PR Advice for Professionals

Be Prepared to Blog

by Patty

Think reading blogs are fun, but you cannot see yourself doing one? Well, chances are if you pursue a PR career seriously, they will be one of your main venues to promote your firm and/or your clients, so be prepared.

The Public Relations Society of America recently blogged about five reasons why you should launch a blog if you are in PR, followed by examples of each. They are as follows:

1) To Influence Policy

The National Association of Manufacturers blog offers factual albeit opinionated updates on current issues of concern for its members and how legislative officials are addressing them. It often quotes news stories and links to major events as well.

2) To Reinforce An Image

The blog for Southwest Airlines is as cheeky and loose as that airline often strives to be with its passengers. Employees often write with a sense of humor that reflects the Southwest sensibility, although it does address some items straightforwardly like the recent flap over whether some passengers’ skirts were too short to be appropriate for sitting in the plane.

3) To Support Customers

A blog by Microsoft employees explaining details of all the company’s applications to confused or curious consumers? It does exist – see it here. You can even search alphabetically by application and concentrate only on entries regarding that program.

4) To Give Advice

On its “Road Warrior” blog, Extended Stay Hotels offers plenty of tips for how to handle vacations, and some of the entries do not even mention the hotels themselves.

5) To Educate

Even sheet metal is worthy of a blog nowadays. The one by the Tinbasher in England cleverly offers inquiries from readers with witty answers accompanied by photos that illustrate what is being discussed or offers a funny counterpoint to the topic at hand.

The one key element the PRSA neglected to mention about why you blog is that it increases traffic to your firm’s and/or clients’ Web sites. The new material generated by a blog entry shows you are keeping the site fresh and up to date, thus encouraging people to return and see what else is new on it.

So if you have not blogged before – or have never been interested in doing so – better start practicing now. Chances are you will be required to do so at your next PR job.

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