Many direct selling companies are recognizing the value of product reviews and other features on influential blogs and websites. When a popular blog writes about your company and its products, it can bring every consultant in your company new opportunities, because it increases brand awareness. This is great for everyone.
But some consultants don’t yet realize that company press on blogs and websites is not immediate license for self-promotion. Instead of reading the article and sharing it with contacts they’ve already developed, they instead spam the blog with their own contact information, in a desperate-looking attempt to drum up new business.
The problem with this approach is two-fold:
- It doesn’t work.
- It annoys the blogger, who has to go through every single instance of blog spam that’s been left, deciding whether to keep or delete it. If there are 2 consultants in your company, no big deal. But if there are tens of thousands??? You get the picture.
I even know of one instance where a blogger decided not to run any more articles on a particular company because its consultants were, frankly, so annoying. What a letdown to the company that had worked so hard to arrange the publicity!
So what should you do if you read an article about your company online?
- Make a RELEVANT comment. Talk about how much you love the product. Respond to a point the writer made. Thank them for such a fantastic review.
- Link to the article from your own online resources. This could be Twitter, Facebook, your own blog, etc. This helps the blogger by driving up his/her rankings through incoming links.
- Share the article with your own contacts and prospects. Articles like this, from a third party, can provide you with more credibility. And because these folks are coming to know, like, and trust you, they will be more open to reading them.
By working WITH your company, instead of shamelessly self-promoting, everyone in your company can enjoy the benefits of third-party reviews online.
What are your thoughts? Have you seen instances of this? Please share your comments below!
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So glad to see this article. I am somewhat new to this but even as a new person I get annoyed when this happens. It is a good lesson for all of us to learn so we don’t hurt our own company’s credibility.
Thank you for helping to educate all of us!
Jennifer,
This is great. I’m gonna RT, FB status it, and forward the link to friends. You’re doing a great service for our industry. We need these tips!
Thank you!
Martha
Great article – too bad the consultants of a DS company who held an opportunity TweetChat didn’t know this. The TweetChat was held with the CEO of the company and individuals could ask any question they wanted. At the very beginning, someone asked the cost for the starter kit and…POUNCE! There were so many consultants who were bombarding this person with offers to be their sponsor!
Key learning for any company doing this type of TweetChat – educate your consultants on how to participate to engage others in conversation and build relationships.
I read a blog and this apparently happened there as well, it’s unfortunate that people don’t understand online etiquette. Thank you for writing this and educating a few, I’m looking forward to reading more of your posts!
Great Advice. I will admit I am extremely GREEN when it comes to social media and one of the reasons I have stayed a bit clear of using it for business is for this exact reason. However, there is true value in using social media for business provided you are using it correctly. I love this blog as the tips are great for those venturing into this realm. Please continue with all the great DO’s and DON’Ts!
Amen, sister! I visibly cringe when I see this. Not only does it look desperate for the offender, it makes us all look bad…Here’s a question: should we take it upon ourselves to educate these misinformed individuals?
If you know them, I certainly would say something. But not on the blog…do it privately. As for how to do this publicly…well, here’s a blog post you can forward.
You are so right, it is very irritating, not only for the blogger but the reader and consultants of the highlighted company! Thanks for sharing this!
Great advice! Here’s a question for you – is is ok to offer samples to the readers of the blog? Or should you try and contact the commenter directly – or is that spamming too? Oh my – the etiquette of on line PR is very interesting.
Hi Traci,
Thanks for asking! It is not appropriate to self-promote your business in any way within the comments of a blog. Save the samples for YOUR contacts that you’ve developed. A 3rd party article arranged by your company is not the place to offer samples or contact the commenter.
Jennifer
LOVE this advice!
Thank you for posting it – I’ll most definitely be passing it on
YOU ROCK!
Thank You!! Thank You!! Thank You!! You are so RIGHT!