Business Blogs & Publicity: How to Get Results

Five years ago, blogs barely registered on the national media radar. Today, blogs are part of the traditional media landscape that business marketers must navigate. Here are three tips on using blogs as part of your public relations and marketing efforts.

Monitor What's Being Written
Every business owner and marketer knows that taking the pulse of those who shape your brand image is a priority. Now add bloggers to the long list of "must-watch" targets. If you’re charged with protecting your company's reputation, you should keep tabs on industry-related blogs and also consider ways to gain valuable publicity from them. Media and marketing blogs exist that can help you gauge what's being written online. For example, Boing Boing digests the contents of other blogs and traditional media worldwide, then comments on it.

Pitch to Get Coverage
Journalists who are blogging need content and post ideas. Scan your media list of targets to determine if any of them are writing blogs. By reading their blogs regularly, you will learn the issues that are important to them. This is critical information you can use to help formulate your next pitch. For example, electronics and tech companies should take note of Tamara Chuang's blog. She's a tech reporter with The Orange County Register and also writes The Gadgetress Blog. Small-business columnist Jan Norman also writes a blog for the Register, dispensing news and practical tips for Orange County small-business owners.

Create a Blog to Promote Expertise
Many authors, speakers and consultants can create their own blogs as a way to become recognized as experts in their fields. Even corporate executives are blogging to discuss industry trends, give follow-up information after a conference or speaking engagement, or comment on product or service developments. Plus, many executives at publicly traded companies use blogs to let their personalities shine through that entire Sarbanes-Oxley-mandated glut of regulations.