09/15/2005
Roadmaps Round-up -Sept. 15
It's been a while, so for new readers: a Roadmaps Round-up is a bunch of interesting stuff that I've found online that I'm not going to have time to blog about before it gets really old.
Two interesting posts from Shel Holtz. A speech by Mary Hodder on blog search engines and an item about an analysis of online newsrooms done by IBM Spain
From BlogWrite for CEOs: two resource posts, one about corporate blogging and the other blogging 101
From Desirable Roasted Coffee: Is your prose gender confused? Just read it, I can't begin to do it justice. Allan does a much better job.
From Diva Marketing, news of Chrysler's "for media only blog" The Firehouse. As I said in my comments to Toby's post, doesn't Chrysler PR already know how to engage the media. Why create an exclusive blog, in complete opposition to the spirit of blogs as conversation? Dumb move. As I said in my comment, I can hear the backfire from here.
Update: Both Shel Holtz on the most recent Hobson & Holtz Report and Toby Bloomberg on the Diva Marketing blog explain that media-only websites are common practice in the auto industry, so the Chrysler Firehouse blog is simply an extension of an existing practice. Still -- I have to wonder why a blog? It seems unlikely that reporters are going to engage in quasi-public conversation with Chrysler that WILL be overheard by other journalists. They like exclusives too much. As a result, it seems to me that the blog will be more of a one-way communication from Chrysler. In which case -- why a blog? Don't they already have vehicles to reach out uni-directionally to the media? Like their media website... I also agree with Toby (and had posted in the comments of her previous post on the subject) that it is unwise and a bit silly to publicly promote a blog that will have a restricted, private registration. It's like telling everyone you have a great club that they'll want to join, and then turning them away at the door because they don't "fit." Just invite the people who qualify and be done with it. And be clear that the blog is restricted to a certain membership and define it publicly, up front. End update.
From Micropersuasion: interesting post on how to find a blogger's "beat" using data from Technorati
Posted @ 9:09PM in Blogging, Marketing, PR, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
09/14/2005
Google's Blog Search Engine
Today Hugh over at gapingvoid posted about Google's new blog search, with the headline: well, this changes everything. So I start to wonder, how does this change everything?
I did a couple of searches based on some of my posts, and found that I was coming in fairly highly when I did specific terms like "anonymous blogs" and "character blogs" -- things I've written about recently and/or often. In fact on the term anonymous blogs I was number 1 (which will last for a nanosecond I'm sure). So I did the same search on regular Google, and my post shows up nowhere, Or at least not in the first 21 results pages :-)
Now, if you read the fine print on the About Google Blog Search, they clearly state that results should be pretty good for anything from June 2005, when they started building the database, and they are trying to add in older stuff. I have a Typepad hosted blog, and I'm sure they sucked up those blogs right away, which explains why my older stuff is in there.
Here's my question -- now that Google has a blog search, how are they going to treat blogs in regular search over time? Will they continue to have the same weight? No small number of search engine optimization plans rely on blogs lifting the relevance of the corporate website; it's a benefit of a blog that is often mistakenly used as a reason for a blog.
If the regular Google algorithm still gives weight to blogs, shouldn't a blog that ranks highly in the blog search for a term show up a bit sooner in the regular search? Or is the reason that my post is not in the top results for the term on regular search, is that my blog IS on Typepad, and therefore most definitely a blog, and not a "website with an RSS feed?"
If that's the case, what will that mean for the hosted services? And will it marginalize blogs, and bloggers, that rely on the hosted services to participate in the conversation by creating a blog ghetto of sorts. You know what I mean: the regular search is where the validated information is, and the blog search is where you go for those "blog things." Will we then have a whole NEW industry spring up to help blogs get into both regular search and blog search?
I'm not a search engine expert by any means, and I have no idea how all of this is working "under the hood," I'm just curious.....
But it seems to me that Hugh is right -- this will change everything. I'm just not sure we know how.....
UPDATE 15 Sept.: So, the good news is that people who really dig into all this search stuff seem to think that Google's blog search is pretty good. I'll believe that -- heck it put some of my posts toward the top, and that's bound to bring some readers my way. I'm still concerned/curious about how all this is going to play out for both businesses and the user experience. Bear with me as I think out loud.
Question one: Are these blog search engines or RSS search engines? They are not synonymous. Most, probably all blogs provide an RSS feed, but not all RSS feeds are blogs.
If they are blog search engines, I wonder how you (or an algorithm) can really tell whether the "thing" is a blog, since we have a fair amount of disagreement about what a blog is anyway. And as I commented yesterday (above) if we have some search engines for blogs and other search engines for other information, how does that change the nature of our research. Which will be deemed more credible and why?
If they are RSS search engines, how does that change the user experience of using web sites. Iam a big proponent of RSS feeds on company websites. Used appropriately. If the only way to show up in these new search engines is to deliver an RSS feed, will companies start junking up the net with RSS feeds of EVERYTHING on their site?
What I'd really like to see is an integrated search where the type of content is clearly marked, ie this seems to be a blog or this is likely to be a website. If you want to restrict a search to one form or another, you can, but the search engine will tell you if it finds more apparently relevant information in another category.
Seems to me that if anybody could pull this off, it would be Google. And, yeah, that really would change everything.
Posted @ 10:09AM in Blogging, RSS, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
09/09/2005
Blogher takeaway: Blogs need a Code of Ethics
One of the sessions I attended at Blogher was a birds of a feather discussion of citizen journalism. As I sat there, listening to all the various points of view on whether bloggers are journalists (and full disclosure, I believe the answer is sometimes but not always, some but not all), I had one of those “aha” moments.
One of the things that distinguishes professional journalists from bloggers – “citizen reporters” – is the journalism code of ethics. For an example, check out the LA Times code of ethics (pdf). Bloggers typically don’t have a published code of ethics on their blogs.
When I started this post, I expected to find that professional journalists and other communications professionals would have something like a code of ethics on their blogs. But for the most part, you won’t find an explicit code of ethics on a typical weblog, no matter who writes it….
Yet, it occurs to me that such a code of ethics on a blog would go a very long way to establishing the sort of credibility that bloggers need and crave.
Now, thinking back to the spring, I recall some discussion that we try to establish a blogging code of ethics. A single code of ethics to which all subscribe. Nice idea, but it isn’t going to fly. We don’t live in a utopia or a single worldwide dictatorship. We won’t ever be able to reach that level of agreement among ALL bloggers. And such centrality is in direct opposition to the spirit of the Internet and blogging -- a decentralized place that smashes barriers to participation.
But an individual code of ethics on a blog… A description of the blogger’s values and the “rules” by which she writes her blog… That would be a VERY good thing for all blogs.
Yet, I really haven’t seen too many codes of ethics published on blogs – even on the blogs of people who are deep into the discussion of citizen journalism.
Here are a few “code of ethics”–like things I’ve found (and this list is by no means exhaustive – please send me any other examples you find!):
In his about page, Steve Rubel of Micropersuasion offers the following disclosure:
Disclosure:
I work for CooperKatz & Company. Everything here, though, is my own personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. Occasionally, since this is a personal blog, my company and its clients will be referenced. However, these postings are in no way any part of any PR program nor an attempt to influence reader opinions. Currently, I am working with the following organizations: The Association of National Advertisers, simplehuman, Vespa, the Kauffman Foundation, NYU and Topix.net.
Jeremy Pepper offers a Comments Policy on his main blog page:
This is not a public forum, this is My Blog.
This is very much my personal place. Please act as if you were a guest in my home, and I will treat you as one.
Opposing views are welcomed.
I will, however, delete your comment if you descend into personal attacks, excessive profanity, mouth-foaming hatred, or other such immature behavior that I deem unacceptable in my home.Please craft your contribution accordingly.
Jay Rosen, PressThink has a pretty extensive Q&A on his blog which functions to some degree like a code of ethics, but it isn’t labeled as such.
The closest things I’ve found to an explicit code of ethics:
The Citizen Journalist pledge at Bayosphere, the new venture of journalist Dan Gillmor:
Citizen Journalist Pledge
By submitting this form, I agree to be accurate, complete, fair and transparent in my postings on Bayosphere. My work will be my own, created by me and/or in collaboration with others. I will operate with integrity.
I work in the community interest.
As a citizen journalist, I report and produce news explaining the facts as fairly, thoroughly, accurately and openly as I can.
* Fair: I'm always listening to and taking account of other viewpoints;
* Thorough: I learn as much as I can in the time I have, and point to original sources when possible;
* Accurate: I get it right, checking my facts, correcting errors promptly and incorporating new information I learn from the community;
* Open: I explain my biases and conflicts, where appropriate.
I may also provide reviews (such as a critique of a movie or book) and commentary with a point of view based on facts, but I will have no significant financial or otherwise direct connection (membership, affiliation, close relationship, etc.) with an interested party.
If I do have such connections, I'll disclose them prominently, and my work may be labeled and/or categorized appropriately.
I agree, as an active member of this community, to help uphold the integrity of this pledge by challenging and reporting inappropriate postings or abuse.
And Hill & Knowlton, the PR agency, has an explicit code of practice on its blogging community :
* I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly
* I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes
* I will never delete a post
* I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic
* I will disclose conflicts of interest (including client relationships) where I am able to do so
* I will not publish anything that breaches my existing employment contract
* I will distinguish between factual information/commentary and advertising
* I will never publish information I know to be inaccurate
* I will disagree with other opinions respectfully
* I will link to online references and original source materials directly
* I will strive for high quality with every post - including basic spellchecking
* I will write deliberately and with accuracy
* I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly
* I will restrict my posting to professional topics
* I will write on a regular basis, at least once each week
Well, here’s my code of ethics for Marketing Roadmaps:
Marketing Roadmaps is my opinion, based on my experience. Your mileage may vary. I will be respectful of my readers’ views, and expect the same courtesy.
- When I have an opinion, I will be completely clear about it. You won’t have to guess.
- I won’t delete posts unless the content proves to be completely off base, in which case I will leave a placeholder that explains what happened so search engines won’t perpetuate any mistakes I have made. Typically I will annotate the original post with new material rather than delete the post.
- I will not blog information learned offline or in private conversations unless I am absolutely certain that it is public information or I have obtained permission from the person who shared the information. When in doubt I will err on the side of caution.
- I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic. Ditto trackbacks.
- I will link and trackback to other blogs appropriately, and always endeavor to add to the conversation.
- I will say thank you, replying to emails and comments promptly and pleasantly, even when I disagree with you.
- I will be honest about my clients and relationships so my readers will understand my loyalties.
This code of ethics will be posted on my About page.
Where's yours?
Posted @ 9:09PM in Blogging, BlogHer, Ethics, Marketing, PR, Weblogs | Comments (2) | TrackBack (1)
09/08/2005
Blogging workshop & Anonymous Blogging
Yesterday I did my first "To Blog or Not to Blog" workshop for a PR agency in NYC. It went quite well from all reports (whew!). The workshop is about 3-3.5 hours long, and basically covers Blogging 101 and how blogs and new media fit into the marketing communications plan.
What I'd like to do is convert this into an ongoing product, and the idea I have is a full day workshop, with the first half of the day devoted to Blogging 101, for up to 15 students, and the second part of the day (one or two) two-hour hands-on workshop(s) for no more than 5-6 students to actually go through the exercise of evaluating a blog as part of the specific MarCom plan for a company, and then developing the mission and plan for the blog. In effect, teaching my students how to fish.
I think this would be very useful for mid-size companies and PR/marketing agencies who want to get into blogging, but just don't know where to start. I would love your feedback on the idea, and referrals of interested companies would be even better :-)
Okay. Shameless self promotion period is now over.
My next topic is anonymous blogs. During yesterday's workshop, one of the students asked about the credibility of anonymous blogs. Basically, she asked, how can an anonymous blog be a credible source of information?
The answer to this truly has multiple layers. It is of course the reader who makes a determination about credibilty, and that's true whether the blog is anonymous or not.
Am I going to trust the content of the blog?
We make this determination based in part on "how right" the blogger we are reading has been in the past. We also factor in the nature of the information -- how critical is it that our information be 100 percent correct. Finally, we look for endorsements -- other bloggers we know and trust, trusting this blogger. These things ALL factor into our trust equation whether the blog writer is identified or not.
But is there a difference with anonymous blogs? I think the answer is a resounding YES! If a blog is anonymous, we need additional validation that it is okay to trust this blog. The more critical the issue, the more validation we need. In fact, for some really high stakes issues like our health, there may never be enough validation to trust an anonymous blog. When someone is giving you health advice, you need some solid indices that it is okay to trust them.
Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson have been discussing the issue of anonymous blogs on the last few issues of For Immediate Release -- their comments are well worth listening to.
My take? The nature of the content really dictates whether you will trust an anonymous blogger. If the issue is fairly trivial, like what shoes should I buy for the fall, the fact that Manolo the Shoe Blogger is both anonymous and a character doesn't matter. I just like that Zappos usually gives you expedited shipping even when you order ground.
If the issue at hand is critical, and you are looking for validation, assistance, data to inform your decision, I truly do not believe an anonymous blog can generate adequate trust. You need to know WHO, and I'm not sure if even the sponsorship of a valued, trusted organization is enough to extend that trust to an anonymous blogger for a high stakes decision.
By all means, blog anonymously if you want to share your life and experiences. There are many valid and important reasons why people might want to blog anonymously
But, if you want you opinion to really matter -- if you believe that your opinion on an issue mght make a difference, you really need to step up to the plate and stand for your opinion.
People will want to know who you are.
Posted @ 9:09PM in Blogging, Marketing, PR, Web Marketing, Weblogs | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
08/10/2005
Short-take, blogher
Lots in my head, still, from blogher, but have just been knee deep in client work (this is a good thing!) Will get to it this weekend...I hope!
In the meantime:
Thanks to Toby Bloomberg, Christopher Carfi, Jeff Clavier and Yvonne DiVita for the recent mentions in their blogher posts. If I missed anyone else, apologies. Right now, I'm pretty much working off of trackbacks. No time even for ego-surfing :-)
Special thanks to Elisa Camahort, Jory Des Jardins and Lisa Stone for a terrific conference.
FInally, Jane... I have a new pic on my About page! Thanks for the kick in the pants to update it so it actually looks like me circa 2005!
Posted @ 9:08PM in Blogging, BlogHer, Customers, Marketing, PR, Weblogs | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
08/06/2005
PR Tip: How to engage with bloggers
How should PR people engage with bloggers? It isn't rocket science. It's simple common sense.
Leaving aside questions of citizen journalism, rules of engagement, codes of ethics and all that philosophical stuff .... which I will get back to in a later post....
If you are a company that would like to reach out to bloggers in the hopes that they might write about your product or service, what and how should you do it? Here's my little prescription.
1. Research: identify the relevant blogs and start reading them regularly. Get to know the blogger -- what does she like, what kind of blog does he write? If a blogger links out a lot, and has a wide variety of interests, it's more likely that he will be interested in your stuff. If her blog is just her ruminations about stuff, with few links and outside material, less likely.
2. After you've been reading the blogs for while, figure out which ones make sense to include in your announcements. It shouldn't be all the bloggers who write about the topic. It should ONLY be those bloggers who you think will be interested. From reading the blog, you also ought to have a decent idea of their readership. Blogs with lots of comments, good clue to an engaged readership :-)
Then, send the bloggers a brief note, identifying yourself, your company and products, and ASK PERMISSION to send them company news and announcements. Do not do this as a mass mailing -- if should be an individual email, and personalized to some degree. Remember -- you've been reading the blog, so you ought to be able to refer to something relevant that will let the blogger know this wasn't a mass email.
if you've done your research properly, you will hear back from them. Some will say "no" but if you've targeted right, odds are, most will say yes. The simple fact that you ASKED FIRST will go a long way.
Then it is up to you to make sure you only send relevant announcements to your blogger reporters and continue to read their blogs. Stay engaged, and treat them with the respect they deserve. After all, they are reporters who can help you reach others, and they are your customers.
Personally, I can't think of a more important audience. Get it right the first time. You may not get a second chance.
9/28/06: Comments and trackbacks closed due to spam
Posted @ 11:08AM in Blogging, PR, Weblogs | Comments (1)
07/30/2005
Customer Blogs, Part Two: What you need to do to make it work ! (blogher comments)
Part Two of my blogher comments about customer written weblogs.
Warning: Long
*******************************************************
There are pros and cons with a collaborative weblog. Chief among the pros is that multiple voices means no one person has to post everyday and there is the vibrancy of conversation among the posts as well as in the comments.
And chief among the cons is that multiple voices means it is hard for the blog to develop a voice. Until the conversation gets rolling, and that is just about the hardest part of this, the blog can seem really disjointed.
In the case of Multiple Choice, the benefits of multiple voices far outweigh the difficulties, but if you are considering any form of multiple author blog, including a customer one, be prepared to deal with this.
Now, let’s turn to some advice for anyone considering starting a customer blog. What are the most important steps for the company?
It starts with commitment. For any blog to be successful, the author has to be committed. This is equally true for a customer written blog, and that much harder.
You aren’t talking about one person and her ability to feed her blog. You are talking about a group project, with multiple players, each with their own agenda and reason for participating in the blog. The most critical role is the company project manager or blog editor. Her job is to recruit, motivate, educate and promote the blog and its bloggers. She must be absolutely committed to the blog’s success, and willing to do what it takes to get it done. If she is not, the customer bloggers will sense that this really isn’t an important project for the company. They will lose interest before they even get started.
First, develop your editorial mission and do some validation with your customer base about both the idea of a blog and the editorial mission. We did about a dozen phone interviews with customers that my client had identified as highly engaged and good candidates to be bloggers. The interviews included some discussion about their use of the product, so I could sniff out any latent issues as well as get to know the customers. This helped me as a consultant get to know our blogger candidates a little bit. If you have someone internal do this part, you might structure it differently.
Then you start recruiting. In our case, we spent a lot of time working with the customers to help them understand blogging, our proposed blog, and the commitment it would require from them. I developed a FAQ to answer the common questions, held a phone training session with every blogger to get them going with TypePad (our chosen platform), provided them with extensive reference materials, and did a lot of initial handholding.
Eventually we had enough bloggers to go live. Over time, the company has recruited a few more giving Multiple Choice a total of five active customer bloggers. The absolute hardest part of this recruitment process was bringing this solid reference group up to speed with the blog and blogging.
Then you have to motivate them to write. This is why the company’s commitment is so absolutely critical. You are asking people to take 20-30 minutes out their week to write for your blog. They need to see that you are doing the same. And you need to help them, by suggesting topics or highlighting newsworthy events. Bottom line, you have to make it easy for them, or they won’t get started. Once they get started, some of them will take to it like ducks to water and need relatively little ongoing help. Others will need you to hold their hand for quite a while. It takes somewhere from six to eight months for everything to solidify.
So what can you do to get the conversation going? Well, you are already monitoring the blogosphere for mentions of your company and issues of interest. It is a simple step to send a short e-mail every so often to your bloggers and let them know something interesting BEFORE you blog it. That gives your bloggers a chance to write on the topic first. Something really hot? Pick up the phone. It still works. Really.
What else? Well, assuming you get the conversation going on your blog, you need to start actively promoting it, in an appropriate fashion, on other blogs. That means leaving comments and sending trackbacks. And again, here you have to help your bloggers out, at least initially. If one of your writers has posted something extremely brilliant about topic X, and you see topic X on another blog, don’t just tell your blogger and hope they have time to go over and leave a comment. That’s work.
Leave a short comment yourself, referencing the brilliant post, and also tell your blogger so she can decide if she wants to add more information, either in a comment or a follow-on post. You have to make it easy. Of course, you want your bloggers to be reading and commenting like crazy, driving traffic to your wonderful blog. But don’t count on it. Take charge of the situation.
Now this is NOT an invitation to start leaving comment spam. Your e-mail should clearly identify yourself, your role, the blogger and the relevant post. Plus a short commentary that makes sense in the context of the post you are commenting on. Don’t write too much – leave that for your blogger.
Hi. My name is Susan Getgood. I am the managing editor of Multiple Choice, a collaborative educational weblog. One of our bloggers, Mary Smith from Doe University recently posted on this topic. In her post, (insert name of post and link here or full URL if no html allowed by the blog) she talks about X, Y, Z.
Or perhaps: She agrees with/disagrees with you, (then elucidate briefly on the dis/agreement.)
Lastly, a few housekeeping things.
Don’t forget to use all your existing marketing vehicles to communicate about the blog to the intended audience. Add the URL to printed materials. Put buttons and links on your website. Issue a press release. Include it in your newsletter if you have one. If you don’t have one, start one. E-mail an announcement to your customers. Post about it in relevant forums. And so on……
In the B2B context, your bloggers probably are doing this as part of their professional development. Make sure you include their bios on the blog, and give them substantial play whenever you can. Likewise, you need to be updating the blog search engines through Pingomatic or RSS Submit or whatever you use. Do not expect or ask them to do it.
If you are a consultant, try to get at least a six month commitment so you can get the blog solid before you leave the project. If you are doing the bulk of the development and then transitioning it to an internal person, it is going to take her more than a few weeks or a month to get up to speed. In that period, the blog easily can lose momentum.
A customer written blog can be both the most satisfying and the most frustrating experience you will ever have. I think I’ve given you some flavor of why it can be frustrating – a customer blog is hard work and it takes time to get it right. And you have to do the work, or don’t bother; as the saying goes, if a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing well.
But after all that work, when you see it start to gel -- bloggers blogging, and commenting, talking with each other in a community space that you created – you have the satisfaction of knowing you created something unique and valuable, both for the company and the community.
Hey, if it were easy, anybody could do it.
Posted @ 6:07PM in Blogging, BlogHer, Customers, Marketing, Weblogs | Comments (4) | TrackBack (2)
07/28/2005
Customer Blogs, Part One: What type of company should do one ? (blogher comments)
Warning: Long
As I've mentioned before on the blog, I will be at blogher in Santa Clara this weekend. I will be part of a marketing panel, sharing some of my experiences developing a customer-written blog.
As I always do, I have prepared my notes as both a speaking outline and a two-part post. Below is Part One: What type of company should consider a customer written blog.
*************************************************************
Hi. My name is Susan Getgood. My role here is to talk to you about customer blogs. And not independent blogs by customers or fans of a product. Rather company sponsored blogs for which the chief writers are customers.
As a marketer, I am a strong believer in the voice of the customer. For a long time, I have felt that the true voice of the customer has been missing from corporate marketing efforts. Mostly because we are afraid. Of what they might say. Of what we might have to do. Of the unknown.
So when I first learned about blogs not that long ago, one of my first thoughts was how this form would allow a company and its customers to really connect … if the company had both the character and commitment to make it happen.
Not long after, I found myself working with a client company that wanted to find a way to involve a happy customer base more actively in its marketing.
Long and short, we decided to do a blog.
Along the way, I developed a list of company characteristics that lend themselves well to customer blogging. As well as some tips about developing a customer written blog.
Let’s start with who should consider a customer blog.
I will use my client Software Secure and its blog Multiple Choice as an example throughout this discussion. Software Secure is in the education software business. Specifically they develop solutions that allow schools to prevent cheating on tests administered using laptops. Multiple Choice is at http://softwaresecure.typepad.com
First, character.
Criteria number one: the customers must LOVE the product. If you don’t have fans, you probably don’t want to do a customer blog.
Your fans, or evangelists, are both advocates and references. It is not just what they say, it is the mere fact that they are willing to say it to their peers in a public forum that offers value for your marketing program. Yes, of course, they have their occasional issues, but in my client’s case, they were happy, and articulate, customers who were already presenting about the company’s products at conferences on a regular basis. So, you have to know your base, know that by and large they are happy with your company and its products. If they aren’t, spend your time fixing that before worrying about blogging.
Second, the audience has to be online, and receptive to participating in an online community. The customers have to already be talking in some fashion.
Generally, the education software market is a highly engaged market. People know each other, and communicate through trade associations, loose affiliations, and yes, blogs. The existence of a strong blogging community and fan blogs is a good clue that you have an engaged market :)
It helps a lot if there is an information gap you can exploit. As we were doing our marketing research, we discovered that there weren’t many online resources that focus specifically on developing a secure learning and testing environment. There were lots of big general sites, with lots and lots of information. Sometimes too much information.
We decided that this gap would be a good spot for our collaborative weblog written by Software Secure customers and other educational experts.
Finally, you have to be willing to give up some degree of control. No one wants to read a blog that just talks about a product, no matter who is writing.
You must develop an editorial mission for your customer blog that is related to your products, but is broad enough to allow a real conversation to develop among your customers and prospective customers. That means having the confidence that the sponsorship of a valuable, vibrant blog will build brand awareness and preference. You don’t need to control every word. And go back to point number one: your customers must love the product and the company.
Here’s how we describe Multiple Choice:
Multiple Choice brings together educators who are leading the way in building secure online learning and testing environments at schools and universities across North America.
Our sponsor is Software Secure, developer of technology that secures the computing environment from cheating and digital distractions.
The sponsorship is clear, the bloggers post directly to the blog (no company review) and they can write about whatever they like within the topic of secure online testing and learning. They are not limited to blogging about the company. How boring would that be.
So, in theory, customer blogging is a great idea. What about in practice?
That’s part two: what you need to do to make it work. I'll post it on Saturday after the blogher session :-)
Posted @ 10:07AM in Blogging, BlogHer, Customers, Marketing, Weblogs | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)
06/09/2005
Roadmaps Roundup - June 9
Sorry for the lack of posts in the last week. As some of my readers know, I am in the early stages of building a consulting practice. This week I have been beyond busy, between client deliverables and new client prospecting. Anyway, some interesting stuff for this week's Roadmaps' Roundup.
First, be sure to check out the Revenue Roundtable -- Brian Carroll is lead poster this week and has some good stuff on lead gen and thought leadership.
Frederik over at CorporateBloggingBlog has a GREAT analysis of corporate blogging policies. After reading his analysis, I am more than ever convinced that smart companies will figure out how to give media/sensitivity training for their employees who blog, whether or not the blog is company sponsored. It is far easier to help people understand how to deal with media attention than it is to deal with the repercussions of an employee who got it wrong, irrespective of company policy. I'm really thinking about this... more to come....
Tris Hussey links to tips for the great 10-minute podcast. This is key for corporate marketers. One hour shows won't make a lot of sense in the corporate space; how to maximize this new form in short bursts will.
Excellent post from BusinessLogs on full posts in RSS feeds. Mike Rundle makes some excellent points about how people will, and should, use RSS feeds as gateways into blogs. I scan Bloglines every day to read the 300 or so blogs I monitor. If a post really interests me, I almost always clock over to the blog, even if there is a full feed. Either I want to leave a comment or trackback to the post, or I am curious if comments have been left... No matter what, if I had to use favorites/bookmarks to accomplish same, I would be far less informed. And btw I scanned the full post in Bloglines, but read it fully on the blog.
Super post from Mike Manuel on "Joe Blogger" and the importance of understanding that it is as (more?) valuable to reach the blogger with 5 (or even 50) readers who REALLY believe in the source as it is to reach the "Big Blogger" who may have lots of readers but no more (or even less) buying influence than Joe Blogger. This is critical: marketers need to remember: it is about reaching buyers, not reaching everybody.
Posted @ 10:06PM in Blogging, Business Management, Integrated Sales & Marketing, Marketing, Weblogs | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
06/01/2005
Deep Throat, blogging tips, asking for the order (and lions and tigers and bears, oh my)
As expected, I am really busy this week with the Revenue Roundtable and client work (hurrah), plus trying to jam everything in by COB Thursday as Friday is the Scottish Terrier Club of New England Specialty Show, and I will be there all day.
However, I do have a few things to share before I race off to prepare for a new prospect meeting tomorrow.
First, the big reveal of Deep Throat. I came of political age during Watergate. I think my first adult non-fiction book was All the President's Men and I definitely remember going to see the movie on a hot summer day in whatever year it was. It is hard to believe that all that took place more than 30 years ago.... when it still colors so much of what we feel about politics, regardless of what we believe or how we vote.
For my part, I am glad that Mark Felt, and his family, didn't wait until after his death. For whatever reason, and however it came about, I'm glad Felt will get the accolades due him while he lives. If his family benefits, that's great. He did a courageous thing, whatever his personal reasons were, and he deserves to get the praise in life. He'll certainly be criticized as well -- I can see the revisionist wagons circling.
So often, we wait to honor great men and women until after their deaths. I for one am pleased when the subject of the praise actually gets to hear it themselves. I remember a few years ago, here in our town, the local chamber of commerce had an event to honor an elderly civic leader who had done a tremendous amount for the town and the area. Literally put us on the map.
As my husband and I were waiting in the long line to greet the man and his wife, it crossed my mind that the whole event was a bit like a wake, except in this case, the man who actually KNEW everybody was still alive, and could enjoy the love of his community. I thought it was wonderful, and wished that we as a society were better at thanking our elders in life, not just honoring them in death.
Wakes and funerals serve an important religious and grieving function. But they aren't really for the person who has died. So... moral of the story: take time to thank and honor people today.
Thank you, Mr. Felt.
This story will be all over the blogosphere and the media today, tomorrow, the next day, but do read Dan Gillmor's post, Deep Throat: America owes Gratitude.
***********************
Now a few little housekeeping things, items that caught my interest over the last week. If I had more time, I'd write more about them, but the clock is ticking.....
Standing Out from the Blogging Crowd, an item on BusinessWeek's Blogspotting, linked to tips for better blog writing from Robin Good.
Jim Logan on the importance of asking for the order.
Scottie Claiborne on links that drive search engine rankings (seen originally on Micro Persuasion). I need to get serious about promoting this blog ... one of these days.
Posted @ 10:06AM in Blogging, Integrated Sales & Marketing, Mathom Room, Politics/Policy, Web Marketing, Weblogs | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
