Blogs have been a hot topic at work lately. Our Internet folks in particular have taken a shine to them. As a result, I've created an elevator speech on what blogs mean to public relations. An elevator speech is the bottom line, the quick pitch. I've also heard it referred to as your 25 words. If you are pitching a script in Hollywood, you have to be able to sum it up in 25 words or less without oversimplifying it.
This technique should be standard practice for anyone in business. If you cannot quickly and concisely sum up the value in a story idea, product or service, your persuasive ability deteriorates. But I digress.
Blogs' Importance to Public Relations
News Gathering: Newsreaders pull content from your target blogs to your desktop. This allows you to aggregate news more easily. Blogs help us know the news.News Placement: Media Map lists more than 250 blogs in its database—niche outlets we did not have a year ago. Blogs offer more client placement opportunities.
News Distribution: Assuming the strategy permits a blog, a client's blog offers its own RSS feed (I know, practice what I preach). Blogs help us distribute client news.
Client Positioning: A client's blog helps get their messages and point of view to target audiences—bypassing a media outlet. Blogs help us establish our clients as thought leaders.
Take the bold and italicized parts of the list above and you too have an elevator speech. It's 35 words in length, but this is not Hollywood. So, cut and paste or print this out.
Now sell it.
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