In the last few days, a couple of people twittered about clearing out their RSS feed subscriptions.
This got me thinking: there's a fairly well-known set of major blogs out there. Most people in this space know about Jeremiah, Shel, Todd, Neville, Shel II, Scoble, Steve Rubel, Mitch et al, but what are the undiscovered gems?
What Are My Top Ten Less Well-Known PR/Marketing Blogs?
I first met Sean Moffitt when he spoke to Ontario government communicators at a speaker series event.
As the president of Agent Wildfire (a leading Canadian word of mouth agency) and founder of The Influencers (a word of mouth community), Sean's expertise is relevant to everyone engaged in social media.
Network of Public Sector Communicators
In my opinion, this is a must-read site for public sector communicators. NPSC does a great job of cutting to the important issues for civil servants looking to get into the social media space.
Key posts:
- 5 principles for Govt 2.0
- Principles for public sector social media
- Search and Govt 2.0
- Microformats & the govt media release
- Blogging as a public servant
Minimalistic design but not minimalistic content. As author Gerald Baron says:
"Through a growing network of experts around the nation, I'm being called on more and more to assist companies and organizations with the public and stakeholder challenges that threaten their future. That's what this blog is all about."
With a combination of cutting-edge topics, excellent journalism and great delivery, Jesse Brown's CBC podcast Search Engine vaulted to the top of my 'must listen-to' podcast list recently. This is the accompanying blog.
For an example of the level of engagement Jesse has with his subscribers, look no further than a recent post calling for questions about potential new copyright legislation.
I met Collin Douma for the first time at a Third Tuesday Toronto event with Giovanni Rodriguez and bumped into him again at the most recent session with Richard Binhammer. Collin has quite the engaging personality, and has a blog to match.
As a former Group Creative Director at MacLaren McCann and now the Chief Strategist at Social Media Group, Collin has experience on both sides of the PR/advertising fence to back up his assertions.
Some of his 'essential posts':
- Are you Ready to Trust?
- The Brand Immune System
- Creating & Targeting
- Making the Case
- Social Media Demographics
- Dealing with Delinquents
If you're a Canadian involved in social media, Colin McKay's name is probably familiar to you.
As Canuckflack and as the Director of Communications (A) for the Federal Privacy Commissioner, Colin has taken a leading role in driving social media forward in the public sector.
SoSaidThe.Organization, like NPSC, should be required reading for government communicators.
Jason Falls' excellent blog is a recent discovery of mine.
Recent winning posts (in my opinion) include 10 Must Read Blogs For 2008 (an excellent counterpart to this post, as it includes the a-listers) and 10 Steps To Manage Your Feed Reading Time.
Cece Salomon-Lee's excellent PR/marketing blog offers a lot of practical advice, and features a great section on how to (and how not to) pitch bloggers.
Link Blogs
Ok, I'm cheating a bit with this one, but I find that link blogs feed me some of the most interesting articles I read.
By following articles flagged by people you respect and who are interested in similar things to you, you can greatly improve the quality of your reading.
My top feeds for this:
If you feel the urge, you can follow my del.icio.us posts and shared items too.
Ryan Anderson's PR blog benefits greatly from his relaxed, off-the-cuff writing style. As the public relations manager for interactive marketing firm Fuel Industries, he has the experience to go with the style.
One of my favourite passages, about Dell's Richard Binhammer:
"To be honest, Richard was not what I expected from a living, breathing social media case study. Far from a utopian social media zealot, he's a gruff, opinionated, and extremely intelligent communicator who is surprisingly pragmatic about the role of social media."
What About You?
So, there you have it. My recommendations for some great reading that you may be missing out on.
Being on this list doesn't mean these blogs aren't well-read. In fact, most of these blogs probably have more readers than I do. It matters not - this isn't a competition. These folks consistently provide relevant, valuable content. You should read them.
If you're not on this list, don't be offended - chances are your reader numbers are high enough or I'm so familiar with your material that I don't consider you a "hidden gem." Of course, the other possibility is that I screwed up and missed you.
If you think your blog should be on this list, comment here and point me to it! I'd love to check your site out.
What about you? What are some of your hidden favourites?
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