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Here are seven rules that you should always follow as a blogger when dealing with public relations pros (though some can be applied to your relationships with anyone):

• Rule #1: Act professionally. Remember that professionalism is everything. This relates to courteousness too. Keep your tone polite.
• Rule #2: Be humble. By blogging, you'll reap some nice rewards (and awards). Don't let that fame get to your head. You might be great and receive a lot of accolades, but it doesn't make you any better than the people you deal with. In most cases, you're not as important as you think you are.
• Rule #3: Remember who you are dealing with. PR people aren't in the ad sales industry.  Their goal is to send press pitches, not to buy ads on your site.  If a blogger outreach consultant or social media agency emails you a story pitch, read their signature.  If it doesn't say "media buyer" or if they haven't explicitly asked for your media kit, chances are they can't follow through with an ad buy.
• Rule #4: This could be the start of something big. The right PR person is just as connected with the rest of the world as they are with bloggers themselves.  In fact, a relationship that starts on the right foot might actually translate to better things down the road, including special event invites and freebies that might as well be equivalent to a really good ad deal.  Perhaps, real ad sales will follow.  A bad first impression will never get you to that point. A great first impression can be very rewarding.
• Rule #5: It's a relationship, stupid! Did I mention at all in this article that these are still interpersonal relationships? To quote The Happiness Project author Gretchen Rubin, act the way you want to feel.
• Rule #6: Remember where you were when you started. There's more to blogging than just dollar signs. There's relationship building (see rule #6), influence, branding, and more. Don't have a narrow focus because the grass seems greener when the riches are easily attainable. At the end of the day, blogs are a relationship-building tool. That's probably how you got to where you are now, by sharing your voice and providing insights that helped build those relationships, like having your readers trust you. Think about what you did before to get you where you are today. Never stop doing that either. The options might be more plentiful nowadays but you should stay true to why you started blogging to begin with.
• Rule #7: You need PR people as much as they need you. Maybe not now, but your future could depend on them.

Bloggers have a real opportunity here, but it should be said that they need to evaluate why they're blogging and what keeps them doing it. Did passion drive them to blog? Is that still the case? Thankfully, of the thousands of people I've met in my past 4 years of publicly blogging, there aren't that many individuals who cause alarm or worry. Most of you get it. You realize that there are other people sitting behind a computer screen to talk to you, and they're not much different than you are.

Bloggers have a responsibility to themselves but they also have a responsibility to everyone around them. There will be times when despite how the public relations person sees it, the story doesn't fit the blogger. But handling that correspondence gracefully is what will separate one blogger from others. Handling all incoming inquiries professionally (and even quickly) can do wonders on indirectly building up your blog (and maybe even your brand) with high regard.

Great to see something like this. You'd think it's all common sense but it certainly isn't.