26 Jun When Blogger Outreach Gets Weird. Really Weird.
Like most bloggers, I get approached pretty much daily from people interested in having their content featured on my blog. Sometimes the approaches are short and pleasant, with a few details of the potential guest blogger and maybe a couple of ideas for posts.
It’s obvious they’re genuinely looking for somewhere for their writing to be featured, either to boost their personal profile or to promote their own blog. Those I don’t mind so much (although, just for the record, I very rarely feature guest posts from people I haven’t invited).
But sometimes the approaches are poor. I mean really, really poor. They’re transparent SEO attempts ‘disguised’ as offers of ‘help’ for me.
And just occasionally they’re so bad that I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
A few weeks back, I received perhaps the worst example of blogger outreach I have ever seen. I’m just guessing here, but I’m not sure English was his first language.
It was so, so bad that in a fit of sado-masochism, I was compelled to know more about this ‘unique and quality’ content of which he spoke.
I did think that my (obviously?) mocking tone might put him off. But no. To my surprise and/or delight (?) I got a reply a few days later.
This was clearly too good an opportunity to miss. I was becoming morbidly curious.
At this point, I did think about calling it quits. But that link – the one I’ve blurred out – is for a copywriting company. Let me say that again: a copywriting company. Why would any self-respecting business appoint a company (or person) like this to carry out blogger outreach on its behalf? Let alone a copywriting company! Huh?!
I have to admit, I nearly wet myself when I read that dear old Ebin works as ‘a writer’ for this copywriting company. I wanted to have some fun. Which is maybe why I wrote this back to him:
I really wasn’t expecting a reply to that. But lo and behold…he must REALLY have wanted that backlink!
We clearly had a bond. Something that only two men separated by the Atlantic Ocean can feel for one another. Something truly special. Although I did now feel a bit under pressure about the ‘great support’ he was expecting from me. I decided to explore these feelings that Ebin and I shared a little more.
Hmmm. Not a very committed response from someone with whom I had struck up a true friendship. Maybe he just needed to check dates or something?
And that was the last I ever heard from Ebin Mathew. He never replied and I never did get the unique and quality content to keep my blog well that he had guaranteed. And I never did get to visit him.
Oh, well. Live and learn. Maybe I’ll have more luck with the next one.
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Posted by Paul Sutton
