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Would you like to get your email or idea into the hands of some of the most popular writers on the internet and ensure it gets read? A few weeks ago Darren Rowse, of ProBlogger, had a very informative post entitled, “How to Pitch to Bloggers – 21 Tips.” In the article Darren provides 21 tips to help you effectively get your email or request through to some of the busiest people in the blogoshpere. Truthfully, the tips he provides should not only be applied when emailing a top blogger. Rather, his recommendations will also be useful in most professional situations where you need to send an unsolicited introductory email or letter (e.g. applying for a job, seeking funding for a project, or a general business inquiry).

Darren’s blog post is extremely comprehensive and I highly recommend that you have a read, however, I would like to suggest and offer three more additional tips that are based on my own personal experiences. Specifically, if you are a nobody like me then hopefully the additional suggestions below will assist you in getting your message read. The tips below have actually helped me to make contact with some of the top bloggers and get responses from them:

• Tip Number 1 - Draft a well written, brief, and personal email about an article or post that the blogger has written which had an impact on you. Remember to be concise and to the point and I would not recommend going over one paragraph (or about four lines). Focus is the key here. As an example, a few months ago Leo Babauta, over at ZenHabits, drafted a post that really connected with my current situation so I wrote to him stating something to that effect. The most important part of this tip, when I sent the email I was not looking for anything in return! I just wanted to send an honest compliment about his website and the value it is providing to the readers. Within a few hours Leo sent back a very kind email and in the interim I had noticed on his blog that he was looking for post submissions from his readers. The end result, because we had an initial, positive contact when I submitted my guest post draft to him he actually read it instead of placing it in the bin. My guest post was on his site a week later.
• Tip Number 2 – When writing to a blogger instead of asking about a post, inquire about a different section or aspect of the blog. Most of the popular sites today have customized themes and numerous pages so you could seek information regarding the “About” page, the site design, or maybe even suggest an addition that you would like to see incorporated into the blog. For my personal example, I am going to be a fulltime entrepreneur very soon so I approached (emailed) Darren, at ProBlogger, with a question regarding his job board. Again, I was not looking for anything from him I just had a simple question. I was able to sum up my “elevator introduction” into two lines, specifically, who I was and my inquiry. Much to my surprise within a few minutes I received an email back from Darren. When drafting my return email to him I mentioned that I had written a guest post for ZenHabits and queried if he also accepted guest posts? Again, within a few minutes Darren came back with a positive response. The great part was that he did not suggest a topic he only recommended that any article I submitted should be related to the topics on his site (e.g. making money, blog marketing, etc).
• Tip Number 3 - The third and final tip, if you frequent a blog and notice something wrong for example, the site is not loading properly in your browser of choice, you discover a typo, or possibly even a grammatical error you should email and let the author know about it. Recently, I have been on a couple of very well known blog sites reading posts and just happened to notice some typos. Of course, I would not recommend that you email and say, “hey doofus you have a typo in your post.” However, if you come across an error that is glaringly obvious don’t assume that others’ have noticed. Most of the top bloggers are excellent in the editing department but occasionally a little typo does get by.

In closing I would like to offer some advice to the top bloggers. Unfortunately, I am sure they get a ridiculous amount of email and unsolicited offers. Blogging, creating informative content, and encouraging user discussion will naturally lead to site readers wanting to get in touch. Top bloggers should keep in mind that many of those who write to them will assume they know you because of the nature of your website. When writing emails, or requesting something I believe blog readers can occassionally revert to a more casual nature because they have a one sided relationship, e.g. they know you from the blog but you have no idea who they are, so be kind.

Do you have any other tips or suggestions for constructively contacting people who are already tremendously busy? Let me know in the comments.