It's Just an Untargeted Email. Calm down.

Last week I sat on a panel talking about blogger and PR relations. 

Yes, AGAIN. I talk about this a lot, I've done workshops, meetings, posts, videos and interviews about this. For some reason some people think this is a very complicated subject. It's not.

However, I do have a question for bloggers:

Why do you take such offense to an untargeted email from a PRO? 

If you get an email from someone who clearly hasn't read your blog and therefore clearly isn't very good at their job, why do you get so upset about it? I just got an email from a PR agency that would like to talk to me about partnering with a brand that I've been (publicly) working with since June.

My face is on page two of their catalogue. 

Did I throw a hissy fit? No. 

I no longer understand the rage that happens when bloggers are sent a "Dear Sir, I'd like to talk to you about nose hair clippers for  your Blog or web site". Yes, I understand that you're a Ma'am and don't talk about nose hair or clippers on your blog - but it's not personal, and like I said, they clearly are horrible at their job.

So why do you care?

I know it's annoying. I'll forward those emails to my blogger friends and laugh. I may tweet about a ridiculous email now and then (not naming who it's from), but I'm not going to expend a lot of energy being mad about an untargeted email. 

This is why I don't understand why everyone is up and arms over The Bloggess debacle. Yeah, calling her a "fucking bitch" in a reply all email is STUPID. Their email to her is STUPID. The way they handled it is STUPID. 

But to be honest I can't even understand expending the energy to send back a (long) standard snarky email. And as funny as her blog is, I find the whole thing pretty unfunny. In fact, I find it exhausting. I don't think examples of bloggers getting all huffy over emails is heroic or taking one for the team or even sticking up for what's right. 

Standing up for yourself when someone calls you a fucking a bitch makes sense. But I'm sick to death of the PR/Blogger snark-a-thon.

I filter those emails. I delete them. I do some of what I mentioned above. 

It would be lovey if we only ever had relevant and exciting emails offering us money and work or really exciting press trips in our inboxes, but for whatever reason, that's not how it works right now. If you want to email people snark, you'll probably get snark back. If you're going to choose to get all Hulk-like because someone is bad at their job and dared to SEND YOU AN EMAIL, that's up to you. 

Just keep in mind those emails are not about you. They're not an insult. It's not offensive (unless they call you a fucking bitch...) and it's not personal. It doesn't take anything away from you if a PR sends you a stupid email, or gets your name wrong, or - again - isn't good at their job.

I get upset when people mess me about and tell me I'm not on a guest list when I have an email that says otherwise. I'm upset when you mess up my visa information and then I lose out on going on a press trip in Brazil. I get annoyed when you are insulting to me at an event you invited me to. I get mad when you leave me hanging or stand me up for a meeting. 

In my opinion, these are things actually worth getting upset about. If someone sends me a stupid email, they're never even going to get the chance to stand me up, so I'm not going to worry about it. 

And neither should you.

 

Comments

[@rachaelphillips]

Well said Cate. I don’t really care about unsolicited emails either. Mainly because sometimes, amongst the crap you get something, which you actually could really, make use of.

PR guys and gals have a job to do, they have targets, they have clients breathing down their necks. They don’t have *time* to read 100,000 blogs all day every day. But they find you for a reason so to be fair to them, they are trying.

I think it’s a real shame that PR’s get such a bad deal. Re the blogess, I do think the way she was treated was appalling, I mean calling someone a “fucking bitch” is never going to be acceptable and certainly not when you’re in the business of reaching out to the public but then I agree with you on the whole “whats the point in even highlighting the issue in the first place” thing. I mean the delete button is there for a reason and perhaps if press releases are the bain of your life you should have a separate email address for the releases to be sent to directly.

Too much war going on between bloggers and pr’s its time to build the virtual bridge and get over it!

[Cathy Bussey]

Totally agree. How hard is it to hit 'delete'?

[Alex]

Personally, I'm quite amused by the idea that a few people out there think I write about pretzels, back problems and the Orient Express. All at the same time. That would be an excellent blog. I should write it...

[Vikki]

I wish I wrote about pretzels.

[Iain]

It's really about give and take, expect to be treated how you treat other people and shouldn't stop at PR / Blogging.

If you don't want people to be rude to you, don't be rude to them.

If you want people to send you personalised emails, don't reply with an un-personal response.

If you're not honest with the people you work with, don't expect them to be honest to you.

[Cate]

Rachael - Totally agree. People do, indeed, need to get over it. Personally, I think people can be too rough on PROs. There are a lot of great ones out there, and I personally wouldn't want to be in their shoes. There are a lot of Diva Bloggers out there!

Cathy - Apparently EXTREMELY DIFFICULT. I have a "Shit PR Emails" filter, I use it regularly. Much easier than throwing a hissy fit and sending a snarky response to each one.

Alex - I would totally read that blog.

Vikki - Me, too. We're missing a trick...

Iain - YES. It's really that simple.

[ReeRee]

Cate - you summed it up! I struggle to see why some bloggers don't get that PRs send MASS emails out. I don't understand why some blogger get offended to receive a MASS email.......if it's not relevant press delete.

[Kate]

I have to say, I found this debate useful when I started out in blogger outreach. Examples of bad practice can also be useful to me now I'm not so new to it, for when I'm trying to spread the word to colleagues about why blanket emailing to bloggers is unproductive and potentially harmful.

However, I do sometimes feel that that we've heard it all now and I wish there was more talk about what people are doing right, what blogger-PR relationships ARE working. Maybe more positive talk will be more productive, as calling out the mistakes doesn't seem to be making them go away.

[James Mulrennan]

Great post Cate. Whilst PR's should always do their research we are only human and on occasion, do make mistakes.

[Cherie City]

Glad you posted this Cate, as I'm getting so tired of all those 'dear PRs' complaints on twitter. Can you imagine if PRs started venting, starting with 'dear bloggers'!

Sending press releases to bloggers is a small part of a PR's responsibilities, so for a blogger to say that they're bad at their job is a bold statement.

I'm a blogger and have worked on both sides as a journalist and PR, so I can see all points of view on this, but wouldn't life be much more pleasant for bloggers if we just take what we want from the email or ignore it?

[Sian]

A great post Cate. This has been a hot topic in parent blogging circles this week after I posted a sarky rant from a PR aimed at bloggers that I'd seen on Response Source (I'm a blogger and a PR). Boy did the feathers fly.
You are right. The delete button is there for a reason.

[Sarah]

Great post - it's good for people to remember that there are two sides to every coin. I blog, but I'm also a community manager for a PR company so I can understand both points of view.
Mass emails are a bit rubbish in general, but its not just bloggers that recieve them. There's a lot of re-education thats needed when it comes to social and influencer outreach in general - emailing bloggers is just one part of that.

(I did have a bit of a 'oh-shit' moment when I read the "I get mad when you leave me hanging or stand me up for a meeting" bit ... gosh I still owe you a lunch for leaving you waiting when I was ill! Sorry!!!)