I read this post out of curiosity after reading a couple much-needed potty training posts, and it made so much more sense once I read this comment. I imagined these communications were like:
“Dear Sir, I represent Tasty Wheat Dog Food and we would like to place an 800px x 100px banner advertisement on your blog. We are willing to pay 4 cents per view and 12 cents per click. We propose an initial advertising contract of $250,000 or 12 months, whichever comes first. If the advertising campaign is successful, we would likely consider renewing on similar terms. Please consider our request and respond at your convenience. Thank you.”
I didn’t realize until this comment that such requests were asking for product reviews in exchange for providing the product. I think throwing in a “..along with a $500 gift certificate to your local pet store” would go a long way in standing out from the crowd populating the circular file.
I’m sorry to hear that you get bombarded by a whole separate class of spam. I’ve only read a handful of posts (just found your site today), but I did find them useful and appreciate what you’ve done here! Thank you.

I’m actually in the process of trying to talk my wife into getting a puppy (I’ve already convinced my daughters) and so I’m glad I found your blog. I’m going to study it closely once I win the battle. I especially like the article you shared about training your puppy like a guide dog… even if it isn’t one.

In any case, thanks. Look for a message from me soon.

Bob

Yep, I totally get it. We get the totally unrelated requests all the time too. It’s tough to understand why people do this. Thanks for stopping by.

Agreed! I wish people would learn a little bit more about the blog before asking me to do something. Thanks for stopping by!

Hi Cynthia,

Good luck with your advertising efforts. Building relationships with pet bloggers is probably the best way to open up a communication channel if you’re an advertiser.

Take care,
Colby

Thanks for sharing this to us! I was on my way to be a pet product advertiser since our company recently found a great pet product and would love to share this great pet toy to the world. I have not tried to get in touch with any pet blogger but always have this idea in mind. It just so happened that I read your “Top 10 pet products from amazon.com” and it leads me to this article. With your guideline above, I’m sure I can get some positive response from pet bloggers. It’s good to know what you (pet bloggers) think. Really appreciate your notes. I’m going to follow your step 1-5 now! Hope to get in touch with you in the nearly future 🙂

I’ve been sending this link to advertisers. So far most don’t respond back. One has actually taken an interest in the blog and asked some questions about puppy training. Another one responded to the link (I don’t think she read it) just kind of saying yeah, yeah, but we’ll give you a free sample and you can be an affiliate just write a blog post and put some ads in your sidebar…Lindsay, you know the drill. I hope all is well with you!

Ha! Could not agree more on this! I’m sorry, but my time is worth way more than a $7 bag of treats. 🙂