I’ve had a lot of conversations with PR folks over the past week in the wake of the announcement of our new Buzz Media and Online Communications services. There were a few interesting takeaways…

• As we expected, there are still some PR professionals who don’t see blogging becoming an important part of their lives; in some cases, they’re not planning to make a move until thier clients (or superiors) demand it.
• Among active bloggers, there’s a frustration that many who do blog on PR issues aren’t spending enough time developing PR fundamentals (i.e., the non-blogging stuff).

On the first point, it’s my hope that these reluctant PR bloggers will see the light BEFORE their clients and superiors. If so, this speaks well of PR people — and I believe it’ll pay off for them in the long run.

A good first step to get into the habit of blogging is a simple one: start reading blogs of interest (including, we hope, Tech PR Gems). A while back, Topaz launched a pop culture blog in order to encourage our staff to read and participate in blogs — and it’s working, as more and more of our team is getting actively involved in blog conversations. Other PR folks should give this a shot — and I’m certain they’ll soon be blogging, and recommending it to others.

On the second point, I think PR professionals have a great advantage in the move toward blogging. We spend much of our day watching for developments we need to respond to. Many of us are busy helping clients shape opinions and reactions. And we’ve been doing this for many years before blogging appeared in our lives. The difference today is the that communication is much more active — more of a dialogue. I’d like to think that the better the PR person, the better chance he or she will be an effective blogger.

All of which bodes well for PR folks.