Carolina Cobb Salad

In the blogosphere there is a lot of discussion over how to work with public relations professionals who want to use blogs as a platform to promote their clients to communities online.

As a lot of my readers know, I work in public relations and a great deal of my work day is spent strategizing about how to best leverage blogs for my clients.

I know. I said, “leverage blogs for my clients.”

It sounds icky, right?

But it’s not.

I have worked for large companies that provide me with a paycheck every two weeks to promote its clients.

That is my job. That is what PR professionals do.

We promote our clients.

I have been lucky that I’ve always enjoyed the clients that I’ve worked with and have never had a problem sharing their brands with my friends, family or online community.

I like to keep a level of separation between my blog and my work but you know what? Sometimes that line blurs and I can’t stop it.

I also have an advantage, in my line of work. My blog is an advantage and asset to my career.

I never intended for it to be that way, but my clients want to work with bloggers and it just so happens that being a blogger, I can provide my clients and coworkers with insights on what works with bloggers and what doesn’t.

Being a blogger has made me understand that my job is not just to advocate for my clients, but at the same time, to advocate for the media: journalists and bloggers who are interested in some level of professional partnership with the companies that I represent

I’m really talking like a marketer here, aren’t I?

Well, there is nothing that I dislike more that blog posts that list all of the things that PR people should/shouldn’t do when contacting bloggers with writing opportunities and product review or giveaway offers.

Sometimes, it’s hard to stay quiet at the “marketing to moms” session at blogger conferences.

In my ever-so-humble-not-nearly-an-expert opinion, it’s fine to vent and complain when something is just in poor taste but marketer should not be used as a dirty word.

In honor of my favorite PR and marketing folks out there, both the coworkers and the wonderful people I’ve met through this blog (and you know who you are!) I’m going to share my favorite recipe that will always make me think of my first job.

My first job was hard on me. The two years following my graduation from college were probably the most challenging of my life for a lot of reasons and while working long hours was sometimes a respite from a crummy living situation with roommates I didn’t care for, it took its toll on a lot of things, my diet being one of them.

I actually lost weight during this time (don’t worry, it’s back now), since I often worked so late that the idea of dinner was unfathomable to me, but on nights that my boss was working alongside me (and let me tell you, it was frequent) we would order from Duke’s, the diner underneath our building.

I basically always ordered the exact same salad, which was nothing spectacular, but for whatever reason, can precisely recall what was in it.

This recipe serves one, and should be eaten at your desk under the solitude of a fluorescent light.

 

Since I spared you my blogger-relations dos and don’ts, I want you to tell me: what are things you like to see PR professionals doing before they reach out to you? What works? What do you wish you saw more of? Your feedback is important to me!