Six Questions with Bill Balderaz

In anticipation of Search Engine Strategies Chicago, we’ll be featuring a couple of speaker interviews. Starting us off is Bill Balderaz, CIO of Webbed Marketing, who will be speaking on the Blogging for Business panel.

1. For those just being introduced to you, can you tell us a bit about what you do at Webbed Marketing?

At Webbed Marketing our job is to understand our clients’ needs, be it more sales, more leads, greater awareness or another goal. We then take that goal and determine how we can connect with online influencers to reach that goal. We reach out to bloggers, raters and reviewers. We use social networks like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to reach consumers and influencers. Our goal is to create positive online buzz for our clients… and use that buzz to drive real results. I am the founder of Webbed Marketing. Today my role is that of “Chief Innovation Officer,” My job is to help to our clients identify a compelling message and effective way to distribute that message to influencers. I also keep local restaurants in business by consuming a lot of pizza, cheeseburgers and coffee.

2. Pizza… Excellent! Over at The Buzz Saw Word of Mouth Blog, you blog about, well, blogging and word of mouth marketing. Do you think blogging is the best way to generate buzz online?

I think creating great content is the best way to create buzz. This may be with a blog, but it can also be with video, a widget, a podcast or a calculator. Great content + great distribution = great buzz!

3. What should a company look for in a blogger for their business blog? Do you think it’s most important for a blogger to have writing ability or is it more important to understand the subject and audience?

Expertise is what matters. People online can just smell insincerity. If you don’t know the subject, don’t blog about it.

4. Great advice. In fact, I know some bloggers are weary of off-base or out-of-touch pitches from PR reps. What’s the best way to go about blogger outreach?

Why, I just wrote a blog post about this: “Pitch a Blogger like Bon Jovi Rocks, or You Give Blogger Outreach a Bad Name”.

[Bill included his post here, but we’ll give you an excerpt and encourage you to visit The Buzz Saw for the full post.]

“Dear Blogger,
I read your blog every day.”

Strike.

“Dear (blogger name here):
I think your readers might be interested in…”

Strike.

“Hi Bill,
I saw that you spoke at the New Marketing Summit a few weeks ago. I’m a fan of Chris Brogan and…”

Bingo. I’m reading that one.

I’m in the unique position that I spend an equal amount of time pitching bloggers and being pitched. One thing I’ve learned, if your opening line to a blogger can be sent to the next blogger on your target list, it’s a bad opening line.

5. So true! Now say you’re creating great content for your blog but no one’s reading it. How do you recommend encouraging attention to or participation on your blog?

When you create a new blog post, Tweet about it. Put it on your Facebook page. Make sure your blog is registered with RSS and blog search engines. If you want comments on your blog ask a lot of questions.

6. Are there any must-attend sessions you want to catch while at SES Chicago?

Measuring Success in a 2.0 World looks great. So does CEO vs. SEO: Moving the Business Forward in the Connected World. I’m also interested in Social Media Optimization.

Many thanks to Bill for taking the time to answer a few of my questions. I’m sure that was just a small sampling of what he will be sharing during his presentation at SES Chicago — and an even smaller representation of the many great panels and events to look forward to at the show. But remember, it will be here before you know it, so reserve your spot today!

Virginia Nussey is the director of content marketing at MobileMonkey. Prior to joining this startup in 2018, Virginia was the operations and content manager at Bruce Clay Inc., having joined the company in 2008 as a writer and blogger.

See Virginia's author page for links to connect on social media.