Is sending press releases to bloggers worthwhile?

I get 15 to 20 press releases, offers to review products, notices of seminars, or requests to post something each day. It’s hard to filter through the worthless crap so as to catch something good. As a result, I almost have to just delete all such emails.

I’m afraid that marketers and PR folks feel that bloggers are amateurish reporters starved for attention – ‘they’ll blog anything.’ Look at Bill Hartzer’s advice to companies at Search Engine Watch:

If a blogger receives a press release directly from a company in their industry, most likely they will pay attention to it. After all, bloggers are always looking for something to write about. And it’s the bloggers who have the power to link directly to the corporate Web site, which will ultimately help your site’s search engine rankings.

I suppose a release from a PR professional that had read my blog, knew the value adds I like to share with readers, and knew what made me tick, may send a press release along with a personal email about something I may wish to post. But I don’t get that.

I get crap from PR people and advertisers that have never read my blog and know nothing about what I do or write. They are throwing spaghetti up on the wall and seeing if anything will stick. And these folks went to college to learn how to do this?

Shot gun press releases sent to bloggers are the equivalent of spam. 99.9% of the time they draw no blog coverage. In fact, you’re just turning bloggers off, something that’s not in your interests.