six out of ten magazine: Why you should remove PR Friendly from your bio and blog. Now.

Why you should reove PR Friendly from your blog and twitter bio

I think of all the gripes I have about the blogger/PR relationship, this is one of the top three. Maybe even the top one. When bloggers call themselves PR Friendly it's actually counter-intuitive to the message they're trying to get across. It's not necessary at all. In fact, putting PR Friendly in your twitter bio or in your blog's intro is actually something that will put a PR off working with you. Why? In my true ranting style, as usual, here are five reasons you need to read.

It's a little bit of desperate and a lot of lazy

You accept reviews, great. But there's no need to shout about it, and especially not in your bio. Save those precious, precious characters and use them to describe your blog a bit more, or link to another social channel. As for being lazy, you know those same-olds who constantly spam #prrequest for free holidays, buggies, kids toys (why do the mummy bloggers seem the worst at this?) and cars? PR Friendly, to me, is on the same level as that. We don't need to be told, so don't waste your breath. Work for your collaborations, don't just wait for them.

It shows you won't be loyal to me

I want to build a relationship with bloggers. I want it to be monogamous, ideally. I don't want to leave one night and come back in the morning to see a blogger's basically just accepted everything from all and sundry and who know where else they've been. This is no place for slutty board games. PR Friendly suggests you're happy to accept anything and everything. And that's actually not very good to PR folk. We all love a freebie, sure. But there's more to blogging than free stuff, and we need to make you're you're going to shout about us, rather than everyone.

It's seriously unoriginal and means nothing

We work in a really creative industry. We're constantly thinking of new angles and way to reach the masses with our client's message. Whether it's the #nomakeupselfie, the Ice Bucket Challenge or Paddy Power style virals, we need to work with people who can tell a creative story. So sorry, but when you say PR Friendly all I think is that you're like every other lipstick-smearing, flamingo-posing blogger out there with reams and reams of asterisked features and freebies you're seeeeeeeeh thankful to have received. THANKS MR POSTMAN OMG YOU MUST HATE ME WITH ALL MY PARCELS!!1!1! Bore.

It makes no sense

Every blogger who values their readers is PR friendly. Every. Single. One. Because whether it's a friendly 'no thanks!' or a 'sure, I'll try your product,' there's rarely anyone being out and out unfriendly to us PR folk. The ones who are unfriendly to a PR stranger asking if they want to be added to their press list are ones who are unfriendly to chuggers, and sales callers, and any other unsolicited contact. They probably kick puppies too.

It screams amateur

Look at any bigger blogger and you'll find a well-crafted PR page, and no mention of it anywhere else. We're by no means anywhere near as big as a 'big' blogger, but we have a press page for any fellow folk who want to get in touch. It's clear, easy to read and accessible from any post. Even better, this explains to PRs your terms and conditions there and then, and how you work. Saying you're PR Friendly is basically the online equivalent of begging. No sophisticated blogger would dream of including it in such a brash manner.

So what subtle, professional hints can bloggers give to consumer PRs to say work with me?

1. Remove the banners, and delete the bios. You don't need to mention you're PR friendly, because if your blog reflects who you are, PRs will be clamouring to get in touch regardless of that label.

2. Be contactable through a contact us box, and if you want it online have your email right-clickable (which means no JPGs) so I can access and copy it easily.

3. Tell me your name. Just so you bloggers don't get one of those oh-so-annoying Dear Blogger emails.

It's as simple as that! Want to read more about working with PRs? Find out how to use Twitter to get a job, how to create a media pack/press kit for your blog and how to avoid finding yourself on a PR's blacklist in our series of blog marketing features.