwest Interactive,) BlogHer, SOBCon, the 140 Character Conferences worldwide, Blissdom, local Social Media Clubs and Social Media Breakfasts plus small niche gatherings …. there’s a pet blogging conference, a beer blogging conference, food blogger events, craft blogger conferences….you get the idea.

But yes – meet bloggers on their blog, not in their email IN box (where I spend an inordinate amount of time deleting stupid stuff that I don’t want, thanks to people buying my name from companies like Vocus, Cision and BurrellesLuce.)

Meet bloggers where they are, on their terms. After all, YOU want what THEY have.

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This is a combined post written with Troy Thompson of Travel2Dot0, my co-presenter at the excellent, wide-ranging eTourism Summit.

We spoke together about blogger outreach at the conference and here are a few of our follow-up thoughts….

Troy, on things to consider before working with a blogger

As part of my eTourism Summit schedule, one fateful session had me teamed with the America’s Blogger, Sheila Scarborough [ note from me - Troy says that this is like America's Team, but that I don't throw interceptions.  ] Never one to pass up an opportunity to express myself, nor is Sheila, we decided to take a couple of themes and thoughts from our presentation and through the magic of the internets, turn them into an article.

Sheila is covering relationships, I am covering evaluation. Two posts for the price of one.

How To: Evaluate and Select Bloggers

It was a popular question during our recent eTourism Summit presentation: How do I evaluate bloggers? Or, more specifically, how can I tell the good bloggers from the freeloaders?

An excellent question and one that everyone in the tourism space will eventually deal with. While the correct answer is based upon your needs and goals (sorry), I do have a few tips on how to evaluate and select the right blogger. Used in conjunction with other sources these tips should provide the foundation for your own blogger evaluation algorithm.

Google Analytics

Yeah, numbers. Start here. The numbers will not tell you a whole lot. Frankly, audience size should not be a top priority…quality over quantity, right?…but asking for Google Analytics will provide two clues about the blogger. 1) Are they willing to share statistics. And 2) do they have statistics. If the answer for either question is no, then you can move this candidate to the bottom of your list.

Klout

Ah, Klout. Half of you just cursed out loud, while the rest of you are frantically Googling the word Klout. The social ranking system has strong supporters and loud detractors, but it does provide another piece of your blogger evaluation puzzle. Check the score. Again, this is just a basic test. Klout of 5? Red flag. Klout of 54, continue the evaluation investigation.

Writing Style

Take the time to read the writer’s work, and not just the most recent post. The first post, the most popular most, a random post. Understand their perspective, writing style and technique. Does it fit with your brand, goals or campaign? Does the blogger tell a complete story. Do they use images, video and other content to complete the narrative. Is it a good story? Check, check, check…okay, let’s keep moving.

Being Social

Yes, we already looked at the Klout score, but that is not the end of the social investigation. Klout can be fooled. Look on the blog; are social network icons present? Are they active on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.? Do they promote their writing via these channels? Are they actively communicating…and, are readers communicating back? Are there comments on the blog posts? Does the blogger respond? How social are they? You want someone who will carry your message and story beyond a single web page. You are hiring a digital advocate for your brand. The question is, are they an advocate?

Network

Going a step beyond just being social, you need to know who they are social with. A bit selfish on your part, but hey, a comp [complimentary hotel] room is a comp room. Is the blogger talking with other bloggers? Are those bloggers or writers potential connections for another story about your destination? What about building their network. Is the blogger active in Twitter chats or Facebook groups? What about on Disqus? Is there an opportunity to not only benefit from the direct network of this blogger, but their indirect network as well? Yes. Perfect. Comp ‘em that room.

While our five tips are a great start, they are just that, a start. Your goals are likely different from a retail store, internet start-up or another destination and therefore your evaluation criteria should be different as well.

But, as long as you are researching against goals…and not looking for a quick Klout rating…the right blogger is just a tweet away.

Me, on growing a blogger network, or Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty

I can’t claim credit for the “dig your well” idea – it’s the title of a book by Harvey Mackay – but when it comes to building a network of online connections and resources, it is definitely true.

(Head over to Troy’s blog to read my unicorn blogger advice….)

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Want to know how NOT to invite writers to your press trip or fam (familiarization) tour?  This guest post by Kara S. Williams will lay it out for you….

The Bait

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email with the subject line, “An Exclusive Invitation to [resort & spa] FAM.” The body of the email was in press release form, and the lack of personal salutation should have tipped me off immediately to its lack of exclusivity. Still, I read the words “Exclusive Invitation” again in the headline and soaked up details about the press trip in the subhead: “Including airfare, lodging, ground transport and most meals for 3 qualified journalists.” A small group with airfare included? Sign me up!

I checked the itinerary – spa treatment! special dinner! – and figured that the short trip would fit beautifully into my fall schedule: not too much time away from my family and I didn’t have plans on those particular dates.

The bottom of the release/invite noted, “Writers must show credentials.” No problem, I thought. As a travel writer and blogger, when I am invited to resorts or to destinations I’m accustomed to telling PR folks where I can place stories (guaranteed on my own blogs) and where I might be able to pitch stories (other magazines and websites I have a freelance relationship with). This didn’t raise a huge flag with me.

I wrote back to the PR person inviting me to this event, “This sounds like an incredible opportunity! What more do you need from me?”

The Switch

She asked for statistics and demographics of the websites I co-own; I sent them and then didn’t hear anything for five days, so I followed up to confirm the trip was a go.

Turns out, as I should have gathered, the “exclusive invitation” was not an exclusive invitation at all. It was a call for interest for this particular press trip.

I was told that the trip did indeed garner a lot of interest from all those who received the “invite,” that my information was passed on to the ultimate decision makers at the resort, and that I did not make the cut.

The Teaching Moment

This ruffled my feathers, even though I should have recognized some warning signs regarding this invite. I decided to tell the PR person that I felt a bit duped – figuring this could be a learning experience for both of us.

Here’s what I wrote back to her:

“I don’t think we’ve worked together before, so I hope you don’t mind this constructive criticism.

1.) Perhaps in the future, consider calling the invite an ‘announcement’ or ‘invitation to show interest’ — not an ‘exclusive invitation.’ That was most definitely not exclusive, if you sent the information to more than the 3 people who could fill your slots.

2.) Perhaps in the future, find the 3 people you really want to have come, and invite them FIRST. If they can’t make it, continue moving down your list.”

I am accustomed to being asked to attend press trips or being invited to visit a resort because the PR folks have vetted me and they want me to attend an event or cover their property. I am MORE THAN HAPPY to share statistics, my outlets, etc. at any time. But I prefer not to be told I’m invited somewhere (with air) and then suddenly… not.

The Light Bulb Moment

And you know what happened? Instead of getting an angry response in return, I immediately received an email back from the PR person: she apologized, she said she appreciated my insight, and she admitted some “rookie mistakes.” I was thrilled that my constructive suggestions didn’t fall on deaf ears.

Now, before I get flamed for not appreciating this generous semi-invite/call for interest to begin with, I’d like Sheila’s Guide readers to know that I do feel extremely fortunate for all of the incredible travel opportunities that have come my way over the past couple of decades in the editorial industry. Trust me, I truly value (okay, delight in) all of the amazing trips I’ve taken – alone, with other travel writers and with my family – especially since I decided to focus on travel writing in the past five years. I absolutely adore my job as a travel writer, and I appreciate the perks that come with that job, namely free and discounted travel.

However, as I noted in my email back to the PR person, I also appreciate full transparency when I am offered such fabulous perks.

To me, this story of a press-trip-invite-gone-wrong ended well. I confirmed that being honest and, when needed, politely forthright with PR folks is the best way to conduct business. I’d like to think of my relationships with PR companies as collaborative endeavors – no “us vs. them” mentality – and encourage others in the industry to do the same.

Freelance travel writer Kara Williams is a member of ASJA, SATW and TBEX. The acronym-loving mom makes her home in the Colorado Rockies and blogs about all things travel- and spa-related at two websites she co-owns, TheVacationGals.com and TheSpaGals.com. Learn more about her and read clips of her recent work at KaraSWilliams.com. 

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If you are a blogger, here is how you develop a professional reputation to catch the eye of tourism and hospitality organizations that offer press trips and fam (familiarization) tours….

Start in your own town.

Yes, start with the assets right under your nose.

Not coincidentally, this is precisely the sort of advice that new writers get when they ask how to get published in the big national print glossies/magazines – “Get something in your local publications and newspapers before you get the big head about your stuff belonging in the New York Times.”

What was my first big break in a national magazine? When National Geographic Traveler accepted my article proposal about a historic highway that was only a few miles from my Florida home.

I watch with some bemusement as newish bloggers wonder aloud in Facebook Groups and at conferences about how to get invited on press trips (which are work, not play, and come with their own drawbacks and requirements) and then when I ask the person if he or she has approached tourism assets in their backyard, they usually have not.

So here it is, bloggers:  reach out to your own local CVB (Convention and Visitor’s Bureau) or Tourist Office – town, regional and/or state or province – and see if they’d be interested in a “Like a Local” series on your blog, for example. The same thing might work with a nearby heritage highway or wine, microbrewery or quilt trail.  Even pet bloggers could do a series for their CVB on dog parks and leash-free play areas; visitors to your destination need that information if they travel with pets.

Don’t sit passively by the phone or in your email IN box, waiting for things to magically happen. Craft a proposal about why someone’s support of your travels might be beneficial to them, and pitch it. Your town’s CVB may not even know you exist. Pick up the phone or even go by the Visitor’s Center in person. You have a big advantage over a stranger, especially if they’ve never worked with a blogger before.

Starting out, you won’t get and don’t need press trips to far-flung places. Build a base first: experience, content and reliability. Demonstrate your chops in Des Moines before worrying about Rio de Janeiro.

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Where are the bloggers who might be a good fit for your destination or attraction, and how in the world do you find them, sort them out and connect with them?

How can you best reach out to online publishers who can become champions for you?

We’re offering a dynamite 90 minute webinar to answer those questions!

I’ve been blogging since early 2006, and my Tourism Currents business partner Becky McCray has been publishing online in one form or another since 2003, so we’re pretty well versed in how the community works, what drives bloggers crazy and what kind of outreach can be very successful.

Let us share our hard-won knowledge with you on Thursday, June 30 at 2 pm Central:

Finding Your Online Champions, with Tourism Currents

This one hour and 30 minute webinar plus Q&A will help you find your champions and other digital publishers, connect with them online and off, and increase their support of your destination marketing efforts.

It’s all part of our buildup to the Tourism track at BlogWorld and New Media Expo in Los Angeles, November 3-5 (where a blogger speed-dating session with CVBs and DMOs is on our menu!)

Here is what you will take away from the webinar

1)  Resources and guidance for sifting and finding the right sort of online publishers among the thousands out there.

2)  Tools and techniques for evaluating whether someone is a good fit to work with you.

3)   How to best approach and connect with bloggers and other champions of interest to you.

4)  Why outreach to niche online publishers and smaller audiences may reap bigger dividends for you than trying to chase high-traffic sites and worrying about Klout scores.

Sound good?

The webinar price of $29 includes access to the slides and a recording of the presentation that you can refer to again and again.

Even if you miss the live webinar, you’ll still have access to these items if you’ve registered.

For more information and to register, go here now.

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How to best incorporate bloggers and online publishers into standard press trips/fam tours is an ongoing item of discussion in many tourism circles.

I’m seeing more and more interest by bloggers in constructing individual fams directly with CVBs and DMOs, rather than participating in group tours that don’t represent the sort of travel that they – or their readers – prefer.

Here’s one perspective about press trips from Matt Kepnes (Nomadic Matt) in a travel blogger’s Facebook discussion about press trip pros/cons (quoted with permission:)

“I stopped taking press trips for this reason. I was and still am offered incredible luxury trips but I just can’t take them. It doesn’t mesh with my message. Would I love a luxury trip? Yeah, but I can’t in any good way write about it.

Plus I find press trips to be super-jammed-packed itineraries with little personal time or space to relax or get to know a city. I instead now just work directly with tourism boards to set stuff up. I get to make my own itinerary, stay in hostels, and travel cheap. They don’t care because I am still writing about the destination for them (which is all they care about) and I’m a pretty cheap date…hostels, a train pass, and some city sightseeing cards and I’m good to go. That’s nothing for them.”

Some organizations may see group tours as a more efficient use of resources and time, but this assumes that bloggers need a lot of hand-holding. Many do not; an independent experience makes a lot more sense for them, and will probably result in more compelling and interesting coverage.

Some may say no to your press trip because the timing is off or it’s just a bad fit, but the chances of acceptance and a positive experience are a lot better if the trip matches the person taking it.

Pretty much always true, right?

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Remember how (as Tourism Currents) we set up and ran the first-ever Tourism track at the 2010 BlogWorld online publishing conference?

How we said that you have to go where the geeks are to connect with tech-savvy travelers, and that an event like BlogWorld can supercharge your destination marketing?

And how psyched we were last year to have co-facilitators with us from the Seattle CVB, the Pensacola (FL) CVB, the Beaumont (TX) CVB and meetings expert Jeff Hurt?

Well, in case you haven’t already heard us cheering about it on Facebook or Twitter, we have two confirmed speakers joining us for this year’s Tourism Track at BlogWorld and New Media Expo West, in Los Angeles CA, November 3-5, 2011 (yes, it’s moved from Las Vegas.)

Shanna Smith Snyder from the Abilene TX CVB (a 2011 Texas Social Media Award winner!) and Doug Anweiler from Authentic Seacoast Resorts in Nova Scotia will join us to help teach you more effective use of social media in your destination and hospitality marketing.

We’re also planning on a speed-dating session between our tourism attendees and some of the 8000+ bloggers and online publishers who go to BlogWorld.

Other co-facilitators will be announced soon!

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Who is most likely to link to your content?

Those who find it valuable, but especially other online publishers who know you, appreciate your work and want to help give you a boost.

How do you get their attention and interest?

By building personal and professional working relationships, on- and off-line.

Sorry, no magic pixie dust here. Blogger outreach and social networking take time and effort.

Hey, You! Gimme A Link

I thought about all this when I saw a posting on the Travel Blog Exchange (TBEX) site.

The “Country Vacations & Resorts” vacation rental site (hell no, they aren’t getting a link from me here) was making a bid for linkbuilding by getting bloggers to run their prewritten content as guest posts:

“Guest site [to run a Country Vacations-provided post] must be at least a PR2 [PageRank 2 on Google.] Posts are unique and only for one publication per post. Have several 400-500 word articles that will need “homes”, 1 link (required), 1 image (I provide), would be great but not required. Happy to consider exchange posts with my blog….”

They want links from sites that rank at their PR or higher (my stats show they’re currently PR2 – as a comparison, this blog is PR4) and they want one deep link back to their blog from a wide variety of other blogs.

If I saw this guest post, I would no doubt find very carefully placed links back to specific Country Vacations content, with anchor text chosen to support their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for certain keywords.

Links: Coin Of The Realm For Search

There’s nothing illegal here. None of it smacks of black hat SEO; it’s all pretty much in line with Google guidance on quality links and linkbuilding although I wouldn’t exactly call it the “natural” linkbuilding that Google says it prefers.

Here’s why all of this matters….the number, type and quality of inbound links to your content has a direct impact on where you rank in search engines. Links from Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and many other social sites are “no follow” – they don’t count in Google’s algorithm (although they’re fine for humans, who DO still matter.) So, all that retweeting of a link to your blog post is not as powerful, SEO-wise, as a direct link to the post from a quality site (there are some rumblings, however, that social signals are starting to count in search for both Google and Bing.)

From what I’ve seen, everyone opining about how to get links ends up saying some version of, “Suck up to people really hard and then ask them for a link.” Let me tell you, that works a lot better with people who already know, respect and like you. Otherwise, remove your lips from their bottom, pronto.

The issue here is the randomness of the request in the example above;  it was tossed out in a travel blogger’s forum, for all comers. Hey – Newsflash! Those who are that desperate for content are not the bloggers you want.

Online publishers (well, the good ones) are rather picky about what they post. Why would anyone take some random company’s content, slap it on their precious digital baby, bore/disgust their readers and tacitly endorse a company that didn’t take the time to build a relationship?

What To Do (Instead Of Random Crap) To Build Links

**  Publish interesting, quality stuff that helps and informs your readers. Period.  It’s the hardest thing to do consistently, and the most critical.  After you publish, make sure people can find out about it. Yep, it’s a marketing game. Crafting the content is only the start.

**  Network your tail off on the social Web to get in front of those who might link to your work. Connect with people on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Follow hashtags where bloggers congregate, like #blogchat every Sunday night, 8 pm CST with Mack Collier.

**  Network your tail off IRL (In Real Life.) Go where the geeks are. Attend conferences like BlogWorld and New Media Expo, South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) or niche-specific ones like BlogHer Food (for food bloggers.)  Get that blog URL on the business cards you hand out, too, and follow up after the conference.

**  Once you have a good relationship – however long it takes to build it – then make your pitch. For example, are you a California destination? Ask relevant people in your blogger network if they might be interested in a guest post from you about certain highlights of your town; even a general Q&A with you would be fine. Try to craft your guest post your way, but remember, it’s their blog.

**  Give to get. Do plenty of linking out yourself, to quality content; it is noticed and appreciated by the link recipient. I remember the days when I was a newish blogger and got a big ol’ fat link to one of my posts from a big-deal website. It happened because the author and I connected online and became friends, so she was looking out for me and helping me grow.  Thanks, Liz Strauss, for not turning up your nose at my PageRank back then.

Building links is part of blogging – that’s one reason I still run the Carnival of Cities blog carnival after all these years. It’s my way of highlighting blogs and giving back, through links and attention.

How do you inspire people to link to your content? Please let us know down in the comments….

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