Hello. I`m [NAME REMOVED - DON'T WANT TO GET ANYONE FIRED], Director at [A GREAT BIG COMPANY IN THE UK].
We have an idea which I hope you will find useful – we originally found mickipedia.com by searching for terms related to ringtones but in fact we cover all aspects of the mobile phone and technology industries and so we are in fact looking for a range of good quality partners relevant to the appropriate sections of our site.
We would like to have our editorial team research and hand write some content for you to add to a page on mickipedia.com. We will agree a subject with you that is relevant to both of our sites (it won`t be a sales pitch for us!) and will include a single simple text link back to a relevant content page on our site. The content will be uniquely written for you and will not be re-used elsewhere. It should be helpful to your visitors and of course the search engines, as will the presence of a relevant link back to us. Hopefully we will also benefit from the link in the longer term. We are not currently in the position of being able to exchange or return links so we thought this could be a good alternative.
Naturally there are no costs whatsoever for you.
If this isn`t appropriate for you, please accept my sincere apologies for having troubled you.
Hope to hear back.
Kind Regards – [DIRECTOR, EPIC FAIL PR]
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
What?? No name and shame??? Sissy!
Tell all, I say!
I wish you hadn’t redacted the personal information. This person obviously stands behind their communication strongly enough to send it out to random bloggers, and deserves the public stinkeye for this idea.
… and the next thing you know they will want to buy your domain name.
I guess this is called HTM – hand to mouth – rather than word of mouth. Nothing surprises me today, as people will try anything to get onto a blog. Good you did not mention their name.
mp/m
I’m not interested in using my blog to point fingers at anyone. However, I thought this post could be valuable as an example of what not to do when reaching out to bloggers.
I’m a little confused here… Is the outrage over the fact that it’s an automated and unsolicited message, or is it what they were offering?
It sounds like they’re offering site content in exchange for advertising instead of money. That’s not a new idea at all and isn’t much different from providing copywriting services (which I see you offer on your Consulting page)
For people who are having trouble making good site content but don’t have the budget for a writer… it seems like a fair enough offer.
And if it’s the unsolicited and automated nature that’s pissing people off then yeah, that’s kind of lame. But it’s really not the kind of spam I see as a problem.
Micki, since you offer similar services to what this guy was trying to do, could you elaborate your take on this?
great post Micki but really — you’re trying to tell me you’re not using your blog to point fingers at people… you love to bash palin, mccain and bush. of course i don’t think that’s wrong… just misguided at times
@Carl: A good blog whether written by an individual or by a group must have a clear, consistent voice. It takes time to build trust with readers. Readers must be able to trust that the content is actually provided by the person or group behind a blog.
Copywriting for companies is a very different animal than copywriting for someone’s personal blog. If you want a blogger to post about your product or service, the best way to approach him/her is to ask. Provide an early look at whatever you’re working on and ask for the blogger’s honest opinion.
@Jackson: There is a clear distinction between making political commentary or calling people out on statements they’ve made publicly and posting the personal information of someone who sent me a private email.
You speak the truth. I’m re-reading the email you got and I think I slightly misunderstood what they were offering when I first posted. I spend so much effort encouraging my clients to come up with more content for their sites (only a few of them listen) that I first read it with a different mindset.
For something like this I totally see why you called them out now.
Wait, what? They just wanted you to help increase their google juice but they wernt even going to pay you? gtfo
Pfff. I get these for my blog all the time, mostly from music company who don’t bother looking at the content, nor sometimes remembering to swap out the name of the OTHER blog they sent it to, before they send their pitch.
And, I’m not sure if the guy above offered, but they always want you to do this for them, gratis.
OT but, nice job kicking ass in the rink last night!
I think Carl’s point is well taken, but I respectfully suggest that he missed the real concern (at least in his initial comment). I took this as an offer to allow the blogger to serve as a platform for the other guy’s spam links. (Or, as Josh says, in a phrase I’m going to steal I’m sorry to say, ‘increase their Google juice.’ Love it.)
Or, to put it another way, there still is no such thing as a free lunch.