Comments on: Are Bloggers Underutilizing PR People?

By: Blogger Relations: Two Approaches For PR

Blogger Relations: Two Approaches For PR — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 13:30:19 +0000

[...] Are Bloggers Underutilizing PR People? (Stage Two Consulting) [...]

By: ZNF ‘Round The Web

ZNF ‘Round The Web — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:25:25 +0000

[...] Are Bloggers Underutilizing PR People? There’s still a certain amount of secretiveness amongst some PR people/firms. Not sure if they’re old school or what, but at least some seem adversarial with little to no info given. The firms/folks who engage in a dialogue are so much more enjoyable to deal with. And inevitably brings them better coverage, because we’re more informed. It’s really like any other relationship, both sides have to work at it and meet in the middle. Some can pull it off, others are incapable or unwilling. I guess the final point is that when you have so many negative experiences, and I’ve had many, you’re less likely to reach out to the (good) firms for comment, assistance, conversation. [...]

By: Antonio Altamirano

Antonio Altamirano — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:28:48 +0000

Mostly agree with all comments here. PR needs an overhaul. However, lots of the stuff PR firms do is related/mandated by the client.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 03:46:20 +0000

As someone who has been primarily on the PR side of the equation, but is now actively blogging, I have to admit the question kind of took me off guard. In some ways it is almost the bloggers role to find out exactly the kind of information a PR person would *not* want you to discover. ;) OTOH, JT makes a very valid point, that most PR people, at least the good ones, are positively eager to work with an interested journalist (blogger or not) and to accomdate them as much as possible. If you can’t come up with something of interest for a blogger, you are probably not doing your job very well, I would say.

By: foobar111

foobar111 — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:28:42 +0000

Y’all are calling it “news” but you’re not talking about news, you’re talking about advertisements. If it was actual news, you wouldn’t need PR to disperse the “facts” and bloggers wouldn’t have an ad-driven revenue model, or whatever you call it (do blogs have revenue?). Seems like y’all need each other–PR to dole out the advertisements and bloggers to publish the ads for free under the auspices of being unbiased.

By: Jose Alvear

Jose Alvear — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:08:42 +0000

BTW, I like this story but how do I get to your front page? And RSS feed? ;)

By: Jose Alvear

Jose Alvear — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:07:33 +0000

It’s true that in general bloggers don’t use PR people for their stories. Although remember that not all bloggers are equal. As others have already mentioned, there are small unknown blogs and huge big name blogs. And everything in between. So how will a PR agency handle a request from a blogger depends on who the blogger is. Many companies and PR firms tend to ignore smaller bloggers.

However, it is true that bloggers don’t even care about going to the source of the news for clarification. Some bloggers don’t care about the content, especially when every other news source in the world (like CNN, the NY Times, Engagdet, ZNF, etc.) also are writing stories about the exact same thing. Some bloggers are so focusing on putting out fresh content that they just reference other blogs, don’t read the press release, and don’t care about the repurcussions.

But not all bloggers are the same.

I have very good relations with PR companies because of the work I do as an IPTV Analyst, but also because I blog on the side. That’s a pretty good combination and a good way to get companies to know you.

By: Davis Freeberg

Davis Freeberg — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:30:59 +0000

What’s wrong with shooting first and asking questions later?

By: Marshall Kirkpatrick

Marshall Kirkpatrick — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:03:39 +0000

Yup, if we thought we were going to get good info, quickly, from PR people – we’d probably go to them more often.

By: DaveZatz

DaveZatz — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:01:15 +0000

I guess the final point I failed to make is that when you have so many experiences like this, and I’ve had many, you’re less likely to reach out to (good) firms for comment, assistance, conversation.