PR Fuel - "Blog Rules," a White Paper

Ben Silverman is currently Director of Development and a Contributing Editor for FindProfit.com (http://www.findprofit.com), an independent investment research service. His personal weblog is BenSilverman.net(http://www.bensilverman.net). Previously, Ben was a business news columnist for The New York Post and thefounder/publisher of DotcomScoop.com:

PR giant Edelman and market research firm Inteliseek have released a white paper, "Trust MEdia: How Real People AreFinally Being Heard - The 1.0 Guide to the Blogosphere for Marketers & Company Stakeholders."

The version available to the public is a good primer for PR, marketing and advertising professionals who are looking to get a better understanding of the blogosphere and how to deal with it (and not deal with it)."

Blogs represent a paradigm shift that presents new challenges and opportunities for the advertising, public relations and marketing communities - challenges and opportunities that require quick responses, protocols and policies," the paper states.

One of the more interesting sections in the paper highlights how automaker Mazda dropped the ball when it attempted to use blogs as a marketing tool and instead created a PRproblem. There also are some handy tips, such as, "Are you willing to enter the world of blogging with honesty, frankness and humor? If you cannot get past 'marketingspeak' and defensiveness, then do not blog."

I am actually pleasantly surprised by the content and tone of the paper (just when I thought the big agencies had their heads in the wrong place, I'm proven wrong), which I believe most people in our profession will find useful. It's worth noting that organizations that utilize either Edelman or Inteliseek's services are given a list of the most influential bloggers.

Links:
White paper - http://www.edelman.com/image/insights/content/ISwp_TrustMEdia_FINAL.pdf
Press release - http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050404/nym225.html?.v=3

Ben can be reached via email at bensilverman@gmail.com.