"Problem is I don't have a blog, I don't have friends who are bloggers"
I think the first thing you would need to do is start a blog. It's the whole 'eat your own dogfood' thing. If you had a blog you could do linking agreements with other bloggers to spread the word, and you would be able to better test your service.
How many fake "blogs" will this world be able to absorb? And you're advising him to start another one. Do you remember what the word (and a thing) really means?
Lets face it, todays "blogs" are nothing but little PR agencies, and your advice really reads as "start your own PR firm".
Get real, running a successful "blog" is equally hard to running a successful business, and he already trying to run one. Starting a real blog is easy: you just write what's on your mind, but those blogs have nothing to do with business and usually have an audience of 10-12 friends and family members.
I think this is really the wrong way to think about blogs in the context of your startup. Sure, you could make yet another useless blog to brag about your startup...or you could make a blog that provides useful information in your field, thus proving your expertise and spreading around good will that's bound to come back your way. You obviously shouldn't create another useless blog about your product, and no one is suggesting you should (at least, I hope no one here at news.YC is).
Wufoo gets a significant portion of their traffic from their (excellent) blog. 37signals got pretty much all of their initial uptake from people who read their blog. Not because they talk about how awesome their product is...but because they help people learn new things, solve problems, and enjoy their time on the web a little more.
If you want to call a blog a "PR firm", that's fine. Most of us are doing our own PR, as well, and if blogging fits into that line item on your budget, that's fine. The OP wants to take advantage of blogs without blogging, and people are telling him that it doesn't work that way. Nothing you've said counters that advice.
If someone was trying to sell you a new type of car would you want him to know how to drive? Or would it be sufficient if he just thought he knew how cars worked?
The question was specifically about getting the word out to bloggers I don't see any better way to do that than to BE a blogger and reach out to the audience. It also just so happens that being a blogger will make it easier to test out his app and see what is and isn't good.
Thats an honest question. And I won't deny that I fall into that category. I guess since I read a ton of blogs, I made from the point of view of a reader who might like to interact with bloggers in a fashion different them email thats more open. Aswell I thought in the fashion of opennes seeing other people tipping off their blogger to stories and getting responses might encourage me to share tips as well.
I think that's a great viewpoint to take however if you're going to now sell bloggers on this idea you need to also share their viewpoint on the product.
I think the first thing you would need to do is start a blog. It's the whole 'eat your own dogfood' thing. If you had a blog you could do linking agreements with other bloggers to spread the word, and you would be able to better test your service.