Danny Does NPR and Interview Opportunities

Frequently when we talk about links you hear the comment - "get to know the journalists in your area so they'll write about your site" (or some variation of that line) but we don't always hear how or where to find them.

Earlier today I was looking at the NPR site after Justilien pinged this a.m. and mentioned he heard Danny on NPR's Marketplace last night. Always eager to listen to what Mr. Sullivan has to say (nose tan deepening), I popped over to NPR to find the interview.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/04/03/PM200704033.html

While I was hunting for it, this call to action for experts/information on a handful of topics caught my eye and attention. These kinds of story requests are golden as they are an open invitation and a way to make contact with the media in your niche.

Here's what it said:

HELP US TELL THE STORY

We want your insights to help us in our reporting in these areas. Share what you know:

Is the subprime crisis affecting you, your work or where you live?
Help public radio cover Hispanic communities
Have you started a business?
What does sustainability mean to you?

Someday, when I get a big girl blog (cough) I'll be able to cut and copy examples of the actual ad in it's original format but for now, there it is.

So......in the future, when you're out there building links and doing this kind of work: (which is fine by the way, it works)

Keyword + add a site

Keyword + submit a site

add the phrase "help us tell the story" (and it's variations) + keyword and see what pops up! Then get to work sending in your articles and research papers and become the credible source journalists turn to in your industry - like Danny is with NPR! :)

Getting Clean Links From NoFollow Lemons

I was just as dismayed as the next link builder when places like the Wikipedia, del.icio.us and YouTube decided to turn all their outbound links pink by adding nofollows. I had spent a good deal of time getting some of them placed and thought – oh well, there goes the neighborhood.

But! After thinking about it a bit I decided if I couldn’t get the juice from the link I’d focus on getting the link to the juice.

As a link builder it’s my job to find the best sites to secure links from. I’m after topically relevant, reputation heavy, growth oriented sites that host my demographic. Basically – popular sites in a given niche. If I find those top sites are using nofollow I'll still utter a curse word or two but it won't stop me from going after the link.

Why? There’s a very high probability the demographic frequenting the site will click through to mine because they trust the host site and assume any link they offer has to be relevant. It also doesn't hurt that I'll use the most alluring anchor text I can think of to further entice people to click. Once they land on your site it's up to you to do everything in your power to capture their information and attention.

With emphasis on their information. If you’re establishing new links, point them to pages with special offers and free giveaways that require registration to download. Give away whitepapers, discount coupons, survey results, newsletter memberships… anything with a perceived value that allows you to capture an email address.

This also works for established links now color coded pink. Change the content on the destination page and include the special offers. Once you have the email address, develop a link incentive and send it back to those people who downloaded your info. They took the first step in showing you they liked what they saw and wanted more info so follow-up with another offer and request to link. People link with sites they like or make them look good so take time to develop an incentive that’s mutually beneficial.

Just because someone found your site through a nofollow link doesn't mean they won't link to you using a clean one. You just need to find out who they are and then do the follow-up.

photo from http://wendyboucher.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/lemonade0001art006.JPG

Princess Neil

Neil Patel = Princess

In a bar he stood one night,

Holding a scepter instead of Bud Light.

Grinning foolishly and looking so merry,

Hoping to attract some cute little Sherry.

When that didn’t work he went with plan B,

And begged for link-love under coconut trees.

“I need to get high on green fairy dust

Make Neil Patel = princess rank first or I'll bust”.

The reason is weird but we can’t say no...

And hope this blog post will at least show,

That to dress like you did and get no hot mate

The least we can do is support your link bait.

Slashdot / Del.icio.us / Digg