PR Bloggers Not All In It For Self-Promotion

Are PR bloggers just ham-handed promoters trying hard to boost their personal popularity and make some non-existent "A List?"

Or do they have something of value to say about the profession and its practice?

Why the questions?

Adam Brown, Ketchum's global product manager for blogs, told PR Week last week that most PR bloggers were involved for the wrong reason:

"Right now, in the PR blogosphere, you're seeing that a lot of bloggers - even prominent ones - are doing it for self-promotion. I don't know if a blog is the appropriate place to do that."

But that's not the only shot PR bloggers took in recent days.


If you can't say anything nice ...

Russell Beattie, a product reviewer for Yahoo! with a big smile (in his copyrighted photo) that hides a sharp tongue, claimed that PR people are morons and that PR bloggers are even worse:

"But beyond these morons, are the PR Bloggers who claim to "get it" or at least understand blogging in general and are now spewing uninformed idiocy out onto the world ... These blogs aren't worth the kilobytes they're taking up on some hard disk somewhere."

Well, well. That wasn't very nice. I mean, I've been online since the rollout of Prodigy and the only thing I've ever found worthwhile on Yahoo! is the Buzz Log ... but I would never say that out loud.

Anyway, that's beside the point.


PR blogging isn't ego polishing

Both of these gentlemen are just flat-out wrong.

The vast majority of PR bloggers know exactly what they're doing, and it's not about polishing their image.

To be frank, PR pros take a business risk when they blog -- if they are writing about the industry, its practices, clients and foibles. There's a very real possibility that something a PR blogger writes could prevent him or her from getting a new client down the road -- or could cause a current client to leave.

But they blog because they recognize the need for dialog and idea exchange given the fast-changing world we live in.


Won't hold my breath ...

In other words, it's not about self-promotion. It's about self-preservation.

Are some PR bloggers publicity hounds? You bet. How do you think they get to be "A-listers?"

But the great unwashed out here are blogging to advance our profession, to change things just a bit, and to engage others in our beliefs.

Do we accomplish that every day? Nope.

Do we sometimes mention our agencies or practices? Yep.

Do we deserve these slams? Definitely not.

Adam Brown is simply trying to defend Ketchum's much-maligned launch of its blogging practice.

Russell Beattie is just shooting off steam because he doesn't like e-mail pitches.

In their individual pursuits, they tried to paint an entire group of hard-working professionals with the same broad brush. They missed badly.

I won't hold my breath waiting for an apology.

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