If you’re launching a new product or planning to run a crowdfunding campaign on websites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo, or Pozible, the last thing on your mind is to focus on small publications as a distribution engine for your latest news.
Unfortunately, many creators tend to pass over the entire group of small and medium sized bloggers when they are trying to get the word out about their product or crowdfunding campaign. They want a BIG hit. They want a feature story on TechCrunch, Mashable, or The New York Times.
The reality is that it’s extremely hard to get featured on a large mainstream publication with millions of readers, and often times PR firms that require a 10k+ retainer earn their money’s worth when they score one of these big hits for their client.
If you don’t have the budget to hire a professional PR firm or if you don’t have a novel invention that will shift the fabric of an industry, then how do you get media coverage? Small and Medium sized blogs!
Small Blogs Are The Pathway To Larger Blogs
If you focus on getting traction on small blogs first, when medium sized google your name or the name of your product, they will see all these publications writing about your story and the benefits of your product.
Since blogs are in the business of writing for a particular audience, any indication, aside from your own evangelizing, that readers like the story angle or the topic is a plus in your column. This leads to a better chance of being selected for a story on their website.
If you then starting getting some ink with the medium sized blogs, then it will look great when larger blogs google your product. This is one path into mainstream exposure. Mainstream writers like to cover topics and stories that they know readers will like. Many don’t like to take risks. Getting coverage on small and medium sized blogs is one way to show reader demand for your story.
Focus on Traffic Quality, not Quantity
There is nothing worse than seeing a huge spike in traffic and receiving no conversions in terms of sales, shares, or pledges.
Many larger blogs like Mashable and TechCrunch have the ability to deliver thousands of readers to your website, but many of those readers will click away within 20 seconds and go on to the next headline.
Smaller blogs tend to have a more intimate relationship with their audience. When they recommend a product, their readers will take the time to check it out, leave comments, and possibly share it with their friends.
At this stage, bloggers are just beginning to have influence and often times have a direct relationship with their readers through emails, comments, and social media posts. Any visitors that you might receive from these blogs tend to be a better quality of traffic, as there is a trust relationship between the author and the reader.
Calculate Barriers To Entry
Let’s be honest, unless you have a direct relationship with an author at a larger publication, or can get an introduction to that author via a 2nd degree connection on LinkedIn, your email is one of hundreds.
Yes, exciting titles and eye-catching headlines can draw attention, as well as a carefully created pitch, but you’re still in the game of competing for stage space.
Smaller blogs naturally receive less story submissions and are contacted by fewer individuals, meaning that you won’t have to compete to be heard. Naturally, your “conversions,” or the ratio of the number of bloggers you need to reach out to until you find one that is excited about your story, will be better with smaller blogs than large publications.
You may get thousands of visitors if you can score one big media mention, but in the span of time you invested getting that mention, you could have contacted hundreds of smaller blogs and maybe received equal traffic in the same time frame.
Conclusion
Not convinced? Leave a comment below with your thoughts. Be sure to check out 6 Tools You Can Use To Find Bloggers In Your Niche for more detailed information about finding small and medium sized blogs in the industry of your product or crowdfunding campaign.
