One thing that came out of my impromptu birthday drinks last night was that I needed to record more of what I have been learning in my role as development editor of The Post.

I always think I never have time to write blog posts, but I have been assured two or three paragraphs is enough.

So here is something I have learnt in the last few minutes.

Whilst PR and advertising companies seem to have started to grasp that blogs are a good way to get your message online, they don’t seem to understand that the value in blogs is not the platform per se but the audience they develop around them.

There doesn’t really seem to be an understanding of the value of existing blogs that have a loyal and defined audience that can be tapped into.

I am seeing way too many orgnaisations that are building blogs from scratch (often as an add-on to expensive and unnecessary websites) and then expecting that people will come to them to find the information.

This means many PRs undervalue the benefits of established blogs and expect that (with a freebie trial of their product at most) they can get their message to people in these carefully nurtured communities without paying.