Good question, right?

A number of blogs and Web sites came to mind immediately, but then I thought more about the term TJ used–”resources.” We’re talking about more than blogs here. What would really help someone looking to break into PR learn more about our profession, who we are and where we’re going in the next 10-15 years.

After giving that some additional thought over the weekend, I came up with the following list. I really think the blogs, sites, podcasts, lists and other resources below would give someone thinking of making the switch to PR a pretty good glimpse of our industry:

* Journalistics. Follow the heart of PR by subscribing to Journalistics, where Jeremy Porter and crew talk about all things at the intersection of PR and journalism. What I like most about Journalistics is that it doesn’t tend to cover the trendy, social-media-based topics of the day all that much. Sure, there are posts that include discussions of Twitter, Facebook and social tools du jour, but for the most part the blog sticks to topics PR and journalists would care about–tips for creating a great elevator speech, how to think like a reporter (for PR wins), and how to keep your news release from getting deleted.

* #pr20chat. A fantastic weekly Twitter chat hosted by Heather Whaling and Justin Goldsborough that focuses on the PR “2.0″ world. Topics range from social analytics to educating the next generation of PR pros to writing and consulting basics. I can’t think of a better way for someone looking to break into PR to get up to speed on what’s happening in PR right now.

* For Immediate Release podcast. One of the longest (if not *the* longest) PR podcasts on record (since April 2008). Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson typically record two podcasts a week taking on various topics in the PR and corporate communications industries. They usually use one podcast as the “report” for the week–think of it as a 45-minute CNN-type newscast for PR types. And, the other podcast each week is dedicated to an interview or panel discussion of sorts (just recently they featured a great discussion around social media analytics). I don’t listen to Shel and Neville as much as I used to (all due to time constraints), but when I did, I loved the fact that they included their audience in their shows. They had regular correspondents. They respond to voice mails. Real interaction with the audience. And, it makes the show. But the real reason I suggest this to those considering a career in PR–it’s a podcast; you can listen to it on the way to work, over your lunch hour, or while mowing the lawn (hey, I think I just convinced myself to start listening again!).

* Follow HARO for a week. Like it or not, media relations is a big part of PR. And, contrary to popular belief, I don’t see that changing anytime soon. What better way to learn more about what reporters are looking for and how they frame up stories than to follow HARO for a week? I mean, really follow it. Read the inquiries. Try to understand what they’re looking for and what kind of story they’re developing. Reading HARO for a week will definitely help you get a sense for the kinds of stories and angles reporters take–and what they want, need and expect from PR pros as a result.

* HAPPO. (Disclosure: I’m a co-founder of HAPPO). If you’re looking to make the move to PR, this may be where you find your first job. That’s the hope at least. And, it a part of the reason HAPPO exists. However, HAPPO isn’t all about jobs. It’s about helping other PR pros. That can mean, providing news and information. Connecting others with potential mentors. And, meeting new pros from across the world–all via Twitter. All of which I would think would be hugely beneficial to someone just looking to start a career in PR.

* Bad Pitch Blog. Sometimes as much as it makes sense to learn how to do a job well, it also pays to learn from others mistakes. Exactly why I would encourage newbies to read the Bad Pitch Blog regularly. What I’ve enjoyed most about Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer’s takes over the years–they’re not afraid to take on tough issues and “A-listers.” Case in point, this post which was fairly critical of Peter Shankman and his Klout-based holiday party last year. Of course, they also talk about everyday issues and lessons that impact us all–like the recent post on typos and proofreading. For either reason, I’d suggest BPB as a must-read for those considering a career in PR.

* PR Breakfast Club (diclosure: I’m a contributor to PR Breakfast Club). Founded by Nathan Burgess, Keith Trivitt, Marie Baker and CT Michaels, the Breakfast Club is a great place to get all things PR–on a daily basis (sign up for the daily email–always one of the first things I read in the morning). Here’s why I would recommend the Breakfast Club to PR newbies–you can get a sampling of a number of PR voices in one daily email. Just since April 1, the Breakfast Club has featured a whopping 20 different authors and bloggers from across the Web (and country). So, you don’t just get one person’s perspective on PR–you get a number of different views. And, many of them are younger professionals (30 or younger), so you get a glimpse into what it’s like to start out in PR. One of the better group PR blogs on the Web.

* Start following some great PR blogs. I mentioned a few already, but start a list of 10-15 PR blogs and follow them religiously for two months. I guarantee in those two months, you’ll learn a ton about the industry. Start by pulling blogs from lists that already exist–Journalistics, Paul Roberts and Jeff Domansky’s lists are good places to start. If that doesn’t do the trick, check out Alltop for a more comprehensive list of potential PR blogs.

* PR books. While the online resources I’ve listed here are great, I’d still recommend picking up a good, old-fashioned hard-cover book every once in a while (or download one to your Kindle, if you prefer). Obviously, there are hundreds of books to read around the topic of PR–where to start? I compiled a list a couple years ago based on PR pros recommendations–still a good starting point. I particular like Kellye Crane’s suggestion of Elements of Style and Lauren Vargas’ recommendation of Never Eat Alone (not a PR book technically, but a wonderfully useful read). If that’s not enough, you can see what I’m reading this year–a number of great PR reads in here.

What about you? What online resources would you suggest to someone considering jumping into the PR industry?

Originally published on Communications Conversations

"The rapid pace of change in the advertising space can be dizzying," says Google business marketing manager Oliver Deighton. "From new ad formats to new ad systems, from startups to mergers, the marketing industry is running at a million miles an hour, and it’s often daunting to keep up with it all. We know that staying informed takes a lot of effort, and it’s critical to make good decisions about how you spend your time and resources."

At Google Ad News, you can choose to look at top advertising news, ad industry news, search advertising news, display advertising news, mobile advertising news, tv/radio/print advertising news, direct marketing news, or ad creative news. You can also search Google News from here, and of course you can subscribe to RSS feeds for any of the categories.

Google also includes feeds from the official Google Blog and the Inside AdWords Blog, as well as Google Ad Innovations, another resource the company launched in March.

In addition to step-by-step tutorials, HMTL5 Rocks features an interactive presentation and a code playground where you can experiment with APIs.

The site keeps a running tab of latest additions to the tutorials section, right on the front page, and points to additional HTML5 resources for developers.

The site, the code playground, and the presentation are all open source, and Google encourages people to contribute themselves.

We’re doing to cover a few different types of resources below and I’m going to try to keep this article to a reasonable length so let’s begin …

Media

when there’s a breaking story or you want an expert opinion on a subject, a good first place to hit is the media sources in that industry. The SEO industry is no different and there are some amazing albeit often unconventional media sources. Some of my favorite are:

Webmaster Radio

Webmaster Radio is an Internet-based radio station with some great programing ranging from affiliate marketing to PPC to organic optimization and much more. With shows hosted by experts in their fields from Danny Sullivan (Search news) to Dave Szetela (PPC) you’ll solid information that is well-sounded. I’d list my favorite shows however what I like may be different than you and what I need to know may be different than what you need to know so look through their programming and either listen through your work day as I often do or download the podcasts for later listening.

WebProNews

WebProNews offers up-to-the-minute information on virtually every event. They have reporters writing constantly and have other scoring SEO blogs and other news sources, compiling the information in one place for easy access. They also have great articles by third-party writers and a very active readership that is proactive in their commenting. Definitely near the top of my go-to list when I’m looking for news and current feedback.

Addme

This site is difficult to classify as it fits into a couple categories but I decided to include under media as that’s my primary use. They include tools, resources, a directory and much more on their site. My primary use of this site is for the articles and newsletter.

Search Engine Watch

No list of SEO resources would be complete without including Search Engine Watch. This site is the one that started it all. Search Engine Watch provides everything from fantastic articles to breaking news to search engine stats and an awesome forum. A definite bookmark.

Blogs

As with many industries – blogs are a great way to keep informed on the latest goings-on in the SEO realm. The trick, however, is figuring out which blogs are worth reading and which authors are truly knowledgeable. Over the years I’ve read many blogs and to be honest – I still do. Below are some of the key blogs I reference on a regular basis.

SEO Book Blog

Aaron Wall over at SEO Book has an excellent blog worth reading on a regular basis. I have yet to visit his blog and not find some tid-bit of information that was worth reading either because of the information itself or because often he’s just entertaining. Another to add to your weekly reading list.

Matt Cutts Blog

It’s nice to get it from the horse’s mouth. For those who don’t know – Matt Cutts is the head of Google’s Webspam team. He blogs about Google, technology and occasionally his cat. One has to read what he writes knowing that he’s a Google employee and as such can’t really give away the farm BUT he gives tons of great advice, insight and tips. The perk being – this time you don’t have to ask if following his advice will get you banned.

SEO By The Sea

Bill Slawski (the author) focuses his attentions on the more technical side of things with tales of patents, algorithmic possibilities, statistics and functionalities. For many, his would be one of the more dry blogs if not for his gift with words and ability to make even the most bland of subject, palatable. You don’t need to visit his blog daily but adding it to your weekly journey through the web is recommended.

SEOmoz Blog

What blog list would be complete without the inclusion of the SEOmoz blog. Rand Fishkin and crew keep their visitors up-to-date of some great research, news and SEO tips. From opinion pieces to months-long whitepapers you’ll find useful information. Again – not necessary to visit every day but a weekly pass is always worthwhile.

Forums

Forums are a great place to gather information, especially on current events such as ranking updates. That said, reading forums can be a risky thing. Almost anyone can join a forum and post their thoughts. While this format allows us to capture a wide range of information and knowledge – it also results in less qualified people giving advice as well. So while I recommend reading forums – I also recommend taking things with a grain of salt – at least until you figure out who’s who.

SEO Chat Forums

The SEO chat forums are easily one of the largest and most popular of the SEO forums. They cover a HUGE array of issues from Google to social media to Alexa rankings to (hold your hats) Ask Jeeves (that’s right – the forum’s been around for THAT long). Users worth noting are rustybrick, fathom, and randfish.

DigitalPoint Forums

DigitalPoint also is an ancient forum (2000 – ancient by web standards at least). They cover a wide range of topics from SEO to PPC to affiliate programs. Some users worth noting there are shoemoney, daven, and of course digitalpoint. A great place to ask your questions. Heavily visited and they have a ranking system for their users so you can get a decent feel as to whether they’re reliable.

SitePoint Forums

There are a variety of reasons I like SitePoint and I own a number of their books. Their forums focus on design and development (not SEO) but every SEO needs resources on the design and development side.

Newsletters & Other Resources

Of course there are other resources that every SEO or webmaster needs to be able to get their hands on. Here they are:

Google Webmaster Guidelines

These are the guidelines set out by Google telling you what you can and can’t do and what tactics to look out for. Worth a look over periodically as the do change from time-to-time. If you’re heading into the forums for advice you’ll definitely want to gander at the guidelines first to make sure that if you get lead astray – at least you’ll know what can get you banned or penalized first.

Sphinn

A social media site for SEO. Here you’ll find user-submitted stories on a wide array of Internet Marketing topics. Obviously the quality and relevancy of the stories ranges from brilliant to utter crud but the cream usually rises to the top with good stories hitting page one. That said – an occasional peek at specific threads often reveals some hidden gems.

Search Engine Land Newsletter

Perhaps I should have included this in the media section above as it’s a fine site unto itself but it was the newsletter component that I find most helpful and so I have decided to place it here. Sign up for their newsletter and you’ll get daily notification as to when some of the major search engine events happen and some solid advice as to what it means for you.

High Rankings Newsletter

Jill over at High Rankings puts out a solid newsletter where she provides tips and advice including replies to visitor questions. While I may disagree with some of her points from time to time (the same can likely be said for more of the resources noted and I’m sure others can say the same about my writings and opinions) I’ve never seen her provide bad advice – my advice just might be different from time-to-time.

Conclusion

Obviously there are a ton more tools and resources available. In this series of articles I’ve tried to include those that apply to the broadest spectrum of people and that are the most helpful. I highly recommend hunting for your own – especially if you’ve got issues that you can’t find help for here.

Good luck to all the DIYers out there.

At the Search Engine Strategies conference in San Jose, there was a Bing Toolbox workshop that went through various tools offered in the Toolbox.

The "toolbox" section of the Toolbox features:

- Add a Site
- Submit Your Sitemap
- Get an AppID
- New Silverlight Tools

The Add a Site feature lets you submit your domain URL directly to Bing. The sitemap feature lets you submit a sitemap file via Bing’s Webmaster tools. The Get an AppID lets you get started with the Bing API, and the new Silverlight tools section takes you to where you can download the Silverlight software developer kit and manipulate search results with the click of a button.

Also in the Toolbox area are snippets from the Webmaster Blog and the Developer blog.
 

The "Developers" section of the Toolbox features:

- A whitepaper
- Access to the Bing Software developer Kit
- Bing Product Guidelines
- Libraries and apps for getting started with the API, the Bing Maps developer center, and Bing Translator
- Related resources for Silverlight SDK for Bing, PowerToys, and the Code for Green Contest
- Bing API Terms of Use
 

The "Webmasters" section of the Toolbox features:

- Bing product guidelines
- Site submission
- Sitemap submission
- Bing API Web Page Error Toolkit
- Malware detection
- SEO toolkit
- Related resources like the Bing whitepaper, Channel Bing video, and Webmaster help guidelines

The "Ads & Campaign Tools" section of the Toolbox features:

- Access to register for the Ads Pilot Program
- Access to adCenter
- Microsoft Advertising Intelligence tools
- Search advertising tools
- adCEnter adExcellence program
- Resource for all ad tools

Beyond these four main sections there are also navigational tabs for support and community, which can be used to connect with Bing and other Bing users. Community provides access to blogs, forums, media, and events, while support gives you access to FAQs, webmaster help, developer help, and Bing API documentation.

"Today search has become an integral part of our life. Search has become a platform," said Bing Principal Group Program Manager Rajesh Srivastava. "Bing Toolbox is a tool that helps you connect with search. What is Bing’s strategy? What are our goals for Bing? We have to deliver the best, most comprehensive experience for users. Bing is about delivering great results. We are also looking at organizing the results to enhance the search experience. If you are doing a search you have a decision making process in mind. Bing is all about making the user get to their decisions quicker!"

This was a sponsored session, in case you couldn’t gather that from such a quote, but Bing is still new to the search block, and webmasters still have questions. This is all the more reason to pay attention to what Microsoft’s doing, and the features they’re offering in this Toolbox.

On a related note, Bing says they have a "treasure trove" of data and are working to get that info to developers via the Bing API 2.0. They say they’re adding more and more pieces of data to the API that users can extract.

It turns out, Twitter 101 is more of a site than a single document. It has sections like:

- What is Twitter
- Getting Started
- Learn the Lingo
- Best Practices
- Case Studies
- Other Resources

"We coordinated with business students and writers to surface some interesting findings, best practices, steps for getting started, and case studies," says Stone. "The results demonstrate how customers are getting value out of Twitter and suggest techniques businesses can employ to enhance that value. While this work was envisioned for businesses, it’s also useful for anyone using Twitter so have a look if you like."

The cases studies section looks at brands like Dell, JetBlue, Etsy, Pepsi, NAKEDPizza (which I have written about in the past), and others. Businesses still looking for ways to better utilize Twitter can find some good examples here. I would not be surprised to see more case studies appear as different, innovative uses are discovered by the company.

The site has a downloadable slideshow available as a PDF document, which provides an overview. Twitter encourages people to use it in presentations when trying to convince the higher-ups at their companies to use Twitter.

The reason Mozilla says it decided to start this directory is simply because there isn’t one like it. "There’s no central index of these tools," the company says in a blog post.

"As we’ve explored different tools we could create here as part of the Developer Tools Lab, we’ve come to the opinion that in addition to creating new tools, one of the best things we could do is help developers understand the broad universe of tools that already exist and expose some of the fantastic and amazing work that’s being done," says Mozilla’s Ben Galbraith of the Developer Tools Team.

With the Open Web Tools Directory, you can search through the following categories:

- Design
- Code
- Debug
- Test
- Deploy
- Docs

To view the directory, a modern browser with canvas is required. Galbraith suggests Firefox 3.5, Safari 4, Chrome 2, or Opera 9.

Of course to truly build a comprehensive directory of open web tools, Mozilla needs help from developers, and is calling for submissions. Submissions will be reviewed on a regular basis. They will not go live immediately.

The directory is clearly a work in progress, not just in terms of its contents, but also interface. Mozilla says it is working to add social elements that will allow users to comment and vote on the tools they like best. They are also working on a more accessible version that does not require a browser with canvas support.

Mike McDonald recently cited these numbers when he told us why we should be marketing via mobile. It seems that marketers are going to have little choice but to market via mobile in the future as devices get smarter, and become must-have items for more people.

People have their mobile devices with them 18 hours a day, Mike Wehrs, President and CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) recently told WebProNews. "Why wouldn’t you want to be able to deliver relevant information to them?" he added. "Because if you do it well, it doesn’t become an advertisement. It becomes information that they were looking for anyway."

The MMA has now released the latest version (pdf) of its US Consumer Best Practices Guidelines for Cross-carrier mobile content services. These are essentially the guidelines for services like text messaging (SMS), multimedia messaging (MMS), shortcode programs, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), and the mobile web.

This is the first version of the guidelines that consolidates best practices for the four major US wireless service providers: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile. The MMA calls it a milestone toward continued growth of mobile marketing.

Marketers and anybody dealing with the mobile industry should really check out the lengthy document (pdf). Here are some guidelines from it, although they really don’t begin to scratch the surface of the amount of information found within the actual document.

"The latest MMA Consumer Best Practices Guidelines are an industry milestone toward meeting the ecosystem’s need for a concise yet comprehensive set of rules at a time when rapid growth increases the challenge of following multiple playbooks," says Wehrs. "By providing a single, industry-standard reference, the new guidelines free carriers, technology companies, brands, media companies and consumer advocates to focus on protecting consumers, providing the optimal user experience and continuing the mobile channel’s growth."

This week, the MMA also announced its new global board members. For an interesting video interview with Wehrs on mobile marketing, check this out.

Are you doing any mobile marketing yet? Tell us how it’s going. 

Publishers Invited to Become YouTube Partners

YouTube and Google News have started an initiative to make it easier for news publishers to share their video content and gain bigger audiences for it. The two sites are now inviting "professional news outlets" that are already included in Google News to become official YouTube partners.

News publishers who join the YouTube Partner Program get featured premium placement on the YouTube News page, where  news videos that are related to top stories on Google News are featured. If a publisher chooses to make their videos embeddable, they can also appear on Google News, which as Google points out, means added exposure.

Partners will also be able to participate in YouTube’s ad revenue share program, and use the video analytics tool YouTube Insight. As WebProNews has discussed in the past, this can be a great way to see how viewers are interacting with videos.

The YouTube Reporters’ Center

YouTube has launched a new resource for citizen reporters called the YouTube Reporters’ Center. This is not just a place to upload news stories. It’s a place where people who are aspiring to be the best reporters they can be, can go and learn some tips from the professionals.

Citizen reporters can potentially enhance their own work by following advice from people like Katie Couric, Bob Woodward, Arianna Huffington, and others from the Associated Press, NPR, and other organizations.

With the above announcements, it appears as though YouTube is ready to really start taking news seriously. When most people think about YouTube, they probably don’t think about the news. They think about cats playing pianos and other viral phenomena. With YouTube clearly dominating the online video picture thus far, it makes perfect sense that it should strive to become a go-to source for news content online.

The Toolbox is an organized set of tools for the entire Bing community. It’s a one-stop portal to all of the services you need to drive traffic and increase engagement with your site and applications.

Included in the Bing Toolbox are

- An add-a-site feature, which allows you to directly submit your URL to Bing

- A submit-your-sitemap feature, which lets you do so using Bing’s Webmaster tools

- A Get an AppID feature, which lets users get started with the Bing API

- A feature called "Go to PowerToys," which gives tools, samples, and best practices for using the API.

"The Toolbox provides everything you need to work with Bing in one place—as well as the site you’ll want to regularly visit for announcements of cool new features the moment they’re ready," says Bing Webmaster Center’s Rick DeJarnette. " This is a first effort and we’ll be building out the site with new content and updated tools as they become available."

The Bing Toolbox provides links to the webmaster blog, the developer blog, and relevant threads from the Bing forums. Beyond the actual "toolbox" section of the Toolbox, you can get to separate sections for Developers, webmasters, ads & campaign tools, community, and support.