We have seen thousands of educational, informative posts in the Blogs section of ProfNet Connect that explore everything from public relations to journalism, mobile marketing to grammar.
With the year coming to a close, we thought it would be fun to take a look at some of the most popular posts of 2011:
Do Journalists Care About the Pitch?
Beth Monaghan, principal and co-founder of InkHouse Media + Marketing, is one of our most popular guest bloggers, and her posts always rate among our most-viewed. This post, in which Monaghan shared 11 tips for PR pros when communicating with the media, was our most popular blog post of the year. Monaghan also contributed several other of the year’s top posts, including 10 PR Predictions for 2012, The Art of Pitching the Media, and The New Twitter Cheat Sheet.
Heidi Rafferty has been a freelancer for more than 30 years, writing on a variety of topics, including military families, job hunting, career development, entrepreneur issues, human resources and more. With that experience comes wisdom, and Rafferty kindly shared some of her knowledge to explain why some reporters can be unprofessional or rude when dealing with PR professionals. The post was so popular, Rafferty followed it up with another one, Why Did That Reporter Stand Me Up?
Working with Reporters: What to Expect
This was Erin Lawley’s first blog post on ProfNet Connect, and she hit it out of the ballpark. Lawley, a senior account supervisor at Lovell Communications, used her experience as a journalist to share insight on what reporters need and how it can help you prepare for your next media encounter. Other popular posts from Lawley include Do MBAs Need More Reporter Training and The “Secret Sauce” of Good Media Relations.
Five Tips for Effective Live-Tweeting
Laura Paine Maas, an associate at InkHouse Media + Marketing, shared her advice on how to tweet in real-time from events – without losing your followers. Great advice for anyone who routinely tweets at industry conferences.
Writing for the (Social Media) Medium
Another first-time blogger on ProfNet Connect, Jennifer Izzo is an account executive at Costa DeVault. In this post, Izzo explained how writing for social media differs from writing for traditional news outlets.
PR, Meet SEO; SEO, Meet PR – Now Play Nice
In this post, Scott McIntosh, senior account supervisor, Web strategy, for Lovell Communications, explored how PR professionals can help their clients get publicity by utilizing better search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Other posts from McIntosh include Should My Company Have a Wikipedia Page and the What Can a Wrestler Teach Us About Marketing … and Life.
Making it on Mashable: Calling Guest Writers with Great Ideas
Diane Harrigan, account manager for PR Newswire, was a new contributor to ProfNet Connect this year, and if this post is any indication, we can expect more great posts from her in 2012. Harrigan spoke with Mashable’s San Francisco bureau chief, Chris Taylor, to get his tips for budding Mashable contributors.
Using Facebook for Public Relations
I’ve often referred to Sarah Skerik as brilliant, and that is not hyperbole. This was her most popular post of the year, but her other posts were just as brilliant. Take Common Press Release SEO Mistakes, Writing Press Releases That Don’t Sound Like Advertisements or any of the other posts you’ll find on her blog. Skerik has her finger on the pulse of PR – and she’s not afraid to share her knowledge. That’s a great combination.
Grace Lavigne, an editor at ProfNet, introduced her Dear Gracie column earlier this year, and it has quickly become one of our most popular. Lavigne answers questions from readers on topics ranging from public relations and presentation skills to blogging and social media. Other popular posts include How to Create Useful, Eye-Catching Infographics, The Great Serial/Oxford Comma Debate and Branding vs. Advertising vs. Marketing vs. PR. Her new column, Grammar Hammer, is becoming quite popular as well.
The Health Care Beat: How to Pitch to Health Outlets
Jason Hahn, another ProfNet editor (we’re so lucky!), also had a great year in posts. This one, a recap of a Publicity Club of New York luncheon featuring health reporters, was his most popular. Hahn also pens Weekly Roundup, in which he links to some of the most interesting PR- and media-related stories found online, and Tool/App Spotlight, which looks tools, resources and apps that help PR and media professionals be more productive and effective.
So there you have it, the most popular blog posts of 2011. Want to be part of this list in 2012? Join ProfNet Connect to start sharing your knowledge and establish yourself as a thought leader in your area of expertise. The site is free, so this is definitely one resolution you’ll be able to keep!
