Blogs, short for Weblogs, are online journals written by individuals. Each has its own personality, analysis and spin. Approximately 32 million Americans recently reported reading one of more than 8 million blogs. Subjects range from dogs and video games to science and politics.

A handful of blogs (like www.dailykos.com, www.wonkette.com and www.powerlineblog.com) attract tens of thousands of readers and reporters regularly. Many beat reporters start their day searching these sites for story ideas.

Blogs have received credit for maintaining their focus on former Republican Senate leader Trent Lott, after mainstream media lost interest in his insensitive racial remarks. Lott eventually was forced to resign his leadership post. A blog also made public the first photos of coffins containing U.S. casualties from Iraq.

The Web site www.truthlaidbear.com ranks top blogs. www.ojr.org provides information on how many people get their news from blogs and describes the impact on mainstream media. Paid services like Blogsquirrel monitor 100,000 blogs for a monthly fee and forward alerts that mention keywords you provide.

Monitoring blogs will help you learn what these newly anointed experts are saying about you or your issue. And it is worth pitching blogs because your target audiences might read them, as well as media who will see potential in a broader story.

Here are some tips for pitching blogs:

• Use e-mail, and don t send releases: The shorter the pitch, the better. Include a line or two about how your story is new and relevant to their blog, plus a phone number to call and learn more. If you have more information, provide it through a link don t send attachments unsolicited.
• Know your blogger: As with reporters, know what they do and don t write about and their take on it. Blanket pitches or e-mails with no regard to their beat will just annoy them. Be personal.
• Give info to bloggers early: Speed and breaking real-time news gives bloggers an edge on mainstream media, so when it s strategic, give them the scoop. Many blogs relish exposing what the mainstream media won't cover. But just because a story breaks in the mainstream media doesn t mean it's off limits for blogs, which can be harnessed to fan the flames and keep a story alive, as right-wing Instapundit.com did for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.

[back to top]

Many people ask us what viral e-mails are. An e-mail becomes viral when people who receive it send it on to their family and friends because they find the content funny, provocative or compelling. The e-mail then spreads like a virus as more and more people click the forward button.

All of these are metaphorical terms, and the e-mails do not contain actual viruses. In fact, viral or Tell-a-Friend e-mails can be a significant grassroots force for social change.

They allow you to cheaply and quickly broadcast your message far more extensively than with traditional vehicles like direct mail. Unfortunately, so many people have caught onto this good idea that many of us receive e-mails weekly with appeals to sign petitions or call legislators.

To stand apart, you need more than just a few lines about why your organization or issue needs their attention. Your e-mail needs a gripping opener and story, a clear and easy way to take action and ideally an author with name recognition.

And, as technology gets more sophisticated, you often need more than that. An increasing number of nonprofits are enjoying success with Flash files (computer-animated video cartoons) and e-flicks (actual mini-movies or real digital footage). These often last no more than 30 to 60 seconds and can be downloaded quickly to help spread the word about your issue and what people can do about it in a memorable format.

For example, last fall Fenton joined forces with Breast Cancer Action on a campaign calling for better coordination of the sprawling, multibillion dollar fundraising industry for breast cancer research.

Timed with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, we packaged a viral e-mail by writer and breast cancer survivor Barbara Ehrenreich ( Before you give another nickel or dime to breast cancer research, think before you pink ) with an online Flash movie featuring animated pink ribbons racing for the finish line and voice-over narration of the campaign. View the animation at: www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org.

Many of the 14,000 people who viewed the flash file took action on the Web site, and the story made headlines in Newsweek, CBS national radio and in major dailies like the Philadelphia Inquirer and Miami Herald, helping BCA get meetings with organizations like the Susan G. Komen foundation.

[back to top]

Buying more Internet addresses can often help drive traffic to your site. At $5 to $35 per domain, Web sites are a bargain, especially if you simply use it as a guidepost to redirect traffic to your primary site.

First, consider buying URLs that sound like yours but contain common misspellings or variations on your name. If you’re an “.org,” think about buying your “.com.”  Then think of related program, campaign or department names (past or present) that are well known and might be typed in by Web surfers. For example, the Polly Klaas Foundation’s campaign to implement national Amber Alerts (www.AmberAlertNow.com) was the first and only introduction some audiences had to the organization.

Consider buying general words, phrases or concepts related to your work. You might put them to use later for a campaign. By owning the online address, you may also be keeping traffic away from a competitor or negative source of information.

Corporate Accountability International, for example, owns www.stopcorporateabuse.org, www.corporateaccountabilityinternational.org and the .coms for both, and all traffic is redirected to their main site. The progressive agitprop group The Yes Men bought www.dowethics.com, to satirize Dow Chemical. And a rich parody of the Bush administration thrives at www.whitehouse.org.

[back to top]