Blogger Relations

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Keeping good relations to the public is essential for every company. This includes not only customers, shareholders, or employees, but also journalists and, since some years, bloggers. New blogs are created every day. Not only by journalists, but usually by amateurs (Blogger Relations- 10 Wahrheiten). So, if a person might be dissatisfied with a product, or with the relations to a company, s/he makes a posting online, which might damage the reputation of a company (Jory des Jardins of BlogHer). Therefore, it is important to keep good relations with these bloggers, and address their needs.

But how can a company do this? There are several advices given by professionals to keep good relations. Brian Solis recommends taking time to find out and address bloggers needs. The Social Media Training advices to build up relationships over time through ongoing monitoring and comments in blogs that are in the clients' interest, or meeting bloggers face to face at BarCamps, YULblog. Furthermore, it is highlighted to treat bloggers as individuals and get to know them.

I personally agree that genuine relations to bloggers are essential in today’s media world. We all know some examples in which a company was facing a crisis “just” because a blogger posted some negative news online. However, it should be kept in mind to treat bloggers not as a threat, but as individuals that might help to increase the company’s reputation online.

Blogs as a tool for building your personal brand

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Building up a personal brand is very important in today’s world. A personal brand can be described as “a presentation that reaches out and grabs the reader by the shoulders in a captivating engagement. It tells the reader how much more you can do for his or her company than the other they are considering for a job.” (Patty Inglish: Personal Brand - Resume Format Part III 75). A blog can help you to create such a personal brand.

Especially for journalists “staying findable equals sustained opportunity and flexibility” writes Amy Gahran (Media Career Insurance: your Blog). The more findable and linkable a person is, the more often the blog will be visited. Therefore, one should aim to be as findable as possible, which can be achieved through a persistent and personal blog.

Furthermore, this digital identity helps to create reputation and credibility (The Socialization of Your Personal Brand). The Personal Branding Blog describes in 10 steps how to blog your personal brand. For instance, it recommends to research the internet first before opening a blog in order to find a niche. Afterwards it is advised to pick a personal logo and theme to create a personal brand page. Finally, it is important to gain feedback and claim your blog in order to add more value to your brand. The 10 steps recommended can be found in detail on 10 steps Beginners Guide to Blogging Your Personal Brand.

However, building your personal brand via a blog is not only recommended for journalists, but can support everyone whether a student, currently employed, seeking a new job, a brand ambassador or the official community manager of a company’s social media strategy. “70 percent of recruiters report using search engines to find background data on candidates. Of that number, 35 percent eliminated a candidate because of what they found online.” (Kevin Donline, Star Tribune Minneapolis). Therefore, a blog gives you the control to publish information in favor of you, which you want others to find.

Due to the above mentioned reasons it shall be concluded that blogs generate a useful tool for building your own personal brand. A blog (1) supports you in being findable and linkable, (2) it can build up reputation and credibility, and finally (3) provides control about personal information you want others to find.

Introduction to the purpose of this blog

This blog was created to explore different perspective of media communication extending a course the course “Media Communication” at HSE. Thereby, topics covered include

1. Blogs as a tool for building your personal brand

2. Blogger relations

3. Microblogging

4. Social media and public relations

5. Search engine advertising and search engine optimizing

6. Crowdsourcing

These topics will be added weekly between 21.1. and 25.2. I would be glad to receive some comments on the relevant topic.