Webinar

This webinar was the first one that I had ever experienced.  I'm not sure that I really liked it.  I feel like it would have kept my attention better if I could have actively seen the speakers talking.  The concepts that they were talking about were interesting to me but I'm not great at listening for a long amount of time when I have nothing to pay attention to.

The most interesting part to me was when they were talking about the company being their own publisher. I think that is a great way to explain the company explaining themselves to their clients.  The speakers made very good points on this subject.  They explained that this concept allows the company to reveal the people that they have working for them.  It also allows the company to click with their clients in a way that other companies may not take advantage of.  And the most important part is that the company being a publisher allows the company to listen better to the market.  Overall the webinar made some great points and was very fast paced and kept the questions coming.

Real-Time Job Description

In the Real-Time Marketing and PR book the author talks about a Real-Time Communication Job Description.  We searched online for communication job descriptions to see how similar they were to the one in the book.  A lot of the job descriptions online are not very specific to what the job should entail.  I think the reason for this is because companies often see their PR department as something of a side note or a part of the company that they might not exactly need. Because the job is often under appreciated the company doesn't always know what they should be looking for in a communications department employee.  I think that one of the most important aspects of the job description that most companies leave out is to watch for rogue sites that pop up.  It is very important to know what is going on in your market.  If you want to be the top company in your area you have no exactly what your competition is and what they are doing at all times.  The second  most important I think is to respond to customers in the channel that they contact you.  This can really keep your company on top of things.  Your customers want results and they want them fast.  They will be impressed if you are up on your social media and can contact them through their favorite media.  All in all companies need to realize how important their PR team is and how beneficial a good PR practitioner can be to their business.

Bloggers are people too.

I recently read an article that talked about PR companies being afraid of reaching out to the help of bloggers.  But the article had an interesting take on the situation that I agree on.  They said that most companies think that it is scary to reach out to bloggers because you don't know how they are going to react and they could shed a negative light on your company.  But really the blogger is just going on with their life and would love to help the company out but the company needs to ask.  The blogger also wants to know that the company likes their writing and style.  They are impressed when you follow and are interested in their blog.  The truth is the blogger probably receives many invitations to write for companies all the time but when approaching them do a little research before just diving in.  Read and follow their blog so when you do finally decide to ask for their help you will both be on the same page and rooting for each other.  It could be a win win situation for the blogger and the company.  And since blogging is the next best thing, get on it and find your company a blogger!