Interview: Renee Blodgett

Renee is the 6th and final PR practitioner we interviewed. There are so many, because in our opinion, no profession will be more disrupted than public relations.  Renee's contribution, it seems to me, is that she uses her blog to extol client virtues, and she does it in ways that are acceptable to most people in the blogosphere.  Why?  Because she plays by the roles of authenticity and transparency that blogging requires.  Her comments:

1. Tell me a bit about your business. What makes you different from other PR Consultants?

I’ve been in this business for nearly 18 years. in various capacities. I started Blodgett Communications in 2000, and my clients operate in the blogging and Internet industries, digital audio technology, home theater and VoIP spaces. When I started it, we were still operating under traditional communications models. It was all about having tight control over the message, whereas today, blogging and other open communications forums are changing the old rules, making the path between CEO and customer seamless.

I like being a small operation and using a hands-on approach to corporate communications and marketing. When you’re small and focused, you have the flexibility, time and specialized expertise to develop tighter and more personalized relationships with your clients’ audiences. Impact is so much more immediate today than it was ten years ago. Taking the time to not only relay that value but demonstrate it on a regular basis, allows clients to see the value of conversation marketing and the impact it can have on their business over time. I’m also a strong believer that this needs to be done globally.

2. How much of your client practice is involved in traditional marketing vs conversational marketing?

My focus is much more the latter. I do think certain core traditional marketing and PR tactics need to be observed because human nature doesn’t change over night, branding is important and takes time and my clients deal with so many different audiences that in some cases, more traditional methods may still be the only way to reach their customer or influencer. Many of my clients also have an international presence, so there are cultural considerations.

I’m a strong believer in conversational marketing. Having an impact on your audience and shaping opinion that is sustainable is powerful when it comes from a place of trust. Trust comes from a relationship based on a conversation and series of conversations. If a crisis happens around a product or service, customers are more willing to listen, compromise and support you when you have developed trust. There are so many ways to do this. Blogging is an excellent way to start a dialogue and keep it interactive and bubbling with passion. It’s incredibly viral, authentic and transparent, which is the way “humans” want to be but are often afraid to be.

strong>3. Can you give me some examples of non-traditional marketing tactics you’ve used

It depends how you define non-traditional. I still like roundtable discussions when they can be spiced up, interesting, engaging and host a number of innovative thinkers. They can also be incredibly educational.

Creating ‘fan clubs’ around a product or service has also been successful for me. Fan clubs may be a handful of celebrity customers Hollywood is extremely viral), a tight network of influencers (VCs who cover a related industry), and A-Level bloggers (and these include VCs, media, analysts and other experts in a particular field).

strong>4. Why and when did you decide to blog?

I started Down the Avenue in October 2004 to learn more about peripheral tools so I could better understand the relationship between all the players in the mix. I had worked on blog sponsorships for the PopTech committee a few years ago, so started a dialogue with many of the A Level bloggers before blogging became the ‘word of the year.’ I saw some really fresh and compelling content coming from blogs and got hooked. Around the same time, I started working with NewsGator, who offered an efficient way to read so many new voices on a daily basis.

I spent hours walking down fabulous avenues lined with outdoor coffee shops and bistros. I often parked at an outside table, studied people for hours and wrote about my observations. Over the years, I did this worldwide, in Amsterdam, Paris, London, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Sydney, Athens, Auckland, etc. I would always have an engaging encounter with someone new, which often resulted in future conversations. Down the Avenue is symbolic for me in this way. Down The Avenue is an online version of a series of fabulous conversations with a new community. I have developed relationships from around the world through blogging and while its clearly not the same as a physical encounter on a

Parisian Avenue

, its empowering and a great way to build and maintain relationships. (business and personal).

My blog is dedicated to delivering news and insights on technology, marketing, public relations, politics, media and life. Its goal is to provide an 'authentic perspective' to many of the issues that touch the industry, including blogging, aggregation, digital audio technology, VoIP, mobile and publishing. Philosophical insights and personal experience are blended into its daily posts.

6. You are one of the few people who blogs directly about their clients. What made you decide to do so? What has been the result?

Because I’m small, I think of my clients like “family.” I’m passionate about their products and services and since they are an integral part of my life, it’s a natural extension to write about what they’re doing, in the same way I write about someone who makes an impact on me or those around me.  If I’m thrilled about news that a client will speak on a prominent panel, receive an industry award or landed up in USA Today, its validation that what they’re doing is positive.

Blogging is a natural fit for a communications consultant, and frankly, a “must” in my opinion. The key is to maintain full disclosure that they are clients within the post. That said, I also blog about competitors and the industry as a whole.

Blogging has changed the way I think about business, my clients, their customers and the world around me. A few months ago when I spoke to a San Jose Mercury News reporter for an article on the addictive nature of blogging, I described a cafe experience and how I viewed and experienced it differently as a result of Down The Avenue. It ‘became’ more visual for me. How would I describe this man with the fabulous orange hat, the blues music conversation and the woman with the pink tattoo on my blog and how they related to each other and the café.

The same applies when I attend industry events or conferences, whether or not I have a client involved. Blogging and feeling driven to blog because I’m passionate about the ‘art of it,’ makes me more compelled to read and assess other blogs, their opinions, factoids and thoughts on the industry my clients compete in. It makes me more ‘vocal’ and visible. It has also changed the perception and reality of what I do for clients – both strategically and tactically.

I think about branding a lot more as well – Blodgett Communications, Down The Avenue (the connection between the two) and more important, the connection between my own identity, my “consultant” identity and how my clients fit into that triangle.

I also use blogging as a way to reach the media in a more direct way, giving select press, analysts or bloggers a heads up on an announcement, a response to an industry event or an opinion in general. Clients are also starting to use blogs as intranets as well as a way to reach their customers in more direct, interactive and authentic way.

Down The Avenue is another way for my clients to reach existing and new audiences. Think of it as an online conversation with all the people we care about, like the way I describe the blog itself. Down The Avenue is an online version of a series of fabulous conversations with a new community. (It’s a community that we jointly create in many ways and in creating this community, we extend our voice and more importantly develop and subsequently, extend our brand to new audiences).

9. What advice do you have for other marketing consultants who are considering blogging?

First, do it because you are genuinely interested in writing and having a ‘voice,’ and have an idea of what image you want to project with that voice. It’s important to think about how that new ‘voice’ will impact your client’s business and how and where it can benefit them strategically. Secondly, be authentic. Having an authentic voice, whatever that means to you, will make your blog more sustainable and readable.