Good organization. Bad, bad pitch.
March 7, 2007 by Steve Field
I think that the Center for Security Policy is a great organization. Great mission. Great objectives. Interesting research.
Bad, bad, bad pitching.
Today, I received this from Brian Hill, a research associate from the think tank.
To Whom It May Concern:
I’m underwhelmed already. My name is all over my blog. It’s not that hard to find “Steve Field” somewhere.
My name is Brian Hill and I am the director of the War of Ideas project at the Center for Security Policy. The center has a new website up at www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org and we are beginning to construct the “links” section of our site.
This is their new site? It looks like it is from 1998. Someone needs to tell the Center what a CMS is. And what is the War of Ideas project? Sounds like something I would be interested in… if I knew what it was.
We would like to link to your blog from our website if you are willing to link to the Center from yours. If you are interested, please respond to this e-mail.
Thank you very much for your time.
Regards,
Brian Hill
Center for Security Policy
xxxxx@centerforsecuritypolicy.org
(202) xxx-xxxx
Well, where to start.
- Has he ever read my blog? I can’t tell.
- Link trading? Come on. Have good content and you will get linked to. This is just cheesy
- Are they providing anything to the milblogging community? Or are they just begging for links?
Brian, here are some tips for next time. Get a bloggers name when you pitch him or her. Show your knowledge of the blog by maybe commenting on something they have written or said in the past. Then offer them something (maybe an opportunity to receive the latest studies published by the Center? That would get you links and advance your policy agenda.)
Dealing with bloggers cannot be selfish; it must be about helping the community. It is about giving back. The Center has plenty to offer and seems to have squandered an opportunity.
It is not a surprise that coverage of this think tank is dwarfed by these guys and these guys and these guys.
To his credit, Brian isn’t a professional communicator. He deals in the policy realm. Maybe if the Center had even one communications officer on staff…
But then again, they have more links than I do. And Brian got his link from me. So what do I know?
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