Socialmediaworx

The Viral Garden has a sweet post getting down to the basics of starting a successful blogger outreach program in one day:

9:00 am – 11:00 am: Go to Technorati and Google Blog Search and search for bloggers that are talking about your company. Make a list of at least 20 bloggers that have blogged about your company within the last 2 weeks. Concentrate on bloggers that appear to be evangelizing your company, but also add some bloggers that are critical of your efforts.

11:00 am – 2:00 pm: After you have your list of at least 20 bloggers that are talking about your company, go back to every blog and respond to the blog post where your company is mentioned. Clearly identify yourself, and your position with the company. Address only the topics presented, and any relevant information. Invite replies from readers. Thank the blogger for the comment, and then go back and email them thanking them for their comments, and let them know that you are available for a short phone discussion or interview, if they are interested.

2:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Subscribe to the feeds from all the blogs you commented on, as well as their comment feeds, if available. If your company has a blog, add links to any bloggers that are evangelizing your company on your company blog’s sidebar.

3:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Visit your list of blogs again, and read any new posts, and also reply to any comments that were addressed to you, or relevant comments that other readers have left.

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Answer any emails from bloggers, and if possible, schedule times to discuss topics raised with blogger on the phone, or via interview.

This will get your blogger-outreach program off the ground. From this point, every day you should read the blogs via your feedreader. Also, at least twice a week, you should again check Technorati and Google Blog Search for new mentions about your company, and repeat the process.

And while these simple steps are great for getting started, I’d emphasize his last point – you can’t stop after the first day. Reaching out to bloggers will only be more effective if you show you are willing to build a relationship and regularly invest in what they have to say. Kudos to Mack for getting the fundamentals right.