There are a lot of “Mummy Bloggers” (I’m not sure I like that title to be honest, parent bloggers is better as there are some fab blogging Dads out there!), around and about and we all blog for different reasons. Some blog purely for the love of it, to capture moments in life, their children’s life, to showcase their hobby and some do the same but also run their blog empire as a business. I’m a combination – I love blogging, love seeing my ramblings in black and white for all to read, but I also run C&C as a business, I make some money from it and mostly use it as a platform for my freelance writing work.
As a Mummy Blogger (MB) I get a lot of PR contact. This is always welcome, as reviews (that are relevant) can make great content, and the info you can get from PR companies can be a great base for features and articles.
However.. I am finding, with increasing frequency, that the contact I get from PR companies can vary from scatty to downright rude!
Three examples of recent emails (details changed about a little to preserve anonymity) include:
1) “Hi Nick” <Bad start, it’s Nicki, but we’ll go with that being a typo. Then..“I have looked at your great blog and think we have the ideal product for you to review… our dog food….”. So either he is saying I am a bitch (!) or he is fibbing and hasn’t looked at my blog at all, as I don’t have a dog!
2) I am asked to run a guest blog, or piece about a product but find myself chasing Twitter, Website, Facebook links and having to ask repeatedly for pictures / further info. It’s the kind of PR contact that makes you wonder why you agreed to work with them (Mummy bloggers don’t have time to run around like idiots finding this info anymore than journalists for magazines do).
3) A personal-type email which is easy to read, comments on your recent posts, adds a personal comment about it, and is written by a PERSON not an autobot! I deal will several companies that I have built up a good relationship with and exchange almost chatty emails with now, but one PR company in particular from day one, has always contacted me this way, and it really does make a difference.
Now I don’t work in PR myself (obviously!), and I may be shooting myself in the foot somewhat here, but I hope not, as I would like to think someone in PR who is basically representing someone else’s brand to the world, would be big enough to take constructive criticism on the chin and maybe do something with it.
So just a little plea from a little Mummy Blogger.. remember that we all, regardless of the reason for our blogging, put a lot of time, effort and heart into our work, so please think about this when you contact us. It can make all the difference when working with someone, if you have mutual respect for each other.
Thank you!