please walk on the grass

And, why not?

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:32:00 +0000

Matt O'Connor's latest venture ...
YouTube - theicecreamists's Channel
...at Selfridges.
Pure hutzpa yet slightly more attractive than gluing adverts to houseflies.

A month to recover?

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:31:00 +0000

It was a few weeks ago - but I have been busy, honest. Actually I didn't feel too bad afterwards, in fact I felt pretty good.
Thanks to all those who contributed to my modest fundraising effort as I ran 10k for Demelza.
IS that ALL? I hear you ask.
Well, it seemed a lot to me about halfway through.
But as you can see from this pic, I made it (strange hat tho')

So goodness knows why I've decided to enter the Tunbridge Wells half marathon...
...I will be asking for your support again. And I may need to wear it too.

I've been running...oh yes.

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:27:00 +0000

I never thought I would. I used to look at those people in the funny shorts with the smug look and think 'why?'
Well then I decided that paying a fortune every month for gym membership and not using it (especially over the Summer). And then we were asked to take part in the Demelza Run which this year is at Mote Park in Maidstone.
So I thought I ought to get in some practice.
A strange thing happened...I started to sort of enjoy it.
It's not absolutely necessary to be sponsored, but the thought of raising a bit of money is also an incentive. Give a couple of quid if you can by clicking on the button on the right. Thanks.

Is the Nabaztag Rabbit dead?

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:29:00 +0000

There's a rumour going around that Violet, the Company that produces the Nabaztag (Armenian for rabbit - or did I just dream that?) has filed for bankruptcy.
Does that mean the product and (somewhat dodgy) support and development will die too? There are various forums full of Nabaztag owners bemoaning the poor service (such as Nabaztalk and others)but, probably, some very delighted customer too.
If the story is true, it's a pity as the internet enabled devices market could be really exciting - the convergence of media is inevitable, but clearly the road will be rocky. We're getting used to home wifi and TV. This is/was a cute product (Violet had a couple of others) that could have done very well introducing us to the benefits of accessing real time information from the web in very different ways.
There are, incidentally, clear issues with the widespread use of RFID - which Violet were also exploring - when treated as if it is a secure technology. It isn't, so therefore its use in passports and credit cards creates problems, but the applications Violet was working on were largely free of security issues since a) they were within a domestic or office setting and b) they were, broadly, for entertainment i.e. they didn't really matter. Crucially, they were also fun.
Now, who will lead the way? If anyone has any news, let me know.
Updates ...
Here - translation of another report
and an interesting development here. Want to own the company??

For you the war is over...

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 17:00:00 +0000

I think I've finally done it. Click above for the soundtrack.
After building the compound, digging a trench, strategically relocating flower pots and now, building a cunningly angled inner wall...the tortoise is now contained.
She is currently sitting, sulking, in her hut either playing with a baseball or....or digging!
(By the way, she's called Gerry...honestly)

Put a few things in perspective

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:35:00 +0000

Thought I should just post this and see what happens. Probably none of it surprising, but at this time of year, when we've bee settling marks for students term papers and exams the bit about jobs that don't yet exist makes you think about the skills they're acquiring.
I'm so glad I didn't do a vocational degree!

Appeal

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:30:00 +0000

I don't often write personal things here, in fact I don't think I ever do.
But just in case you're taking a few minutes to read this, please click on the link above or on the 'Just Giving' panel below to read about Ray Hart who is raising money for a great cause.
Evie Hart was a friend of ours - the Hart family's youngest who was taken away suddenly and cruelly by cancer.
We all know someone who has had cancer and one in five of us will develop some form. Survival rates are increasing and the UK Government and Barack Obama's administration are putting a lot of money into research. But that's the future.
Right now little girls and boys are living their life in a hospice as their families try and come to terms with an illness that has no cure. Hospice in the Weald does a fantastic job supporting them in Kent and here in Greenwich.
Just give a few pounds or dollars to help them keep doing it.
Thank you.

Plagging for beginners

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 23:42:00 +0000

Admire my parking skills, originally uploaded by Bashed.

I've been thinking (don't groan like that please).

The banking crisis - the general downturn of everything as a result - is quite a complex demonstration of Garrett Hardin's 'Tragedy of the Commons' and his observation of the number of times organisations and people are selfish - despite the negative consequences even to themselves.

I thought the photo was quite a nice illustration of behaviour that clearly seemed perfectly logical to the driver, but at some cost to others.

In many areas of life, people engage in behaviour which has short term personal benefits, but causes other people to suffer. But Hardin's insight was with regard to unregulated commons (or common goods) which are a limited resource to which many have access.

This issue is that there can be a considerable incentive to exploit the resource to the detriment of all other users and that, ultimately, to one's own. This is a kind of prisoner's dilemma in which two prisoners will be set free if both keep quiet. However each can incriminate the other and the first one to do so increases his/her chances of release. The result is that both are likely to co-operate with the authorities.

In the commons problem Hardin had it that cattle herders using a common would tend to over-graze the land. They tended to 'commonize the costs' and 'privatize the profits' and some have argued that is exactly what has happened in the financial services industry.

Incidentally I first came across Hardin many years ago writing something for my Masters about altruistic behaviour which I was hoping would turn into a doctoral thesis. I was inspired by the retelling of this, with some elaboration, in a fascinating book called 'The Origins of Virtue' written by a guy called Matt Ridley. It's a very well-written book and I'd recommend it.

I also found a reference to PLAG - protagonist loss/antagonist gain - behaviour. The fact is that many people do act altruistically. It's possible to reduce this down to some kind of selfish exchange behaviour ("well, they get a kick out of giving to charity" or the 'feel good' reward); a utilitarian argument, but I think this over-simplifies behaviour.

At the time I was thinking about all this I established that there were enough examples of people exhibiting 'PLAG' behaviour to demand an explanation that wasn't just about selfish exchange and then I found Bourdieu...but that's another story.

Back to the financial crisis. It's fairly clear that institutions were acting as if the market could go on climbing and they could continue to profit from this without considering the 'resource' that was being exploited. This 'common' resource could be said to be the real economy or maybe it's just people (as workers and consumers) but, in any case, there was and is a limit to how far you can repackage and re-sell debt.

Even as the mortgage market collapsed like a souffle, banks continued to commonize costs - in fact the world's governments seemed conditioned to accept this - after all they are there to step in and protect the little people...aren't they? So houses and life and medical insurance are propped up by giving money to the banks.

Well, I've said before that I struggle with some economics, but surely the more efficient route would be to give the support direct to the consumer so they could spend or save (in a bank) as they needed. Writing off a lot of debt would help.

Instead governments, working within a broken banking system, are enabling a few to continue to 'privatise profits'.

Matt Ridley...mmmm...feeling you've heard that name before? Possibly.

Until October 2007 he was Chairman of Northern Rock.

He doesn't mention that on his CV.

[Having written this check out George Monbiot putting the boot in far more effectively than I]

New year, new enthusiasm

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:18:00 +0000

I know I introduced this idea some time ago, but now it's 2009 and a time for new brooms and all that, I thought I'd kick it off for real.
Here's the deal.
Last year, whilst writing Virtually Free I met, either actually or virtually, a lot of nice people who were enthusiastic about their businesses.
What I noticed (and indeed have noticed ever since I was teaching MBA students) was that these business-people didn't just care about what their strategy was or if they'd got their marketing mix right. They seemed to care as much, or maybe more, about their enjoyment of the business and the challenge or connecting with customers and collaborators, producing neat ideas and forging ahead.
So I asked myself; 'What gives these kind of entrepreneurs their sense of direction?'
A long time ago now, I read a paper by two academics - Andrew Campbell and Marcus Alexander - asking an even simpler question; 'What's wrong with strategy?'
I'm paraphrasing them (badly) when I sum up their argument as the following.
Strategy doesn't work as most textbooks say. The idea of a cascading structure of corporate objectives feeding down into strategies and tactics doesn't appear to happen.
In truth (as John Rossiter observed of marketing strategies) most people can't accurately recall what strategy they are using.
What happens (Campbell and Alexander argued) is that companies (that is, people) oscillate between gathering and using 'insight' and revisiting or revising their sense of 'purpose'.
Insight can be internal - how things can work better - and/or external - what those customers really need.
Purpose is, in a sense, far clearer; what are we in business for?
Between these two (which you will see repeated in our book Marketing & PR and in Virtually Free) many small businesses get a sense of direction, of what they could do to achieve their ambitions.
But, as I observed from some of the contacts I made last year, a successful business needs more.
After some wrestling - well, serious frowning - I came the tentative conclusion that organisations need the two other 'cardinal points' that appear above.
Truth can relate closely to insight, since a 'true' solution is one with honesty where any exchange is transparent. But it also relates to how an organisation conducts itself. Truth means having nothing to hide...and that makes all communications (with customers, suppliers and others) so much easier: essential in a web 3.0 world. Truth is also a test of how well you know your customers' needs - are you confident in the truth of your view of them?
Beauty may be more contentious. Again this links to the other cardinal points above; a truthful service solution can be beautiful as can a product that simply works. But I think we also have a responsibility to make people's lives better by what we do (I think Guy Kawasaki agrees) - it might just be about making the world a better place to be.
The links between all these points isn't, by the way, a weakness. Imagine these points all exerting force on the centre and you get the idea that a strong organisation exists in an equilibrium.
I would suggest that those who haven't really worked through these issues has a blind spot somewhere.
I'm aware this is all slightly esoteric so I'm asking all my contacts (and complete strangers) to flesh this out in the next few months. I'm starting with Linked-In and will gradually seek to infect other social networking platforms as we go - feel free to do it yourself and claim some ownership!
All we want is a ratio of 70% example to 30% discussion - do successful organisations have this 'compass'? Can we gather examples of good practice - insightful, purposeful, truthful and beautiful?
The Linked-In Group is called (surprisingly) 'Insight, Purpose, Truth & Beauty'. Let's see what we can do with it.

A Quick & Happy Christmas to both our readers

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:17:00 +0000

I quite like the idea that the YouTube generation has a short attention span. Like all sweeping generalisations it's attractive and has an element of truth. That is, it affirms your preconceptions.
But if you think about it, by the same token, so did the 'telegraph' generation, the 'christmas card' generation - why not simply write a letter?
For what it's worth - here is our Christmas card to all you out there - courtesy of the Churches Advertising Network - which ran a competition for a 30 second nativity.
According to a spokesperson on BBC radio today they got literally tens of entries...

Happy Christmas or Season's Greetings to you all (delete as applicable)

Web Wise Women presentation

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:18:00 +0000

As promised; here's the presentation which I realise makes little sense without my explanation...

...if you want me to explain, just invite me!

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:15:00 +0000

I'm pleased to have been invited to speak at the Web.Wise.Women event at the Kings Place in London. Although it's unclear how I fit the bill since I'm not wise or a woman...
Organised by the Camden Women's Forum the event focuses on social media - essentially where web 2.0 is now - but it will inevitably have to deal with what small enterprises should do in a recession.
That's where I think I come in.
I'll be trying to dispel a few myths about the web and about marketing and trying to show how SMEs can invest in marketing right now - despite the 'crunch'.
No doubt I'll post my presentation up (expect a link to slideshare) and I'll be setting up a PWOTG forum for 'Virtually Free' so that anyone who buys the book can contribute or ask questions.
If you are interested in attending just go to http://webwisewomen.eventbrite.com and register - it's free, of course.

What a night!

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 06:05:00 +0000

The best man won, originally uploaded by robbroccoli.

Good morning from the UK and...phew, thank goodness for that.

For a moment yesterday I wondered if it might all dissolve in the kind of disaster of the last couple of elections.

Now I'm fearful for the next few months, the weight of expectation, the capacity of Americans to do weird things. This may be just British pessimism.

Great speeches from both candidates (far more impressive than you'd get in the UK).

But most of all...wow. An educated, intelligent, globally aware US President. Well done.

You'd never know I studied economics once

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:48:00 +0000

Wall_Street crisis, originally uploaded by semarlfb.

Let’s imagine there’s a world with 1 million people (easy numbers for my poor maths).

Each person has £1000 in savings and is paid £100 per annum to work for one of 100 companies. (You could make it more realistic, but the maths, the maths!)

Ten of those companies are banks.

So…

Each company employs 10,000 people (including the bosses) and pays out £1m in wages. So has to make at least £1m a year to keep going.

It makes things that the 1 million people buy…with their £1000 savings and/or their £100 wages.

Ten companies look after all this money. £1000m in savings and £1m in current (checking) accounts. They have to take out of the system £1m to pay their staff, but of course each £100 goes into other companies – like supermarkets, car dealers etc and then ends up back in one of the ten banks.

I don’t speculate on the value of the companies – there is only so much money to go around so it’s irrelevant.

Some companies will be good at bringing in money and others will go short. The former will bank the money (or spend it) and it will still end up in a bank. Where the latter kind of company might ask to borrow it.

If they end up not being able to pay it back, they’ll go bust. But the money will still be in the system.

So, my question is this, how do they screw up?

Explanations for the hard of thinking, welcome. And feel free to elaborate on my model.

Extremely Social Marketing

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:59:00 +0000

Just got back from Brighton where the first 'World Social Marketing Conference' was held at the Metropole.
I didn't see much of the sea but the event itself was fascinating for all kinds of reasons.
First of all, I met and spoke with Philip Kotler. I have to get this fact out of the way because my colleagues are all ribbing me about this. Whatever you think of the guy I can assure you he seems nice enough - even when I started telling him about my research. He stayed awake anyway.
There's no doubt that social marketing is a large and growing sector.
It's an area Nick and I are realising (slowly I know) that we are working in more often than not.
To present marketing - in our writing, consultancy or teaching - as just commercial, profit-focused is not only undesirable, it's inaccurate.
In Marketing & PR we made sure we discussed how small businesses and nonprofits could benefit from clear marketing thinking. In the forthcoming Virtually Free we likewise apply sound marketing principles to all kinds of organisations.
In any case, very few business people rush to work simply to make money.
We know that, for many of us, money is a 'hygiene factor' [it's a kind of minimum requirement] but it's not a motivator. Of course as you take hygiene factors away you can start to 'disincentivise' work. As you build up motivators, you get more and more committed and industrious.
The World Social Marketing Conference was packed with highly motivated people, marketers, from agencies, nonprofits, universities and other, hybrid, organisations.
I came away enthused. Eager to do more with the knowledge we have at PWOTG.

--------------------------------------------------------------

PS...I can't see what all the fuss was about when Philip met Philip...

The future is coming...

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:03:00 +0000

Just a few weeks ago I was writing about this as the future. Just a little refining and it becomes awesome. Think about shop fittings, newspapers delivered wirelessly, clothing....

Discuss.

Let me tell you about this T-shirt

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:00:00 +0000

Since finishing the new book I’ve been thinking about how a smaller organisation can get its act together.

A great marketing strategy isn’t just about getting all the elements of the marketing mix ‘right’. As marketers never tire of telling you – it’s more complicated, deeper than that.

But complication means problems.

For a small organisation, like an SME or a charity, execution of a marketing plan is where it all happens. Because of the limited resources to hand, the basic tasks of a marketing plan can seem overwhelming and, importantly, take valuable people away from running other vital operations.

There is, in fact, a related problem for larger companies. How do they communicate what must be done – internally and to others such as agencies – in order to allocate sufficient resources?

One reason this struck me forcibly as I finished the book, and then discussed this with Nick, was that the ‘new marketing’ demanded by the web and other converging technologies gives us even less room for manoeuvre.

Even more than ever, marketing is something you have to do now and every day. And it all has to work together, day after day.

Great small organisations know and do this. Larger organisations often struggle.

So as I wrote about online promotion and the maintenance of an online brand, I emphasised ‘consistency’ and ‘integration’.

Consistency. When everything you say and do refers to your core values.

Integration. When everything you do links to everything else you do.

Since then, Nick and I have been discussing a marketing strategy ‘mantra’ that could remind us of what the rules are. I’ll go into all this at greater length in the next few posts but for now I’ll just leave you to consider…

Insight, purpose, truth & beauty.

Religion, Lies and Videotape

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:52:00 +0000

Thanks to my brother for sending this. Have a look; it's interesting from two perspectives.

One is that the Republicans (and media) are clearly using the same formulae to try and unsettle potential Democrat voters (remember a small proportion of the electorate decide the outcome by shifting from one party to another).
It's also interesting that this video is edited in such a way that it's difficult to note anything other than that fact - the same phrases crop up - sometimes the context is obscure...who is saying what about whom.
One thing is clear, some (ignorant) people see it as their job, or their right, to spread disinformation for their own ends. Take the assertion that 'Hussein' or attending a Muslim school makes Barack Obama a Muslim... that's basically distorting the truth.
Or lying.

Another useful tool

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:58:00 +0000

Well, I just thought I'd tryout clipmarks.
It looks like an wasy way of picking up content from anywhere on the web and keeping is. But more importantly you can clip it and immediately post it on a blog. This is great, not just for public blogs like ours, but also for collaborative working using a private blog.
Anyway, I'll see how this turns out - I've just clipped some images and words from the clipmarks website - you should get some links as well...

clipped from clipmarks.com

Clipmarks anywhere!
You can easily syndicate your clips to FriendFeed, Twitter, Facebook, Delicious, and more. You can also read, pop, and comment on clips from your iPhone (m.clipmarks.com), iGoogle, or Netvibes homepage.

On Clipmarks.com, you can see clips of text, images or video about all sorts of topics that other people find while surfing the web.

You have received a new message...

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 09:15:00 +0000

...possibly from the Big Guy upstairs

I was due to change my PC yesterday - had it all organised. But then the old one died - it wouldn't boot up and the Windows CD couldn't resolve the problem without a lot of knowledge from me - or from the thousands of pages of online help (via the other, home, computer).

So I played around with my new phone to get emails...it worked up to a point. I could set up some email accounts (I have about six) but not all...because I can't remember all the settings and passwords.

I managed to send the following to this blog, which some of you might have seen...

"Not so amazing, but when the hard drive on your PC goes kaput (the day before you're due to take delivery of a new one) you realise the value of a back-up. Now, when did I last back-up, and where did I put it. By the way I have nearly 100 passwords... what are the chances I'll recover them all?"

...but it came along with several paragraphs of cr*p from Vodafone and my mobile number in big bold letters... not great for a blog entry.

Anyway, the point is. I did have my passwords stored in passwordsafe which is free (and therefore mentioned in the new book!) and I'd backed up the data to a small Newman drive (specifically a NM-0703 20gb drive) along with a copy of dmailer which enabled me to use another PC almost as if it were my own. I carry these around with me pretty much all the time.

Credit where credit's due...I haven't lost everything.

I only mention all this to remind you (and me) to back-up your data every couple of days or so AND to recommend that you have a few other devices to help.

I should get my new PC up and running tomorrow and then I'm probably going to go out and buy a terabyte of disk storage for my home network...

Ethics...while stocks last.

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:54:00 +0000

I've long been suspicious of Sales Promotions.
I know that they work and, sometimes, they add real value to a brand - I've even taught students about the power of 'SP'.
However, I've also felt that the rules should be very clear and that companies should be held to account for sales promotions that mislead. There are, indeed, rules.
The problem is that many SPs go unnoticed, except by the targeted consumers, so unless there is something outrageously wrong, they don't get questioned, let alone reported to Trading Standards or to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for a breach of the Code of Advertising Practice (CAP).
So here's a little (true) story about an SP that seems wrong...and IS wrong. And what a big brand did about it. Forgive the long post.

...............................................................................................

With the recent release of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Woolworths was promoting all Indiana Jones toys and since it is my 9 year-old's birthday (on Monday, if you want to send a card) we were aiming to buy him the Lego/Indiana Jones PSP game shown here.
Woolworths had an SP - buy any Indiana Jones product for more than £10 and receive a FREE WATCH. So when my wife had paid quite a lot for the PSP game (not actually released, but available in a couple of days) she expected a watch - an additional present for our son.

The watches were out of stock. The manager thought it unlikely that they would get any more in, but nevertheless endorsed the receipt to show that we were entitled to the watch. The posters were still up in the store.

So what's happening? Well, we decided to find out from Woolworth's Customer Relations people. This is what they said...
Thank you for your e-mail.
I was sorry to learn that you were unable to take advantage of the promotion on Indiana Jones/free watch that was recently running in our stores, due to lack of available stock. All our promotions have a beginning and end date so we can monitor their success and all items on offer are subject to availability as stated on the posters and advertisements. I am sorry that on this occasion you missed out of the promotion due to the stocks running out. Please be assured that we would never intentionally mislead our customers.
Having contacted our suppliers, I am sorry we are unable to obtain the watches now.
Thank you for taking the time and trouble to bring this to my attention. I hope that, despite your disappointment on this occasion, you’ll continue shopping with us in the future.
Regards
Jane Hardman
Customer Contact Centre
Mmmm, strange. No offer of an alternative, no desire to satisfy a customer? How much can a child's watch (sourced in China) cost? We suggested that they had an obligation and that they should offer an alternative. Besides, if they had no stock, surely they should stop the promotion? Their reply....
As stated in my last e-mail, as with all promotions and offers, they are subject to availability and while stocks last. This is clearly stated on all advertisements relating to the promotion. For this reason, we are not obliged to offer an alternative to customers.
This may not be the response you were hoping for, and once again I offer my apologies for any disappointment it may cause, however, I’m unable to advise you further on this occasion.

A couple of days had passed. Yet the posters and shelf edges were still there announcing the FREE WATCH offer. I took a photo (on my phone).

Here's what the shelf edges looked like - about 3 to 4 inches high, so I guess that white text down the bottom right is no more than 8-10pt. Can you read it? It says 'Subject to availability'
Is this observing the CAP or the law?

The offer was also still on the website...we emailed again. This time we pointed out the crucial text from the CAP on Sales Promotion

30.2 Phrases such as "subject to availability" do not relieve promoters of the obligation to take all reasonable steps to avoid disappointing participants.
30.4 If promoters are unable to supply demand for a promotional offer because of an unexpectedly high response or some other unanticipated factor outside their control, they should offer refunds or substitute products in accordance with clause 42.5a.

The reply...in its entirety...

Further to all previous correspondence, whilst it is unfortunate that you remain dissatisfied, there is nothing further I can assist you with or advise you in this matter.

Oh. So that's it is it? Not only couldn't Woolworths provide the FREE gift with which it was enticing customers, it couldn't even account for why it was flouting the CAP.

So I decided to have a look at their guiding principles, set out in the section of their website labelled 'Corporate Social Responsibility'

We will be truthful and fair in all aspects of our business.
We will abide by the law.
We value our good reputation with customers and business partners.
We will favour suppliers who implement ethical trading standards and will provide them with the support to develop these policies further.

So that's clear. Not only don't they stick to the CAP, they don't stick to their own principles.

I'm now thinking of spreading this around the web a little - Facebook and the like - to see what effect the web really has.

One of the principles of my new book is that a small business, online, has to be honest. Does that also apply to big companies?

Comments welcome.

Nearly there....

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 16:09:00 +0000

The book is finished and off to the publisher - well apart from tying up a few loose ends.

It might end up looking a bit like this here.

It's been interesting trawling through the web verifying what I thought I knew...and finding out that I'm wrong.

It led me to discovering quite a lot about optimising your site, SEO and advertising through Google and on Facebook.

I've discovered DIY social networking and sites for Caribbean music, for pets ... and even for marketing communications professionals.

I've also realised that it's phenomenally difficult for the average small or micro business to get to grips with the possibilities of the web.

I'm hoping that some of the text of the book will be available online - or maybe just some of the links since the book is packed with them.

Incidentally I was pleased that there was a pretty evenhanded review of Marketing & PR on the website of REALIR Europe's Investor Relations Magazine

Given recent coverage of 'selective' quotes, I'll quote the following in full...

"Having read quite a few marketing books, this book takes a somewhat simplistic view of the field of marketing. The positives are mainly in the refreshing focus on the small business context, and the humorous and light-minded approach. An example of this style is in a phrase that resonated with me, as an owner of a small business: “you can't shout louder than everyone, but you can whisper in the right ear”. However, keeping to this friendly style of writing while trying to give credible marketing advice is treading on a fine line. In certain sections of the book, you can get lost in the waffle. But, overall this is a deceptively easy book to read; in a friendly tone, with valuable and accessible marketing advice to anyone running a small/medium sized business."

Waffle? Me?!

I feel I must apologise

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Fri, 09 May 2008 09:45:00 +0000

To all the people in California (who allowed an film star, former Mr Universe) to become Governor.

To all the people in the USA who voted for Al Gore, but got George W.

To all the people in Russia, Zimbabwe and numerous other countries that we (Brits) looked on pityingly as they clearly couldn't run an election or get a sensible candidate to represent their interests.

To all of them; my apologies for poking fun.

It's taken me a while to find a place in my mind where this fact isn't immediately set upon by the mental equivalent of antibodies. Boris Johnson is the elected Mayor of London.

I'm so sorry.

For a more considered, balanced and amusing view see Charlie Brooker's column in the Guardian.

The picture is from the BBC production based on the Richard Doyle book about London flooding. I'm not in anyway suggesting that this will happen. Unless Boris is running a bath one day...

What a find!

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Thu, 01 May 2008 10:41:00 +0000

Getting found online - via your blog, twitter feed, facebook profile etc is all about being connected.

In the short time I've been blogging I've been looking at others with all kinds of buttons and gizmos allowing readers to bookmark or otherwise promote the post or the whole blog and I've searched and searched for how to do it.

Now, I understand, for some of you this might seem like 'Social Networking 101' but you know, not all of us want to get into the intricacies of the code that lies behind all these useable tools (including Blogger of course).

Some posts and sites I've found give a solution for one particular site - so for example somewhere on Facebook, you'll find a help article that refers only to the Facebook button. Likewise for Digg and so on. Maybe I'm just too inept to extrapolate the instructions to all other social bookmarking/networking sites?

But, I have to say - glory alleluiah!!

Get yourself over to AddThis.com - you can click on their logo here - and within minutes you can have yourself a neat drop down button thingy (you can see it below) that does pretty much everything, tidies up your pages and offers you stats on its usage. What more can you ask?

I'm ridiculously excited and pathetically grateful. I just had to blog it and they're going in the book!

Happy, happy, happy.

But what does it mean?

podcast@pleasewalkonthegrass.com — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:12:00 +0000

I had a look at this site from the BBC following up their season of programmes on the 'white working classes'.

As always there's a lot to think about. Looking at the issues is thought provoking, but I can't help thinking that the debate is framed in slightly the wrong way. I don't want to get too deep into this (too much else on my plate at the moment...deadlines looming!) but I wonder how many people really have as part of their identity that they are 'white' or, indeed, working (or any other) class. I think our understanding of community is far richer than that. However, as with all market research, if you ask people if they are 'oppressed' or badly served, they'll construct appropriate answers.

Actually thing that most struck me about the site was the 'spectrum' gizmo you can see here. It's a strange old thing that allows you to explore the responses to some research on attitudes to race and immigration. The physics of the particles moving around is quite nicely done (I also like the brain and visual thesaurus which has a similar fluidity), but...and this is the thing that made me stop and wonder...what does it actually show that couldn't be shown in a less flashy format?

Aesthetically, I was drawn to it, but it just doesn't give me a better understanding of the issues. A pity.