If you're a PR professional and you want to succeed in influencing bloggers, you really need to get to know what makes them tick as people. So much of the game is cracking the code on the individual and their world view.
Just like working with reporters, reading a blog is the most basic, yet essential step you can take. No one should pitch a blog without reading it for at least a week. However, I also recommend diving deeper. Wikipedia is your sherpa. It has better data on bloggers than MediaMap does by far.
Wikipedia, perhaps curiously, features articles on some 200 US bloggers. Many of these write-ups include rich data that can help you create smarter PR programs and break bread with bloggers.
