Blog As Tools Of Public Relation

Project Report on Blog as Tools of

PR

Blog As Tools of Public Relation Blogs will change our business Submitted By: Name of Student

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Chander Shekhar Jeena

Course of Study

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Public Relation, Section A

Roll No

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20

Topic of the Study Paper

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Blog as Tools of PR

Submitted to: Bhartiya Vihdya Bhawan Kastruba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi

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Acknowledgement

No task is a single man’s effort. Various factors, situations and persons integrate together to form a background for accomplishment of a task. The valuable cooperation and guidance, directly or indirectly of various people has contributed a lot to the successful completion of the Project undertaken. I am thankful to my teachers & colleagues of Bhartiya Vidhya Bhawan without their support this project could not take shape. There valuable guidance in every stage of this project helped us most.

I have got information about this project through the books which have been provided through institution and I have collected the information from other sources.

At last but not the least I pay my gratitude to my parents & colleagues who have helped me a lot in preparation of my Case Study Project.

CHANDER SHEKHAR JEENA

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter No 1.

Content List

Page No

Synopsis Objective

2.

Methodology Introduction (What is Blog)

5

3. 4. 5.

Definition / History Types of Blogs Community & Cataloging Popularity of Blog

6-8 9-11 12-13 14-19

6. 7.

Consequences of Blog Blogs: The Public Relation tools companies not

20-25 26-29

8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

using Why Blog for PR Questionnaire for Blog as tools of PR Feedback and comment Conclusion References & Bibliography

30-37 38 39 40-41 42-43

Brief Synopsis In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg revolutionizes the printing work by his invention of Printing Press. The printing press set the model for mass media. A lucky handful owns the publishing machinery and controls the information. Whether at newspapers or global manufacturing giants., they decide what the masses will learn. This eltite still holds sway at most companies. We

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know that companies keep the secret safe and coif the company message. Then they distribute it – usually on a need to know basis – to customers, employees, investors and the press. Now in the world of internet , Blog has comes as a world of mass media. Being a Public Relation student in Bhartiya Vihdya Bhawan, Post Graduate Program in Public Relation, I observe the importance of various tools in Public Relation. The role of new technology in Public Relation encourages me in making this project. New communication technologies had made it possible for an interregularly exchange of ideas and images. Bloging is one of them. METHODOLOGY USED The project has been done on the basis of secondary & primary data. However, the main sources for the data were mainly based on web search, various reference books, intensive study of news articles, survey reports of different sources,

information

from

different

blogging

website

mainly

technorati & google blog and discussion with my teachers, colleagues in college as well as in my professional life. Therefore, the data has been collected as statistical data expert knowledge, report from different sources etc.

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Chapter

1 INTRODUCTION In 1440, Johannes Gutenberg revolutionizes the printing work by his invention of Printing Press. The printing press set the model for mass media. A lucky handful owns the publishing machinery and controls the information. Whether at newspapers or global manufacturing giants., they decide what the masses will learn. This eltite still holds sway at most companies. They keep the secret safe and coif the company message. Then they distribute it – usually on a need to know basis – to customers, employees, investors and the press. New communication technologies had made it possible for an interregularly exchange of ideas and images. Internet is among one of them. Internet had given rise to many technologies which are become important medium of message in Public Relation. Website, e-mail, facsimile, Video Conferencing, Tele-Conferencing, mobile and blog are few of them. Blog is one of them. Blog has comes as a world of mass media and turning it on its head. We can set up a blog in less than 10 minutes. Blog represent power. In the age of mass media, publications like ours print the news. Sources try to get quoted, but the decision is ours. Ditto it with the letter to the editor. Now instead of just speaking through us they can blog. And if they master the ins and outs of this new art – like how to get other bloggers to link to them – they reach a huge audience. Sending message to a medium – one of the role of Public Relation.

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BLOG: Definition Blogs, by contrast, are social by nature, whether they are open to the public as a whole or only to a small select group - Economist A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily or weekly using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. A blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reversechronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting), which are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, one which consists of blogs with very short posts. As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs. With the advent of video blogging, the word blog has taken on an even looser meaning — that of any bit of media wherein the subject expresses his opinion or simply talks about something.

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History The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999. (INSERT THE PHOTO OF BLOG). Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams at Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.

Origins Before blogging became popular, digital communities took many forms, including Usenet, commercial online services such as GEnie, BiX and the early CompuServe, e-mail lists and Bulletin Board Systems (BBS). In the 1990s, Internet forum software, such as WebEx, created running conversations with "threads." Threads are topical connections between messages on a metaphorical "corkboard." The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. Most such writers called themselves diarists, journalists, or journalers. Justin Hall, who began personal blogging in 1994 while a student at Swarthmore College, is generally recognized as one of the earliest bloggers, as is Jerry Pournelle] Dave Winer's Scripting News is also credited with being one of the oldest and longest running weblogs. Another early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site in 1994. This practice of semi-automated blogging with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance, and such journals were also used as evidence in legal matters.

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In 1993, Dr. Glen Barry invented blogging, defined as web based commentary, linking to other articles. The "Forest Protection Blog" (originally entitled "Gaia's Forest Conservation Archives") at http://forests.org/blog/ was also the first political blog, as Dr. Barry campaigned there for forest protection and documented these efforts as his Ph.D. project. The blog initially used the gopher protocol, and has been on the web continuously since Jan. 1995, making it the web's first and longest continuously running blog. Prior to this, Dr. Barry provided forest conservation materials via email and bulletin board since 1989. The work has since evolved into the world's largest environmental portals. Early blogs were simply manually updated components of common Web sites. However, the evolution of tools to facilitate the production and maintenance of Web articles posted in reverse chronological order made the publishing process feasible to a much larger, less technical, population. Ultimately, this resulted in the distinct class of online publishing that produces blogs we recognize today. For instance, the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs can be hosted by dedicated blog hosting services, or they can be run using blog software, or on regular web hosting services.

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Chapter

2 TYPES OF BLOGS: There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written. Personal Blogs The personal blog, an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual, is the traditional, most common blog. Personal bloggers usually take pride in their blog posts, even if their blog is never read by anyone but them. Blogs often become more than a way to just communicate; they become a way to reflect on life or works of art. Blogging can have a sentimental quality. Few personal blogs rise to fame and the mainstream, but some personal blogs quickly garner an extensive following. A type of personal blog is referred to as "microblogging," which is extremely detailed blogging as it seeks to capture a moment in time. Sites, such as Twitter, allow bloggers to share thoughts and feelings instantaneously with friends and family and is much faster than e-mailing or writing. This form of social media lends to an online generation already too busy to keep in touch.

AMITABH BHACHHAN PERSONAL BLOG

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Corporate Blogs A blog can be private, as in most cases, or it can be for business purposes. Blogs, either used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or public relations purposes are called corporate blogs.

Question Blogging is a type of blog that answers questions. Questions can be submitted in the form of a submittal form, or through email or other means such as telephone or VOIP. Qlogs can be used to display shownotes from podcasts or the means of conveying information through the internet. Many question logs use syndication such as RSS as a means of conveying answers to questions.

By Media Type A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog, a site containing a portfolio of sketches is called a sketchblog or one comprising photos is called a photoblog.[4] Blogs with shorter posts and mixed media types are called tumblelogs. A rare type of blog hosted on the Gopher Protocol is known as a Phlog.

By Device Blogs can also be defined by which type of device is used to compose it. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog. One early blog was Wearable Wireless Webcam, an online shared diary of a person's personal life combining text, video, and pictures transmitted live from a wearable computer and EyeTap device to a web site. This practice of semi-automated blogging

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with live video together with text was referred to as sousveillance. Such journals have been used as evidence in legal matters.[citation needed]

By Genre Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, travel blogs, house blogs, fashion blogs, project blogs, education blogs, niche blogs, classical music blogs, quizzing blogs and legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) or dreamlogs. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a Splog.

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Chapter

3 Community and Cataloging The Blogosphere The collective community of all blogs is known as the blogosphere. Since all blogs are on the internet by definition, they may be seen as interconnected and socially networked, through blogrolls, comments, linkbacks (refbacks, trackbacks or pingbacks) and backlinks. Discussions "in the blogosphere" have been used by the media as a gauge of public opinion on various issues. A collection of local blogs is sometimes referred to as a bloghood.

Blog Search Engines Several blog search engines are used to search blog contents, such as Bloglines, BlogScope, and Technorati. Technorati, which is among the most popular blog search engines, provides current information on both popular searches and tags used to categorize blog postings. Research community is working on going beyond simple keyword search, by inventing new ways to navigate through huge amounts of information present in the blogosphere, as demonstrated by projects like

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BlogScope Blogging Communities and Directories Several online communities exist that connect people to blogs and bloggers to other bloggers, including BlogCatalog and MyBlogLog.

Blogging and Advertising It is common for blogs to feature advertisements either to financially benefit the blogger or to promote the blogger's favorite causes. The popularity of blogs has also given rise to "fake blogs" in which a company will create a fictional blog as a marketing tool to promote a product.

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Chapter

4 POPULARITY OF BLOG Researchers have analyzed the dynamics of how blogs become popular. There are essentially two measures of this: popularity through citations, as well as popularity through affiliation (i.e. blogroll). The basic conclusion from studies of the structure of blogs is that while it takes time for a blog to become popular through blogrolls, permalinks can boost popularity more quickly, and are perhaps more indicative of popularity and authority than blogrolls, since they denote that people are actually reading the blog's content and deem it valuable or noteworthy in specific cases. The blogdex project was launched by researchers in the MIT Media Lab to crawl the Web and gather data from thousands of blogs in order to investigate their social properties. It gathered this information for over 4 years, and autonomously tracked the most contagious information spreading in the blog community, ranking it by recency and popularity. It can therefore be considered the first instantiation of a

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memetracker. The project is no longer active, but a similar function is now served by tailrank.com. Blogs are given rankings by Technorati based on the number of incoming links and Alexa Internet based on the Web hits of Alexa Toolbar users. In August 2006, Technorati found that the most linked-to blog on the internet was that of Chinese actress Xu Jinglei. Chinese media Xinhua reported that this blog received more than 50 million page views, claiming it to be the most popular blog in the world. Technorati rated Boing Boing to be the most-read group-written blog.

Gartner forecasts that blogging will peak in 2007, leveling off when the number of writers who maintain a personal Web site reaches 100 million. Gartner analysts expect that the novelty value of the medium will wear off as most people who are interested in the phenomenon have checked it out, and new bloggers will offset the number of writers who abandon their creation out of boredom. The firm estimates that there are more than 200 million former bloggers who have ceased posting to their online diaries, creating an exponential rise in the amount of "dotsam" and "netsam" — that is to say, unwanted objects on the Web (analogous to flotsam and jetsam).

Rise in popularity After a slow start, blogging rapidly gained in popularity. Blog usage spread during 1999 and the years following, being further popularized by the near-simultaneous arrival of the first hosted blog tools: Open Diary launched in October 1998, soon growing to thousands of online diaries. Open Diary innovated the reader comment, becoming the first blog community where readers could add comments to other writers' blog entries. Brad Fitzpatrick, a well-known blogger started LiveJournal in March 1999.

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Andrew Smales created Pitas.com in July 1999 as an easier alternative to maintaining a "news page" on a Web site, followed by Diaryland in September 1999, focusing more on a personal diary community.[61] Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan (Pyra Labs) launched blogger.com in August 1999 (purchased by Google in February 2003) Political impact Since 2002, blogs have gained increasing notice and coverage for their role in breaking, shaping, and spinning news stories. The Iraq war saw bloggers taking measured and passionate points of view that go beyond the traditional left-right divide of the political spectrum.

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On 6 December 2002, Josh Marshall's talkingpointsmemo.com blog called attention to U.S. Senator Lott's comments regarding Senator Thurmond. Senator Lott was eventually to resign over the matter. As an example of the rise of importance of blogs, in 2002, many blogs focused on comments by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Senator Lott, at a party honoring U.S. Senator Strom Thurmond, praised Senator Thurmond by suggesting that the United States would have been better off had Thurmond been elected president. Lott's critics saw these comments as a tacit approval of racial segregation, a policy advocated by Thurmond's 1948 presidential campaign. This view was reinforced by documents and recorded interviews dug up by bloggers. (See Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo.) Though Lott's comments were made

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at a public event attended by the media, no major media organizations reported on his controversial comments until after blogs broke the story. Blogging helped to create a political crisis that forced Lott to step down as majority leader. Similarly, blogs were among the driving forces behind the "Rathergate" scandal. To wit: (television journalist) Dan Rather presented documents (on the CBS show 60 Minutes) that conflicted with accepted accounts of President Bush's military service record. Bloggers declared the documents to be forgeries and presented evidence and arguments in support of that view. Consequently, CBS apologized for what it said were inadequate reporting techniques (see Little Green Footballs). Many bloggers view this scandal as the advent of blogs' acceptance by the mass media, both as a news source and opinion and as means of applying political pressure. The impact of these stories gave greater credibility to blogs as a medium of news dissemination. Though often seen as partisan gossips, bloggers sometimes lead the way in bringing key information to public light, with mainstream media having to follow their lead. More often, however, news blogs tend to react to material already published by the mainstream media. Meanwhile, an increasing number of experts blogged, making blogs a source of in-depth analysis. (See Daniel Drezner, J. Bradford DeLong or Brad Setser.) Mainstream popularity By

2004,

the

role

of

blogs

became

increasingly

mainstream,

as

political

consultants, news services, and candidates began using them as tools for outreach and opinion forming. Blogging was established by politicians and political candidates to express opinions on war and other issues and cemented blogs' role as a news source. (See Howard Dean and Wesley Clark.) Even politicians not actively campaigning, such as the UK's Labour Party's MP Tom Watson, began to blog to bond with constituents.

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In January 2005, Fortune magazine listed eight bloggers that business people "could not ignore": Peter Rojas, Xeni Jardin, Ben Trott, Mena Trott, Jonathan Schwartz, Jason Goldman, Robert Scoble, and Jason Calacanis. Israel's was among the first national governments to set up an official blog. Under David Saranga, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs became active in adopting Web 2.0 initiatives, including an official video blog and a political blog. The Foreign Ministry also held a microblogging press conference via Twitter about its war with Hamas, with Saranga answering questions from the public in common text-messaging abbreviations during a live worldwide press conference. The questions and answers were later posted on Israelpolitik.org, the country's official political blog.

Webmaster

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Chapter

5 Blogging Consequences The emergence of blogging has brought a range of legal liabilities and other often unforeseen consequences.

Defamation or Liability Several cases have been brought before the national courts against bloggers concerning issues of defamation or liability. The courts have returned with mixed verdicts. Internet Service Providers (ISPs), in general, are immune from liability for information that originates with third parties (U.S. Communications Decency Act and the EU Directive 2000/31/EC). In John Doe v. Patrick Cahill, the Delaware Supreme Court held that stringent standards had to be met to unmask anonymous bloggers, and also took the unusual step of dismissing the libel case itself (as unfounded under American libel law) rather than referring it back to the trial court for reconsideration. In a bizarre twist, the Cahills were able to obtain the identity of John Doe, who turned out to be the person they suspected: the town's mayor, Councilman Cahill's political rival. The Cahills amended their original complaint, and the mayor settled the case rather than going to trial. In January 2007, two prominent Malaysian political bloggers, Jeff Ooi and Ahiruddin Attan were sued by pro-government newspaper, The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Berhad, Kalimullah bin Masheerul Hassan, Hishamuddin bin Aun and

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Brenden John a/l John Pereira over an alleged defamation. The plaintiff was supported by the Malaysian government. Following the suit, the Malaysian government proposed to "register" all bloggers in Malaysia in order to better control parties against their interest. This is the first such legal case against bloggers in the country. In the United Kingdom, a college lecturer contributed to a blog in which she referred to a politician (who had also expressed his views in the same blog) using various uncomplimentary names, including referring to him as a "Nazi". The politician found out the real name of the lecturer (she wrote under a pseudonym) via the ISP and successfully sued her for £10,000 in damages and £7,200 costs. In the United States, blogger Aaron Wall was sued by Traffic Power for defamation and publication of trade secrets in 2005. According to Wired Magazine, Traffic Power had been "banned from Google for allegedly rigging search engine results." Wall and other "white hat" search engine optimization consultants had exposed Traffic Power in what they claim was an effort to protect the public. The case was watched by many bloggers because it addressed the murky legal question of who's liable for comments posted on blogs. The case was dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction, and Traffic Power failed to appeal within the allowed time.

Employment In general, attempts at hiding the blogger's name and/or the place of employment in anonymity have proved ineffective at protecting the blogger. Employees who blog about elements of their place of employment raise the issue of employee branding, since their activities can begin to affect the brand recognition of their employer.

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In fall 2004, Ellen Simonetti was fired for what was deemed by her employer, Delta Air Lines, to be inappropriate material on her blog. She subsequently wrote a book based on her blog. Delta Air Lines fired flight attendant Ellen Simonetti because she posted photographs of herself in uniform on an airplane and because of comments posted on her blog "Queen of Sky: Diary of a Flight Attendant" which the employer deemed inappropriate. This case highlighted the issue of personal blogging and freedom of expression vs. employer rights and responsibilities, and so it received wide media attention. Simonetti took legal action against the airline for "wrongful termination, defamation of character and lost future wages". The suit was postponed while Delta was in bankruptcy proceedings (court docket). In the spring of 2006, Erik Ringmar, a tenured senior lecturer at the London School of Economics, was ordered by the convenor of his department to "take down and destroy" his blog in which he discussed the quality of education at the school. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was fined during the 2006 NBA playoffs for criticizing NBA officials on the court and in his blog.

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Mark Jen was terminated in 2005 after 10 days of employment as an Assistant Product Manager at Google for discussing corporate secrets on his personal blog, then called 99zeros and hosted on the Google-owned Blogger service. He blogged about unreleased products and company finances a week before the company's earnings announcement. He was fired two days after he complied with his employer's request to remove the sensitive material from his blog. In India, blogger Gaurav Sabnis resigned from IBM after his posts exposing the false claims of a management school, IIPM, led to management of IIPM threatening to burn their IBM laptops as a sign of protest against him. Political Dangers Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas. Blogs are much harder to control than broadcast or even print media. As a result, totalitarian and authoritarian regimes often seek to suppress blogs and/or to punish those who maintain them. In Singapore, two ethnic Chinese were imprisoned under the country’s antisedition law for posting anti-Muslim remarks in their blogs. Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer was charged with insulting the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and an Islamic institution through his online blog. It is the first time in the history of Egypt that a blogger was prosecuted. After a brief trial session that took place in Alexandria, the blogger was found guilty and sentenced to prison terms of three years for insulting Islam and inciting sedition, and one year for insulting Mubarak. Egyptian blogger Abdel Monem Mahmoud was arrested in April 2007 for antigovernment writings in his blog. Monem is a member of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. After expressing opinions in his personal blog about the state of the Sudanese armed forces, Jan Pronk, United Nations Special Representative for the Sudan, was

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given three days notice to leave Sudan. The Sudanese army had demanded his deportation.

Personal Safety One consequence of blogging is the possibility of attacks or threats against the blogger, sometimes without apparent reason. Kathy Sierra, author of the innocuous blog Creating Passionate Users, was the target of such vicious threats and misogynistic insults that she canceled her keynote speech at a technology conference in San Diego, fearing for her safety. While a blogger's anonymity is often tenuous, Internet trolls who would attack a blogger with threats or insults can be emboldened by anonymity. Sierra and supporters initiated an online discussion aimed at countering abusive online behavior and developed a blogger's code of conduct.

Therapeutic Benefits Scientists have long known the therapeutic benefits of writing about personal experiences. Blogs provide another convenient avenue for writing about personal experiences. Research shows that it improves memory and sleep, boosts immune cell activity and reduces viral load in AIDS patients and even speeds healing after surgery.

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Chapter

7 Blogs: The Public Relations Tool Companies Not Using Although blogs are now a fixture on the media landscape, the public relations industry still doesn’t know how to deal with them. Public relation firms are either afraid of blogs, ambivalent towards them, or they treat them like a high school newspaper.

Useful tips for Public Relations Professional to deal more effectively with the ever-growing (and beneficial) blog phenomenon. 1. Don’t carpet-bomb bloggers with press releases. Bloggers are like journalists in many ways, and one thing they have in common is that they don’t like being carpet-bombed with press releases via email. When they know that every other blogger in the blogosphere is getting the same press releases pushed on them at the same time, they mentally devalue those generic, mass-mailed press releases. 2. Target bloggers like you would journalists. Pick the cream of the crop and give them an “exclusive.” If they bite, there’s a good chance that what you would have tried to accomplish by emailing 100 bloggers can be accomplished by communicating with one. Why? Because the beauty of blogs is the viral nature of them, which means that bloggers can do your work for you.

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3. Start with the blogger, then go to the community. When you’re responding to a piece on a blog, the best way to start the ball rolling is by contacting the blogger directly. Be clear about whether your communication is on or off the record, but understand that many bloggers don’t adhere to standard journalistic practices. Even if you try to go off the record, they may not respect those wishes. With that said, consider your conversation from start to finish to be on the record, and proceed appropriately. Start by seeing if the blogger will give you the opportunity to get that on the record statement into the original blog post. This is important because many readers ignore the comments section and go for the meat, the post itself. From there, participate in the conversation in the comments section, and monitor it closely, especially during the first several days after the original post. 4. Engage in conversation, not spin. Blogs are community-oriented web properties where readers are encouraged to engage in conversation. It’s not supposed to be a one-way street like the mainstream media. This is why it’s important to keep an informal, conversational tone when responding to the blogger and readers. Constructed and flat statements in a blog’s comments section will be called out as “spin” and you will be accused of not addressing the issue. Remember, companies and organizations are made up of humans, so act like a human, not a computer delivering a line of programming. 5. Stay calm. Many bloggers are like cable television “news” show hosts. They build an audience based on a personality, one that is oftentimes volatile. Righteousness is embraced by blog readers, sometimes more than accuracy.

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You need to stay calm, however. If you have ever had someone screaming at you on the phone or in person, you know that the best way to make your point is to let the person exhaust himself or herself. Don’t patronize bloggers or readers by suggesting that their tone is not appropriate for the situation. Instead, tell them you understand why they may be upset and move on from there. 6. Utilize the same resources for blogs as you would for a newspaper reporter. If you make the CEO of your company available to newspaper reporters, make him or her available to bloggers as well. Granted, not every blogger has a sizable audience that demands the time and attention of your top executives, but leaders in their respective spaces deserve the same consideration that traditional journalists do. 7. Provide bloggers with resources. Though traditional media websites are integrating video, pictures,

and other

multimedia content more and more frequently, they’re still well behind bloggers. The web-only platform of a blog gives bloggers ample opportunity to integrate public relations content into their stories. It could be something as simple as a picture of your product, or something more complicated like a video slide show. Vibrant multimedia content is more interesting and attractive than a static press release. 8. Treat bloggers with respect. When I ran a blog, I found it odd that public relations reps treated me differently than when I wrote for a newspaper. It was a point I brought up with many PR people, some of whom didn’t seem to understand that my blog actually attracted more readers than my newspaper column. You need to extend the same courtesies to bloggers that you do traditional journalists. Whether it’s something as simple as

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returning a call, or providing information in a timely manner, if a blogger goes to the trouble of reaching out to you, respond appropriately.

SATISIFIED CUSTOMERS TELL THREE FRIENDS, ANGRY CUSTOMERS TELL 3000

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Chapter

8 Why Blog For PR? According to a report at the Web 2.0 conference there are now over "4.1 million blogs around the world with a new blog created every 7.4 seconds". However, there are only about 5000 company blogs. That leaves a lot of room for you to stake your niche and gain valuable exposure. An article in BusinessWeek highlighting blogs new importance to companies states, "Blogs or websites with content management systems are changing the model for companies, we really now have to engage customers on a one on one level". With Microsoft leading the way, corporations have accepted blogging as an integral part of public relations. Companies now recognize the need to talk to their clients and potential clients in a more intelligent and unbiased way. Business blog expert Wayne Hurlbert sums up the reason to blog for PR, "A rapidly growing number of journalists and editors are reading blogs on a daily basis. It's becoming imperative that a company start a blog to keep up with that trend". Case in point; Steve Rubel Obviously, his blog PR is working to his benefit. Being featured in WebProNews alone means positive press read by nearly a half million eBusiness owners and managers. Way to go Steve!

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1. Communication with your customers. Blogs provide a way for you to communicate with your customers directly. And it is a two-way communication. You can post a message on your blog and your visitors can easily respond. Staying in touch with your customers regularly means you can build long-lasting relationships and develop their trust. 2. Search Engine Marketing Blogs give you an increased presence on major search engines, like Yahoo! and Google. If you use Blogger (Google’s Blogging Tool), every message you post creates a new page on Google so in a very short time you could have a lot of pages pointing to your website, bringing you lots of new visitors. 3. Stay Ahead of Your Competition Blogs are still relatively new and chances are your competition does not yet use them. So you will be seen as an expert in your industry when you post your knowledge and expertise. 4. Media & Public Relations Blogs are excellent PR tools. You can post your Media Releases and articles and have them picked up by the media. 5. Free or Low Cost Many Blogs are free to use. Two such blogs are: Blogger – www.blogger.com Clearblogs - www.clearblogs.com 6. Easy to Use If you can type and press a “Publish” button, you can use blogging software. The software allows you to follow easy step by step guide and provides great online help.

What should I publish in my blog?

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Articles Media Releases Industry News Photos of your products or from a tradeshow Surveys – so you can get feedback from your customers Testimonials Instructions on how to use your products/services Product Reviews Interviews Case Studies Business and Employee Profiles Links to complementary businesses Frequently Asked Questions and Problem Resolutions Inspirational Quotes Research Findings and anything else that may be of interest or help to your visitors and customers. Remember you can have as many blogs as you like, so you can easily reach niche markets.

Blogs and public relations As competition for available media coverage tightens, in a sea of press releases and attention stealing publicity stunts, it is harder than ever for a business to gain much needed publicity. A business person is often at a complete loss as to how to get media coverage of a worthwhile business story. Getting someone to hear the message is half the battle. Having the members of the media consider it newsworthy is the other half. Somewhere, there must be another

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vehicle, that can gain the attention, of an already swamped news editor. That help, for the publicity seeking business person has arrived, in the form of the blog.

A growing number of journalists and news editors are reading blogs, on a daily basis, to find new and interesting story ideas. Often faster and more efficient than reading press releases, blog entries are likely to yield targeted short and feature article material. When teamed with an RSS news feed, which employs the same technology as stock market and weather forecasts, a blog can provide an instant pipeline directly to interested media outlets. Blogs provide a unique and personal way to communicate with current and prospective customers. By talking to people, in a conversational manner, a blog puts a human face on a company, that is difficult to duplicate in any other way.

The more casual, and comparatively unfiltered voice of the blogger creates the image of a business as being composed of real people like you. Instead of being a nameless and faceless corporation, the blog helps the people in the company, to come alive in their posts.

Should a disaster happen, either to the business or its customers, a business blog provides an immediate and personalized vehicle to discuss the issue with the public. Instead of the “spin”, usually associated with public relations, the blog can serve as an honest and concerned pipeline, directly to the public. By addressing the issues openly and honestly, the business can regain and even increase the public’s trust. Concerned customers, and the general public, will view the blog as giving the straight answers. Such trust will only help enhance the business’s reputation, both in the short and long run.

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The value of personalization Perhaps the single most powerful aspect of blogs, in the area of public relations, is the personalization aspect. The writer is a real person, putting a human face on what might otherwise be perceived as a unknown and distant company. By developing trust among the various readership groups, the blog writer provides a personal link to the company. If the goal of a public relations effort is to work in coordination with sales and marketing, a blog will establish trust with current and prospective customers and clients. It’s a well known truism that people will buy from their friends and people whose word they trust. The development of a blog component to the company

website

will

go

far

in

achieving

those

trust

based

goals.

In the past, public relations depended upon controlling the message,that was put forward from the organization. The unspoken goal was to manipulate public opinion. The prearranged message was centralized and carefully vetted for wording and nuances. The term “spin” was born to describe the technique.

Blogging as a public opinion medium gives up that tight control, and presents a message in a conversation with the reader. In that sense, the blog cultivates public opinion. With increasing transparency, inside and outside of organizations, the best approach is one of open discussion. A blog is the ideal delivery vehicle.

Many people have begun to mistrust the traditional canned public relations approach as lacking honesty. The openness of a blog changes that perception entirely. As the philosopher Marshall McLuhan stated, “Perception is reality”. In other words, what we perceive to be true, is real in our own thoughts.

A blog can enhance that perception of honesty by delivering the straight goods on an

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issue. With that open approach, lacking the traditional tightly controlled message, trust in the company is enhanced. In both the short and longer terms, that trust translates into more life long customers and clients.

Getting traditional media exposure through a blog

The traditional media has begun to visit blogs, and to subscribe to blog RSS feeds, via an RSS reader. As a blog is updated, the RSS feed, usually coded in XML and Atom, sends the post or part of the post to its subscribers.

Developing and adding an RSS feed is easily activated, and is readily available with almost every blogging tool. For sites preferring their own coding, there is widely available code, that can be modified as needed to suit your personal requirements.

Your blog’s readership can easily access your posts, as they are updated, in real time. Much of that regular blog audience are members of the traditional mainstream media, consisting of newspaper, television, and radio journalists and editors.

The news media are constantly on the lookout for potential news stories. By writing about your industry, reviewing products, providing company news, and commenting on various business and economics issues, your blog is a ready source of news stories. By writing in a style that reflects your personality, along with your expertise in the industry, journalists will consider you to be an industry expert.

As someone considered knowledgeable in your business area, you will often be called upon for news interviews, in each of the mainstream media. Not only will you be

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interviewed about your own company, but about issues concerning your industry as a whole. Be certain to always make yourself available. Reporters are pressed for time, due to tight deadline schedules. If you are unavailable, they will immediately call upon other people in your industry for comment. Provide your media contacts with a telephone number and fax number, where you can be reached at all times.

That media information should be readily available on your blog, as well as conveniently placed on the company website. Include a press kit, with your biography and other background materials to help the journalists do their job. Your assistance will be appreciated, and your expertise sought more often.

Blogging through a crisis One of the most difficult times for any company, from a public relations standpoint, is during a company or industry crisis. During those often painful moments hours, the temptation for most traditional businesses is to shut down communications to the outside. All of their statements and reports are carefully screened, and often require many people to sign off on them prior to release to the media and the public. Those controlled message days are a thing of the past. By posting regular and open information on your company blog, you can address the crisis, fairly and honestly. Keeping the public completely aware of where your business stands, and what is the plan going forward, helps to improve confidence from your readership. Blogs provide an unlimited number of postings per day. You can update what is happening, during the peak of the crisis, in real time.

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Instead of hiding the problems, the trust your blog has developed over time, makes it the place for people to turn, for unfiltered information. Your job is to give the public honest answers, and not traditional spin. That openness about where the company stands, and it how it plans to resolve the problem, will be reported favorably in the media. The general public will leave your blog feeling that they are provided with straight answers. Speaking directly those affected by the disaster will increase the reputation of your company, rather than detract from it. That confidence factor can only serve to enhance your company image, while raising your personal profile within the industry.

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Chapter

9 QUESTIONNAIRE FORMAT FOR BLOG AS TOOLS OF PR Q1). Do you have a BLOG? (If yes, please give the name). a) Yes ……………………………………………………

b) No

Q2). How importance it is in today scenario?

a) Very Important b) Less importance

□ □

b) Importance c) Cant’ say anything

□ □

Q3). Has it been effective to driving traffic to your websites?

a) Yes

□

□

b) No

Q4). Has your blog helped you gain clients & business?

b) Yes

□

□

b) No

Q5). Do you find it as a importance tools of PR?

a) Very Important b) Less importance

□ □

b) Importance c) Cant’ say anything

□ □

Q6). Have you had trouble promoting your blog?

a) Yes

□

Name Designation Company / Organization Tel No

□

b) No : : : :

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Chapter

10 Email ID

:

Comment & Feedback Comment 1: Blogs have become a common Blogs have become a common way of getting PR. They are easy to install, update and manage than html pages or any other CMS. So they tend to be more popular. Submitted by Bozidar Novak (WPN reader) on Fri, 10/24/2008 - 8:40am.

Comment 2: Blogging is changing Public Relations Blogs have made many PR experts aware of the impotency of traditional public relations spin methods. Though I have to point out that there is a whole new breed of "negative bloggers", who are paid "mercenaries" with one goal: discredit or ruin the public reputation of a person or a company.

Submitted by Handles (WPN

reader) on Thu, 10/23/2008 - 2:16pm.

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Chapter

11 CONCLUSION The Internet and the number of people connecting are growing at phenomenal rate. More and more people are getting on the internet everyday. As users become familiar with searching the web, the technology is to search for everything on the web.

The internet has changed the way we buy and sell products and services the way we obtain information. With increasing usage of the internet, prospering in today’s marketplace requires an internet presence. Being online helps to reach new and existing customers as website contains all the information about business customers need.

As in PR, PR professional work with marketing people to ensure their company recognition in business. They also work with marketing manager to increase the company sales. Since creating online presence through blog doesn’t have to be difficult or costly. It can be a simple as and cost effective tool in Public Relation. It is more of kind of supplement with other tools.

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According to a report at the Web 2.0 conference there are now over "4.1 million blogs around the world with a new blog created every 7.4 seconds". However, there are only about 5000 company blogs. That leaves a lot of room for you to stake your niche and gain valuable exposure.

While making this project I had come to this conclusion that, Blogging helps in

1. Communication with your customers. 2. Good tool for Search Engine Marketing 3. It keeps you ahead of your competitior 4. Good form of geeting feedback from users / customers 4. Effective tool for Media & Public Relations 5. Cost effective in compare to other tools

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Chapter

12 References "Welcome to Technorati" (unknown). Retrieved on 2008-06-05. Wong, Wailin (2008-07-01). ""I'm now reading a story on microblogs"". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 2008-07-01. "What is a photoblog". Photoblogs.org Wiki. Retrieved on 2006-06-25. "Blogging goes mobile", BBC News (2003-02-23). Retrieved on 5 June 2008. Stephan Metcalf, "Fixing a Hole", New York Times, March 2006 DailyPundit "Welcome to Technorati" (unknown). Retrieved on 2008-06-25. "About MyBlogLog". MyBlogLog. Retrieved on 2007-06-29. Gogoi,

Pallavi

(2006-10-09).

"Wal-Mart's

Jim

and

Laura:

The

Real

Story".

BusinessWeek. Retrieved on 2008-08-06. Marlow, C. Audience, structure and authority in the weblog community. Presented at the International Communication Association Conference, May, 2004, New Orleans, LA. "blogging Bonnie.", Poynter.org (2003-09-18). "Blooker rewards books from blogs", BBC News (2005-10-11). Retrieved on 5 June 2008. "Blooker prize honours best blogs", BBC News (2007-03-17). Retrieved on 5 June 2008. Dude, here's my book John Doe No. 1 v. Patrick Cahill and Julia Cahill

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"New Straits Times staffers sue two bloggers", Reporters Without Borders (200701-19). Retrieved on 5 June 2008. "Government plans to force bloggers to register", Reporters Without Borders (200704-06). Retrieved on 5 June 2008. Gibson, Owen (2006-03-23). "Warning to chatroom users after libel award for man labelled a Nazi", The Guardian. Retrieved on 17 May 2006. http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=152721 Origins of "Blog" and "Blogger", American Dialect Society Mailing List (Apr. 20, 2008). ^ The term "e-log" has been used to describe journal entries sent out via e-mail since as early as March 1996.Norman, David (2005-07-13) ([dead Users

confused

by

link]

–

Scholar search

),

blogs,

http://lists.drupal.org/archives/development/2005-07/msg00208.html, retrieved on 5 June 2008"Research staff and students welcome ‘E-Log’". University College London (December 2003). Retrieved on 2008-06-05. Harmanci, Reyhan (2005-02-20). "Time to get a life — pioneer blogger Justin Hall bows out at 31". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2008-06-05. Paul Festa (2003-02-25). "Newsmaker: Blogging comes to Harvard", CNET. Retrieved on 25 January 2007. "..Dave Winer... whose Scripting News (scripting.com) is one of the oldest blogs."David F. Gallagher (2002-06-10). "Technology; A rift among bloggers", New York Times. Reading Michael Gorman. "Revenge of the Blog People!". Library Journal. Ringmar, Erik. A Blogger's Manifesto: Free Speech and Censorship in the Age of the Internet (London: Anthem Press, 2007). ELegal Guide for bloggers by the Electronic Frontier Foundation

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