Blogs work for PR, influence public and media
In his blog, Kevin O'Keefe tipped me off to a new study conducted by Euro RSCG Magnet and Columbia University shows that more than 51 percent of journalists use blogs regularly, and 28 percent rely on them to help in their day-to-day reporting duties.
As CEO of Euro RSCG Magnet says "The fact that the media are using blogs for reporting and research... demonstrates that blogs have an enormous potential to not only influence the general public, but to influence the influencers -- journalists and the media -- as well."
The study further found journalists mostly used blogs for finding story ideas (53 percent), researching and referencing facts (43 percent) and finding sources (36 percent). And 33 percent said they used blogs to uncover breaking news or scandals.
I find this to be totally true in my own experience. Blogs attract reporters like investors to hot stocks. I've been quoted in Business Week and numerous legal publications simply because the reporter ran a Google search and found my blog. I always recommend that my law firm clients start blogs as a cornerstone of their public relations efforts.
Weblogs are poised to wield a greater influence over journalists -- and therefore over the stories they disseminate via the mainstream media. Sixty-eight percent of journalists believe that blogs will become a more popular tool for corporations [and also professional firms] seeking to inform consumers.
See "Study Bolsters Blog-Related PR Practices" for more info.
I find the same thing Larry. Though I am not rockstar status in legal marketing like you, I get an awful lot of contacts from the media, usually trade media, eg, law related publications as a result of my publishing a blog. And it's that media which is publishing for my target audience.
Not just because of the search engines but also as a result of the many other blog publishers who mention things I have written on my blog.