Finding Blogs in Your Industry or Market

One of the first steps in a blog monitoring or a blogger relations campaign is to create a list of blogs in your industry that you want to follow. You can’t possibly watch them all. So how do you prioritize those blogs?

Jason Falls has demonstrated how he created a list of education blogs for a client that his firm was working with. Even if you're not following education, the process that he describes is really useful. He even ranked the blogs based on an engagement score.

So go to his blog post, “Determining the Top Education Blogs” and see what he did. If you are working in education or with clients focused on education, Jason has generously made his list available to everyone who wants it.

Jason also has a post, “How To Pick The Right Blogs For PR Outreach,” where he provides a presentation called, Not All Blogs are Created Equal,” he made recently to the Blugrass Chapter of PRSA.

For an added dose, listen to the interview of Jason by Eric Schwartzman for the On the Record Online podcast. They talked about how organizations should and should not get into social media. It's an excellent interview.

Blogging 101 with Bryan Person

Live from the Seminar!

Our last speaker this afternoon is Bryan Person, social media evangelist at Live World. Bryan kicks off by asking the questions....why should you blog and, more interestingly, who shouldn't blog. He cautions that if you are afraid of negative feedback, you may not be a candidate. However, Bryan looks at this type of feedback as an opportunity to learn about your company.

Goal-setting is an important component of launching a blog... so now, here's a theme with all of our social media presenters today. If you don't have a goal, none of these strategies and tactics will be successful for your organization. Light bulb! All PR practitioners should be setting goals, no matter what tools you choose.

Preparing to blog is an important step. Visiting and subscribing to blogs that interest you is important research. Also, people who visit your blog can find you and contact you. Targeting your readers is very important and your blog need not have a huge audience to be successful.

Creating content is the most important part of your blog. Bryan suggests that you raise your industry up with your content, particularly by creating original content and not recycling content. The more you generate, the more you can be found in search engines. Bloggers should have opinions and take a stand, particularly on issues. Visuals can really help draw people into your blog.

Promoting and building your blog is key to its longevity. Bryan hosted a lively discussion about whether ghostwriting a blog by a CEO or organization representative is a good practice.

Quality in content needs to be followed by quantity....the average blogger should post 3 times per week at a minimum. Bryan gave numerous examples of good blogs in the public relations industry, including Slice and PR Squared .

As with all today's speakers, Bryan urged the participants to maintain transparency. Another theme which all our presenters have stated throughout today's seminar.

Amended on October 8, 2008 to add link to Bryan's presentation.

Quick Options for Finding Blog Coverage of Your Client, Company, Product, Etc.

I got an e-mail from a friend the other day who was looking for quick suggestions on how to monitor blog coverage or conversations. I thought I’d share my answer with you and you can add your suggestions as well if you’d like.

There are three big services – free. I use the first two all the time. I’m going to check out the third. Just like free media monitoring, it’s beneficial to use more than one source.

Google blog search http://blogsearch.google.com
Blogpulse http://www.blogpulse.com/
Technorati http://technorati.com/

The advantage that Technorati has over the others is that it somehow calculates a ranking for each blog which can help you determine which ones to target. The disadvantage is that its searching capabilities have declined significantly in the last year. So you will miss some important ones if this is the only service you use.

A really good paid service that I've tried and loved is Custom Scoop. It does media monitoring including blogs. You get an e-mail each morning listing and linking to all your coverage for each search term. You can do a free trial through: http://www.customscoop.com/fir (FIR just stands for the For Immediate Release podcast, one of three PR/comm. podcasts I don't miss.)

RUN, Don't Walk to the Chapter's Professional Development Seminar

If you're anything like me, every day I become aware of more tools and technology, many of which can help me in my professional life. BIG CAVEAT: there's very little playtime in each day's schedule to afford me the opportunity to learn about all these tools. So if you're reading this blog and looking for more, then RUN, don't walk to the San Antonio Chapter's Professional Development Seminar: New Media is Now! The details can be found here.

One thing I truly benefit from as a member of PRSA, is professional development. I know I can't afford those pricey seminars in exciting locations like San Francisco, Chicago and New York that frequent my mailbox, but the lineup of speakers for our San Antonio sessions, will guarantee that your investment will be worth it.

Start off the morning session with Geoff Livingston, author of "Now is gone: a primer on New Media for Executives and Entrepreneurs." The morning session will be filled with reasons why you need to go forth in this brave new media world.

At lunch, hear Monika Maeckle, Business Wire's vice president for new media development on launching the online conversation with web-friendly press releases. By early afternoon, you will be ready for some meaty "bytes" from an array of qualified speakers.

Kami Watson Huyse, APR, and the chapter's PR Professional of the Year and editor of Communications Overtones, will talk about building relationships with online stakeholders. She will be followed by Christie Goodman, APR, on starting on the podcasting technology. Our final speaker will be Bryan Person, who will get you started on blogging basics. (Once you have a handle on that, this chapter could use a few ambitious bloggers!).

At the end, we will share best practices and ask each other questions before wrapping up. Bring your laptop, an open mind and learn how to use del.icio.us to access course materials and background information. If you can't join us, watch this space for information on joining our Twitter group. I hope to see you there.

Even Spys are Blogging

If you think your organization’s work is too sensitive to blog about. Think again.

The Israeli Secret Service has launched its own blog. That’s right. Spys are blogging.

The blog is authored by four agents, shown only in silhouette, talking about their jobs and recruitment and answering questions from readers. According to the BBC story, the agency is hoping to debunk myths and nurture recruitment.

This is just one more demonstration of the fact that starting an organizational blog doesn’t have to mean revealing all your business secrets. But there may be something related to the work you do that people would be interested in having a conversation about.

It just may take a little creativity. Luckily, that’s what PR people are good at.

PR Director Escamilla Blogs about Client's Humanitarian Work in Zambia

PRSA member and former local television reporter, Randy Escamilla, is currently writing for one of the blogs hosted by the San Antonio Express-News. Randy heads up public relations for the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. On Friday, he left with some of the sisters on humanitarian mission to Mongu, Zambia -- the poorest and most remote part of this African nation. They will be continuing their work to save babies from AIDS.

While there, Randy will be sharing stories with us through a blog that is part of the SAEN's "Postcards" blog series.

Read Randy's story to learn more about the Sisters' work over the next two weeks of their trip.

But also take a look at this creative tactic of using a temporary blog to tell a story from the other side of the globe.

Blogging Tutorial Available Free Until Feb 29

The web site service, atomiclearning.com, has for the month of February made available a type of online workshop about blogging. It is comprised of a host of screencasts in bitesize topics (with a focus on blogger.com). These are usually part of their paid annual service, but in February the blogging screencasts are free.

Topics include: blogging basics, selecting a blog hosting solution, creating a blogger blog, authoring your first blog post, formatting and editing, using hyperlinks, posting images, syndicating your blog and team blogging – just to name a few.

Check it this online Blogging Workshop. But hurry, it’s only free for the next two weeks!