2 for 1 Special: #FollowFriday and Why Reading Blogs is Essential

LAF Sidenote: Every Friday, I do a #followfriday for my Twitter people – a male and female that I recommend you follow, and why. This week is special – you get a 2-for-1 deal, as I am writing a blog post after the #followfriday.  So make sure you read to the bottom!  Like the LAF Blog? Vote for it as “Best Up and Coming PR Blog” over at www.arikhanson.com.

Wolverine of the Week (Sidenote: This is LAF’s favorite comic book character.): Chris Illuminati, @chrisilluminati

Need a laugh? Chris is your man. Considering how A++ personality I am, his laidback approach to life is refreshing and gives me the swift reality check I need from time to time – hey, thats what friends are for, right? If I’m in a bad mood, I read his archives and it cheers me right up. Not only is he hilarious on his personal blog (I mean, who else would pretend to be “Dear Abby” and give advice?), but he also is the Content Editor for phillyBurbs and a Freelance Contributor at AskMen.com. I’ve also seen his stuff in Cosmo’s online edition and on Yahoo.

Needless to say, he’s pretty smart and savvy – and an amazing writer. He’s pretty generous, too – you can win a $50 Amazon gift card in his blog subscription contest. Check it out here.

Jean Grey of the Week (I love my X-Men, Leave me alone.) Heather Whaling, @prtini

Heather is one of those people that I connected with right off the bat. Really, if we are friends, you’d like Heather too. She’s funny, easy going and always has great information to add. An extremely bright  communicator, Heather is the Director of Public Relations at Costa DeVault and also blogs here. Heather is always adding to the conversation on my blog, and she is constantly making me laugh with pop culture references. She is also extremely kind and always willing to help you out if you need it.  She is the all-around package when it comes to personal and professional style – she exudes both with ease. Heather is definitely a mentor and someone I try to model myself after.

And now, on to the blog post….

So, PR people are all about networking. Well, isn’t everyone? We connect through events, people we know, and lately, social media. But what about all the bloggers we hear about? How do we get to know about them, know which ones are the best to read? I get e-mailed and pinged constantly for blog recommendations and for those that I read to get ideas from.

My good friend Dave Spinks recently became the Community Manager for Scribnia, a community where users discover new bloggers and columnists. You can rate different bloggers, read reviews and connect with friends that are already on there. They also have an author of the day. If you’re like me, your Google Reader becomes intense after a few days, and I tend to hit the ‘clear all’ button. I turn to Twitter to see what my friends are reading, but a lot of the time, since I have so many friends, I miss the really great ones.  So why not use a tool where I can see what my friends like, and also see what people think about my blog? I can get feedback, see what my readers like and don’t like – and it’s all at my fingertips. I get a lot of great ideas from my friends in the blogosphere, as well as learn how I can pitch bloggers for my profession.

Many might view this as a plug, but it’s not.  I am all about sharing tools of the trade, and things that I use to make myself a better professional.  Why shouldn’t you try to read new blogs and get new information? Why shouldn’t you connect with like-minded individuals who all have the same passion for your field? Yeah, I couldn’t think of a reason not to either.

Yours truly is featured as Author of the Day today. So, if you’re a reader, head on over to Scribnia.com and sign up —> here. I love discovering new blogs and authors, and you should too. Why shouldn’t we want to make ourselves better?