Are You Worried About How To Make A “Pitch” To An Influential Blogger?

“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” Dale Carnegie

Have you ever “pitched” a request to a top blogger?

Have you asked for a guest post?

Or for them to share a piece of your content?

Well, that’s what I asked these top bloggers: “What is the most memorable pitch you’ve ever received?”

Here are their answers:

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Mike Alton
Donna Merrill
Marianne Manthey
Ryan Biddulph
Andrea Beltrami
Amy Lynn Andrews
Dan Western
Tor Refsland

Mike Alton

Interestingly, the most memorable pitch that I’ve ever received was from a blogger for whom I had already published one or more posts. James Scherer from Wishpond emailed me and said, “Yes, I’m very aware you wrote an article entitled ‘Why You Should Opt Out of Facebook Ads’ a couple months ago. This article mentions that fact, and then gives a few ways to combat the legitimately terrible organic reach you quoted, as well as the two ways I think Facebook Ads can be used successfully. At least take a look :)”

And he opened the guest post itself perfectly. He says:

One of the most popular articles on TheSocialMediaHat in 2013 was entitled ‘Why You Should Opt Out of Facebook Ads’. I thought it worth taking another look for 2014. Yes, that article was written by Mr. Mike Allton himself so this may be the worst guest contribution idea imaginable.

Needless to say, I published the article. James is an excellent blogger and researcher and stated his case perfectly.

Donna Merrill

I don’t really read pitches too often. In fact, most of them are filtered directly into the trash, so that I don’t even have to see them.

That only happens after I’ve already identified a sender as a source of unsolicited (and unwanted) pitches.

One pitch, though, that actually got my attention was from someone I did not know at all.

The subject that got me to open was: “Thanks for your help, Donna. I really appreciate it.”

I didn’t recognize the name, but my curiosity was piqued.

The body of the email was essentially this.

“Thanks for the wonderful blog post you wrote titled ‘XYZ.’ I was so happy to hear how important images are in online content because guess what? I actually create image packages for bloggers to use. I’d love to write a guest post for your blog, in which I expand on this, and give your readers some really cool tips about using images. You can edit it, of course, any way you want and NO… it doesn’t pitch me. I’m happy just to meet your readers and give them some great advice like you always do. I appreciate what you do and would love to be a little part of that.”

That was the gist of it anyway. I put it in quotes, but it’s only a paraphrase from my recollection.

It was a great pitch that still stands out in my mind because it was framed as a thank you, as an appreciation of what I do, and as a request to be part of that. It clearly stated it was not intended as a pitch, although, it was of course. Just not a blatant one.

As a business person, I always like to see a good pitch, especially when it’s subtle and non-imposing.

I actually did NOT have this person submit a guest post because I do so little of that, and his topic is not really congruent with the focus of my blog. He does, however, comment on my blog from time to time, and I… of course… reciprocate by commenting on his.

Marianne Manthey

Strangely enough, my most memorable pitch was from Dre Beltrami at The Branded Solopreneur! I didn’t know her that well at the time but because of the wording she used, I fell in love with her right away! Here’s how she began her pitch:

“I’m Dre from The Branded Solopreneur. Big ass high five for adding me on twitter! I know you’re one busy lady so it might be a long shot, but I wanted to see if you’d be interested in contributing to a new roundup-style post I’m putting together called, ‘Must Have Tools That Social Royalty Use To Stand Out Online’.”

First of all, Social Royalty: me? Flattery gets you everywhere! How could I say no to that?

Ryan Biddulph

No one pitch stands out per se but I do remember every one where folks: mention my name, mention a recent post, comment on the recent post (via the email itself, and on the post), and, if they are polite, kind and give with no strings attached. Sure they are asking for something but if they make it cool, if I am too busy for the request, or if I am not a match, then I am impressed. AND….if they ask me, how they can help me, no matter if I say yes or no, wow, then I am in.

Example; I’ve promoted one of my recent eBooks, asking folks for reviews. I state that if they can do it, great. If not, no problems. Then I cap it off with a question: how can I help you? The ball is in their court, meaning, since I leave the email with the query, more often than not folks will ask something of me. Yes, they will usually do the review if they take me up on my request, LOL, but honestly, I ask to help, to help, because I enjoy it.

Folks who take that tact always open my eyes, and make me do a double take.

Andrea Beltrami

The best blogger pitch I’ve ever gotten was from Thomas E. Hanna, who approached me about being a beta tester for his new course.

The pitch was fantastic for several reasons including:

He private messaged on a social profile I was incredibly active on, instead of email
He had done his research and knew exactly how I would benefit from his course
He had all the beta testing details lined out so I knew what I would be getting out of it
He made sure there was 4x’s the value I would get them him, making it a no-brainer

Thomas approached me in my style, informal that is, and was very conversational. To the point where he was genuinely asking a question not hard selling his course. The best pitch really is one that doesn’t feel like a pitch at all!

Combine that with that fact that he followed all of that up by delivering more than he promised, and not surprisingly I left a raving fan.

These days Thomas has become one of my BEST blogging homedogs, which is proof that approaching people in genuine and real ways and offering a helping hand, free of expectations, can lead to extremely tight bonds and bigger things down the road.

Amy Lynn Andrews

One pitch that stands out was a podcast interview request from Lisa Morosky.

Her email consisted of just three short paragraphs, but they were packed with excellent information. She provided everything I needed to make an informed decision without having to email back and forth multiple times.

Paragraph one was two lines. She told me she bought my ebook and read it. She briefly mentioned specific things she appreciated about it. I was immediately impressed. Not only did she take the time to become familiar with me, she also invested her own money. This spoke volumes.

Paragraph two was three sentences. She mentioned the overall direction of her project and asked if I would join her on her podcast. She told me the two main topics she wanted to talk about and a few ideas for subtopics.

Paragraph three was also three sentences. She told me how long she anticipated the chat to be and assured me she wanted to work around my schedule. She gave me two options for recording (Skype or a conference call service) and assured me she’d send specific questions ahead of time. She even told me how far in advance I would receive the questions. She also made it clear that she was open to me suggesting topics as well.

It was easy to agree to join her. Her thoroughness and attention to detail continued through the recording date as well as the publish date. She was great.

Dan Western

Good pitches from other bloggers aren’t as common as they should be. There are too many times where I receive a one line email with grammar mistakes, that doesn’t come across as friendly and inviting. However, there’s one pitch I distinctly remember from the pile of emails.

This pitch reminded me of something I’d seen in a cartoon a year or so ago, where somebody was trying to sell their T.V show to a group of advertisers. The sentences were short, powerful and straight to the point.

A blogger contacted me asking if he could write a guest post on my website, and the first time around he was incredibly friendly and enthusiastic. The problem was that the article wasn’t quite clear enough to publish so I sent it back to him and gave him some feedback, to which he sent the best response I’ve ever had when giving constructive feedback to someone.

Here’s the part of his email that I was drawn to:

“Anyway, the piece was rejected. It was confusing. It didn’t fit the mold of your site. To be frank, it sucked. Guess what? I don’t give up that easily! If anything, that’s what your website teaches! That’s why I’m always reading.”

When I read this is wasn’t quite like reading an email. It was as if he was telling me it in person and I could hear exactly how he was saying it.

The lesson? Enthusiasm is easily remembered.

Tor Refsland

I got an email from another blogger asking me to sign up for his / her email list.

As in ANY area, begging and desperation is a total TURN OFF.

That person was obviously SLEEPING in class when the subject “How To Natural Attract The Right Subscribers” got covered.

Getting traffic to your blog and subscribers to your email list is all about attracting the right clients.

By begging, you will REPEL potential subscribers and RUIN your own brand.

Imagine this…

You are single and a stranger appears from nowhere starting to BEG you to go on a date.

It doesn`t matter if that person was good-looking…

HECK, it wouldn`t matter if that person was the best person in the whole world and had saved 10 small kittens from drowning…

Because your WACKO-alert would start screaming, right?

And for a good reason.

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