Jennifer James

Jennifer James is an avid traveler (visited 3 continents in 2012), social do-gooder and writer at Gates Foundation and Babble. She is also the founder and editor of the Mom Bloggers Club Network, a global social network of over 18,000 mom bloggers ranging from US mom bloggers and vloggers to gamer moms and UK mummy bloggers. Jennifer's work has been cited on Read Write Web, Radian 6, Forbes.com and CNN to name a few. Jennifer is also the founder of Mom Bloggers for Social Good, a global coalition of mothers who care about pressing global issues. James was recently named one of 25 bloggers changing the world by Babble and a Fast Company Most Generous Social Media Maven.

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My PR Pet Peeves + I Want to Hear From You

In April I will be speaking at a social media development seminar in Chicago on a panel entitled, “Pitching in Today’s World” and I couldn’t be more thrilled. I’ll be sharing the stage with a PR pro, journalist, and someone from Pitch Engine. Anytime I am able to give my perspective on PR/Blogger relations I’m a happy camper.

I work with amazingly talented PR professionals who span the country, from large, global PR firms to small boutique firms. For the most part, all of these PR folks understand how to deal with bloggers because we’re no longer a novelty, plus they know the winning formula of establishing relationships and growing them.

And yet ….

… some PR people (although the number is dwindling) still approach bloggers completely the wrong way.

Here are three PR pet peeves that drive me crazy.

1) Keyword Requests: Please do not ask me to include keywords in my post. I hate that more than anything else! I abhor when people give me a list of keywords to place in my post (after I’ve received the product) and then ask me to link them to a designated site. Not happening! Now, if you want me to link to a specific page of your site in my review using my own wording, there is nothing wrong with that. But I’m not going to act like an SEO shill for you. Nope.

2) Faceless Outreach: If I receive an email from a PR professional that is addressed to “undisclosed recipients” it goes directly into the trash. I know those pitches aren’t tailored to me or my audience, so I delete them fast. It is far better to target pitches instead of throwing them out there with the hope that someone bites.

3) Restless Hounds: Please do not hound me! Why do some PR people think it’s OK to hound mom bloggers? Well, it’s not OK and I won’t work with that person again if they start emailing me to death about a $25 product. Sorry.

Now, I would love to hear from you!

Moms: Are there any PR practices that get under your skin?

PR Professionals: What gets under your skin about mom blogger outreach?

Anonymous comments welcome. Let her rip!