These days, it seems that if there’s no buzz about you online, you don’t exist. But there are several ways to get that buzz, and most of them are free. Blogs – websites listing commentary about a given topic – are often the easiest solution. Most bloggers are always looking for new material to write about, and they tend to be easy to contact.

The most vital step to generating online buzz is finding the right blogs to contact. You have to focus on blogs that actually relate to your business. If gardeners use your product, look at blogs about gardening. If the chief selling point of your product is that it’s a green technology, look for blogs discussing green technology. Just Googling for blogs about your product will find you several; however, try checking out Technorati or MyBlogLog. These sites can give you an idea of how many people follow a given blog, which can help you focus on popular blogs and give you a higher return on your time.

Once you’ve compiled the list of blogs you want notice from, consider the best way to contact them. You’ll need a point of interest, just like if you were writing a press release. It might be new statistics just being released about your product’s effectiveness, or it can be a story about how your product has positively affected your community. But there has to be a story that a blogger can tell.

Sending a blogger a review copy of your item is often a useful technique, especially if you can convince him or her to give it away in a contest afterwards – that way your product is often the focus of multiple posts on a blog.

In most cases, you’ll be able to email your story directly to the blogger or bloggers in question. A couple of things to think about:

• Don’t spam bloggers – take the time to write each person an individual email, instead of blasting your whole list in one go.
• Customize your message – try to emphasize the points that each particular blogger will be interested in when you contact them.
• Be easy to contact – Make sure that you include information on how to reach you with questions, etc.
• Sell your product on your website – Blogs are best able to direct attention to a website, and if your product isn’t online, that attention is wasted.
• Be courteous – Bloggers are doing you a favor when they talk about your business on their site. They are under no obligation to do so.

There are also a number of companies available that help you to ‘buy’ posts on various blogs. PayPerPost is one of the best known options – the company works with over 40,000 bloggers to help you advertise your product.

Another way to buy attention from a blog is to purchase advertising on the blog in question. Some bloggers write posts that give shout outs about current advertisers, and most will at least check out the company paying their bills this week. If you have a product they like, they may even write extensively about it.