How not to do blogger outreach

I think I’ve probably mentioned before that I get a lot of PR / “blogger outreach” emails. There’s something about having squeezed a baby out of your nethers that makes companies think you’re happy to hawk their wares.

Most of these mails go straight to the bin. Either they’re generic “hi pls link our product” spam from a mass mail program or are from an agency that has picked my email from a list of mommy bloggers and hasn’t bothered to read my contact / PR page (it’s always obvious).

Rarely though do I get mails which, on the surface seem OK, but scratch away a little and you can see that they’re actually bloody awful. Case in point:

bad outreach mail

Let’s count the ways in which this fails:

  1. Misspelled my name – probably my biggest pet peeve (but at least they didn’t call me Jim…)
  2. Address from “Sandra” but mail headers say it’s from Ivan
  3. Empty compliments – since when has my site been approachable? People are usually complaining that my tagline puts them off!
  4. Bollocks about loving giveaways. I think I’ve done 2 over here?
  5. Wrong niche – I talk about parenting and household stuff primarily, not BS nutritional supplements
  6. Wrong side of the planet – why is a US based company wanting a UK based mum to promote them?

Blogger outreach. Is it really that hard to get it right?

Posted on: February 27, 2013 · Category: Interwebs 5

Under the Sofa

I didn’t think it had been that long since I cleaned under the sofa last. And yet, having just done so, I found…

  • teething toy
  • rattle
  • pair of pants (Isabel’s)
  • 2 socks (1 x Isabel’s, 1 x Oliver’s)
  • large Lego wheel
  • 8 mega bloks
  • 1 bulldog clip
  • number 3, number 8
  • 1 hairclip
  • 2 hair bobbles
  • 1 hair elastic
  • 1 mussel shell
  • 4 crayons
  • 2 wax crayons
  • 1 HB pencil
  • 1 fabric watermelon piece
  • 1 flip video camera
  • 1 cork
  • 87 pence
  • 1 piece of chalk
  • 1 mobile telephone (old)
  • a whooooole lot of dust & cat hair!

Ooops.

Posted on: January 10, 2013 · Category: Home & Garden 5

Judgeypants

I got the judgey death stare from another mum in Tesco this morning.

I can’t quite figure out if it was because Isabel was stropping, or if it was because I told her that if she didn’t stop stropping I was going to put her back in the trolley seat (Isabel, that is, not the other mum).

I’ve not done too badly I don’t think, this is the first one in 3 years. That’s not to say it’s the first I’ve had, just that I’m usually oblivious. Still, it could have been worse. Imagine the look she’d have given me if she’d heard our giggling 10 minutes earlier about the willies on her anatomically correct Schleich horses.

Posted on: November 24, 2012 · Category: Parenting 7

That time of year…

I know when cold and flu season is approaching for one rather unique reason…

Hits to a rather, er.. “interesting” old post of mine fly through the roof.

I have to say, if men suffer from sore testicles when they get a cold, it’s no wonder they moan so much. I can’t imagine that’s much fun. Oh wait, probably a bit like bleeding from your uterus once a month… I feel my sympathy draining away! :P

Posted on: October 29, 2012 · Category: Interwebs 5

Geo-targeted SEO fail

Had to break my hiatus to share this gem, as discovered by my colleague Jamie:

Posted on: April 24, 2012 · Category: WTF