So you’re thinking, what can a blog do for me? Did I really just spend thousands of dollars to attend college, only to learn that the growing trend in public relations is the social media phenomenon that I’m a part of everyday to begin with? And to think, some good may just comes from the hours spent networking on social Web sites every week!
Blogging is here and it’s here to stay. The importance of blogs continues to rise because blogs work. Period.
Blogs are effective and inexpensive to create and maintain. Blogs allow
professionals to choose who creates, monitors and posts on the company’s or organization’s page. These specialists tailor their blog atmosphere to the targeted audience in order to reach their goals in the quickest and most efficient manner.
Companies are quickly catching onto this growing trend and realizing the value and impact of taking part in it. Robert Scoble’s blog, Scobleizer, is a very effective and popular blog. He utilized his blog while a Microsoft employee and acquired major influence in the market after establishing a fresh and somewhat controversial blog. He promoted Microsoft products, yet he also criticized the company and praised competitors such as Google and Apple Computer.
Scobel shows how blogs are also useful when communicating within an organization. He was involved with producing videos that showcased Microsoft products and employees. These intranets are also used by Intel and The Walt Disney Company.
The Wall Street Journal states how a regularly updated blog can help a business establish itself. In a growing society, where leaving your mark takes hard work, the use of easy to maintain and inexpensive tactics are the only way to go.
One tip all public relations newbies should receive is DO YOUR RESEARCH! Blogger Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine, called out numerous public relations professionals after receiving bad pitch after bad pitch in late October.
Although the backlash is still taking place from that blow-up, all PR professionals should take away the helpful tips Todd Defren provided on his blog PR-Squared. A little help never hurt anyone.
So blog away PR people and reap the benefits! And who would have thought the generation obsessed with Facebook and MySpace would have the power to move so many markets in a new direction!
Photos courtesy of Conversations with Dina and Base 10 Web Solutions Inc.
Effective PR 101 
A good start. Good luck with the new blog!
The importance of virtual worlds and blogs to corporate exposure continues to rise. The influence is enticing. Hopefully, it will cross generations quickly.
Blogs are great for business and for personal life. Example, my neice in Va. has a great blog set up where she updates daily the events and changes in their lives. Even though us relatives here in Ohio are hundreds of miles away from her, we are offered a small slice of life in Virginia thru her daily on-line journal. It really does help us to feel connected.
This should generate some useful feedback for you and provide a good educational experience. Make sense of it all.
Study hard, be aggressive and most of all, listen.