No Straw Men

The below excerpts come from e-mails between Marshall Manson, of Edelman, and Rob Port of the Say Anything blog. They span a two-month period in 2006, though the first four selections all come from the same, original e-mail.

1. The intro (establish credibility and disclose who you are):

Rob: Hello. I hope you’re well. I just wanted to drop you a line and introduce myself. I’m a blogger myself (I contribute to Confirm Them and Human Events’ blogs among others), but for my day job—I do online public affairs for Wal-Mart, working with Mike Krempasky who runs Redstate.com.

2. The flattery (show familiarity with the blogger’s work):

Just wanted you to know that your post (http://sayanythingblog.com/2005/11/11/why-wal-mart-works/) taking notice of “Why Wal-Mart Works” was noticed here and at the corporate headquarters in Bentonville.

3. The FYI (connect your client’s interests to the blogger’s interests):

As you probably know, Washington-based union bosses have been running a campaign against Wal-Mart. And it’s always a challenge when opponents organize to attack corporations. The companies always seem to have one arm tied behind their backs when they try to respond, so it’s nice to see folks like you defending them when it’s the right thing to do.

Post continued here.