“How can I get bloggers to write about my crowdfunding campaign?”  I’m asked this question alot.  Why?  Bloggers have a great influence and reach in this age of the internet.  They hold their audiences with their brilliant words and stunning pictures.  If you’ve thought about using bloggers to help increase the reach of your crowdfunding project, you would have been thinking RIGHT!  The problem is, getting the attention of the bloggers AND then getting them to actually write about your campaign.

As a blogger for over 10 years, I can tell you that my time is NOT cheap.  If I’m working on the computer, even if it’s at home on the couch while ‘Housewives’ is playing in the background, I AM WORKING.  I do volunteer, but at my leisure.  You wouldn’t believe the amount of emails bloggers get to “please review this, write about this, try this”.  AND..MOST of these requests are asking for these services for FREE!  So, how can you make YOUR request stand out AND get published?

First, take your time to research some bloggers that ALREADY write about the niche in which your campaign is aligned.  For instance, if you’ve started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for your son’s basketball team, you PROBABLY wouldn’t want to reach out to bloggers that only write about food.  You WOULD, however, be searching for blogs in your same city, blogs that talk about families, and sports blogs.

Ok…I told you to “reach out” to bloggers.  What does that mean?  It means, start reading their blogs!  Follow them on all the social media channels that they promote.  Retweet them, leave comments for them, pin them.  All these things will get YOU noticed.

Should you only go after BIG bloggers?  You can…but, don’t overlook the small blogs.  Some smaller blogs actually have a better relationship with their readers because they are small.

Sending emails will PROBABLY get you no where.  That doesn’t mean that you can’t email bloggers…but, if you don’t already have a relationship with them AND you’re asking them to promote you for FREE…it will MOST LIKELY NOT HAPPEN.

Add value to their site.  Can you write a post for them, adding value to their site (not just a plug promoting you)?  Giving expert advice to the blogs’ readers…OR…tie in your campaign someway in a theme that they generally talk about (or have in the past).  Even if they just mention you in a link, that’s something.   What are you providing them (what’s in it for them to write about you or to even link to your campaign)?

Think about all those things BEFORE you reach out to bloggers.