I have quite a few friends whose blogs I read that are regional (or very targeted to a specific industry) so a recommendation wouldn’t make sense for most of you. Because of that, I’ve been trying to figure out how to highlight their great work and have it apply to everyone. And then I figured it out! I’ll do them all in one #FollowFriday called Regional Blogs.
Allow me to introduce you to Abbie Fink, Patrick Reyes, Marijean Jaggers, and Elizabeth Sosnow.
For those of you who don’t know Abbie Fink, she’s a must follow. Abbie and I met many years ago in Naples (Florida, not Italy) through Counselors Academy, a section of PRSA. She quickly became one of my dearest friends, one I actually met without social media (the horror, I know!), and is one of our biggest champions. She is a partner at HMA PR in Phoenix and she and her team write HMA Time, a blog that highlights clients and local media and treats them as friends and not just business partners. Last year was their 30th anniversary so it was fun to watch their celebration unfold on the 30th of every month and this year the fun continues with Media Monday, Tuesday Tips, and news and photos of the day. If you’re in or around Phoenix, check them out. And definitely follow Abbie on Twitter. I heart her tons!
Patrick Reyes and I met on Twitter and then in person last spring in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when I was there speaking. Patrick writes Rey(es) of Light, a blog about his musings, his family, and life in Detroit. He also writes Edooce (because one blog isn’t enough??), a collaboration with Bryan Willmert (and fellow Bears fan). Edooce isn’t as regional or personal as Rey(es) of Light (which I love because it’s a really great insight into who Patrick is as a person) so you might get more out of it. It looks at cool and interesting things that are happening and their take on them. Now I have to work on getting my name in the tag cloud on that blog!
It’s hard to talk about Marijean Jaggers without mentioning pie. PIE. It’s as if the two are synonymous. Marijean and pie. Pie and Marijean. She, like Patrick, has two blogs. The first is Pie It Forward (I told you – synonymous) where she posts recipes, photos, contests, and pies for sale (oh they ship and they’re good…trust me!). And she writes Change the Conversation, where she muses about PR, social media, speaking, and more. She lives in Charlottesville, Va., where I’ve watched her go from new business owner (at the first of the year) to the trusted professional in her town in less than 30 days.
I’ve never met Elizabeth Sosnow in person, but I had a dream a couple of weeks ago that I was in New York and worked from their offices (instead of ours? No clue.). She had this employee who was sharing a cubicle wall with me and I could hear him interviewing for another job. And, in my dream, I had to decide whether or not to tell her. So somehow, Elizabeth has weaseled her way into my subconscious and she’ll likely do that to you, too. She is a managing director at Bliss PR, a B2B firm that does really great work. In fact, they’re one of the best and not just according to me, but according to the industry and our peers. While their blog is written by the team, Elizabeth always takes a stance on what is happening with technology in the B2B world and how shady our industry is at times (I think she thinks Spin Sucks, too!).
So there you have it. You have some work to do. So get on Twitter and follow the four of them and then begin reading their blogs. Even though they’re very targeted, I think you’ll learn a thing or two.