Dear Marcomblog: What Do You Want to Know?

Activity Superstore is the leading gift experience company and we plan to launch three new brands later this year within the experience market. I am planning to incorporate a blog onto the new website and would really like to know some tips as to what is best for a consumer site.

How often should the blog be updated (bearing in mind there are going to be five)? Should guest writers or just one writer be featured? What works best for a customer? What are they interested in from a blog?

Any other advice would be gratefully received.

Nice idea Josh…let’s see what comes up!?!?!

Josh, it is a great idea. I have shown the site to the students, but due to the MLK holiday I won’t see them again for a week.

Right now they are assigned to visit all of your blogs and begin becoming comfortable with the ‘blog experience’ before beginning to post and comment. You should see comments to this post starting this week.

By the way, a few other colleges/universities are using PRblogs.org for class blogs. So, we may see many more students posting in here this semester. I hope they will. But, we’ll have to wait and see.

Thanks.

Gail, I believe your niche business is perfect for blogging. But, recognize there are some risks.

First, your niche ‘experiential gifts’ offers not only great opportunities for blogging, but also for video blogging (vlog) and podcasting. All of this would take time and resources, but I bet you can afford it.

You could post customer emails of positive purchases, or interview people that purchased and those that received the gifts. Accept videos from your users (by cellphone, perhaps) and post them in the blog with Podpress (for Wordpress blogs) and/or put them in YouTube/Revver, etc. and post them using the ViperVideo QuickTags plugin.

Do Skype interviews and post podcasts with customers and gift recipients. Accept photos from customers / recipients with the gifts (or experiencing them) and get a Flickr account.

All of those are proven traffic generators. Given that your business is Web-based, this is even more important to you.

Secondly, the risks. Commenting in blogs about your services can be useful. However, honestly when I first saw your comment here … I thought it was spam. But, I always follow links to see who/what the comment is about.

Why did I think it might be spam? The comment reads like sales copy or the beginning of a news release. You show no knowledge of this site, nor exhibit any past experience reading posts or commenting here. Developing a relationship with the blogger(s) you’re seeking responses from will help you in getting positive, or honest, feedback from them.

Also, blogs can often be snarky and unpredictable. My first experience with you is your statement that you are “the leading gift experience company” and I doubt that is true. For instance, I can only see (by your site) that you may be the leading UK site for gifts that offer experiences. That may be a simple innocent oversight on your part, but don’t be surprised if bloggers leap upon it anyway.

All that aside, I still think your site may benefit greatly from blogging. Thanks for coming by and good luck.

Hello Josh,
I think this is a great idea. Sorry for the lack of responses (with the MLK holiday and it being a new semester, I along with others can probably find an excuse somewhere in there for not posting yet!) As far as a question, I am sure I have a ton in the back of my mind but for now I want to get an idea about how, we as students, talk about our blogging knowledge. I know that many students are in the same boat as me and are currently looking for internship opportunities. Robert has made us very aware that with our social media experiment in class (www.loveliestvillage.org), we are ahead of the curve as far as students who use and are comfortable with blogging, posting stories, etc. How can we let future places of employment know our experience with social media but at the same time, also let them know we are still new to it all and still learning? My biggest fear is that I will be thrown into something where I have just enough knowledge to act like I know what I am doing but in reality, will be completely lost!

Hey Josh,
I have just started class with Robert and am honestly quite nervous about the idea of blogging. Our course curriculum is very well-rounded, but all I have been hearing from the PR world is how important things like blogging and social media are. I want to thank you for your posting and the possiblity of asking you questions. Since I am new to this whole blogging experience, I don’t really have a lot of questions (well actually I have TONS of question, but nothing specific right now). I’m sure i’ll have many to come and I appreciate the amazing opportunity you are giving us by allowing us to ask you questions. Well, here’s one for now, do you have any advice for beginner bloggers?

My fears of blogging are stuck between the aprehension you feel when a teacher reads your assignment aloud and the humilation of someone hearing you sing in the shower. It always sounds much better when it was just you around.
I am constantly getting questions from people about our style and design class. I would love to have some background information on blogs to help me convey it to others. Where did blogs begin? What is the difference between an online editorial and a blog? But most importantly, what makes one blog a “must read”? With such a large database of opinions, how do people gain recognition?
Thank you for helping us out, your advice is greatly needed and appreciated.

Hey Josh! Sorry it has taken a while for the response- trying to get started back into school always takes a bit..haha. Thank you for asking what it is that we wanted to know and were interested in; it is a question that needed to be asked to us because at times I have no clue what we want to know. I would love to know ways that we can prepare ourselves even further for pr world once we graduate and are working. Robert has taught us so much about pr that we did not know and we understand that you never stop learning, especially in the pr career. What tips and information could you share with us through Marcom that would “clue us in” on how to successful in our pr jobs once we enter the “real world.” Whatever is on your mind that you think might assist us once we have graduated, throw it out there- we would love to know more! Also, I am not sure about the entire class, but several of us are lost as in to exactly which are of pr we want to pursue and what are the benefits from each area. With all of pr experience combined from the marcom blog contributors, which area of pr do you feel is most interesting and rewarding (I know that every area is important and interesting) I guess what I am trying to say is that we would love some direction about the “real world” of pr. Thank you for your blogs on marcom! I hope you are doing good and have an amazing week. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Hi Josh- welcome back for another semester! Hope you had a nice holiday season. I’ve only been blogging for a few months, so I am relatively new to the blogosphere too. It’s a great communication tool that allows for immediate feedback and connects people worldwide. Lately though, so many ‘flogs’ have been discovered, creating a distrust among companies who utilize blogs for self-promotion. Do you believe this will become more widespread, or can we curb the dishonesty and establish more transparent communication? Thanks so much for your time! I love reading your blog on hyku.

Dear Josh,
Along with fellow bloggers, I too think this is great idea. I am completely new to this concept of blogging, but I’m eager to learn and become familiar with this type of communication. Any help from PR practitioners who know this business and understand the importance of blogging would be helpful to read. I am excited about the upcoming months and learn from Marcomblog as well as my style and design class. I know I will have lots of questions in the future, but for now thank you and look forward to seeing this idea flourish! Have a great day!

Josh,
Thank you for your great idea. I am also very new at blogging, but I can already start to see its benefits. Just reading through the responses from my fellow students, I am able to see how helpful this is going to be. I will most likely have tons of questions throughout the semester, but for now I am just going to sit back and read and absorb as much knowledge from my peers as possible. Thanks again and I look forward to reading more about this!

Hey Josh,

I have always wondered how you, or the other contributors, were first turned onto blogs being used in PR and Marketing. Where/how did you hear about it? Were you skeptical or did you jump in feet-first? How has using a blog impacted your professional life? Basically, I wanted to get a feel for the value in blogs. I see that they are a valuable resource, but I just wanted to hear some examples.
Thanks so much and look forward to hearing from you again.

Dear Josh,
Like many of my fellow classmates, blogging is a new horizon for me. However, I am very excited to take my pr knowledge to a level that may be above others that may be applying for the same jobs as me. My question is about our personal pr blog spots. How do future employers look at the design we have chosen or the videos we choose to post? Not that I will use skulls and crossbones, but I was wondering how it comes into play. Will it brand us like a tatoo or serve as a place for creativity?
Thanks for your advice. I look forward to chatting with you as the semester conitinues.

Josh,
Thank you for this opportunity of learning about blogging communication. It took me a while to get my classes and get organized so sorry Im so late but I just got into style and design. Blogging is new to me because this is the first of my Public Relations major classes so I guess I will have a lot of questions. I look foward to learn more about blogging because I know how important blogging communication is in the social media. So, I guess my question would be like some others, what advice do you have for beginning bloggers?

Josh,
Thanks so much for the opportunity to ask you what we would like to know about blogging and its place in public relations.

I think as a student I would most like to get your advice on how to use blogging as a means of jumpstarting my career. From what Robert has told us in class, I understand that our knowledge of blogging may set us ahead of the curve when we enter the industry.

So I’m wondering what public relations professionals might be looking for when browsing the blogosphere for new talent, or what might set one blog apart from another to make it stand out?

I’m hoping to use this blogging experience to its fullest extent, and any help from the pros will be greatly appreciated.

Hey Josh,
Like most of the class, blogging is a completely new experience for me. I appreciate your willingness to help me better understand this concept. What do you think is the importance of blogging? Do you think this type of social media will change future public relations jobs? Since, I am new in the blogging world, which blogs would you suggest I pay attention to? Is there any way to know the difference between a good blog and a bad blog? Also, what can I include in my blog to get noticed by employers? I know I’ve given you many questions, and I understand if you can’t answer all of them. I’m just curious about this new way to communicate. Thank you for taking the time to help me and my classmates!

Dear Josh,
I along with many of my classmates am completely new to the world of blogging. While my knowledge of blogging and social media is relatively primitive, I am so excited about learning more in the upcoming months.
One of my biggest areas of interest is a clearer understanding of blogging and its uses. When my roommate asked me today to explain blogging to her, I was only able to give her a brief answer based on the little that I know. I am so excited about being able to use this to connect with the world in a different way than I have before and to learn more about social media.
Robert has also told us how important blogging will be to us in the future, especially with potential employers. I am also interested in what employers could be looking for in our blogs, how they are used in the professional world and how we can use them in preparation for job searching. I really appreciate your willingness to help us and look forward to this semester!

Dear Josh,
I think this is a great idea to expand the world of blogging. I am new to blogging and am very interested in learning how it benefits different types of companys. It would also be nice for you to have tips for us of common problems when it comes to blogging. I am looking forward to this semester and I’m sure I will have more detailed questions as class continues. I really appreciate you helping us with our blogging needs!

Hey there Josh,
As you have read from several Auburn students already, we are all quite new to the professional blog world. The only blogging I have heard of before Robert’s class were personal blogs on networking sites. I think I’ll find that professional blogs are helpful, informative sites for our class. With the concept being a new idea for myself, I do have questions. I have written a lot of journalistic pieces with set methods of delivering papers. I understand most of the NYT methods and inverted pyramids. Do blogs have a certain method as well? Are there rules about delivery and set-up? I’m interested in the most professional method of blogging because I know each of us want to project certain characteristics.

I’ll repeat my peers words with thanks for your help this semester, and hopefully it won’t be a world of confusion much longer.

Josh,
This is my first experience with blogging, and I’m feeling a little apprehensive about getting started. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to ask you some questions. One of my main questions would be if you have any tips for someone getting started, and how do you think this communication is changing the PR world? Everything that I have heard about blogging sounds interesting, and I’m excited about learning more about this new communication tool. I’m sure I will have more questions in the future once we get started. Thanks again!

Josh,
Thank you for opening up this door for us, and giving us this new experience. As far as having questions about the whole “blogging experience”, there are so many where do new students begin? What about my blog will set it apart from all of the other thousands of bloggers out there? Is it possible to sink yourself by posting bad blogs? This new world is just so overwhelming. I can’t wait to learn these new things. Thank you!

Josh,
We really do appreciate your insight. I’m so grateful that we have people like you to ask questions. I want to learn more about blogging and social media, but I have some much more basic questions first. I will graduate in May, and I’m beginning to wonder if I can really make it out there in the world of PR. I’m worried that I may not even know how to step foot into that world! So my questions are, how should we go about seeking jobs in PR? Should we start looking before we graduate? Should we go ahead and send our resumes to companies? We are preparing individual WEB sites that will provide our resumes, contact information and portfolios, but how do we make someone stop and look at it? Also, what about a hard copy of our portfolios. I know I should have writing samples and a resume. But if I have published magazine articles, do I leave them in the magazine, or make copies? If I’ve made press kits, do I put them into a folder by themselves, or put them in the same folder with the rest of my work? Sorrry I’ve rambled on and on. Maybe you can get to all those questions by May! Once again, we appreciate all of your help.
Thanks so much,
Sarah

Josh, This is my first time to learn about blogging and the other communication tools in the P.R. world. How important is blogging and these tools in the real world. I feel I am still trying to get an overall picture of the P.R. world because I am new in this major and choose it because it sounds interesting and I am a people person. I don’t have any clue what I want to do when I graduate yet and think that when I do I could get more excited about my major. Saying that, do you have any suggestions for a beginner in the P.R. study and I am looking foward to understanding more. thank you for your time, Justin Murray

i’m not a PR genious and i certainly don’t claim to be. But i’ve read a lot of comments from students about getting starting in the blogging world. Some have said that they recognize it as important and some of you are just feeding Robert some BS so you’ll get your points. I understand how that goes, i took Robert’s classes a few semesters ago. But if you want a tidbit of “how to get started blogging” advice, then listen up. If you’re at all interested in the PR field and/or marketing figure out what area interests you most. Do you like entertainment PR? Sports PR? Non-profit PR? Church/Religious PR? Figure out which industry that interests you and go and find blogs about that industry and start reading. Subscribe to them. Check back daily to the ones that have the most relevant info. Tons of people are writing about every field imaginable. Anything you can think of. There are legimate blogs out there where you can gain a wealth of knowledge about the specific field that interests you. And if you don’t know what you want right now, start reading Seth Godin’s blog (http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/) and you’ll feel like his 3-4 sentence posts are more valuable than that overly expensive PR class you’re taking. Robert, keep in touch, i love what you’re doing by keeping the students blogging. If they only understood how much there is to learn through the blogworld.

Jonathan, thank you. Great to hear from you. Thanks for the kind comment and encouragement for the students.

As for some feeding me a few lines, just to get the points, I can see that. But, I always see that at the beginning from most. And, it does continue for some throughout the exercise.

But, as you point out, there are blogs out there with great information on the fields of interest in PR. In fact, there are now almost 700 PR related blogs. When Jonathan was here, I think there were maybe 400. So, he gives you wise advice.

Also, Seth Godin’s blog is one of the best. It is more marketing than PR, but a great read.

Thanks Jonathan. Take care and please keep in touch.