With it being Reading Week this week at Liverpool John Moores, I thought I’d dedicate this Friday Five post to the best PR blogs that I love to read, and would recommend for you to read too.
Reading Week/Directed Study Week – whichever you prefer to call it – gives us all a little break from those 10 hours of class time we have each week.
A lot of students take advantage of this time and head home for a few days or the full week to see their family and friends, like myself in first year. Other students take the opportunity to carry out some work experience, like myself in second year.
The remaining students take this time to camp out in the library and cry over impending assignment deadlines, like myself this year.
I tried my best this week to get ahead in my assignments as I’m heading to Las Vegas in a few weeks, but without having classes to attend, I actually felt less motivated than usual.
The library was surprisingly busy all week (final year problems) and I tried my best to spend as much time there as I could without getting distracted or spending the whole time blogging. It didn’t work out too well.
The Best PR Blogs to Read
So, in light of Reading Week, here are five of the best PR blogs that I love to read and hope you will too.
1. Scott Guthrie (sabguthrie.info)
As you are all probably well aware by now, I worked in Influencer Marketing last year. I’m sure I may have mentioned it once or twice…
Since starting my role with Coty, I became increasingly interested in the Influencer world as it blows my mind every day. They get paid how much??? For posting a picture????
I’m particularly interested in the future of Influencer Marketing and how it’s going to develop – so much so, I’m conducting my dissertation project on this very subject.
I’m so glad I found Scott’s website, and in particular his blog.
Scott works in Influencer Marketing and offers services in this area, however it is the blog aspect of his website that keeps me coming back. You can find a vast amount of articles on the Influencer world, any news hitting the headlines, new tools/legislations to be made aware of and thoughts on Influencer fraud (fake followers and engagement). I could sit and read it all day.
2. Marcel Klebba (marcelkl.co.uk)
I’m very lucky that I am able to call Marcel a friend, and not just a connection in the PR industry. The quality of content on Marcel’s blog has never faltered since he began blogging two years ago, around the same time as myself. Marcel’s award-winning blog is the place to go to if you’re especially into tech and digital PR.
Another great feature of Marcel’s blog is his Four PR Questions (#4PRQS) series where he interviews industry leaders for their advice which is aimed at graduates. I know there are very big things to come for Marcel and his future in PR and can’t wait to follow along on his journey through his blog.
3. Ulster PR Student (ulsterprstudentblog.com)
This is one of my favourite PR blogs as it features students that undertake communications courses in Ulster University. I love it because I’m able to read about things going on back home and able to see other students’ views on Northern Ireland. I find it extremely relatable and more often than not, it makes me quite homesick. I always think what would have become of me if I had stayed and studied in Northern Ireland – what would my life look like right now?
I think the Ulster PR Student blog was a great idea by PR lecturer Conor McGrath as it requires his students to write one or two posts throughout the year. I love how this encourages students to blog and see that it’s not as nerving to put thoughts to laptop as it may seem. The Twitter community of PR Students is being taken over by students from Northern Ireland and it’s so amazing to see. I just wish other PR lecturers around the UK (mine included) would be so involved and invested in their students as Conor and a few others are.
4. PR Place (prplace.com)
Another lecturer that is incredibly invested in PR students’ futures, is Richard Bailey. Richard is the man behind the #bestPRblogs competition that runs every year on prplace.com.
One reason to check in on prplace.com is for the weekly round-up every Friday. If you’re struggling to find PR bloggers or want to read about what’s happening in the PR world, this list is definitely worth checking out. It’s introduced me to a lot of new PR blogs that I didn’t know about and also keeps me in the loop of what’s happening.
On PR Place you will also find a lot of blog posts and articles about PR, student advice posts and resources for students and professionals.
5. Arianne Smart (arianneonline.com)
Arianne Smart (or Williams as I first knew her) was one of the first PR student bloggers I came across when I first contemplated starting my own PR blog. This was back in 2016 and she was one of the main inspirations behind my own PR blog, along with Laura Bradley.
Arianne still blogs about PR today and is now an Account Manager for a Communications Consultancy in Exeter, a long way from her student days. You can find a lot of opinion pieces on Arianne’s blog along with posts on Social Media, Public Relations and Digital Communications.
Hopefully if you have a Directed Study/Reading Week, you make better use of it than I have. If you do find yourself majorly procrastinating or getting distracted, maybe take some time to read some of the above PR blogs and let me know what you think.
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