Looking for good PR? Hire a blogger, says the Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal published yet another article on blogs this morning. This time it’s on the PR value of blogs. WSJ reports companies see the value of blogs and are “…Looking for candidates who can write in a conversational style about timely topics that would appeal to customers, clients and potential recruits.”

Blogging as a job has emerged as companies of all stripes increasingly see the Web as an important communications venue. Blogs allow firms to assume a natural tone rather than the public-relations speak typical of some static Web pages, and readers are often invited to post comments. While some companies are hiring full-time bloggers, others are adding blogging duties to existing marketing or Web-editing positions.

WSJ reports only 4% of major U.S. corporations have public blogs, according to a survey by eMarketer, a New York research company. However, a spokeswoman for CareerBuilder.com months told the Journal . ‘Blogging jobs are growing in popularity,’ and that she just recruited a communications specialist whose job includes writing CareerBuilder’s blog.

Here’s some excerpts from the Journal’s article highlighting a few companies’ blogging efforts. They’re not law firms but I expect by seeing what other companies are doing talented legal marketing and communications professionals will come up with lots of ideas for law firm PR via blogs.

• Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield’s chief executive, says he plans to hire one or two additional full-time bloggers within the next two years. ‘The blogs give us what we call a handshake with consumers, a bond of loyalty and mutual trust that’s different than the typical selling relationship, where it’s all about price,’ Mr. Hirshberg says. ‘With the blogs, we are giving a little bit more access to us as a people with a mission.’
• Heather Hamilton, who works for Microsoft Corp. as a staffing programs manager for marketing and finance, suggested that she write a blog to help in recruiting and has been doing it since last year. Hers is one of about 1,500 blogs written by Microsoft employees (available at Microsoft.com/community/blogs). She writes about what it is like to work at the company, jobs she is filling and hiring trends. ‘When I started my blog, I didn’t realize it would become part of my job,’ she says. ‘I wanted to help people think about Microsoft as a career destination.’
• Flycell Inc., New York, an 18-month-old provider of mobile-phone content such as games and ringtones, posted an ad on the technology-job site Dice.com in April for a ‘blogger/copywriter/editorial-content producer.’ The ad includes the following description: ‘Create, maintain and promote a blog that covers and reports about mobile-phone content and the marketplace … Must have experience creating and updating blogs, including creating links to other topical blogs … Blog savvy is a must.’
• Dale & Thomas Popcorn, a Teaneck, N.J., gourmet popcorn company, is seeking an online-marketing coordinator to create and maintain a company blog on the love of popcorn, among other tasks. Paul Goodman, senior vice president of ecommerce, says he hopes a blog will enhance customer relations and help boost the company Web site’s search-engine rankings.

And for you guys looking for a job, these jobs are paying $40,000 to $75,000 per year. Not bad writing about what you love while sitting on the back porch.

Source of post: Micro Persuasion