Pitch a Blogger like Bon Jovi Rocks

Or, "You Give Blogger Outreach a Bad Name."

Pop music is just full of cliches. If you can take a line from one pop song, and it makes perfect sense in another pop song, it's probably not a great line. Now try these:

"Remember when we used to park on Butler Street out in the dark"

or

"Table for two on a TV tray"

or my all-time favorite opening line to any song ever:

"Tommy used to work on the docks."

These lyrics create a great picture within their old school Bon Jovi tunes. They paint a vivid image for all of us who have gone parking, suffered through that first apartment or been laid off. But put these lyrics into the middle of another song and they make no sense.

Now to my mailbox:

"Dear Blogger,

I read your blog every day."

Strike.

"Dear (blogger name here):

I think your readers might be interested in...."

Strike.

"Hi Bill,

I saw that you spoke at the New Marketing Summit a few weeks ago. I'm a fan of Chris Brogan and..."

Bingo. I'm reading that one.

I'm in the unique position that I spend an equal amount of time pitching bloggers and being pitched. One thing I've learn, if your opening line to a blogger can be sent to the next blogger on your target list, it's a bad opening line.

These five words I swear to you.