TechCrunch: The PR Roadblock On The Road To Blissful Blogging

As always, I found a very interesting piece from Michael Arrington of TechCrunch today.

In my profile, you will read that I am a public relations professional in the Silicon Valley. Working here, I’ve had the opportunity to be at the center of the high tech universe and have had the opportunity to read thousands of postings from all of the top technology bloggers out there. I think that Arrington hit on a some very key points in this posting but that everyone must be aware that there are also other aspects to a PR professionals job than just pitching the media.

From the article:

Most PR professionals I know are flat out busy right now and being really picky about new clients that they take on. But the way that they do business is under fire. Today’s volleys are just the most recent example, although one of PR’s own is leading the charge (Steve Rubel from Edelman, a master at his craft).

The issue Rubel brings up is whether PR really serves any purpose today given that more and more journalists, particularly tech journalists, are finding the interesting stuff on their own and ignoring the canned pitches that hit their inbox daily.

Most PR folks don’t read blogs and certainly don’t understand them. All they see is a Google alert with their clients name, and rush to put out a fire. Down the road they may try to bring those bloggers into the fold, largely relying on word of mouth as to the best way to approach them in lieu of actually reading the blog itself.

That leads to the occasional massive clusterfuck and some truly hilarious moments that I would like to write a book about some day. To sum it all up, the relationship between bloggers and PR firms is shaky at best. Or at least it should be. Some bloggers really cultivate PR relationships, but for me PR is the last refuge when I’m attacking a story. They keep trying to put out the fires I’m starting.

This is a very interesting way to look at PR. I’ll agree that not enough people in our profession read blogs and understand the complete ramifications of social media. Social media has changed the way that people receive news and has changed our lives.

What we must also be aware of is that PR is about telling a story that brings audiences together and will allow us to reach our desired end result for our clients. There is a lot more to PR than just media relations but this, of course, is a major portion of our job each and every day.

My hope is to always be aware of what is being discussed in the blogosphere and understand who the writers are/what they write about so that I don’t end up being thrown into the category  with lousy PR professionals. Thoughts?

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Tags: Blissful Blogging, Bloggers, Blogging, Blogosphere, Edelman, High Tech, Lousy PR, Michael Arrington, PR, Public Relations, Silicon Valley, Social Media, Steve Rubel, TechCrunch, Technology, Technology Blogger, Traditional Media

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