I wrote (and spoke) last week about the importance of building relationships with bloggers. They really are a great resource for learning what your target audience is interested in and what the buzz is about in the community surrounding your expertise. But before you start building a relationship with a blogger, you’ll have to find them first.
It’s easy to search on Google for bloggers related to your expertise. If you’re a green-living expert, you can simply type in “green-living blogs” and you’ll find links to these blogs, articles mentioning them, blog posts about these blogs and blog posts about these blog posts about these blogs. I know — kind of overwhelming. Usually you’ll find the most popular blogs related to your expertise, and because they are the most popular they will also be the hardest to break into. But right off the bat though, you have your goal: Get on that blog!
But how? You’ll need to be realistic. If you’re just starting out, you should find a less popular blog or one who maybe has even more of a niche following your expertise can fit into. Don’t forget about that BBOC (Big Blog on Campus) though. Bookmark it, follow daily and stay up to date with what they’re covering. You can count on this: All the bloggers you’ll create relationships are doing the same. You should too.
Sites like Technorati are really helpful in narrowing down blogs and bloggers to start building relationships with. You’ll definitely find the most popular ones and the most popular posts, but they also have comprehensive directories with each blog’s authority ranking on the particular subject manner, i.e. green living. You can search Technorati just like you would search Google and start browsing blogs with the reach you’re committed too. Make a realistic list of five or so blogs you’d like to be a guest-blogger or be featured on, then get ready to begin building your relationship with them, which I’ll cover real soon.
