PR Tools and Bag of Tricks

Okay, a lot of times I get people asking me what are the super-secret tools in my blogging/PR bag of tricks. I usually refuse to tell them, because it is about me and my tools and my skill set. It is not about making the industry better, but about pushing myself forward as the numero uno dude. Oh, wait, that is not how I work. Damn. Well, if it was, I would totally beat down people. Totally. Okay, really, I work with the interns here and try to teach them the best tools that I have found on monitoring the blogosphere. Why? So they have the skills here, so I can send them work to begin, and then when they go off to their career, they will be able to use some of the tools I taught them here, and then pass on the knowledge to other PR people. It's all about learning. So, what do I use to find appropriate blogs? Easy: Technorati, Biz360 and Co.mments. We had a long discussion on everything Web 2.0, dotcom boom and bust, surviving the bubble (and surviving the next bubble burst), and Co.mments. And that is the interesting part. He tracks the conversations through the comments submitted through his service. Instead of looking at the full ginormous blogosphere, he is able to look at the conversations that his users are finding important. Think about that: he's getting a magnifying glass view of the blogosphere, through the comments. But beyond ego-tracking, the tool is a necessary tool for PR people. It's in my bag of tricks, because it is not just enough to track blogs, but you need to track conversations. Well, baby steps for PR firms and clients - first let us at least track the conversation. Then we will get to the next step on tracking the conversations within the conversations. Add to DiggThis | Furl POP! Public Relations, a public relations firm based in Arizona, USA.