Social Media. Blog Consulting. Web content.

An Update

2006-05-09T10:11:00.000-04:00

Just so you know, I haven't gone anywhere. I've just taken up shop in another corner of the blogosphere. And, it's good news.

I've been hired freelance to blog for a media company. I will be blogging as frequently as possible, sometimes 4 or 5 posts per day. Needless to say, I've become too busy to update this blog like I used to.

I'll still try to update things as I think they warrant, but the goal of business blogging is to generate business. I have accomplished my goal. Please feel free to visit my newest endeavor at: www.analyzethisbusiness.com. It's a blog devoted to looking at issues that affect business. From technology to government involvement, and everything in between. Hope you like it.

You're still welcome to contact me at: ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

"Gone fishin'".....sort of.

Defining Business Blogging

2006-05-08T23:33:00.000-04:00

I love this little quote. It's from an article on MasterNewMedia.org by Robin Good.

…personal knowledge management is really about eliminating the IT gibberish that hangs up so many collaborative efforts and getting to the important thing: passionate professionals communicating effectively with peers through flexible, easy-to-use publishing tools.

Short and sweet and to the point.

ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Web 2.0 And Blogging

2006-05-08T07:11:00.000-04:00

Web 2.0. Great. Another web euphamism. When will it end!!

OK, sorry for the outburst. In an article on WebProNews.com, author Ken Yarmosh points out:

I hope if you learned anything from the thoughts I've shared, it's that regardless of the phrase "Web 2.0″, many of these technologies have already impacted businesses around the world. Even for the organizations they still haven't touched, blogs, podcasts, wikis, and RSS are on many of their radars.
But you don't have to my word for it. Besides showing you specific examples of their uses, others are thinking about Web 2.0 and its place in the enterprise.

Plus...

Nicholas Carr recently asked the question Is Web 2.0 enterprise ready?, pointing to an article by Harvard Business School professor Andrew McAfee. Carr's take on the piece: McAfee makes a strong case for why Web 2.0 technologies may succeed where earlier technologies didn't. The new technologies have other practical advantages as well: they're cheap, fairly simple to set up, and fairly straightforward to use. Companies can test them without much expense or pain.

Ah, now that should raise some interest. He continues:

Of course, as I alluded to earlier, in the business world, especially a larger corporate environment, there will be challenges to change - as always. And that's fine. I don't think everyone should have a blog, just to have a blog. It's use should be strategic.

So, what's your strategy? Let us help you develop it. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Blogs Threatening Businesses?

2006-05-07T12:47:00.000-04:00

Geez, I never really thought of myself as a "threat". Unless, of course, you count against the status quo.

In his article, Defending Yourself Against The Blogs on MultiChannelMerchant.com, author Tim Parry talks about both monitoring and responding to blogs.

Almost every company has a policy covering what to do when traditional media call about an issue, Wagner says (John Wagner, owner of Houston-based public relations firm Wagner Communications - ed), but hardly any companies have a similar policy regarding blogs and other social media.

As time goes on, and companies are forced by their markets to examine this blog "phenomenon", those policies will develop. And counter-strategies will as well.

The people you choose to respond, Hahn says (Lisa Hahn, president of NJ-based public relations firm Caugherty Hahn Communications - ed), should not only have a deep knowledge about the company, but they should also have at least basic writing abilities and be able to edit and monitor their work to make sure they don't come across the wrong way.

“The reply can look spontaneous, but it has to be well thought out,” Hahn says. “Like a business e-mail, it should not be filled with typos, bad grammar, and poor punctuation. You still have to look at the fundamentals before getting star-struck with new technologies.”

All good points. It's nice to see more and more companies coming to the party. More on this later. In the meantime... ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Group Blogging For Businesses

2006-05-05T16:35:00.000-04:00

From PRLeap.com:

Sec-Filings.com launches Company/Corporate blogs' and RSS feeds for publicly traded companies.

(PRLEAP.COM) Sec-Filings.com is a collection of individual blogs, each dedicated
to publicly traded companies.The website will allow journalists, web publishers, investors, investor relations, company personnel, corporate management, and the
public at large to effectively comment and share information that may be beneficial to the online community. As media channels continue to become more segmented, blogs represent a new and emerging opportunity for companies to pinpoint communications to key investors. Blogging provides a unique and highly effective platform to connect with key constituents and audiences. Blogs are frequently updated, journal-style web pages that contain Sec-Filings, News, Opinions, Links and Commentary, now blogs can be harnessed to reap the benefits of engaging in direct and meaningful dialogue with customers, and investors alike.

Group blogging. It's becoming all the rage these days. And why not - it's the 'economies of scale' in action. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com

Business Blog Ideas

2006-05-04T08:46:00.000-04:00

I came across a short press release on PRNewswire.com that featured some business blog sites created by NetBaldwin.com, a Mid-Atlantic Search Engine Marketing firm. They listed a couple of their client's blog addresses:

http://pigeon-forge.mvchalets.com
http://flooring.lumberliquidators.com

I have some thoughts.

First off, as you can tell, these are basic 'template' sites. Now, they're certainly better than static web pages, but I hope their clients don't get their hopes set too high. Here's why.

All they're doing is republishing their printed material. That's OK if you're just looking to up your search engine ranking by continually adding content. Fine. What you have is just an online version of your company brochure. That's fine too. But I think these businesses are leaving a lot on the table. I get no sense of a dialogue, which is one of the strengths of a blog. There doesn't seem to be a human touch, and therefore, it's not much different than a simple web page.

If these companies are looking to just get more people to find them on a Google search, then I suppose their money is well-spent. But if they were hoping to set themselves apart in their respective industries, they'll probably be let down.

Blogs are about content, not marketing material. There's a difference. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Senior Executive Blogging Survey

2006-05-03T09:05:00.000-04:00

I suppose you could see this as the glass half-full and half-empty!

From BusinessWire.com. Here's the headline:

Fortune 1000 Senior Executives Slow to React to the Growing Credibility of Corporate Blogs, New Survey Concludes; Almost Half of Respondents Lack Corporate Blogging Policies, Although 77% Believe They Should Have Them.

"We have a snapshot of the beginning of a corporate activity and a medium which is set to grow rapidly and to become very important to corporations around the world," said Humphrey Taylor, Chairman of The Harris Poll(R), Harris Interactive. "Companies that do not recognize this trend and take action to capitalize on it will miss out on valuable opportunities and run the risk of being blindsided by unfavorable publicity."

This could be bad news for companies who are slow to realize both the risks and benefits of blogs. This could be good news for those of us in this growth segment of the knowledge economy!

Works for me! ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Add Another Business To The Blogosphere

2006-04-27T18:14:00.000-04:00

Southwest Airlines has joined the world of corporate blogs. You can find it at: BlogSouthwest.com. This appeared in an article in the Grand Forks Herald.

It's brand new and is going through obvious growing pains, but I like what they're doing. It's not "slick" or "corporate". It's got a human voice to it. Real people are posting stories that matter to them.

Now, of course, the challenge will be to keep it from becoming trite, but that should come in time. I'm sure they'll get to headier stuff - like how oppressive and unpredictable fuel prices affect their business - farther down the road.

I have a friend who flies for Southwest and who raves about the company. This might be more anecdotal evidence that these guys and gals "get it". I'll be watching.

ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Too Err Is Human...

2006-04-24T19:52:00.000-04:00

...and easily and quickly correctable on a blog!

My thanks to Easton Ellsworth. He hosts a blog called BusinessBlogWire.com. He pointed out to me through a comment on my last post that the article I quoted from BusinessWeek.com, was actually written for their May 2nd, 2005 edition, not 2006 like I thought. Apparantly my prescription is little weak. I'm grateful for Easton. And this is why I love blogs.

I presented incorrect information due to my own error. I was corrected within a day, and I was able to promptly reply with this post to correct my error. So, in the course of roughly 24 hours, I was able to respond to an issue, and bring it to a successful conclusion. To me, this is the essence of an "agile" business. It's also a perfect example of the value of a business blog. My error was corrected, and I got valuable feedback from a "consumer" of my efforts. I'm not dimished by this, I'm uplifted.

Yes, someone pointed out something "negative" about my business. Welcome to the real world. I was able to use that "negative" to become better at what I do. And now anyone in the world can see that I was able to take constructive criticism and and learn the value of blogs for businesses. Ain't life grand!

I really don't see a downside here. OK, maybe comment spam... ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Building A Better Business

2006-04-22T20:30:00.000-04:00

I want to again reference the article I found by Stephen Baker and Heather Green on BusinessWeek.com. It will actually be their May 2nd cover story.

I'll admit, the article headline is not what most status quo business want to hear. "Blogging Will Change Your Business". A lot of companies and company executives fear changing their businesses for a lot of reasons. It can be hard, or scary, or expensive (not in this case), or it might force them to admit that their leadership might not be cutting it. Tough issues. But if the success of the business is the ultimate goal, not simply padding your bank account, then read on.

Picture the blog world as the biggest coffeehouse on Earth. Hunched over their laptops at one table sit six or seven experts in nanotechnology. Right across from them are teenage goths dressed in black and thoroughly pierced. Not too many links between those two tables. But the café goes on and on. Saudi women here, Labradoodle lovers there, a huge table of people fooling around with cell phones. Those are the mobile-photo crowd, busily sending camera-phone pictures up to their blogs.

The racket is deafening. But there's loads of valuable information floating around this cafe. Technorati, PubSub, and others provide the tools to listen. While the traditional Web catalogs what we have learned, the blogs track what's on our minds.

Why does this matter? Think of the implications for businesses of getting an up-to-the-minute read on what the world is thinking. Already, studios are using blogs to see which movies are generating buzz. Advertisers are tracking responses to their campaigns. "I'm amazed people don't get it yet," says Jeff Weiner, Yahoo's senior vice-president who heads up search. "Never in the history of market research has there been a tool like this."

It's immediate, it's permanantly on display, and it's not going away. Let us help you become the business you lay awake at night dreaming you could be! ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

The Best Business Blog Article EVER...(so far!)

2006-04-22T10:49:00.000-04:00

Give the 8 foot stuffed animal to BusinessWeek.com. They've nailed it. Someone ought to give writers Stephen Baker and Heather Green a medal. I'll shut up and let you read this.

Go ahead and bellyache about blogs. But you cannot afford to close your eyes to them, because they're simply the most explosive outbreak in the information world since the Internet itself. And they're going to shake up just about every business -- including yours. It doesn't matter whether you're shipping paper clips, pork bellies, or videos of Britney in a bikini, blogs are a phenomenon that you cannot ignore, postpone, or delegate. Given the changes barreling down upon us, blogs are not a business elective. They're a prerequisite. (And yes, that goes for us, too.)

If your company is the type to see the glass as half empty, honestly, that's too bad for you.

Yet not all the news is scary. Ideas circulate as fast as scandal. Potential customers are out there, sniffing around for deals and partners. While you may be putting it off, you can bet that your competitors are exploring ways to harvest new ideas from blogs, sprinkle ads into them, and yes, find out what you and other competitors are up to.

I keep trying to tell you, now is the time. And, I'll be back to tell you again day after day after day, because I want your business to succeed. Hey, I'm just a nice guy. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

More Businesses Evaluating Blogging

2006-04-21T20:07:00.000-04:00

The pressure continues to mount. No, not in the NBA playoffs. More and more businesses are being forced to take a hard look at the blogosphere because of the sheer pervasiveness of blogs. It's not letting up.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on PittsburghLive.com, by Kim Leonard:

"It is of growing importance for businesses to read blogs, and consider writing their own blogs," said Mike Woycheck, information systems technologist for the Pittsburgh Technology Council. "It's something businesses have to pay attention to, because it's not going to go away."

The more voices join the chorus, the harder it will be to ignore.

For now, major Pittsburgh businesses appear to be dipping their toes into the blogging pool. H.J. Heinz and Del Monte Foods, to name two, have considered starting online chats with customers. American Eagle Outfitters said it isn't currently involved in blogging. Some of the best known business blogs are well-crafted running conversations, presenting a warmer image of a company than any ads, let alone annual reports and press releases, can achieve.

The longer you wait, the less of a competitive advantage your company will have. You may already be behind the curve. Catch up. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Marketing Your Business Better

2006-04-17T16:56:00.000-04:00

In an article written on WebProNews.com, regular writer Wayne Hurlbert reaches out to "old school" marketers. He's got some good points.

Of course, there are many more positive reasons for open dialogue than negative ones. In any case, talking to your customers creates long term business relationships that can last for a lifetime. Those lifetime customers can also become your greatest brand evangelists, who will spread the positive word of mouth, on your company's behalf.

Media relations are much easier with a blog component to your website. Journalists can check the blog for business, personnel, and product news in an instant. With that ease of story creation, your company is much more likely to receive media coverage, than a non-blogging organization.

As a blogging company, your business is immediately moved from the mainstream to the cutting edge of modern business communication where conversations take place at light speed. Regardless of your industry, being seen as a business leader will only yield a positive response. Your business will be viewed more favourably by your prospects, your current customer base, the media, and the general public. Your open lines of communication, provided through your business blog, is the reason.

If you are in the business of developing a long term and lifetime customer base, there is no more effective technique than a business blog. The cost effectiveness alone makes a blog an important asset.

New ways of thinking are more difficult to embrace than new technologies, I believe. But in this case, the upside potential is so great, and the downside risk - provided your business blog is in the hands of a capable blog professional - is so small, that businesses each and every day are graduating from the "Old School".

Your diploma is waiting! ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Listening To The Blogosphere

2006-04-13T15:57:00.000-04:00

Dave Gussow, writing for the St. Petersburg Times on SPTimes.com, writes a bit about the flip side of blogging. Most people focus on the publishing side of it. Don't forget, blogs are for listening too.

Josh Hallett, a Winter Haven consultant who has become something of a blog evangelist, says businesses need to understand, not fear, blogs. Even on personal blogs, business is discussed and comments are aired that can affect a brand and its image.

If someone posts a critical comment, a business needs to know about it and how to respond, Hallett said. If there's a positive comment, the business can build on that, too.

"You have to have a thick skin," Hallett said. "And unfortunately a lot of people don't."And that's one of Hallett's main messages to companies and groups: A blog doesn't have to be about writing. It can, and perhaps should, be as much about listening.

"Start reading blogs, do blog searches," Hallett said. "What are people saying about your products and services? If your business isn't on the radar of bloggers, then look at what they're saying about your industry."

Don't forget that much information can be gathered from the blogosphere. Just because some of it might be bad news for your business or your industry, don't shoot the messenger. Learn from it, and then become proactive. That's what we're here for. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Business Blogs And Management

2006-04-10T18:14:00.000-04:00

I wanted to again reference the article by Scott Yaw on SmartBiz.com. He identifies a crucial point that puts the pressure of a business blog squarely on the shoulders of management - where it should be.

Blogs are no longer a sub-culture of the Internet. They are a mainstream information resource. However, blogs are not a universal fit for every company. Unrestricted, honest feedback can liberate the company’s brand communication efforts or oppress the entire organization’s culture. The idea of launching an informal, open blog can strike terror in the heart of most controlling senior managers. But unlike other trendy business communications, blogs are a way for companies to receive truth, send truth and most importantly, manage public perception in real time.

Don't miss a key element in that paragraph. It's that the goal of a blog needs to be about the Truth. Not spin. Not Marketing. Not reinforcing your brand. It's got to be about the Truth. If it's not, your blog will never survive the scrutiny. It's kind of like the difference between writing a speech and standing in front of an audience giving a speech. In the latter scenario, you have to face a room full of potential critics. Speeches are always brilliant before they're given. After the fact, that's not always the case.

Are you ready to engage your stakeholders with the Truth? If not, the the world of blogs is not for you. Putting out cliche-ridden press releases is probably more up your alley.

If you think you're ready, so are we. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

The Affordability Of Blogs For Small Businesses

2006-04-09T21:52:00.000-04:00

Wow, something every business can afford. Well, sort of.

From the money aspect, absolutely. When it comes to expenditure of time, that's another story. But it's still worth looking at. Scott Yaw writes on SmartBiz.com:

A blog can be particularly beneficial to cash strapped small business. In many cases, cost prohibits small businesses from field research initiatives such as survey questionnaires and focus groups. In other cases, customers may be reluctant to give honest feedback to the small business. However, a blog may be the first time a small business gets an affordable opportunity to establish honest input from current customers and potential new customers they hope to serve.

So true. The honest challenge is: Do you really want to know what your customers are thinking? It's my belief that many businesses don't, and they go to elaborate ways to avoid facing that issue. Having to face the possibility that all your "brilliant" ideas are not working very well can be daunting.

Just some more food for thought. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Corporate Blogs A Liability?

2006-04-07T19:05:00.000-04:00

Talk about hitting the nail on the head! This is dead on.

I found this on the website of Pinsent Masons, an international IT law firm located in the UK. Their site is Out-Law.com. I was about to give up because, well, it was an article written by a lawyer about the dangers of corporate blogging. The author, Struan Robertson, even admitted that he was "scaremongering to some extent" about the potential dangers of a business blog. Just as I was about to give up on him (I'm not a fan of lawyers blogging because of their tendancy to say nothing of substance in as many words as possible), when he wrote this:

Businesses have always trusted their staff to communicate with customers. Corporate blogging is just another channel for communication. What matters is that, if employers embrace it, they must do so with their eyes wide open.

Good blogs bring out a personality. They need spontaneity and oxygen, not censorship – which means keeping legal and marketing departments at arm’s length. That is possible, despite the risks. However, staff should still follow a blogging policy. This can be standalone or part of a wider communications policy. Keep it simple and make sure people know about it. Set out the rules: when they can blog, what they can say, what they shouldn't say, what happens if they break the rules. And don't allow everyone to blog. You need to trust your blogger.

Choosing the right blogger is vital, but I don't just say that because I'm a lawyer. I say it as someone who has been using the internet as a shop window for an organisation for the last six years. Sadly, most people can’t write compelling material; and the people with the most interesting things to say are often the people with the least time to say them. Blogs are easy to start and difficult to maintain. So the biggest obstacle to corporate blogging is not the law; it's finding good bloggers.

I was stunned. This is as well-stated as I've seen anywhere. I'm going to have to re-evaluate my opinion of lawyers - at least this one.

So if your company is tossing around the idea of blogging, take his advice. It's not a legal issue, it's a content issue.

Bully, Struan! Maybe the best analysis I've seen this year. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

6 Reasons You Need A Blog For Your Business

2006-04-05T21:45:00.000-04:00

In an article on DailyIndia.com, I found some very nice, simple reasons a business should blog. As a certified "blog evangelist", I will continue to point you to others who believe as I do. It's totally self-serving, because I'm trying to point out that I'm right about these blog things, and I'm not alone (tongue slightly in cheek...).

The article's author is Jinger Jarrett, the creative force behind the Internet Marketing For Free blog. Here are some reasons. See the full article for a more detailed explanation.

1. You can brand your business.

Branding isn't just for big business. You can brand yourself too.

2. You can become an expert.

When you share what you know on a topic, it gives you the opportunity to be perceived as an expert.

3. You can establish credibility.

Credibility is a difficult thing to establish on the internet. You need to gain your potential customer's trust before he/she will buy from you.

4. You can create a new marketing channel.

Email marketing isn't as effective as it used to be. Too many problems exist now with spam and filters.

5. Creates a communications channel with your potential customers.

He/she can ask you questions, and you can respond more quickly. This will also save you time in the future because others may have the same questions. You'll already have the answer easily available.

6. Solves your search engine optimization problems.

Blogs are search engine friendly, and you can get your blog spidered faster and easier than you can a traditional site.

I know I'm sounding like a one note samba, but it's such a sweet note....! ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

A Great Definition Of A Business Blog

2006-04-04T17:52:00.000-04:00

I like simple. Simple is good - and usually hard to find.

I stumbled upon this article courtesy of Business Wire. It was published on Chron.com. The "quotee" is Alan Weinkrantz, author of Wide Angle Blog, and President of a technology PR agency in San Antonio.

"Anyone and any company can have a website, but they are so...2005," said Alan Weinkrantz. "While websites are still needed, they tend to be very static and corporate. Blogs on the other hand, let you be expressive and reflect your personality or the culture of your company. Blogging can extend your company's web presence, and it's an inexpensive way to put a human voice on a brand." (emphasis mine)

I don't understand why we complicate things so. Well, come to think of it, I think I do. Someone has to overpay to keep all those agencies and consultants in high rise office buildings in business.

I'm so bad... ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

ROI For A Business Blog

2006-04-04T16:35:00.000-04:00

This post has to come with a disclaimer.

Caution: Do not read this if you plan to drive, operate heavy machinery, or stay awake for the next couple of hours.

Numbers. Ughhh. What's the old saying? Figures lie and liars figure. Something like that.

Here's an article I came across on BusinessReviewOnline.com's blog. It's an attempt to satisfy the insatiable appetite certain business types have for analysis by numbers. If you're not an algebra person, you might want to avoid it. The reason I bring it up is as it relates to understanding the ROI of a business blog. The author, Jason Stamper does an admirable job cruching numbers and creating a mathmatical equation for figuring out if a blog is making, or costing, a company money. My hat's off to him for the effort.

My problem is in trying to reduce ROI to merely an equation. I think it's patently absurd because a certain amount of a company's return on their investment involves intangibles. Things that can't be measured or counted or reduced to a formula. You can implement plans A, B, and C in 2005 and then judge the results at the end of the fiscal year, but it would be foolish to assume that those were the only mitigating factors involved in your company's success (or lack thereof). For crying out loud, your administrative support champion could have been suffering through a personal tragedy and have an "off year", and that could be reflected in your bottom line, but certainly not quantified by a simple mathematic equation.

Let me pose this question to you. If you have a CEO who gets on a primetime TV program to talk about your company, do you evaluate that based on "ROI"? How can you quantify the value of that? Purely by sales generated by the interview? I think not.

So to evaluate a blog's ROI solely based on ad revenue, click throughs, or unique visitors is a mistake. If ROI is the only measuring rod, then who cares if customers are happy or not. As long as your ROI is good.

If you believe that, then you must believe that it doesn't matter if your customers are happy or not. A satisfied customer and an unsatisfied customer make you the same amount of money.

Geez, I hope no one out there thinks like that... ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

More Fortune 500 Companies Blogging

2006-04-03T18:26:00.000-04:00

Add another one to the list...sort of. It doesn't get much bigger than "The Real Thing". Coca Cola (fyi, my grandfather worked for Coke for 27 years. We have so much cool memorabilia!) has joined the party.

From the Atlanta Business Chronicle, staff writer Justin Rubner reports:

And on March 29, one Fortune 500, The Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), took its first step into the world of corporate blogging, albeit a baby step.

Coke's blog site, now allowing 50,000 employees to share ideas with each other, isn't the laissez-faire, just-about-anything-goes external blogs of companies such as Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM). But it is indicative of the growing realization that blogs can be invaluable tools for companies wanting to disseminate and receive information in ways traditional media could never deliver.

But wait, there's more. In a more traditional blog application:

In January, cable provider Cox Communications Inc. launched an external blog called Digital Straight Talk, a source of opinions on issues affecting broadband customers.

Users on www.digitalstraighttalk.com can post and read viewpoints on high-definition television and other technologies, and even hear podcasts -- or digital audio Internet files -- of Cox President Pat Esser discussing the digital home of 2010. Typical users, said Cox spokesman David Grabert, are high-end customers, analysts and reporters.

He said Cox was the first major cable provider to launch such a blog and did so to cut through the misinformation presented by competitors, especially since the cable industry has grown increasingly competitive of late. With new pressures from telecos, Grabert said, Cox needed an outlet to quickly and informally respond to customer confusion.

Hmmmm. Quickly and informally respond. That's a critical element to a blog's success.

"We want it to be a dialogue," Grabert said. "We don't want it to be just another piece of our PR machine."

Bingo. That's exactly right. Now, let's see how long they can maintain that strategy. Therein lies the rub.

Interested in finding out more? ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Blogs Build Business Trust

2006-03-31T15:04:00.000-05:00

The doors swings ever wider for businesses that enter the blogosphere.

This is from an article on Strategiy.com. It references a survey done by Edelman, the largest PR firm on the planet. It quotes Mike Seymour, International Director of Crisis and Issues Management. Now the article says that CEO's are trusted less than ever. I know, I know, how is that good news, you say. If you and your company set yourselves apart from the pack, the path is clear in front of you.

Trust, Edelman says, is a tangible asset, much like real estate and capital. It begins with quality, but can also be affected by the way a company responds to the financial market, the way it treats its employees, the environment and other issues.

Mistrust, or lost trust, is expensive. If someone doesn’t trust you, the survey reveals, not only are they not going to buy from you, they’re also going to tell their friends, colleagues and neighbors not to buy from you either. And they will tell them in real time, and over the Internet, where millions of other users can access their opinions.The smart thing for companies and institutions to do, Seymour recommended, is to survey their operational landscape, determine who their key stakeholders are, and utilize the new trusted channels of information to talk to them quickly, honestly and constantly.

That last sentence is a great description of what a real corporate blog can and should do.

“Google journalism, citizen journalism, Internet chat rooms, bulletin boards, e-mail correspondence, the blogosphere, the company Web site – these are critical interfaces where perceptions are created and debated,” Seymour said. “All of it needs to be updated and attuned to project the same image.”

Apparantly, most of our mothers were right. It does pay to be honest and worthy of trust. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Business PR Strategies And Blogging

2006-03-29T01:37:00.000-05:00

They're coming.

Marketers and PR gurus are gunning for you. Blogs are on the radar. And that's both good and bad.

Here are some bullet points from an article by Heidi Cohen on Clickz.com, an online marketing service for Marketers. It's titled: More Than a Press Release: Extending Your Online PR Efforts.

Create a hook consumers, bloggers, and the media will find interesting. Focus your pitch on the story or consumer benefits, not on your company. Survey results are always a favorite for garnering press attention. For example, Unilever's Campaign for Real Beauty research finds only 2 percent of women thought they were beautiful, which generated lots of press and buzz. Also, being the first in your category to do something different or adapt a new technology is a time-proven approach.
Use a blog to engage users in a dialogue or a podcast to provide useful or entertaining content.
Monitor blogs for company mentions. This can be augmented by using a third-party monitoring service, such as Nielsen BuzzMetrics and Cymfony, which track a wide range of consumer-generated media sources. They can be very useful for brand and reputation monitoring.

The good news is that the power of the blogosphere is both recognized and to be reckoned with. The bad news is that it's about to be co-opted (to what degree is yet to be seen) by the 'pitchmeisters'. In some ways the purity of this new media is about to be compromised. That was inevitable. Luckily, because of the nature of this new media, imposters and the insincere will be pretty easy to distinguish and discredit. Actually, they'll end up discrediting themselves.

So, essentially we've now entered our adolescence as a media. Our childish naivete must now give way to young adulthood.

Get ready for the teen years. Minus the acne medication! ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

Industry-Wide Acceptance Of Blogs?

2006-03-24T23:27:00.000-05:00

It looks like even the banking industry is beginning to see the light. And when uber-conservative institutions like that start to "get it", the future looks bright.

This is from an article on ATMMarketplace.com written by Edmund Tribue. He is the global practice leader of MasterCard Advisors’ Global Credit Risk Practice. What's interesting to me is that he's a "thought-leader" on credit, financial and operational risk management in the financial-services industry. Hmmm. He's not in marketing, communications or PR. He deals with risk management and the efficacy of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Not your typical blog evangelist.

Technological developments over the last two decades have transformed the consumer into the unquestionable leader in the consumer-company relationship. The tech-savvy consumer increasingly gets and disseminates any information he or she wants about any product or brand, anywhere, anytime. Product and pricing information are being pulled from Internet news groups and chat rooms — realms dominated by consumers but places where companies are increasingly making investments.

In line with the growth in consumer power has been the explosion of blogs. Their capacity to blur the lines between fact and fiction is worrisome for corporations that want to control their own messages. But if companies are entering this space, isn’t that challenge being met?

Too often corporations think about controlling new media as point-challenges that need point-solutions.

Just as companies started rolling out investments in new Internet communications, podcasting caught most companies unawares. Podcasting allows individuals to post their own audio messages online — messages that are then available anywhere in the world at any time for downloading to iPods and other MP3 devices.

It’s anybody’s guess as to other ways consumers will find to convey their opinions about banks and brands, but gone is the day when companies could rely on advertising and public relations to control what is said and written about them. Nor can they consider these threats in a piecemeal fashion.

Saatchi and Saatchi advertising chief Kevin Roberts put it best: "Everything we used to do, everything we used to know, will no longer work." ("Crowned at last," The Economist, March 31, 2005.)

Wow. That doesn't sound to me like blogs and the "new media" are being seen as the information equivalent of an annoying mosquito flying near the corporate ear. I think they're beginning to see this 'phenomenon' as serious. Welcome to the party, kids!

Now, some corporate types will see this as simply another channel they have to get involved in, to control their message. Those efforts will most likely be discredited by their own insincerity. Others will see this as a huge opportunity to drive the conversation about their business (as opposed to controlling it), and will see varying measures of success because as a result.

The train hasn't left the station yet, but the boilers are building up steam. Come on aboard! ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.

The Danger Of Corporate Blogs?

2006-03-22T07:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the slight delay. Server problems - I'm sure you can relate.

Saw this article in the Washington Post, about a "renegade" blogger. Now, one of the drawbacks of blogs, people say, is stories like this. No one really knows if this person is for real, or if it's just another one of the corporate "grassy knoll" types. Wannabe stand up comics in my opinion, but too cowardly to face a real audience.

For McLean-based BearingPoint Inc., which is trying to rebuild its business after an accounting scandal and with a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation still underway, the musings of a disgruntled blogger might be a small problem. But it's a reminder that in the information age, no viewpoint is private, no slight unavenged and no joke too tasteless.

Like anonymous blogs supposedly written by employees of Microsoft Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the BearingPoint blog is, in many ways, just like happy-hour conversations that employees are apt to hold after work. They gripe about inane training programs, grouse about absurd corporate policies and ruminate about management incompetence.

But transferred to cyberspace, where the audience is global, the management headaches associated with such grumblings become instantly more severe.

That might be true, but my thinking is this: You want to be the one driving the conversation, not being driven around by every crank with broadband and too much time on his hands. My feeling is that it's more dangerous to not have a corporate blog.

Love to talk with you about it. ghostblogging@veritymedia.com.