Today, we’re going to discuss a phrase that we’ve seen appearing more and more over the last six months.
As a new blogger, you might think that this is the best way to be seen by PR agents looking for bloggers to work with. It seems a fairly easy way to tell people that you’re happy to discuss whatever campaign they’re working on, right?
We asked a few people on Twitter – interestingly, quite a few of them work in PR – what they thought of the phrase, and the overwhelming opinion was that it just isn’t necessary. As nikkiwlkr pointed out, using the phrase “PR Friendly” implies that most bloggers are rude – which obviously isn’t the case!
Here are a few more quotes – seems like the most vocal people wouldn’t use this phrase, but obviously, it’s up to you!
“To me ‘PR friendly’ means you’re happy to be contacted for reviews, etc and so shouldn’t complain at spam.”
“Working from both the PR side and the blogger side, I see it as a bit beggy? The phrase, not being open to PR pitches in general.”
“I have a pr friendly badge in my blog sidebar so companies know I’d be happy to hear from them, but I don’t use the phrase otherwise because it sounds like I’m “putting myself out there”, which isn’t really my style :)”
“It seems pointless because it suggests ‘PR Rude’ is the norm, and I don’t think that’s the case.”
“I think it’s great to have a PR statement, which makes it easier for PR’s/bloggers, but ‘PR friendly’ makes me cringe.”
“I get it from an industry PoV (sort of) but realistically does it just mean you’ll accept anything and be nice to everyone?”
“I umm and ahh about it but ultimately it makes me cringe when I see it. Why not just have a prominent advertise/work with me page?”
“I wonder if it means more like ‘PR susceptible’?”
“I think you can convey it without saying it.”
“As if other blogs are ‘PR aggressive’..?”
“Think usually it says it in the blog intro ‘Hi, I’m Joan and I like tea, cats & breathing + PR Friendly’ which seems odd – like they are blogging more for PR than anything else.”
“I get it, but it smacks of desperation, a bit like saying ‘hey gimme free stuff I WILL TAKE IT!!'”
“I feel like it should be the opposite way and people should just state if they DON’T work with PR, rather than sound a bit beggerish”
(thanks @ebsnare, @mollie_writes, @athriftymrsuk, @lucyparts, @macaroons, @imbeingerica, ShipShapeBF, @helenlimbrick and @stylingouk!)
We love @athriftymrsuk suggestion of having a separate “work with me” page – you could combine it with your disclosure statement. It’s fine to be open to opportunities (isn’t that one of the nice things about blogging, that you can end up doing things you wouldn’t normally get to do?) but it seems that the majority of your readers get turned off by those two little words.
So, over to you. Have you got the phrase “PR Friendly” in your bio? Why did you decide to include it?
When I first started blogging, I noticed a lot of bloggers had “PR friendly” somewhere on their blog – and it was usually pretty obvious as well. I thought that that must be a good way to get in touch with PR. Wrong! I also thought it looked pretty tacky. I’ve changed it now to say something along the lines of “I love working with others”. Maybe that should be changed as well, though… Great post – thanks for sharing!
Ha ha, maybe I should put “PR unfriendly” on my blog, just so they’re not surprised when I forget to reply.
I’m kidding (about the PR unfriendly. Not about forgetting to reply to emails).
X
I’m not a fan of the phrase at all. It always makes me think it gives the impression that we bite so we need a badge to show who’s “tame”!
Agree that a “work with me” page is great.
I wanted my blog to have readers so it is already ‘friendly’ as it is! I mentioned on the ‘about me’ that I can be contacted anytime about anything. (I.e. reviews)
Given the increasing amount of blogs that seem to have virtually nothing but ‘featured posts’, I think that ‘roll on my back, tickle my tummy and call me Mary’ would be a more appropriate turn of phrase.
I keep noticing the phrase in blogger’s Twitter profiles and I have to wonder…do PR reps really use the hashtag to find potential bloggers? It does sound like they’re begging, and honestly I just don’t think I would probably wouldn’t accept most of the companies who would find somebody that way. (Assuming they are tiny companies asking me to review for $10 worth of product I don’t actually want/need.) If, however, major companies are finding bloggers that way then I may need to change my tune!
I appreciate your insight – I’m glad other people share my icky feeling about the term!
“PR Friendly” says to me you want free stuff. As a PR girl, I wouldn’t be more compelled to reach out to someone because they have “PR Friendly” in their bio. I agree it’s tacky.
Hi! I like most of what you said about why we shouldn’t say we’re “PR Friendly.” I’ve been trying to work out how to get across that I am even though I blog about some…unique things.
My one complaint about your blog is that I can’t read half of the article because it’s too wide. :( Would you be able to fix this?
Hi Samantha, thanks for the comment! I’m sorry you’re having problems viewing the site – could you send me a screenshot to hi @ bonjourblogger.com and let me know what you’re viewing the site on? It is supposed to be a responsive site but something must be broken!