As my Dad always says, "It's better to be on page 2 in the editorial than on page 7 as an advertisement." This advice has been the guiding principle when it comes to the public relations strategy at Voices.com. In fact, I've proven this to be so effective in public relations that I've applied it to SEO as well. How does the advice translate?
Many SEOs would agree that the organic results are editorial listings, generally obtained by editorial content being linked to by other editorial content, and PPC results are the ads which only appear because someone paid for the ad to show up. This knowledge has led me to experiment with a hybrid approach to public relations and SEO and simply request links from writers, journalists and bloggers when contacted for a comment, which brings me to the highlight of any SEO's week, or perhaps even their month.
This past week, a writer from CNN asked if I'd contribute a few paragraphs on the Amazon Kindle 2's new text-to-speech technology, as it created quite the uproar from the Author's Guild of America. Steve, the writer for CNN, asked for my take and I sent him 2-3 paragraphs with my point of view. A few days later, the article appeared in my Google Alerts and lo and behold, there's a link. Yeah baby!
HOW TO GET THE LINK
Build Relationships
My relationship with Steve started nearly a year ago when he reached out asking if I'd like to contribute to an article called "Internet Gives Voice to Unseen Actors," discussing the rise of freelance voice actors on the web. Naturally, I gladly wrote a few paragraphs and that's how the relationship started, through his invitation and my being willing to help.
Stay Top of Mind
Be professional, respectful and give the relationship time to develop. Keep in touch throughout the year. Send "FYIs" such as interesting facts or breaking news that you have a hunch will catch on in the mainstream. Techmeme is a great source for keeping up with daily news.
Offer an Insider's View
Give writers access to information they wouldn't normally see, such as survey results, internal company metrics (check with your CEO first), or your personal opinion on current and future trends.
Position Yourself as an Industry Expert
I write an annual report that explores areas of the audio production industry that are growing, such as audiobooks for the iPod and Kindle, and I always provide stats and research to back up my claims. This is now the third year that I've written an annual report and it has become a handy tool to send to journalists, partners, vendors and bankers.
Be Accessible
Have a professional email signature that includes your mobile phone and primary email address.
Never Miss a Deadline
When you get the chance to contribute to a news or editorial on a larger website, get your submission in well ahead of the deadline so it makes the cut. If they say Monday, have it in the Friday before as journalists often work on their writing over the weekend and you want to be sure you're included.
Ask for the Link
Shocking, I know. But, unless you ask, you could miss this golden opportunity. I usually say "In closing, I have a small request. I'd really appreciate a link directly to Voices.com. If you can swing it, that would be great!" Consider adding this as a P.S., as if it was an afterthought and not your modus operandi. The lesson here is you'll never know unless you ask.
WRAP UP
Now, the next time you or someone at your company is presented with a press opportunity, you'll know how to leverage it and achieve every SEO's wish, a link from a top tier authority website.
>>> "My relationship with Steve started nearly a year ago when he reached out asking if I'd like to contribute to an article called "Internet Gives Voice to Unseen Actors," discussing the rise of freelance voice actors on the web. "
How were you introduced to Steve. Did he Google for you, did you hunt him out, a conference, kids at same school ...
This seems fine advice about developing a contact but establishing yourself as the go-to person for your industry appears to be the really hard part, no?
I was wondering the same things... also, while I really like the fresh ideas and think the article is quite good, I don't know if I'd consider this a 'strategy' as it's more about being lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
Not only do you need to have built a trusted relationship with someone at a large news network, but you then have to be lucky enough that an article is published that relates to your skillset and that the relationship you have with the journalist is strong enough for you to be the first person they think of when the article is being written.
If you are lucky enough that all these things happen for you, it's brilliant, but I think a lot of people would struggle to make this all fall into place.
@SiteMost
With all due respect, the point of the article was to suggest that developing relationships with members of media, keeping in contact with them throughout the year and finding opportunities to pitch your story is the strategy.
Luck, someone once said is when preparation meets opportunity.
Had I not written the articles, year-in-review style annual reports and understood how mass media works, then I wouldn't have likely been able to capitalize on the opportunity when it was presented.
Just to flesh out this strategy further, I thought I'd share something that may be helpful in seeing how and when I pitch my stories. When I read the news, I do so through the lense of "how does this related to my industry".
Other examples where this strategy has proven well for our company include voice-overs for the iPhone commercials (who is the narrator or announcer of the iPhone commercials), any animated Pixar, Dreamworks or Disney movie (people are interested in who voiced the characters) and technology stories (are robot voices taking over human voices?) .
It's these type of stories I pitch to our media list every month or so.
I still really enjoyed the article and believe that building relationships for all types of linkbuilding is definitely the key to achieving greatest results.
Perhaps a follow-up post with step-by-step instructions on how to contact journalists and how to prepare press-releases that will attract their attention.
There are many great websites and blogs out there which comment on industry trends, provide insightful information on where things may be heading and review things that have happened in the past... however a majority of these would go unnoticed by the broader news community simply because these sites haven't known how to effectively market themselves and get their names out there.
The site might be SEO'd well, and they may have good traffic from a combination of broad and long-tail keywords, but CNN simply don't know they exist.
So I'm not knocking your ideas or saying that your techniques wouldn't work. Nor am I suggesting that building relationships (with the press or anyone, for that matter) isn't a crucial part of link building... I was simply trying to get more of an idea of the steps that need to take place so you can start applying the advice from this post.
How do you first get the attention of CNN to contact YOU instead of the hundreds of other websites within your niche, to allow you to build the relationship in the first place.
Ok, cool. I can definitely start working on a follow-up post with how I keep my contacts organized and how I scope out new articles.
Would you find that helpful?
That'd be great. I (and I'm sure a lot of Mozzers) would love to read something like that.
If you write the next post as well as you've done this one, you'll surely get a lot of positive feedback.
Sorry if my comments seemed negative - that certainly wasn't my intention - just wanted to drill-down a little and get some more information.
Thanks
Not at all. You were simply looking for clarity. I completely understand.
I agree with your article. The point of SEM and SEO is not to cater to search engines, but to readers, to people. Sites and pages, much like the written word wherever it appears, are optimized in such a way that relevant, timely information is delivered to people when and where they want it in a non obtrusive way. Relationships, on or offline, are what grease the wheel of humanity.
You are the king.
Thanks for sharing!
Thumbs Up
Just hard work paying off.
Good Job dude... Keep up your good work and keep sharing it! Thank you very much for posting this awesome experience..
Fantastic! You know what I can add to this, if you like a product or a feature that belongs to a big company, write a clever article in praise of it and post it on your website. A marketing person is sure to bump into it if it's prominent enough and might quote it on their website as a testimonial, quote or even publish it entirely. This happened to me when Sony Playstation linked back to my site thanks to my reviews of The Mountain and Double Life ads.
Steve from CNN had reached out to me initially. I'd like to think it's because of my previous efforts in writing annual reports, sharing industry statistics on my blog and speaking at conferences -- all of which have created a presence on Google.
In all likelyhood, he Googled industry-related terms and my name came up a few times.
Just like Danny Sullivan is often quoted as the search engine expert by New York Times, every industry has their go-to-guy/gal.
If the industry you're working in only has a few bloggers, it's a prime chance to leverage that into becoming a "thought leader" within your field.
Hope this helps.
I thought I'd also reply to this post to give it attention. This is an important addition to your article. Thanks again.
An excellent reminder!
Good post! Reaching out and making connections way before you really need anything from them, and being persistant is a good strategy. Good job!
I love your note about not only being on time for deadlines but being early. I used to do journalism and having this trait will get you on journalist's good sides and KEEP you there- they'll come to you first, because everyone else waits till the last minute ant that pushes their deadline back. Plus, if one of their 'regulars' fails your quick response time has positioned you as a last-minute fill in that can open you up to regular placement and referrals.
Good information and nice to see someone sharing the goods.
Personal relationships are key for sure.
Great article. This reminds me that so much of SEO is about having great personal relationships.
Thanks for the great post.... and share your idea here about getting links from CNN website.
Links from news website is so valuable so... Every SEO wants to get this kind of links... :)
I am wondering if you can get more links from other giant media like CNN by using the same strededgy.
Just goes to show that good content gets rewarded, I'm sure if he thought your efforts were not good then a link would not be put in place.
It's about time the bigger sites did give some credit around to those who deserve it and as you said if you don't ask ;)
I like DelBoys SAS quote "He Who Dares, Wins Rodders" :)
The BBC recently made a statement to say that they are beginning an "aggressive" out-bound linking campaign. Apparently the decision to do so was motivated by the fact that in the UK, of the top 10 most visited websites, the BBC website is the only one that is actually a UK run site. They therefore want to change things.
Good news for British industry experts!
Great post! We recently purchased a domain with a historical relationship with CNN writers. We're definitely going to take your advice and maintain these relationships. Good insights :)
I just now discovered this post and I'm glad I did. Thanks for the tips as they will definitely help me in my linkbuilding efforts for one of my biggest clients.
Great advice! Shows how valuable making these type of contacts really is. In this case it's not so much what you know, as who you know. You would have to be at the top of the industry to achieve such things.
Why beat around the bush and just outright ask? Most people hate suck ups.
The best links are the ones you get through networking and building relationship. It takes some time and work from you but the value is topnotch.
P.S.
- Check your community activities, events, etc
Hello,
Thank you for the advises, anyway, is there any paid services like you pay and the writer write an article about your service, or your country and add up your link?
I appreciate if someone point me to the right direction.
Best regards
I was looking forward to get a link from CNN. Thanks a lot for this article.
Nice artical
clearly depicts the power of personal relationships. They are hard to built require follow up but and give very fruitful returs in future.
Also the most imp is you earn a friend.
Ah...if only all those people sending automated junk link requests could read this...perhaps i fthey put all that wasted effort into following these great guidelines then they may indeed get a link instead of wearing out my delete key...
Thanks! - This was a great article and great tips!
Two thumbs up!
I agree with your father and you. You must be seen as an industry expert in the market you reside. Having a link from CNN is big news. Congrats and thanks for the advice.
Thanks for the insightful article. Glad that you landed such a great link and appreciate the time you took to share the details of it. It seems to me like a result of the time and effort you put in to creating the high quality content and reports, which just goes to show what everyone says, content is still king!
In Germany we have an old saying: The one who is not aksing will lose.
(Wer nicht fragt verliert)
Great job with getting the CNN link.
I think it's wise to have a little bullet point list of things to do when the media come calling, your list nails it pretty good.
I had a similar instance last year with the Financial Times wanting opinion on uptake of websites amongst IFA's. After speaking with the journalist on the phone, I later added them on LinkedIn in order to keep in touch with them.
Thanks again for the interesting article, it's always nice to have things refreshed and the important points reiterated.
Really nice and fresh angle to add to the professional SEO's toolbox.
Great Article my friend :D
Thanks for sharing that nice tip :)
Great tips man.
I am going to include these in the list of things to look towards developing in the future. The article certainly provides a lot of room for ideas to develop in terms of baiting reporters to come after you.
Am I missing something here? I scanned the CNN article and there was no direct link only mention of the url/company name.
Yes, you are missing something. The link is in this sentence:
"It would appear they are hedging their bets," notes David Ciccarelli, CEO of talent congregator Voices.com."
Good job! Some awesome tips here. I think this could also apply to local news outlets.
Really really good peice of information! Thanks for sharing.
cool man.
looking forward to getting back up to speed with how your site's developed. like most of my personal projects, never really promoted my voice over site but hoping to change that someday.
Nice post - they're great links if you can get them! I've found that some news outlets are EPIC FAIL at linking out though. Check out this bizarre article from the Telegraph which doesn't link out to Will at all, then links to someone random at the end:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/businesstechnology/5002184/Tweet-things-How-to-avoid-being-a-complete-twit.html
He didn't link out to that guy either. He just bolded it. In any case, you're right - major news outlets are notoriously greedy linking out to others. I think they view it as similar to encouraging you to change channels. Very irritating as a reader to have to go Hunting for Good Will - instead of having a link right there.
Just out of curiosity, I wonder if Will had asked him to link as a courtesy, if he would do it.
This twitter link is totally off-topic. Have you tried to contact the editor?
Edit: sorry, duplicate. Sean's comment wasn't posted yet when I wrote this
Well done! Does a CNN link provide a lot of traffic?
I wish we could see how it contributes to your global link popularity via the Backlink tool. Answer in the next next linkscape update I guess...
Thank you for the great ideas!
Nice post, a lot of it is common sense, but then again a lot of SEO is...
You are a Internet Geek!! Thumbsup to you.
Congrats! Very cool!
Great Advice. Thanks for letting all of us know.