If you are writing a blog for your business, you need to stay focused on the goals you set when you decided to begin. Was it to demonstrate your firm’s experience and capabilities or was it to help search engine results by providing keyword rich posts that also demonstrate your businesses’ knowledge?

Hopefully the later is your goal. So here you are, committed or not to the blog and you are short of ideas. These ten ideas will help you write interesting blog posts even when your creative muse has gone on vacation.

1. Look to the news of the day; are there any major news items that impact some aspect of your businesses core competencies? If so, write about how and why. Google News has a robust search feature which allows you to hone in on your most significant keywords.
2. Look to your interactions with your clients. Did you have any “teachable moments” or interactions in the past few days that you feel are common and which, when shared, can provide learning opportunities? If yes, write about those moments; be sure to keep the names of those you mention and identifying comments discrete. You don’t want to embarrass your clients or yourself.
3. Write about some of the “basics” of your business. It is always good to refresh yourself on core competencies and share fresh insights as to why these basics are so important.
4. Write about management issues affecting your business. Each business has issues that are common to them all and often generalize to others in the industry.
5. Look to trends in your industry and analyze how one of them may affect clients in your industry.
6. If your blog is client facing, write about new developments that are sure to produce results for them. Tell why.
7. Invite another industry / sector expert to be a guest blogger. They can write about their insights into key issues in your industry.
8. Share a client success story (with permission of course.) Tell why they succeeded and if you were a part of that success, help readers see how and why the client succeeded.
9. Share a major learning experience; an Ah-ha moment. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be bullet proof…just healed. So say how and why you got insight that helped you redirect.
10. Share information about your colleagues or employees or even new staff member news, awards and competencies. I would even suggest having one of your employees write a guest post. Invite them to share some of their personality and talents they bring to working with you.

I do a fair amount of public relations consulting for advertising agencies. This helps them save money. They have a senior PR person on call, but not on the payroll. Because of this arrangement, I have the delight of working with a number of agencies in the greater Charleston area, as well as some outside the area.

Bloggers are not a target. They are a source. Listen to them.

This morning one of my ad agency colleagues phoned to ask (on behalf of a client who posed this question to the ad agency) how best to create a list of bloggers so the client could “shoot out a release to them.” At which point, I said, “Ummm, I wouldn’t encourage that if I were you.” My colleague said the client wants to send a release, implying that they just wanted to shout out the message into the ether and hope that someone hears it.

He doubted that they would heed my advice; the best way to get the attention of bloggers is to have a relationship with them. You can’t just fire off a release to a blogger and expect that they’ll show interest unless it’s a world-class, earth shattering story. Bloggers have their own voice and editorial calendar.

In case you haven’t been around in the past few years, professional bloggers have developed compelling content rich blogs that many readers subscribe to. Each bloggers’ voice is the equivalent of a direct line to people very interested in the topic of the blog or the bloggers thoughts/ideas.

Being able to successfully pitch bloggers requires that you subscribe to and read their blogs. That you follow them on Twitter. That you comment on their posts and understand their editorial tone. Not too much different than what one should have been doing with print publications; advice which is often ignored. Don’t wait around to create relationships. Do it because it is the right thing to do. You can learn a lot from reading the same information your customers are interested in. And if you can’t take time to do this yourself, consult with a public relations professional who is familiar with bloggers in your industry.

If you want to have bloggers interested in the story that your company has to share, plan ahead. Read the top bloggers in your industry or for the customers you serve. You can find them by looking at which blogs are top ranked on Technorati, or most frequently bookmarked on Delicio.us.

Don’t wait until you just want to “shoot out a release” to develop relationships with bloggers and understand what their audiences care about. Do it now because they offer invaluable insight into the mind of your consumer.

As Twitter has matured, many small business owners have joined the conversation. However, there are those out there who have tried it and don’t understand how it works. Or they have “looked into it” and are not sure where to begin.

Recently I’ve discussed social media with several groups. There are so many who feel that the whole Twitter world is going to swamp them. And there are those who are afraid of appearing silly. My number one tip is to remember that this is social media. Your goal is to be social. Your task is to engage, learn about your neighbors and develop community.

If you’re having issues trying to determine how to tweet, what to tweet or when, this post from Mark Hayward on Twitip will help you understand some of the fundamentals.

Forrester Research publishers of one of my favorite business books, Groundswell, released research that quantifies a new category of those active in social media. Dubbed conversationalists, these users are active and influential.

According to Forrester, Conversationalists are,

56% female, more than any other group in the ladder. While they’re among the youngest of the groups, 70% are still 30 and up.”

Recently I was a presenter with Shauna Heathman of Makenzie Image Consulting at the Columbia, SC National Association of Women Business Owners discussing personal branding whenone of the attendees asked others at the meeting, “Do you read blogs?” Her question stimulated discussion about of who reads and publishes blogs. Only a few did not regularly read and comment on blogs. However only 2 attendees maintain and write a blog. Earlier in the presentation the majority of the women recounted using their Facebook profiles to support their businesses’ marketing.  Forrester’s more scientific research confirms my “woman on the street” first-hand knowledge.

If you want to reach the customers (and I mean women) who make 85% of brand purchasing decisions, you need to be active in social media. Eight-six percent US women now have a profile on at least 1 social networking site a 48% increase. (Up from 58% in 2008.)

Women are conversationalists. Our brains are wired that way and data show how we have leveraged our innate ability into a powerful force.

Have you ever noticed that as you listen to the radio during your morning commute that Brooke Ryan might refer to a news item and later when you are out to lunch you see the same story headline in the newspaper that was lying on your table? This phenomenon of local news being driven by the research and reporting of local newspapers is documented in a report from Pew Research.

…But a new study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, …suggests that while the news landscape has rapidly expanded, most of what the public learns is still overwhelmingly driven by traditional media—particularly newspapers.

The study, which examined all the outlets that produced local news in Baltimore, Md., for one week, surveyed their output and then did a closer examination of six major narratives during the week, finds that much of the “news” people receive contains no original reporting. Fully eight out of ten stories studied simply repeated or repackaged previously published information. more

Last year as ad revenue declined, we saw our area newspapers shift to more local content. The shift was happening all across the country.

The research from the Pew Foundation tells us that we are right to have some concern about the changes.

Pew notes, “The local papers, however, are also offering less than they once did.” That is because there is less ad revenue. Newspapers can only print what they can pay for. As one area editor shared with me his publisher said, “That’s a great story idea, but if we don’t have ad revenue to support an additional page, we can’t print it.” However, in the meantime, random column inches here and there contain uninteresting blurbs like the one in today’s Post and Courier, “Shed damaged by fire, no one injured.” That’s a news story?

The Pew study also confirms that the web is the first place of publication and an alert system. In addition there is another interesting tidbit in the study that we PR people have known, media releases are often the source of much of the information contained in the newspaper.

The takeaway from this is:

• Newspaper journalism is important as the foundational source for most local news
• Original stories have declined
• Well crafted media releases may be used to place news because there are fewer journalists with less time and column inches to give to originally sourced stories.

So, it is the job of public relations professionals to craft news worthy well written items for our media colleagues use and consumption. There is an even greater chance that your firm’s news will end up right where you want it to be.

One of the trends that we see for marketing communications in the coming year is the expectation that businesses must regain trust.

“In the past year, 91% of 25-to-64-year-olds around the world indicated they bought a product or service from a company they trusted, and 77% refused to buy a product or service from a distrusted company.”

According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, trust has been lost around the globe and no where has it been lost as much as in the United States. The Edelman Barometer further demonstrates that increasing government regulation of businesses is favored by publics were trust in businesses has eroded.

The Edleman Trust Barometer findings show trust down around the globe.

How will corporations and businesses rebuild trust?

Many will do so through activities designed to demonstrate corporate environmental and social responsibility.

Edelman states in their executive summary,

among those who trust business to do what’s right, companies that are seen as responsible are significantly more likely to be supported in their efforts to sell their goods and services, pursue changes in local laws, seek preferential treatment, or have foreign investors assume a controlling stake in the business.”

The Subaru Share the Love event is an example of a way to demonstrate a corporations’ caring. Subaru is making a donation of $250 to a non-profit (whom Edelman says are more trusted than any other type of organization) for each vehicle they sell between now and January 4, 2010. According to Edelman, in 2009, banking and automotive companies lost more trust than any other industry sectors. Clearly, Subaru is hoping to gain trust through this promotion.

Subaru which has strong allegiance among millenials is hoping for transference of trust to their products by making these donations. However, this type of activity only works if it is genuine. Any hint of falseness and gains in trust will be lost. Transparency is the foundation of trust.

Great amounts of research have been done to understand what works and doesn’t. An article on ThomasNet.com “Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility,” By David R. Butcher does an excellent job of laying out the research and the article’s summation draws it all together:

With companies facing increasing pressure from investors, governments, prospective employees and consumers to make their operations, products and services more socially responsible, it’s no surprise that Grant Thornton asserts that corporate social responsibility is “now a necessity rather than a choice.”

Businesses who fail to understand these important shifts in the public’s mind will not grow and loose share.

Over this last year, we’ve seen the explosion of social media onto the “big screen” of businesses. Many have scrambled to create Facebook pages and put their customer service online while hearing constantly of the death of print media. Lots of businesses have pulled their traditional advertising to the point where many print media have folded, shrunk or downsized. We seen the complete acceptance of wireless / mobile devices and understand that there is no message downtime.

As the dust settles on this year we see the frantic scramble to get into social media normalizing. More businesses understand the new conversation channels or are at least trying to incorporate them in their mix. We understand that television and print media while changing will not go away. We understand that there is a conversation and that the customer truly owns the brand.

What do you see in your crystal ball for 2010?

We recognize that the U.S. is composed of a diverse population, with 38% of us being over 44 years of age; 37.4% of us being 18-44 years of age and the remainder under 17 years of age.

As marketing and business communications professionals, this means we comprehend each audience segment has preferred information channels. As we promote our services and products, we understand that a 21 year old will get their news from Google reader and that at 58 year old from most probably from either TV or print media. That there are some of us who, while in the older segments, use new technology, embracing mobile media as much as the younger generations. We also understand that not only younger generations care about social responsibility; that social responsibility is a required part of being in business. That when it comes to media relations, the media are just as stressed as other business segments and are trying to do as much with fewer resources. That our job is to work in tandem with them by supplying truly interesting information and sources to help them do their jobs.

2010 promises to be rich with opportunity for small businesses to act like big corporations when it comes to reaching customers through all the channels with a straight to consumer approach that is more about what the customer wants in their lives.

In summary:

• Marketing Communications
  • More segmentation of message—We’ll use Twitter, Facebook, the local newspaper as well as television, and increasingly, mobile technology.
  • Social media acceptance as one of the major message delivery vehicles
  • Social responsibility as a requirement of doing business
  • Blurring of the difference between advertising and public relations
• For PR
  • Video pitching
  • Social media acceptance as one of the major message delivery vehicles to media contacts and the consumer
  • Increasing message delivery direct to the consumer
  • We’ll turn more to multi media releases, using the power of video sharing, and pod casts to enrich press releases
  • Public relations professionals as major advisors for not only publicity but for advertising and marketing messages.

Share your prognostications with us. We look forward to learning from everyone how they see the new year shaping up for them.

Just a few weeks ago, we shared the news of Andi Mill’s search for a ride share to enable her to return to college in order to gain her degree in professional writing.

Today her story is written up in The Anderson Independent. Journalist Charmaine Smith-Miles captured Andi’s spirit and her pluck.

Once again, I am struck by the ability we have as public relations professionals to do good. Many perceive us as flacks shilling for celebrity clients. However, the vast majority of us work daily to bring interesting news to light. We frequently share our abilities with non-profit organizations whose missions we align with.

At the close of this year and the opening of the next, as marketing and public relations pros, we need to remember the power we have to make change, embrace it and work to make our world a better place.

We’re doing our part, how about you? Share your pro bono efforts with us.

As a public relations consultant, clients have asked us to make sure that a reporter gives us in advance all the questions they’ll ask during an interview, or to preview the reporter’s story in advance, or to edit the journalist’s  story.

Listen to your PR pro.

We often find ourselves having to help clients comprehend that just because you are in business, doing what you are supposed to do in your specialty, and are successful at it; there is no reason to write about your company. Except, if you are using ground-breaking new technology that advances the industry, or is dramatically more profitable, or has landed Oprah as a client…and then you probably should not be talking about your clients.

This article from Susan Young makes the point that unrealisstic expectations from public relations firms’ clients often cause issues.

When you hire a PR pro, you have done so because you recognize that you either can’t or don’t wish to manage your company’s public relations program. If your PR counsel tells you that you need to be doing something newsworthy, listen to them. That’s why you are paying the PR firm.

In the 1980s many were spouting phrases about quality time in regard to parenting our children. Many followed the line that when it comes to parenting, that quality time spent with children trumps quantity time. I’ve disagreed with this since I first heard it. Children need quantity and quality.

Question everything

Unlike child rearing, public relations is the most significant arena where quality trumps quantity each and every time. When a client asks us to generate coverage for an event, our first question is why? Getting ink, digital or printed, is all about the story. Is it relevant to the publication’s goals; their readers; and most importantly, is it news?

Shel Holtz is on the mark in his post.

Good PR is not, in fact, about the number of relationships you have developed with media contacts. It never has been and, as we navigate our way through the shifting media seas, it is less important than it ever was. Getting people to tell your story is not about the relationships you have with reporters. It’s about the quality of the story and how well it aligns with the reporter’s beat and interests.

In addition, Shel writes of a colleague’s comments about the value of a journalism education in life.  However, as Shel also points out, may not work for all.

It is our contention that most important for all, whether CEO, CMO or Account Executive, is a curious mind. Questions and answers lead the way forward in all aspects of life, and most certainly in public relations.

An unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates

**Photo courtesy of admiller & flickr creative commons