In order to be effective, blogger relations (BR) and online advocacy (OA) needs to be fully opt-in. Any PR firm who wants to engage the blogosphere should prospect for new bloggers individually and not en masse. I am surely a fan of the GM Fastlane blog. That said, I received an unsolicited email (some fancy that SPAM) from Melanie at Hass MS&L PR. Here’s some “dos” and “don’ts” of online advocacy and blogger relations.

Bravo for embracing online advocacy and BR, bravo for being transparent — transparency is key — and bravo for having an actual PR executive, Melanie, send the email from her firm, Hass MS&L PR, and not from GM

GM and Hass MS&L PR, you get points off for not sending me an email letting me know that you are aware of my blog — and my love of automobiles and corporate blogs — and then asking me if I would be willing to receive future emails.

That would have been ideal.

That said, I am pretty excited to be on the list, either way; although I guarantee you you’re going to get a lot of accusations of spamming. The rules are, in order of importance: transparency and opt-in. You failed to ask first.

The email to follow:

—–Original Message—–
From: melanie.xxxxxxx@hassmsl.com [mailto:melanie.xxxxxxx@hassmsl.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 06, 2006 1:29 PM
To: cja@well.com
Subject: General Motors Extended Warranty Announcement

Hi, Chris.

This afternoon General Motors announced that it is extending its powertrain warranty on all vehicles. GM came to this decision in large part due to customer feedback it received on its Fastlane blog.

We thought this use of new media might interest you and/or your readers.

To learn more visit:

http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/archives/2006/09/because_we_can.html

Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks for your time,
Melanie

Melanie xxxxxxx
Assistant Account Executive
HASS MS&L
115 W. Liberty, Ste. 200
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
P: (734) 214-xxxx, ext. xxx
E: Melanie.xxxxxxx@hassmsl.com
————————————————————————
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