And another thing. Know the differences and be a leader in media relations.

And another thing...

When I was at WorldatWork this week I had the honor of meeting John Hollon in person, editor and journalist extraordinaire.

If you don't know who John Hollon is, read Sumser's Top 100 Influencers coverage of him and check our John's LinkedIn profile.

With 32 years of journalism under his belt, Hollon is a principled and opinionated influencer. As the editor of Workforce Magazine for the past six years, Hollon shapes and encourages the HR Industry.

John recently became the Vice President for Editorial at ERE Media, Inc. and plans to help launch a very cool new online media endeavor via ERE very soon.

HRmarketer has worked with John for many years, pitching him our client's stories and news, and we've learned a lot from his leadership and business savvy.

So here's the insight I gleaned while talking with John on the expo floor, much of which we've talked about before:

• A true "thought leader" blog is not the same thing as a media outlet. A journalist and/or editor for a print or online publication may have a blog, but the "voice" and purpose can be quite different. Know the difference.
• There is a lot of free content available out there today, which means there is a lot of crap out there (content farms) as well as the good stuff. Quality content marketing is king. Know the difference.
• If you have access to a large database of publications and journalists (like HRmarketer's), then don't be impatient saying you don't have the time to review and know who you should be targeting. Make the time, Jack. Know who you should be pitching and why and don't spam. Know the difference.
• Be a resource for the media, not a pain in the behind spilling your own Kool-Aid all over your press releases. Understand trends and topics in your part of the HR space. Know the difference.
• Sending a release via a wire service isn't the same thing as pitching a small group of targeted journalists you've researched and want to cover your news. No, it's not. There is no easy button. Know the difference.
• Have you even read the publications your pitching? Media is getting hammered and layoffs are non-stop, so you better know why you're pitching the pubs and the news better mesh. Don't throw spaghetti against the wall. Know the difference.
• Get to know social media because many journalists are using tools like Twitter to source possible story ideas (and HRmarketer is tracking all journalists tweets). But make sure to listen and network the natural way. Don't force the buddy-buddy schlock. Know the difference.

Know the differences and be a leader in media relations. Right on.

Pleasure meeting you in person, John. Good luck to you.

Some other useful related human resource marketing resources:

• Print Media Dying a Slow Death. Get Social and Get Online.
• Using Traditional and Search Engine Marketing (and Social Networking) to Leverage Your Investments in Original Content and SEO.
  
• Conversation Starters – Social Media Marketing in the HR Marketplace.
• Making Sense of Your Press Release Distribution Options.
• Using Original Content to Generate Online Visibility, Web Site Traffic and Sales Leads.
• SEO and “Marketing” Web Sites – Internet Best Practices for Human Resource Vendors.

Post by Kevin W. Grossman (join me on Twitter, FacebookandLinkedIn - and now join HRmarketer on Twitter, FacebookandLinkedIn!)