By Kate Connors, Senior Account Executive & Social Media Strategist, Media & Communications Strategies, Inc.

When I consider the daunting task of pitching a blogger during the winter holidays the first thing that comes to mind is the movie Jingle All The Way. For those of you who haven’t seen it, here is a quick recap: Arnold Schwarzenegger is on a desperate search to find a Turbo-man action figure for his son. The extremely popular toy is completely sold out, and having waited until the last minute, Arnold has to jump through extraordinary hoops to find the toy for his son. Pitching a blogger is relatable to Arnold’s challenge; you are competing with hundreds of other PR representatives on an extremely tight deadline to get what you want: coverage for your clients. So how do you stand out from the pack and secure the hypothetical Turbo-man?

1) Study Study Study– Yes, it may be Christmas break for students but not for communications professionals. The worst thing you can do when pitching a blogger is to not research their beat and their audiences’ interests. Take the time to read through their entries and learn about their background. Someone may be listed as a “parenting blogger” but they could have a specific niche: diapers, education, dealing with divorce, autism. By learning your blogger’s background, you can create a stronger pitch and focus on information that is relevant for them.

2) Relationship Building Throughout the Year– Bloggers are all about relationship building, which means giving throughout the year and not just during the holidays. If you have provided them with useful, insightful information throughout the year, they are going to want to come back to you as a resource during the busy season. For them, using you or your client as a “known” expert is a lot easier than pooling through the masses of pitch emails.

3) Make Your Pitch Timely– This one may sound simple, but from my own experience, it is not. Having worked for wine regions, I know that the holiday season is the biggest sales period for most alcoholic beverage. But if you simply try to pitch a blogger on writing about your wine because New Year’s Eve is traditionally a party night, you can basically throw that pitch down the drain along with your wine.

There are other angles besides “it’s the holidays, buy this.” For example, at Media & Communications Strategies we work with an architecture client who focuses on safety in design for schools in California. We recently pitched bloggers on having our client author a piece in light of the Sandy Hook Anniversary. It was extremely well received because it was a unique perspective on topic that was important to education and architectural design bloggers and their readers.

4) Offer Them Your Viral Resources– In today’s world, anyone can be a blogger. The most successful bloggers are the ones with the best content for their audience, and also the ones who have the most viral traction. If you can offer a blogger promotion of their site either through a blogroll or your client’s social media, let them know that. That will help them build their audience and get your client’s story out to a larger audience.

This holiday season, you do not need to compete with the hundreds of other PR representatives trying to get the one guest spot left on a blog. Study your blogger, build a relationship, make your pitch unique and timely, and offer them your viral resources. You may just find yourself with more than one impossible-to-find Turbo-man.