One of the tactics PR professionals sometimes use is the open letter. Basically, this is a public letter to the world that you publish for everyone to see. Famous open letters include Bill Gates' letter to hobbyists and Google CEO Eric Schmidt's open letter on Net Neutrality. It used to be you'd publish it in a newspaper, then later on Web sites. Now, Ozgur Alaz has reinvented this timeless tactic using del.icio.us.
Using del.icio.us' network feature, Ozgur has developed a hack to send messages people you want to connect with, even if you don't know their email address. Basically, you find the del.icio.us ID of the person or people you want to send message to, you add them to your network, write them a message at shorttext.com, then bookmark this URL on del.icio.us and tag it for: username. You could send the message to several people all at once, including all of the most prolific bookmarkers on the site.
Open letters are just one possibility here. What if PR pros used this methodology to pitch reporters and/or bloggers who frequent del.icio.us regularly? You could pitch 10 reporters at once in an open way. Interesting. Great hack Ozgur.
Technorati Tags: del.icio.us
