The great thing about blogging is that it gives a voice to anyone with an opinion and access to internet. According to A Guide to Blogger Relations the people behind blogs as well as reading them are the reason why blogs serve a as a forum for PR purposes. Furthermore, no matter if the blogger is a professional journalist, an enthusiastic or a writer, blogs are social media with a core mission to reach other people and by other people.
Blogging provides seemingly free media coverage due that it supplys information about products, phenomena, or services from objective sources on the contrary to bought marketing space. Thus is seems more reliable, trustworthy and interesting. By linking back to each other, bloggers form an extensive network that covers almost all segments and categories and topics. This network of objective authority provides endless information and inspiration to readers among the customers.
The opportunities that this networking stands for is well notices among PR professionals. The easiest access is to use listings that rank bloggers according to the traffic on their sites or the quantity linking back to them. However, as in A Guide to Blogger Relations is pointed out, the most popular one is not always the best one. As mentioned earlier, the bloggers are people and to gain loyalty or new customers, the development of relationships are required.
Therefore, operating in on-line networks of blogging seems rather similar to real-life networking only in different format. As in real-life one is always able to take a step further and actually pay bloggers to write about one’s products yet it declines the credibility of both; the blogger and the product. And then, just like in real life, the fine line between marketing and PR is crossed.
Building a relationship requires compatible partners with mutual interest and a lot of work and time. To build up a network requires the same ingredients yet multiplied exponentially. And yes, that is applied to on-line networking as well.
keskiviikko 28. tammikuuta 2009
keskiviikko 21. tammikuuta 2009
Building Brand by Blogging
Currently, with the ever growing importance of the electronic media and internet, at the first glance blogging seems like a golden ticket to establish a personal brand. A blog provides free, unlimited column meters to fill for professionals in almost any business branch. With no one stealing the spotlight and without a competition of a space and visibility in same site, one can truly concentrate on one self.
A blog provides an extensive forum for representing one’s potential and qualities to publics with a possibility to interaction with them simultaneously. According to Amy Gahran a content of a blog lacks the traditional boundaries of media such as loyalty to one that pays the salary, objectivity and limited space. Her basic idea seems to be that a blog can be used as a free, on-line marketing tool of a personal professional know-how, skills, ideas and as a whole, a brand.
Yet seems that the ground principles of marketing apply to blogging as well. No matter that the blog itself is free to run, a successful blog however requires a strategy, careful planning of content and unavoidably, a lot of work.
Visio and a design are needed. As in the 10 Step Beginners Guide to Blogging Your Personal Brand is stated, the most important tasks when starting a blog, is to find a niche, create a recognizable visuals that can be indentified to the blogger and define the personality of the blogger. Furthermore, according to Personal Branding Blog a personal brand statement is needed similar to a vision of a company. These seem to be the core stones of a blog’s image and the context of the messages it sends.
Though a blog is self provides media coverage, the gain of it is pointless if the no one knows it exists or reads it. A blog requires presence in media in order to be found by readers. Therefore, the blog should be found via search engines and links in other www-sites. As it is pointed out in PR 2.0, the easier the blog is find in the internet, the more presence it has and the harder is gets to control the image of a blog and its presence in various contexts. Accordingly, similar to companies, the blogs might face negative feedback. The negative, or in extremes, hostile comments on the comment box or chat forums may tarnish the brand and the blogger.
Evidently a blog is potential and very useful forum for personal marketing and brand development media. However, it faces the age old challenges of building brands and requires devotion and work.
Apparently, there is no easy access even with internet access.
A blog provides an extensive forum for representing one’s potential and qualities to publics with a possibility to interaction with them simultaneously. According to Amy Gahran a content of a blog lacks the traditional boundaries of media such as loyalty to one that pays the salary, objectivity and limited space. Her basic idea seems to be that a blog can be used as a free, on-line marketing tool of a personal professional know-how, skills, ideas and as a whole, a brand.
Yet seems that the ground principles of marketing apply to blogging as well. No matter that the blog itself is free to run, a successful blog however requires a strategy, careful planning of content and unavoidably, a lot of work.
Visio and a design are needed. As in the 10 Step Beginners Guide to Blogging Your Personal Brand is stated, the most important tasks when starting a blog, is to find a niche, create a recognizable visuals that can be indentified to the blogger and define the personality of the blogger. Furthermore, according to Personal Branding Blog a personal brand statement is needed similar to a vision of a company. These seem to be the core stones of a blog’s image and the context of the messages it sends.
Though a blog is self provides media coverage, the gain of it is pointless if the no one knows it exists or reads it. A blog requires presence in media in order to be found by readers. Therefore, the blog should be found via search engines and links in other www-sites. As it is pointed out in PR 2.0, the easier the blog is find in the internet, the more presence it has and the harder is gets to control the image of a blog and its presence in various contexts. Accordingly, similar to companies, the blogs might face negative feedback. The negative, or in extremes, hostile comments on the comment box or chat forums may tarnish the brand and the blogger.
Evidently a blog is potential and very useful forum for personal marketing and brand development media. However, it faces the age old challenges of building brands and requires devotion and work.
Apparently, there is no easy access even with internet access.
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