How A-Listers Want You To Approach Them (In Their Own Words)

Struggling to make contact with a Blogger? Afraid they'll turn you down? Not sure how to do it? Here's some links to articles written by some big Bloggers on what will make them listen, and what won't.

The main take away you'll get from all of these articles is that they are all saying the same thing. Follow these rules, and you're setup for success.

How to send a personal email (Seth Godin)

Highlights: (the whole thing is a highlight)

• Don't send the same email to large numbers of people.
• Don't talk like a press release. Talk like a person
• Don't send an email only when you really need something. That's not personal, that's selfish
• Be short. The purpose of an email is not to sell the person on anything other than writing back.

How to Pitch to Bloggers – 21 Tips (Problogger)

Highlights:

• Comment First, Pitch Later
• Show You Know Who they Are
• Highlight Benefits
• Consider Time Zones When Calling

13 Tips on Asking other Bloggers for Links (Problogger Again)

Highlights:

• Check to see if they’ve already written about it
• Give something away (e.g. a free resource)
• Make sure your link is relevant and useful

12 Things Not to Do When Pitching a Story to Mashable

Highlights:

• No-no's - Private Message on Social Network, Trying a Backdoor, Unsolicited Phone Calls
• Pet Peeves - USING ALL CAPS, Misspelling Our Names, Trying to Setup a Lunch.

12 Tips for Getting Your Startup Featured on Mashable

Highlights:

• Make it clear that you actually read Mashable and know about the topics we cover.

Check Out This Spam From a PR Flak (CopyBlogger)
(Great example on how NOT to do it)

The Art of Pitching - What's Wrong With Link Building Email Requests? (SEOBook)

Highlights:

• Outline the benefit to the recipient, and do so before they switch off
• The trick with email is to make the title personal. 

If you've got any tips of your own, please post a comment!