5 PR blogger geniuses: worldwide talent hunt
By Craig on Nov 12, 2010 in Blog guests & critiques, interviews, Digital communication, Public relations, Social media, Strategic communication | View Comments
It is amazing how many people who work in PR, and how many agencies, do not have blogs. Their benefits are clear: enhancing reputation, credibility and word-of-mouth recommendations; SEO; and walking the Goddamn talk! It is less amazing – even if it is professionally sinful – that if you are a committed PR blogger like me you struggle to find the time to check your peers.
Bearing this in mind, I would officially like to go some way towards repenting and recognise some of the excellent PR bloggers out there. I’ve talked about PR bloggers before, but time for an update methinks.
The social media guru
At a PR/social media summit earlier this year, Matthew Gain was the standout performer. His mix of tactical, hands-on advice and strategic nous cut straight to the bone. His blog, matthewgain.com, does exactly the same thing.
Matthew Gain
He’s funny, self-deprecating, and generous with his advice and time. True, maybe you could say this about any PR blogger that I rate, but as he’s first cab off the rank the plaudits start here.
The brainy PR guy
It’s blogs like that of Paul Seaman that I turn to when I need to I want to feel comparatively clueless and possessing of a blog that is ludicrously superficial. Paul is a brain. His posts are, in equal parts, thoughtful and provocative.
He is a shit-stirrer, as we Australian fondly call a rabble rouser. Aussies have lots of terms along these lines. A dag is the piece of shit that hangs off a sheep’s butt, but it is also a fond term for someone who is a bit of a nerd but we like him or her still.
You see, I am talking about brainy, intelligent Paul Seaman and I’ve gone off on a human waste tangent. Typical Australian.
Paul’s also pretty funny.
New Zealand public relations
The PRBlog is the work of Peter Heath and Dwight Whitney. I shouldn’t mention they are from NZ, really, as people might think the mere fact I’ve mentioned this is condescending. This is because Australians are known as condescending to Kiwis, just like Poms are known as being condescending to Skips. Mind you, it was Pom criminals that kicked off whities being races in Australia so it’s strange that English people take that approach.
But I digress. Peter and Dwight are great value. Whether talking about Twitter, journos transforming into PR pros (oh yes I know I know I’ve written on a similar – arguably journalist beat-up – topic) Old Mother Hubbard (? Well, sort of anyway) and other public relations-salient and just fun and stimulating topics. All power to the boys.
A modest USA PR citizen
When I read a post of Paul Roberts’ like Is ghost blogging ethical, it makes me feel good. It makes me feel good because it’s eloquent, it’s sensible and because it tells a really good story. This is typical of Paul’s posts.
Maybe it’s his supposed poor golfing ability. Maybe it’s the fact he’s a parent. Maybe he’s just a good guy. But you get a strong feeling of humanity and humility from Paul’s writing. That, the savvy things he says about PR and his intention not to be a slave to everything social media, is why I rate his blog, Paul Roberts on PR, highly.
The PR Warrior
Trevor Young is one tireless PR, um, warrior. I think he contributes to/runs three separate blogs. He is a chief in a PR agency. He gives seminars and speaks at conferences. He writes books. He irritates me ENORMOUSLY due to his productivity!
Well, not really, He’s a cool guy, He likes jazz. And blues. Or maybe a beautiful, fiery meeting of the two (i.e. Mr Derek Trucks)?
But, more to the point of this post, is that he talks of many disparate PR-relevant topics and is full of value, vim and V8-level energy. Give this man a drum kit. He’d destroy it with passion. And you cannot beat that.
The value add: a marketing guy with rock’n’roll social media posts
Here, I am being even more selfish than when talking about the blogs noted above. This is all about me. You’re lucky I am sharing this with you, so don’t start!
Jeff Bullas writes pretty much about social media alone. But with a strategic marketing, PR and business communication headspace fully geared in. The man is amazing.
He provides an incredible amount of value, basically on all things social media. Whether it’s a discussion of stats or trends, a collection of tips on best practice use of social media tools or broad strategic overviews of social media, as well as how it fits into the bigger picture. It’s all good. Very, very good.
Jeff’s blog is one of the very, very few I actually email subscribe to, so I have volunteered for his marketing to be more in-my-face than other comms bloggers out there. Take a ride with his work. You won’t regret it.
Okay. So tell me. What do you agree or disagree with? What do you like or dislike about these blogs? What other PR blogs can you suggest are the bees’ knees? Oh, don’t be shy. (We won’t tell anyone…J)
