I recently received a series of requests from some traditional media outlets asking me to add their VoIP feeds to my Blogroll. After a brief exchange with one of the best bloggers I know, Bob Cox, founder of The Media Bloggers Association and TheNationalDebate.com I was able to better articulate what I felt when I read the request.
These guys are clueless.
There is a big difference between a blogger and media outlets using RSS feeds for distribution. So while the company which shall remain nameless goes out suggesting links to their feeds would be good for my readers, and I should add them to my blog roll, it became even cleared how big media is missing what Blogging is all about.
Blogging is about a personal communication with your audience. I often say it’s not how many, but who is reading your blog. The numbers only matter to advertising folks, not public affairs or PR experts. They know that influencing the right people is what it is all about.
Blogging is more like Direct Marketing than advertising. Since media companies are all about eyeballs, one needs to think more about the influence the blog has, than the traffic.
And to the company who asked for the "link," you’ll get yours, in the stories "I" choose to highlight for that’s why readers choose to use blogs. They want the filter and the insight that goes along with it.