When PR Has Its Head Up Its Ass

It drives me crazy when people say that blogs don't matter. The blogs that I follow are beer related. The small breweries and brewpubs (as well as larger ones) have for the most part embraced blogs. The accept the good with the bad, but if you provide a good product, your reputation gets spread throughout a community that is willing to pay for the product. If they bash a blog, they would upset many of their potential buyers. Word of mouth can build you up or tear you down- it all matters how you work with them (bloggers).

@MommaCupcake Great point. I have the privilege of seeing both sides-working at a PR agency and being a blogger (theinnovativeconsultant.com) myself. What I do see is that both PR and bloggers benefit from each other, so PR shouldn't be putting bloggers down and devaluing what bloggers do. Bloggers can be great PR for a product when doing product reviews or hosting contests. PR does have its head up its ass!

Danny, I'm late to this conversation (zipping in via Gini's link on her weekly roundup) but I have to say you're SO right to take "Sarah" to task. I'm really disappointed (but not unduly surprised) that someone in a PR agency has this kind of arrogant attitude.

I personally hope that in some way her post comes from the fear of what blogging and social media communications are beginning to do to the PR industry, which in its current incarnation is clearly beginning to suffer. To my mind its a statement of fear that the industry is changing and that the old model just doesn't work anymore.

If you haven't understood the power and reach of community and what one single blog post can do (just ask Dell!), you're probably not on top of your PR game.

Love your insights! A lot of bloggers are getting paid for their reviews and i couldn't agree more on them being hired.

I run the marketing department for a family owned, small business. My education was in finance and international trade, and most of what I apply toward our PR & Marketing strategies is what I've learned by the age old method of guess and check(and more recently from listening to the voices on this and other blogs). However, reading her post, I can't help but see similarities between her stance and that of many naysayers in trades of all industries and areas of life. "Because it's not how I do it, it must not be right." "You'll never get that idea to succeed." "Stop being a dreamer, and get a real job." I blog about my business because it reinforces my belief in our mission and products - whether a single sale is generated from a follower or not (obviously a blog that drives sales is preferable). I remember sitting in an interview 4 years ago discussing my career ambitions with the interviewer. I said that I wanted to set foot on multiple continents in a business capacity before I was 25. He told me that it took years of paying my dues to reach that goal citing his lack of doing so as evidence. Well chief, I made it with 6 months to spare. I'd rather 'stay up till 3AM' as you guys have put it writing from my bed than toil away in a cube any day of the week. Cheers to all. Apologies for the length.

I planned to comment yesterday, @dannybrown , but a migraine took care of that. Now I have to see if I can add any value other than thanking you again for the kind mention.

I read through as many of the comments as I could on the original post without being in danger of a cardiac event. I wish "Sarah's" original comment that drew so much ire hadn't been deleted, because now I'll never know what it was. Oh well.

A couple of things struck me: first, we all tend to generalize. We can't help it; it's human nature. So props to you and all those who've pointed out that we all need to try to be aware of not doing that.

Second, so much of how we react to things is governed by our experiences, and I was never more struck by this than when I saw "Wicked" last week in London (actually, I was struck by that when I read the book when it first came out, but it was reinforced by seeing the show). I'm not trying to make excuses for "Sarah" or anyone else, but more than likely she has been on the receiving end of what might have been excessive "demands." Could she have written a less arrogant post? Sure. But there's rarely smoke without fire. However, this again speaks to the dangers of generalization, and had she thought of that while writing, her post may have been slightly less harsh and more positively educational in its expression.

Finally, and I'm echoing what many have already said, but I do feel it bears repeating, there are good and bad apples on both sides of the aisle; in any industry, in fact. There are those who clock out at 5 pm (or whatever time they're officially allowed to), and there are those who will stay up and/or work around the clock to make sure work is taken care of.

Your reply to @Marie about needing an ombudsman is something our industry - and note I'm saying "our" industry, because we are all swimming in the "communication" pond now - desperately needs. I do think some organizations like PRSA in the US are trying to bridge the divide by reaching out more to folks who would not ordinarily have been considered "PR" to participate in their events; the recent International Conference in DC was testament to that. I don't know if similar organizations that have evolved from the online/tech/blogging world are doing that as well, but perhaps that could be a baby step.

Also I doubt very much that PR stay up till 3 in the morning writing a quality post. Taking pictures, ediiting, proofing, marketing. Kiss my pink ass PR.

We are the social media stars. Stars can make or break a brand. HFCS anyone? Nestle????? Hmm. Exactly why HFCS people had to take out national tv prime time ads to try to keep the damage from spreading. Too late.

Danny, I like your post especially because if I google “PR” and “ass,” your post will probably show up. I would go through point by point but my head hurts. Maybe because it’s Friday or maybe it’s just that I never sleep any more with a newborn.

I rarely comment on blog posts; however it’s lunch so I thought I would chime in.
When I read Sarah’s post yesterday, I didn’t need a crystal ball to know what was going to happen down in that comment section. I just wish she didn’t hide behind anonymity, but I guess sometimes controversy is scary.

I’ve worked with bloggers for a long time. I’m also a blogger. I love public relations. I love social media. I love other bloggers. The reality is (sadly) is that there are always going to be bad pitches and PR mistakes. On the same note, there will probably always be bloggers out there giving other bloggers a bad name. I wish I were a glass-half-full kinda gal, but I’m not.

One of the main issues here is there is just such an over-generalization of the term “blogger” and the term “publicist” – and everyone gets caught up in the terminologies and nothing ever gets accomplished.

There are some bloggers that want to get paid. There are some bloggers that don’t. The definition of “payment” differs from blogger to blogger. There are some amazing PR people and there are some really crappy PR people too. This is an ever-changing space, and there will never be one opinion that will be crowned the overriding opinion that all bloggers and publicists must adhere to. In my fantasy world, I can only trust that new people stumble upon these conversations and learn something, comment, interact and spark real conversation that does something. That’s the hope.

I’ve been working with bloggers for a long time. Newsflash: there have always been terrible PR pitches. I can tell you there have always been complaints about PR people– they just used to be housed on private message boards. There have also always been not-so-great bloggers. For example, when I used to work in music, some bloggers would sell their advance copies of CDs on ebay. That caused a lot of drama back in the day.

The truth of the matter is that now traditional media is downsizing at a rapid rate, and PR pros are scrambling looking for new places to get their clients visibility. That’s their job. The result: blogger bombardment. Bloggers are getting just slammed, and sometimes too much of something is not always a good thing.

Blogging is work. Public Relations is work. Now we just need to find a way to work together so that everyone wins.

Okay, lunch is over!

The problem with the Social Media sphere in particular and the marketing world in general is that we all think we need to outshine everyone else. PR folk need to out-perform the Social Media gang (and where is that line of differentiation, by the way?). Social Media folk certainly can't be compared to lowly advertisers. Advertisers don't WANT to be compared to Social Media people or PR people.

Folks. We're all in the same game. We're all actually playing on the same team. We have the same mission - help companies get their products sold. That's it. That's the end zone all of us are running towards. We might be doing this for different kinds of companies in different industries, but all the more reason - why not work together?

I think that a relationship between a blogger and a PR agency could do wonders for a company. Blogger provides content, PR firm helps make sure it gets seen, maybe. Everyone has expertise they can offer.

Grr.

OK. First of all, why are you reading Mom Blog Magazine? Have you forgotten to tell us something?!

I read "Sarah's" blog post and then I came back here and read yours. A few points from her blog:
* Since when are bloggers paid by PR firms for their clients?
* Since when has a blogger ever said they need to be paid just like a PR pro for the review of a product?
* Since when does a PR person have to sell a product no matter what it is, and "they sell it with a smile even if it kicks puppies and makes babies cry"?

OMG! I can't keep reading!

* "You don’t have this obligation. You have the freedom that comes with NOT having a paycheck to answer to."
* "You are not expected to show up at 8 a.m. dressed business casual and go to countless meetings. You get to do and say whatever you want as long as you plop a disclaimer at the end."
* "You don’t get to decide to be a professional blogger but then decide you want the lifestyle, paycheck, and perks of having an out-of-the-house PR job."
* She says no one in PR judges a blogger for choosing to be a stay-at-home mom? Doesn't all of this sound pretty judgmental?

And lastly, "my advice will at least make you less bitter and entitled, if you take it."

I'm a PR pro AND a blogger and I'm bitter and feel entitled, just because of the way she "spoke" to the Mom Blog Magazine readers. Shame on them for running it at all, let alone anonymously.

Those quotes I pulled are the same ones that hit you, Danny. I'm seriously beyond words that there are people like this in our industry. I can't even begin to read the comments on that post. I might blow a gasket.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Bloggers are today's USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Oprah, Ellen, David Letterman, New York Times, and Today Show. And they're your local weekly and daily newspapers and your trade magazines. You don't have to be an A-lister to provide huge value to a PR firm's clients, if you have a certain niche. Shame on the PR pros who treat bloggers like second-class citizens.

I guess @area224 is right - the reason we get it is because we both are PR pros and bloggers. It makes me want to go back to my big agency roots and shake the people inside those organizations who behave this way. The @JGoldsborough seem to be few and far between these days.

I'm still so astounded, but I guess that's why Spin Sucks, huh?!