Interview pitches, sans pitch
One of the things people ask about when talking about starting a blog is whether or not journalists read blogs or search them for information. The answer is that not *all* of them do, but quite a few keep an eye on what's happening in blogs and new media and utilize it either as a starting point for a story idea, a place to get quotes, or a reference area for readers of the finished piece. Another benefit of having a blog or Web presence is the possibility of getting quoted elsewhere. Sometimes a news site, such as News.com, will pick up on what bloggers are saying about a particular topic and quote / link to them right from the article, and sometimes they follow up directly to get some answers. On occasion, it leads to an interview or chat, giving you just a tad bit more publicity than you could drive yourself through blogs and new media outlets.
As a for instance, I'll throw out the example of my pal David Singer, who runs the hockeyfights.com site. Hockeyfights has quite a few members who are excited about hockey and the fighting aspect, but are true enthusiasts of the game as a whole. If you want to find a fight video in the last few years, this is a site to go check out. This morning, 1380 ESPN Radio in St. Louis had David on for a few minutes to talk about the site and what his opinions were on who the best fighters are right now, which teams are the toughest, and more. Right before he made it on the air, there was a great promo for him and the site done by the host, Andy Strickland, who handles the Blues Brunch show on that station. (The St. Louis Blues are the hockey team in the market, if you're not familiar with the NHL) You can listen to the clips on David's site.
So let alone the exposure of anyone listening to the promo during an interview with player Doug Weight heading over to the site, David got to be on the air and share his knowledge about the game and the fight within the game. He has, over quite a few years of working this project together, positioned himself as a great (if not THE) place to go for chat about last night's brawl and to see what it's all about. His site has attracted advertising from HDNet, which is running NHL games in HD this season on television, and has a loyal membership. We don't even need to discuss the bump in traffic that he might get from this appearance, it's the fact that the media is looking for content like this - and by going out and creating a community around a particular topic, David can effectively "own" a significant portion of the fan base for this particular aspect of the game - which is huge. What are you doing right now that you'd like to "own" a part of the market of, or be able to influence the discussion about?
Comments
I think the idea of journalists and media outlets latching on to bloggers and their passion and expertise is one that would be a fantastic way to extend the reach of traditional media. If a blogger is going to be interviewed for a radio show or newspaper he or she will likely write about it on their site and that means increased exposure for the pub/station. It's a win for both parties.
There are so many passionate people out there dealing with topics that traditional outlets just can't because they're not money makers. Featuring these people gives them access to that enthusiasm dirt cheap and with a potential for great exposure. Seems like a no-brainer to me.
Posted by: Chris Thilk | January 26, 2006 05:25 PM