When you're ready to position yourself as a media resource, says blogger Nettie Hartsock, you can hire publicists who pitch your expertise to journalists—or you can start making news at your blog. "The media is constantly sourcing blogs and the experts who write them to feature in both online and offline news stories," she writes. "Almost every single cable news show incorporates experts who are identified only by their blog or website." Further, she notes, the AP has announced it will now credit bloggers in news stories.

According to Hartsock, media outlets and bloggers enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship. "Offline and online publications will assume that if you're quoted in a story, you will also link to that story on your blog, Twitter, Facebook etc. and that will help drive more readers to the media publication itself," she notes. "It's a win-win."

So how do you become a newsmaker? Hartsock has this advice:

• "Be ahead of the stories of the day and offer your expert opinion via your blog before you're asked to," she suggests. Make an interesting argument, offer an unusual angle and demonstrate your expertise. Don't forget to write clean, quotable copy that's snark-free.
• Give your posts titles with a newsy hook. "Look at the headlines on major media sites," she says, "and use the same form for some of your blog posts." A title should communicate the post's basic premise and whet a reader's appetite for what she will find once she clicks on the link.

The Po!nt: You've been pitching the media all this time—now let the media come to you.

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