So if you’re new to blogging, and especially to using it as a marketing technique, you will be very interested to read this list of frequently asked questions and answers.

You can all thank Tara Smith of Marqui for these helpful answers. She is a wonderful contributor for Marcom Blog and has been very generous to us here at Forward because she has allowed me to share a few of these questions with all of you. I selected a few in particular that could be very useful to any new PR professional starting to dip their toes in the online marketing pool. Please visit Marqui’s blog for the complete list of answers to these FAQ from the American Marketing Association’s Web seminar, plus other consistently great information.

Even students who aren’t able to use this knowledge where they are right now can find this interesting because you better bet we will be using it later!

Here you all go, enjoy! And thanks again to Tara and Marqui!

Q: Do you have a definition for Podcast and Blog?

A: From Wikipedia…podcasting is the distribution of audio or video files, such as radio programs or music videos, over the internet using either RSS or Atom syndication for listening on mobile devices and personal computers. A podcast is a Web feed of audio or video files placed on the Internet for anyone to download or subscribe to, and also the content of that feed. Podcasters’ Web sites also may offer direct download of their files, but the subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time streaming (see below). Podcasting’s essence is about creating content (audio or video) for an audience that wants to listen when they want, where they want, and how they want.

A blog is a Web site in which items are posted on a regular basis and displayed in reverse chronological order. The term blog is a shortened form of Weblog or Web log. Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Individual articles on a blog are called “blog posts,” “posts” or “entries.” A person who posts these entries is called a “blogger.”

For more definitions, check out our marketer-friendly glossary of terms.

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Tool. I should probably say “tool.” But as it is, I am quite enthusiastic about it, so yes. It is a toy for me. (This is coming from a girl who considers hours spent fiddling with Photoshop “playing.”)

At any rate, I have discovered that APStylebook.com has a subscription feature! I realize this may not be news to some of you, but it’s a handy dandy tool that I feel students could really take advantage of. Especially … hmm … people who are on the go a lot and perhaps blogging (or doing some other kind of writing) from a remote location. I have two hardcopies of the stylebook: one at home and one at my desk at work. But I cart my laptop around with me EVERYWHERE, and therefore find myself working and writing from locations where I can’t just grab my stylebook when I need to check something.

Something compelled me to Google “AP Stylebook” and lo and behold (cue the fanfare music) — a Web site! And even more useful: the opportunity to pay for an online subscription! Now, for only $20 a year, I can check my AP style from anywhere I have an internet connection. What a relief!

I realize there are some free AP style guides/tips online, but for me, it’s certainly worth $20 a year to have access to a complete, searchable guide that even lets me pull favorite entries and make notes to build my own personal stylebook of things important to me. WELL worth it.

If you’re reading this wondering what the heck AP style is, let me briefly explain. In public relations writing, we use the Associated Press style to dictate specific grammatical and spelling guidelines. This is the same style used by journalists, by the way. While I’ve noticed that AP style doesn’t seem to be as prominent in the blog writing style (blog writing is significantly more casual), AP style definitely should be used for formal PR writings. And I, personally, make at least some effort to not have major AP style errors in my writings. (Key word: “try”!) If nothing else, it’s just good practice.

(Original post at Erin Caldwell’s PRblog.)

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