A Hired Blogger Is Not A Hired Gun

I recently made the mistake of explaining to the client that they were getting a top notch blogger that is seasoned and savvy and could take on whatever project they needed. Not that this was not the case mind you but it left a different impression with the company that was getting the professional blogger.  The client after hearing this took on the blogger and subsequently threw them into the street to face the other side’s hired gun.  It could have been a bloody battle (a bloggy battle?) but thankfully it was a draw.

Often I sit down and have a strategy session with the blogger and with the client for that initial get to know you period, and a goal setting session, and talk about what the strategies are for the company, and how the blogger fits into that campaign.  In this particular instance I made some assumptions.

I got lazy.  I had what I thought were more important things to get done.  All of it merely an excuse for doing it wrong.  The things that I did well before and the process I had stuck to was for a reason.  The client and the blogger have just met and they are not a party to what I know about the blogger or perhaps the weeks of discussions and campaign strategies I have had with the client.  It all rattles around in my head a little and somewhere gets filed away in my database but the client and the blogger have no key to unlock that space (Nor would they want to be inside that nightmare. I’ve locked it up for a reason.)

As a professional blogger and if you are hiring a blogger for the first time, make sure you have a meeting up front after you have chosen your candidate.  Talk about the things that needs to be discussed:

• What is the company mission and message?
• What are the goals of the company and how can the blogger help accomplish those goals?
• How does the blogger want to move forward?
• When would be a good time to review and revisit the goals?
• What happens in a crisis?
• Who is the contact and that person’s back up contact?
• Where is the company going?
• Does the blogger understand their role in the mission and message.
• Do they have the proper bullets to stand in your street at high noon?

Okay the last one is to help with the metaphor, but you get the picture.  These are merely a few of the questions that should come to mind when you have been hired and when you have actually hired your blogger to perform for you.  If you bring them in and they show you their shiny gun, make sure they are on your side and are willing to stand in the street with your best interest at heart.