Yeah, we’re blogger-ific.

If you’ll look at the top of the homepage under the PRecedent tab, you’ll see a list of all our PRSSA student bloggers who want YOU to follow them, comment and interact.

If your name isn’t on there, please e-mail me at strate87@gmail.com, and I’ll put you on there! This is a great opportunity for you to start one, and we got over 2,000 hits on the PRSSA blog last WEEK. That means a lot of people could potentially check out your blog.

To those who have started, congratulations! I hope we’ll get some good readership out of this.

Here’s the list anyway:

Lauren Groblewski: www.lifeonland.wordpress.com

Stekki Mazo: http://stekkimazo.blogspot.com

Jessica Slevin: www.jessicaslevin.blogspot.com

Cameron King: http://www.cameronaking.blogspot.com/

Katherine Strate: www.dawg-food.com

Kristen Fraser: http://klfrasernmi.wordpress.com/

How to pitch bloggers

It is especially important to use caution when pitching bloggers (or any other type of media for that matter) with the recent controversy of “PR Blacklisting.”

Pitching bloggers is different than pitching traditional media (i.e. newspapers, magazines, etc.) Although many follow unwritten ethical guidelines, they do not have the formal ethical guidelines that traditional media have. Additionally, bloggers do not have to report to an editor, thus they are usually much more candid about their opinions. Bloggers are unique, and although they do not usually have as many followers as traditional media, their followers are a very loyal, niche group.

When you pitch a blogger, make sure you stick to these guidelines to prevent your e-mail from getting Blacklisted:

• Personalize. It is NOT a good idea to send a “mass pitch” bloggers. Individual, personalized pitches are best. Bloggers are very picky. If they think you are sending out mass pitches, there is no way they will respond. Some bloggers even specify how they want you to contact them. Some prefer a facebook message followed by an e-mail. Others prefer a Twitter message, or Twit Pitch, and then a phone call. Make sure you know.
• Research. You may have heard the term, “PR begins and ends in research” in your public relations classes (if you haven’t, just Google the term and see what pops up). Before you even pitch make sure you read, read, read the blog. Get to know the voice of the blog, what the blog posts are usually about. Even read the “About Me” and the “About the Blog” sections.
• Check the dates. Is the blog updated frequently? If not, it’s probably not worth pitching.
• Is it mutually beneficial? Is the product, service, resource, etc. you are pitching relevant, timely, newsworthy and beneficial to the blogger’s audience?
• Find relevancy. Has the blogger recently written about a topic specifically related to what you are pitching? If so, mention this specifically in your pitch. (i.e. The message of my product fits well with your post on such and such date about such and such.)
• Proofread. Then proofread again. As with any pitch, make sure you not only address the correct person in the pitch, but also make sure you spell their name correctly.
• Stay organized. This is especially important when you are pitching a lot of bloggers at once. Your correspondence with each will be at different levels. I recommend an Excel spreadsheet to keep all your information in once place.
• Stay positive. I promise when you start seeing positive articles written about your client it will be worth all the time and effort you put into this project!

Additional Resources

There are also a lot of great articles out there (written by bloggers AND public relations experts) on how to successfully pitch bloggers. I recommend the following:

• “Luke, I am Your Blogger: How To Pitch From The Darkside”
• “How to Pitch Bloggers – 21 Tips”
• “Dear PR people”: How to Pitch Bloggers”
• “7 Ways to Successfully Pitch Bloggers”
• “How to pitch bloggers…the need for best practices and standards”

Word of the week: blog

The prominence of the Internet as well as the emergence and popularity of new media is changing the face of public relations. There are many interactive and beneficial tools that public relations practitioners are utilizing to create their messages and send them to a wider audience. One of the most easy to use and well-known tools is called a blog.

As Katherine mentioned in “So you wanna be a blogger?,” the word blog may be so unfamiliar to you that upon hearing it you may think it has something to do with a bodily function – sneezing perhaps? Ghezuntite! For others, a blog may just be something you only use to catch up on the latest celebrity gossip, a resource for finding the best places to eat in Athens or follow your favorite professional student organization. No matter how knowledgeable you feel about blogs, you should be familiar with how to utilize them to benefit yourself, your business and your clients. For those of you who already feel well equipped to use blogs in the world of PR, you should know it is never a bad idea to brush up on your skills.

In simple terms, a blog is a Web site that contains an online journal with reflections, comments and often hyperlinks to additional resources. Blogs typically provide commentary or news on specific subjects that will attract a target audience and have the potential to develop a loyal following and enhance your relationship with your followers by allowing them to feel a personal connection with you. Additionally, blogs allow you to further build your credibility, positively advertise your business or yourself, increase your networking opportunities (think job opportunities) and allows your followers to provide you with beneficial feedback. For more information, watch this fun video, “Blogs in Plain English.”

People are writing and reading blogs now more than ever. As of February 2008, blog search engine Technorati tracked more than 112 million blogs. More than 57 million blog readers are consuming this content, according to a recent report by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, and this number is growing rapidly. Now is the time to get yours out on the web. The following is a list of tips for writing a professional, effective blog.

• Stay on topic. Choose a topic that will benefit a particular audience and write strictly about that. Don’t flood your blog with personal stories about your family and vacation.
• Keep it professional. Strive to be somewhat objective when it comes to controversial topics. Refrain from too much self-promotion, and never badmouth your competition or others!
• Edit, edit, edit! Ok, so blogs don’t have to be written in AP style, but be sure your grammar and spelling is correct.
• Tag each post and let your readers search by topic. A “tag” is a label that you apply to each post that quickly identifies some categories in which a post belongs. When you have a lengthy library of posts, readers can access information they’re looking for even if it is no longer on your front page.
• Keep it interesting. Combine text, images, links to other blogs (called a blog roll), links to additional resources on the Internet and related media in your blog. Link in text and provide “further reading” or “additional resources” links at the end of each post to reinforce your point. Linking is crucial to creating a dynamic blog. Including interesting resources, credible Web sites, and current news stories makes you look interesting, credible, and current. Readers will check your blog daily if they know they’ll find something relevant, and the number of hits and comments on your blog will soar. Make sure that readers can leave comments and make a point to respond to them in a timely manner.
• Post regularly and often. Realistically, people won’t come back to a site that is dormant for days at a time. To ensure that you have enough material, brainstorm topics and draft content well in advance so that you always have angles and relative topics to cover.

Word of the Week: press release

After joining PRSSA my freshman year, I kept hearing all this talk about press releases. Being totally new to the public relations and communications field, I had no clue what one was.

Even when I joined Creative Consultants my sophomore year, it was always “press release this” and “press release that.” The confusion was unbearable.

For all the PRSSA-ers out there who are also clueless about this word, I’m going to explain it to you. You deserve it.

One source defines a press release as, a public relations announcement issued to the news media and other targeted publications for the purpose of letting the public know of company developments.

I think that’s a pretty good definition, but let me give an example.

You (insert name here) work in the communications department for the Underwater Basket Weavers of America. One of your scientists has developed a new thingamabobber-glove that prevents underwater basket weavers’ hands from getting pruny in the water. They still allow the same kind of finger movement you would have if you didn’t have a glove on. It lets them weave for hours! Cool, huh?

SO, your job is to let the media (TV stations, journalists, radio stations and bloggers) know about it.

Enter: press release.

You draft a document to e-mail to your target media (maybe special marine reporters or the Underwater Basket Weavers Magazine) about this exciting new development.

The press release contains a few key details:

1. A headline: Short and sweet, but it also needs to contain the major details.

“More Time to Weave: New Glove Revolutionizes Underwater Basket Weaving”

A note: There are tons of ways to write a headline. There is never a right or wrong one. Using precise language will help make one more understandable than another.

2. A dateline: This is important. It gives the city where the release is coming from, and it also gives the date. When you use AP Style, there are certain cities that stand alone on the dateline.

For example, a press release from Atlanta would look like this:

ATLANTA, July 10,2008–Start your lead here…

Since UBWA’s headquarters is in Tallahassee, the dateline would look like this:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., July 10, 2008–Start your lead here…

3. A lead: This a one or two sentence description that repeats what was in the title and is the first paragraph of the press release.

“Scientists at the Underwater Basket Weavers of America have developed a revolutionary glove to prevent water damaged hands while retaining regular hand movement and agility.”

4. Background: The next part is very important. You must be concise and informative. Here’s a tip from PR enthusiast, Kevin Dugan (@prblog), that he suggested to me on Twitter: “a news release is NOT a pitch. it supports the pitch and should contain, uh, news!”

There you go. The background paragraphs (usually two) are where you give more facts about the glove: who developed it, how long did it take, how many trial and errors, what it’s made of, a quote from the UBWA spokesperson or scientist and a quote from an underwater basket weaver who has worn the glove.

Remember, you’re not asking the reporter (or whoever) to write about it. The press release contains information he will need if he decides to cover it.

5. A boilerplate: Cool word, huh? The boilerplate is the paragraph with general information about Underwater Basket Weavers of America. It’s usually the same on all documents. Most companies have a Word Doc. or something that has it written.

“The Underwater Basket Weavers of America (UBWA) is a non-profit organization that strives to increase awareness of the sport of underwater basket weaving as well as provide a network for its members. Started in 1989 by Bubbles McGhee, UBWA is headquartered in Tallahassee, Fla. and distributes a weekly newsletter and a quarterly magazine. Nationwide, UBWA has over 25 members and manages three underwater basket weaving centers.”

So, there you go. That is a BRIEF overview of the traditional press release. Don’t you see how it can be helpful? If you have all the information in there, journalists will be very happy with you-especially if you correctly use AP Style (but we’re UGA students, and our professors expect nothing less than perfection).

A Twitter friend, Mike Toner (MikeToner), wanted me to add, “the press release doesn’t have to be a traditional looking, static document anymore. Hyperlinks are helpful for both consumers and journalists.”

This may have you wondering, but we’ll get to that later. If you want to be an over-achiever and look ahead, this might be what he’s talking about.

That’s pretty much it for our first word of the week (theme music, please). If you have any questions, post ‘em! I’m hoping we’ll get some wonderful PR professionals to follow our blog, and they might be able to help answer your questions.

Update: I received more Twitter responses when I asked for hints when writing a press release. Here’s what I got. Thanks everyone!

	the_spinmd @katlady maybe some advice in here for your post: http://tinyurl.com/66mcem about 3 hours ago from twhirl in reply to katlady
	swhitley @katlady @MikeToner I recommend the articles by Brian Solis in PRX Builder’s sidebar on today’s releases (http://www.prxbuilder.com) about 3 hours ago from web in reply to katlady
	mentzdog @katlady It’s important to keep it “newsy.”Hold your ground when marketing types want to make it more “bold”-stick to the facts. about 3 hours ago from twhirl in reply to katlady