Your PR Architect

After two straight years of weekly PR Architect blog posts, I'm taking a break this week. I hope you'll return in January, when I plan to resume this blog.   Happy New Year.

Today, I'm sharing a link to a 2013 post on the Disney Parks blog, written by my friend and colleague Bernadette Davis. Bernadette is a communications manager for the Disney Parks in Florida, and often helps out in special events that take place on the property. Bernadette's post isn't a deep exploration of some industry topic, nor is it an essay on Florida tourism.  It's not an ad masquerading as a blog, either. It does share some interesting news about an event hosted by Disney that focuses on giving young people a closer look at career opportunities in sports. What makes this blog post successful? You get a small glimpse of Bernadette -- her interests, her family, and what she does -- in a brief sentence. Personalization is important in a blog post. Her blog gives exposure to a newsworthy activity that might not gain visibility if shared as a conventional news release. It shows that Disney's corporate responsibility extends well beyond Soarin' and cha...

Last week, this blog outlined the benefits of enlisting a PR professional to produce your business blog. When you share industry insights and winning strategies, your blog can be an effective instrument in your overall marketing ensemble. Writing and maintaining a blog is only half of the job. You also need a strategy to promote it. You can-- Link to your blog from your website.  Reference it in a Twitter post or LinkedIn user group.  Bring it to the attention of a Paper.li editor. Include links in your Constant Contact email.  Maybe even send out a news release. (How  retro .) Your blog is one instrument in your marketing ensemble. And yes, tell your friends. Should you use Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest to draw readers to your blog? It's a tough call. Facebook, first and foremost, is a social network. Your friends are sharing family photos, cat humor, vacation photos, and the musings of George Takei. There's a chance they'll enjoy looking at your ...