I’ve read plenty of posts from bloggers who are tired of being pitched in an irresponsible way. The latest is Merlin Mann of 43 Folders, who’s issued a set of "dos and don’ts" for pitching him. Most of it is familiar ground, but a good reminder for PR pros who pitch to bloggers.
He makes a good case, and I can certainly understand his frustration, but one thing that stood out (I hope I’m not misunderstanding) was his mention that "free stuff helps." The goal of public relations should be to cultivate relationships with media (and bloggers) by supplying them with information they can actually use. Ultimately, I want to become a trusted source for reporters. Sending free stuff along with press releases would feel like the equivalent of buying them off, and that causes an ethical dilemma. Furthermore, at that point, the information I send takes a back seat to the swag. That’s bad- The information should speak for itself.
I guess I’d caution any enterprising PR pro thinking of sending swag to reporters, unless it’s a product for review, to think twice. Your credibility is the most important thing you have, and if that’s jeopardized, it’ll be a long, uphill battle to reclaim it.
Thanks for posting on this. I’m grabbing a few blogger posting rules and aggregating them over at Bad Pitch. Everyone’s guidelines are different and it takes time to learn all of the ins and outs.