CustomScoop's PR Blog Jots

CustomScoop PR PodJots

Welcome to CustomScoop’s PR PodJots, our weekly rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podosphere.

Heading into the summer’s last three day weekend, we are going to follow the lead of several of our podcaster friends and offer an abbreviated version this week, diving right into our “Around the PR Podcast Horn” section. We’ll be back next week with the usual format.

Across the Sound #89 – Marketing Movies Online
Joseph Jaffe is “drunk and addicted” to Facebook and wants all of his listeners to be his friend and join his Jaffe Juice group. In typical Jaffe fashion, he offers a special incentive to do so (you’ll have to listen for that, could it be his extra iPhone?). This week’s main focus is on movie marketing – a great topic as the summer blockbuster season begins to wind down. In a thorough discussion, Jaffe concludes that there are many productive ways that studios can and do utilize social media to promote movies, but of course, success is ultimately determined by the product.

Diary of A Shameless Self-promoter #94 – Beware of Thunderbird
Heidi Miller reviews Mozilla’s Thunderbird in her latest Chicago-based podcast. While she personally has had limited success with the program, she does see the usefulness of the idea.  Having the ability to make your inbox portable is great in theory, but not in practice if you receive more than an average amount of email. However, Miller does recommend that listeners use Gmail – its large memory function and search function is convenient for the busiest of inboxes!

For Immediate Release #270 and 271 – Online Communities
Shel and Neville run down the latest PR news with a focus on web communities. The pair takes a particularly close look at the growth of Facebook applications and how the social network can impact employees, employers, and PR in general. Shel and Neville also discuss a new study suggesting that there are now nearly 100 million blogs. The report shows that 14 percent of men and 20 percent of women have blogged at some point. Of course, they say, this helps support the argument that monitoring blogs is extremely important for businesses.

Inside PR #47 – Terry and David Look Back
Through the magic of podcasting, Terry Fallis and David Jones publish this week from vacation. The prerecorded version pushes aside comments and news stories and looks at the path each took towards becoming public relations professionals. It’s a must listen for anyone interested in entering the field, but they make it clear that the experience will be different for everyone. Interestingly, neither set out for a career in PR in the beginning.

Marketing Over Coffee – Wiki Fun
John Wall and Christopher Penn focus in on the benefits and drawbacks of wikis and how they are developed. They are critical of the fact that wikis tend to give equal weight to all contributors regardless of expertise and note that, while wikis are a useful resources, they should not be looked at as entirely authoritative. Although editing your own page or that of your business (should one exist) is generally a no-no, Wall and Penn insist that it is important to at least monitor them. Before you start editing wikis, remember that your IP address will be tracked – nothing you do online is anonymous.

New Comm Road #37– PodCamp and Google Reader
Bryan Pearson recaps the successful Social Media Breakfast held in Boston this week in the 37^th podcast of New Comm Road. About 25 bloggers and social media experts attended to meet, greet, and network. Bryan mentions how Twitter helped to get the word out about the event, which serves as further proof of how useful a medium it is. Thanks to Bryan’s for putting together such a great event!  Bryan also focuses on using the different aspects of Google RSS Reader and how to “get the most out of it.” He specifically likes the way headlines are displayed and the ease of sharing RSS feeds with fellow bloggers.

Six Pixels of Separation #66 – Diving into Web 2.0
Continuing on the theme of the week, Mitch Joel also touts Facebook, asking listeners to join a new group dedicated to his podcast. After taking a look a some technical tools for listening to and recording podcasts, Mitch issues several useful tips for newbies interested in taking a “deep dive” into Web 2.0: comment, contribute in other ways, join a group, share photos on flickr, tag and share content, write reviews, and talk about the experience.

We're Here, We Do PR, Get Used To It (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Quit Your Pitching
A shel of my former self
Following UK blogger Tom Coates’ rant about receiving PR pitches through his popular blog, Shel Holtz reminds bloggers that not all PR pitches are useless and a certain amount of bad pitching is the price you pay to receive the occasional “useful nugget.” Shel compares ignoring any and all pitches out of protest may work against a blogger and deny their audience information that they may actually find useful or interesting; he arguest that to lump good blog outreach in with spam is the wrong approach. “I’ll speak from my own personal experience: I have never been rebuked for one of my blogger outreach efforts; more often, I have been praised by bloggers who appreciate that I’ve done my homework. I really have read their blogs. I really do believe that my client’s message is relevant and of interest to their readers. I ask first in a personal email if I can forward the content. And I’ve pretty much always been right. That’s not to say there aren’t PR practitoners who spam bloggers or otherwise fail to execute proper blogger outreach. But for goodness sake, do we really want to throw the baby out with the bathwater?”

Straight Talk
Common Sense PR
As far too many public relations pros and other communicators attempt to liven up press releases and other writing with fifty-cent words and flowery prose, Eric Eggerston reminds us all that straightforward communication is the way to go. Say what you need to say in the most distinct way possible, but beware of being too informal. The line between straight talk and inappropriate is unfortunately somewhat thin. “Trying to fluff up your verbiage to impress people doesn’t work. But that doesn’t mean you should talk to everyone the way you talk to your friends at the bar. Good emotional intelligence calls for subtle shifts in your language and tone based on who you’re talking to.”

Time TV
The Flack
Responding to an Ad Age story that announces that Time’s popular entertainment magazines will be contributing to three TV specials promoting ABC’s fall lineup of returning programs, Peter Himler wonders how the participation of the media will affect their objectivity. He notes that participation in the programs will no doubt help promote the magazines in a time when print media is rapidly declining, but is suspicious of the media outlets’ decision to potentially undermine their ability to remain unbiased. “I just wonder how balanced these journalists will be in their "critiques" of the fall programming. Are they being paid for their appearances in these entertainment preview programs? And what benefit does the magazine really derive other than the magazine's brand appearing in the super below their reporters' cheerful faces? I mean they're touting someone else's product not their own.”

A for Effort (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Good Effort
Brand Flakes for Breakfast
Darryl Ohrt reviews Wal-Mart’s recently launched Facebook application, which offers college roommates the chance to meet up online to decide on décor for their dorm room together. Darryl praises the effort, and notes that many companies haven’t bothered to reach out via Facebook (or any social networking sites) at all; Wal-Mart’s commitment to getting online is commendable. He questions how well they know their audience, however, and thinks they should focus more on the conversation. “Forgetting that your audience of college kids are smart. And cynical. Why not turn the conversation into the focal point? Talk "green", talk economics of walmart, and ask ‘what can we do different?’”

The Internet Never Forgets
Online Public Relations Thoughts
Noting the scandals currently plaguing Sen. Larry Craig and football star Michael Vick, Jim Horton ponders the idea that the Internet is incapable of forgetting human failures. Get mired in one scandal that spreads across the Internet, and spend the rest of your days living it down. Jim thinks the key to protecting reputations of the future is to build as much positive online information as possible—even if it is forced to coexist beside that which we’d just as soon forget. “In this light, the internet is the modern scarlet letter that hangs on reputation and doesn't allow forgiveness. As individuals and organizations understand the internet's persistence, there will be efforts to wipe out the past (which have started) followed by deeper concern for reputation from the outset, which has yet to begin.”

Hits vs. Sales
Communications Overtones
In a thoughtful examination of the impact of viral video, Kami Huyse wonders what the true goal of online media undertakings should be. That is, when Mentos launched its wildly popular MentosIntern.com site earlier this year, was the desired outcome just the millions of hits the site received? Obviously not, the point was to raise awareness of the product, which would ultimately drive sales. “Which brings me to a final point, which is that a good campaign has goals that measure outcomes, not outputs. In the end, a successful campaign has nothing to do with how many "friends" you have on Facebook, or how many "followers" on Twitter, but rather on how many of these are converted to a more positive attitude about your product or service that leads to a behavioral change - namely, that they buy the product or contribute to the cause.”

So You Think You Can Blog?
Disruptive Conversations
Think you have what it takes to blog? Dan York reminds us that blogging is easy, but keeping the blog going with interesting content can be tough for those who aren’t natural writers. He argues that blogging will come easily and naturally only to those who truly love to write, and gives a history of his own love of writing and blogging. Dan is quick to point out, however, that not loving to write doesn’t mean you can’t blog, it just may be a little more difficult. “Let's face it... starting a blog is trivial.  Keeping a blog going takes a good bit of work.  It helps tremendously if you have this compulsion to tell stories... if you are driven to communicate... if you love to write.”

You've got a (or 24,817) Friend
Micro Persuasion
This is a meme that’s been circulating a bit lately: what does it mean to be a friend? Are we forced to change the definition with the advent of online “friending?” Are there any other grammar nerds horrified by the fact that the word friend is apparently becoming a verb? Steve Rubel remarks on the changing nature of the definition of friendship. “I am friends with people in social networks from other countries. Technology makes that possible. On the other hand, these same technologies enable anyone to add me as a friend, even though we've never met. It leaves me all confused about what friendship will look like in 10 years. It seems like it's declining in quality, even as technology scales it in quantity and helps our networks spread far and wide. What's your view?”

Roads? Where We're Going, We Won't Need Roads (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Workplace of the Future
Jaffe Juice
In an apropos story considering the recent hubbub surrounding the use of social networking sites such as Facebook at the office (and the subsequent banning of that use by employers, which has been roundly panned by PR bloggers), Crayon President Joseph Jaffe posts about an ABC World News Tonight segment featuring Crayon as “the workplace of the future.” The segment broadcasts in part from Second Life, and highlights Crayon, already well-known in social media circles for their popular Thursday morning Second Life events, as a pioneer in the future of work. “Building the workplace of the future isn't PR spin. It's a commitment. We strongly feel that there is a revolution-a-coming and "employees" are going to revolt against companies who control and restrict their web access time, visit virtual worlds, ability to upload and/or download, share, blog and/or podcast. Perhaps that's why so many people want to work at crayon!”

Fear of a Black Hat
Pro PR
Joseph Thornley promotes the idea of “white hat” social marketing, or using the tools of social media to promote conversations and ideas rather than a single, specific corporate agenda. He promotes a post from Michael Seaton that calls for a “symbiotic relationship” between the consumer and the brand, and the creation of unique content that is beneficial to everyone in the conversation, not simply the company with something to sell. “I believe that the new norms of social media are being defined by this tension between the value set that is based on generosity, transparency, authenticity and community vs. those that are defined by the desire to generate short-term advantage and a marketing mindset that relates to the citizens as an audience to be acted upon and manipulated.”

Tramps Like Us...
Marketing Conversation
Reacting to a post on the recent Sophos study showing that Facebook users may be too free in granting friend requests, Chris Abraham wonders if he is virtually “slutty,” noting his hundreds of connections on sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIN. The study questioned whether too much online transparency can be dangerous, but can’t large social networks like Chris’ be helpful and important? Would denying friend requests from strangers mean missing opportunities? “They’re all rockstars and A-listers, but am I too trampy?  Am I a slut?  How do you handle your social networks? I consider what I am doing is being a connector, being a mini Kevin Bacon, not a prostitute.  I love to game serendipity.”

The Specifics
Copyblogger
Citing another Copyblogger post claiming to show readers how to get 6,312 readers to a business blog in just one day, Chris Garrett makes the case for specificity in copywriting. Using precise figures rather than “guesstimates” increases your credibility, particularly when writing business documents such as proposals, case studies and even business blog posts. Occasionally, however, specific numbers are either unavailable or not appropriate. “You want your copy to flow. Ideally your reader will eagerly and happily read every line without pausing, all the way to the end. Including a specific that makes no sense to them is like creating a speed bump on the road to action. Specificity is one of the most powerful copywriting tools. However, as with any powerful tool, using specifics that do not add clarity and credibility can cause more damage than good.”

Making Something From Nothing (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Empty Calories
Twist Image
Mitch Joel examines the concept of the slang term “boliao,” which is often used to describe viral online content that, while heavily viewed and passed around, is essentially nonsense. He wonders how marketers can tap into the audience for such content, if at all. After all, we know that viral marketing is tough to create from scratch—it needs to happen organically. Should marketers bother themselves trying to get involved with content creation when the content is completely lacking in meaningful substance? “The question becomes: what are Marketers supposed to do? If Boliao is something that millions of people are engaged with, and it has no substance… where will this lead us? We’re already struggling to explain to clients that you can’t buy or create something viral – it has to have elements of raw emotion that piques people to spread it. Now, we’re faced with the next generation, and it’s actually based on creating content that has no substance, value or true meaning beyond just enabling the consumer to waste their time.”

Twitter Lab
Chris Brogan
Citing the idea of the “wisdom of the crowds,” Chris examines the concept of Twitter as a laboratory for ideas, arguing that by building enough smart contacts, the exchange of ideas can lead to exciting new collaborative projects. He uses as an example his recent Tweets about his thoughts on games, and the vastly useful and interesting responses from his network. “People are watching. They’re getting it. People are there to help and participate, and if something resonates, often times, they’ll jump right into it and help define it. Why? Because it’s exciting to be part of something, and it’s always fun watching someone get excited about a project.”

Blogtopia?
The Buzz Bin
Geoff Livingston posts a thoughtful piece about the online community as a form of Utopia, where mutual respect and understanding rule the day—even when bloggers may fiercely disagree. He is quick to note that while the Utopian ideal seems to apply to the technology and PR community, the larger blogosphere is a turbulent, sometimes hateful place where flaming, bullying and even violence can be commonplace. He argues that the vastly different communities existing online can be brought together with common goals. “For the most part everyone stays in their own yard focused on their interests, languages, faiths, etc. It’s when we cross pollinate that the fireworks occur. The issue becomes more apparent when we have our flair outs like Kathy Sierra, and on a larger scale when cultures clash. Fractures become permanent divides, and hate and resentment become engrained deep in the souls of men and women. But with the right approach, these fireworks can be turned into opportunities. This is when healing, growth and yes, progress towards utopian ideals can be made. Openness of view and transparent discussion can lead to greater understanding.”

Whitewash
What’s Next
While she initially misidentified the country with ownership over China Airlines (it’s actually Taiwan, not China), BL Ochman makes an excellent point regarding the decision to paint over the logo of the charred remains of an aircraft that exploded on the runway last week. I found this effort to limit the PR damage the images of the burnt plane may cause quite amusing—shouldn’t the lion’s share of the crisis PR effort be spent assuring the public that the incident would not reoccur? Of greater concern to BL is China’s overall image issues of late (with a new product recall announcements and warnings cropping up regularly), which have gone from being a PR problem for the country to a threat to our safety. “Obviously, this isn't a random incident. China is the country that brings us poison pet food, poison toothpaste, poison children's medications, and most recently, poisoned toys. And those are just the products we know about.”

Beware of Too Many Breadcrumbs
Canuckflack
Following Steve Rubel’s announcement of his plans for aggregating all his online social media activity into one lifestream, Colin McKay warns against putting too much of one’s self online. He notes that everyone probably has occasional moments of regret for the levels of transparency they reach in their social media worlds (despite all the positive aspects of online communications), and wonders where the limit is in terms of how much to reveal. “I’m sure that, in some form, we all try to keep track of the personal and professional information we have made public while participating in our many social networks, 2.0 widgets and transitory communications like twitter. At some point, all those digital breadcrumbs can be aggregated into a loaf of information. At what point to you pinch off access to that loaf?”

CustomScoop PR PodJots

Welcome to CustomScoop’s PR PodJots, our weekly rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podosphere.

It was a light week this week, I think a good number of our regular podcasters were on vacation. Luckily, a few stuck around to bring us some insightful and lively discussions.

Six Pixels of Separation #65 – Mitch Goes to BarCamp

Mitch Joel can’t heap enough praise on the just concluded New Media BarCamp Nashville unconference. A conversation with Dave Delaney and Marcus Whitney, the cofounders of the event sparks this week’s main focus, which revolves around the process of organizing a success unconference/BarCamp event. (Of course, it would not be a true SPOS podcast if the conversation was held in a sterile environment, and this one offers playful mariachi music that reminds listeners that the three are talking at a fun Mexican restaurant.) The interviewees point to a few key ingredients behind a successful event – vision, motivation, innovation, and an exciting environment. All three agree that the concept of new media is powerful enough subject to get people on board. After the discussion, Joel breaks down a quick checklist on how anyone can organize an unconference:

• Use your blog (or find someone else’s) to express interest and spread the word.
• Build a Wiki, and make sure to monitor it to weed out spam.
• Select a Realistic location, and “lock down” a contract.
• Recruit sponsors to cover the cost of food, drinks, etc.
• Promote online and via word of mouth.
• Brand yourself, have business cards
• Have fun! Be a part of the community.

Joel also discusses the idea of ghost blogging, and partially agrees with Inside PR’s David Jones, who suggests that the practice is okay, but only if it is disclosed within the post. However, Joel suggests that there appears to be a double standard when it comes to live speeches, which he disagrees with.

Also discussed:

• New SPOS Twitter feed
• Interactive Advertising Bureau – social media marketing seminars coming up in Canada

Inside PR #73 – Does Size Really Matter?

Terry Fallis and Dave Jones look at the factors that perspective clients look for in a marketing/PR agency. They note that “quality customer insights” tops the list according to a new study, while size also (barely) makes the list of the 12 most important characteristics of an agency from the client’s perspective. They note that there are six areas where clients perceive a difference between large and small agencies, and highlight what the perception is on each – three of which favor small agencies:

• Cost
• Responsiveness
• Senior Level Attention

While larger firms have an edge in three others:

• Resources
• Special Expertise
• Reach

The hosts suggest that there is some truth behind these perceptions, but argue that the generalizations are often wrong, and ultimately other factors determine the real value of a particular agency.

Also Discussed:

• Spelling matters.
• Inside PR on Facebook.

Marketing Over Coffee – Reaching Out the Right Way

John Wall and Christopher Penn talk about reaching outside of the “fishbowl” to promote events and/or causes and offer a few suggestions on how to develop relationships with more people. Both agree that picking up names out of the blue is not the way to go, instead they recommend cultivating lists from social networks based on logical criteria. Wall suggests contacting friends of friends, arguing that they are more likely to have similar interests, while Penn stresses the need to move forward with determination. One ping, he insists, is not enough. Instead reach out repeatedly, and ask your contacts to do the same in an effort to reach the magical number eight, which is said to be the point where people really pay attention.

The two also look at how far marketers should go when it comes to unsolicited contacts, arguing that spamming blogs never works and should be avoided, but ultimately, the line comes down to what tactics offer more benefits, both in the long term and short term, vs. those that could bite back in the form of bad PR or legal ramifications.

A key topic this week is evolving technologies used to improve trade shows. Wall notes that lighter, more attractive booth design has made it easier to set up shop, and handheld check-in devices or even radio chips are making it easier to get started. Wall also suggests that creating a comfortable environment for participants is probably smarter than giving away cheap gadgets. Only innovative giveaways, they say, will earn the type of attention exhibitors seek.

Also discussed:

• Podcamp Boston.

Around the PR Podcast Horn:

For Immediate Release #268 and #269 – August 20/23, 2007 – Shel and Neville delve into the topic of crisis communication following widespread reports that millions of Mattel toys have been recalled due to concerns about lead paint and lose magnetic parts. The toy manufacturer earns praise for its effort to decisively address the matter, but concerns relating to a new class action lawsuit are said to have the company in a “no-win” situation. The duo also takes a look at a recent crop of PR blunders, employee blogging, and the latest in PR news. Remember, they tell the PR community, to consider how public statements could play out in the blogosphere.

Probecast #29 – August 24, 2007 - Rob Capra, Adam Zand, and Todd Van Hoosear praise Skype for taking responsibility for the two-day service outage users experienced last week after it initially appeared that the VoIP company was trying to deflect blame to Microsoft. Facebook is also a hot topic as businesses begin to worry that the social network is hurting productivity. Meanwhile, many of those lucky enough to still have access are irked by the “bacn” phenomenon – a term used for email that is neither spam, nor personal.

Across the Sound #88 – August 19, 2007 – Joseph Jaffe continues to focus on, and defend, his experiment to monetize podcasts through highly customized sponsorships paid in the form of physical objects. Jaffe agrees that transparency and full disclosure are required for any sponsorship arrangement, but complains that many are determined to find fault regardless of the terms. Jaffe closes with a look at how social media tools were used during and after the recent Minneapolis bridge collapse.

Hit Your Target (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Facebook and Blog Marketing
Copyblogger
Brian Clark examines the “segmentation” of the Facebook audience, and determines that the marketing value of the popular social networking site comes more from the ability to watch for trends and track what a certain demographic is interested in. He points out that the addition of third party widgets to Facebook allowed for the segmentation of users into “interest groups,” which benefited marketers looking for a specific audience. Brian believes the same concept can be applied to marketing through a blog, reaching out to specific demographics. “So, for example, if you’re trying to make money with your blog via affiliate marketing, don’t just write one post about a product you think will appeal to your audience and hope the search engine gods will bless you. Offer an educational marketing experience via your copywriting skills to those who are truly interested, and let the magic of repetition do the rest.”

Stunt PR May Be Hazardous to Your Health
Observations on Public Relations
Luke Armour comments on the Flickr set of “Sharpie tattoos” highlighted in a Brand Flakes for Breakfast post earlier this week. While someone claiming to represent Sharpie commented on Brand Flakes that the company hadn’t endorsed the idea due to legal reasons, Luke points out that if they had, they could have opened themselves up to some sticky PR issues. That is, should a company participate in a marketing stunt that, while “cool,” could also potentially harm its participants? Probably not, even if the stunt could generate some positive ink (pun intended). “Could it be problematic? Hard to say, but PR people should be in the business of a) avoiding bad press and legal problems b) dealing with bad press and legal problems others have created but not c) creating things that lead to bad press and legal problems. Lesson learned.”

Back to the Future
Murphy’s Law
Tom Murphy ponders the future of online communications, noting the seeming impossibility of knowing where social media and other web 2.0 applications (which crop up and drop off at an almost alarming rate) will lead communications professionals. Tom points out that the “hot” tools of today may be forgotten in mere weeks or months, and that to predict where it’s all heading is probably futile. He thinks the key is to engage with the audience your after now, using the tools they are using—regardless if those tools will be obsolete in the future. “or example: If you know your target audience is using Bebo, MySpace or Facebook then you can engage with them (carefully and respectfully) successfully now.  It doesn’t matter if these sites will disappear or morph into something else, strike while the iron is hot. Unlike traditional media we don’t have the luxury of just waiting to see what emerges at the end, we might be waiting for years, but if we know our audience we can start to engage today.”

So, What Do You Do? (And Other PR Blog Jots)

Stuck in the Middle
Media Guerrilla
Mike Manuel discusses what I suspect is a common problem for those in the 2.0 field—how do you describe what it is you do? Is there a name for it? Mike calls it the “messy middle,” pointing out that really, what many new media professionals actually do is an amalgam of several different disciplines, all coming together to form a new one. A new one that is occasionally tricky to explain. “The messy middle is where several historically disparate business disciplines are intersecting; it's the place where marketers, communicators, product developers, customer support folks, and arguably other arms of an organization all meet and mix to maximize their efforts, thanks to the social web.”

All the Skype Moves
A Shel of My Former Self
Following a two-day outage of the popular Internet phone service Skype, many have been wondering what the company will do to restore its credibility. Shel Holtz praises Skype for taking decisive action to restore customers’ faith in its service; the company will be adding seven free days onto all existing subscriptions, including to those who weren’t affected by the widespread outage. “From a PR perspective, Skype has it on the ball, taking a short-term hit (what is the cumulative value of all those subscriptions?) in order to rebuild (in some cases) or reinforce (in others) goodwill among its customers?”

Pitching Coach
What’s Next
While I think many readers of this blog are already fairly social media savvy, anyone new to PR 2.0 should read this Marketing Sherpa interview with BL Ochman, who gives advice on the appropriate ways to reach out to a blogger with a pitch. Her advice is specific to the What’s Next blog, but can be applied to general blogger outreach tactics as well. She covers the most fundamental—yet also the most important—thing to remember when reaching out to a blogger: make sure you actually read their blog before you make contact! “It’s useful to let her know that your query is related to the topics she writes about. Read some of her current blog posts. ‘I am looking for news about how big companies are using Web 2.0. That means I want to know about new online marketing campaigns, videos, attempts to create online communities, socially responsible marketing, trends and events.’”

Don't You Forget about Email
Common Sense PR
Eric Eggerston points out that when you’re launching a new blog, particularly a business blog, reaching out to all your exisiting contacts through that antiquated old system of “email” can help get you off the ground with readers and subscribers. He cites a case study from Copyblogger showing that a corporate blog reached thousands of subscribers on its first day through a simple email promotion to the company’s existing email network. “Remember, if you’re reaching people by e-mail, they may want to continue to be connected by e-mail. It’s a lesson that too many people forget. (I’m thinking of several websites that allow me to phone a customer service person, but won’t let me send an e-mail or fill in a "contact us" form.) As for whether you can keep your subscribers, that requires ongoing effort to provide something of value.”

You(oh, and also some ads)Tube
Jaffe Juice
Following the announcement that popular video sharing and networking site YouTube would begin featuring ads within user-submitted videos (without the user’s approval), Joseph Jaffe blames the development on Google and laments that it will only alienate the YouTube audience. He is especially critical of YouTube’s defense, that to include “pre-video” ads instead of overlaid ads was casuing more viewer abandonment. “Why should this ever have to be about lesser of evils? Why would YouTube basically admit to shunning 10% of their audience and consumer base? Beware. Beware. Today's 10% is tomorrow's 50%, especially if they are influencers and especially if you give your competitors (can you say broadcast networks?) half a chance to go for the jugular based on any exposed nerves.”

Stake Your Claim (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Rush Week
Web Strategy by Jeremiah
Venture Beat is claiming that the “gold rush” for developing apps and finding a space on Facebook is beginning to dwindle, but Jeremiah Owyang couldn’t disagree more. He notes that we haven’t even hit Facebook’s second wave of adoption, and that the next wave will include Fortune 100 companies who are just now coming to realize the influence of the popular networking site. Soon they will be developing their own Facebook presence far greater than the corporate presence already there. I agree with the “second wave” argument; now that the Facebook mania has started to die down, I’m suddenly seeing a new surge of blog posts about the platform, all with a similar theme: what’s next? “Like the first wave of the web, and then the second, Fortune 1000 companies are often slower to adapt, but when they do, they can pour immense resources into development and marketing. We should expect corporations to buy their way into this space, much how they did with Superman in Facebook.”

We're All Word of Mouth Marketers
Conversation Agent
Following an LA Times report on an eMarketer study indicating that 65 million Americans gave word of mouth advice last year, Valeria Maltoni wonders about the nature of word of mouth marketing. Companies are cashing in on customer loyalty, taking advantage of those consumers who are already spreading the word about their products by offering incentives for them to continue doing so. She speculates that they are finding online conversations and reaching out to that audience to further their brand. “Meet the new customer loyalty program -- you give happy customers freebies in the hope they will tell their family and friends. As a company tailors its programs on those whose behavior can be "bought", will it miss the conversation with truly loyal customers who do not need the free gifts? And how are companies going to find those passionate consumers? If you publish, chances are one of the ways is through key word searches.”

Cultivating Your Online Community
Twist Image
Mitch Joel outlines the many ways that readers of any online content (while he uses his own blog and podcast as a guinea pig) can help to grow or promote its online community. The theme is that spreading the word about the community throughout as many social networking channels as possible (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is the key to growing an audience and gaining influence. “If you are thinking about ways to get more involved or have been grappling with a way to contribute to these online conversations, I’ve created a very selfish list of stuff you can do to get your feet wet, build the community and, at the same time, get your own name “out there” without having to maintain a media channel of your own.”

Writing like you Talk (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Conversational Writing
Social Media Marketing
Scott Monty discusses a well-written e-newsletter he received and enjoyed, noting its conversational tone and light touch (technically, it was a blog post, so it makes sense that it would have this style). He believes that in a time when we are all flooded with a ton of information, emails, blogs clogging our RSS readers, and other forms of written messages, writing in this style will be the key to marketing. Write how people talk to each other, and you will be able to get through to potential customers. “When you're preparing the copy for your blog, corporate website, brochure or direct mail piece, what style do you typically effect? Having worked in the b2b space previously, I can tell you there's a lot of dry, dull and seemingly overused copy out there. Corporate standards must be upheld, you know.  But what if you took that website or brochure and really made it sing? What if you wrote it the way people would listen to it? What if - just for a moment - you did something that was completely unexpected and out of the ordinary?”

Early Adopter Regret?
Online Public Relations Thoughts
After an article wondering if businesses are wasting time building communities in Second Life, Jim Horton wonders if early adoption of the latest fad in technology can cause companies to lose their edge. Jumping on a bandwagon isn’t always the best thing for all brands, he argues, and can result in wasted time and money. “Practitioners forget there is gear-up time with all technologies and unless they have experimented with them, they are facing learning time that slows use. On the other hand, there are also judgment calls about which technologies to investigate. Second Life has struck me as a waste of time, so I have avoided using it. Perhaps I'm a Luddite about gaming.”

Post Facto Reputation Management
Neville Hobson
After last week’s Skype outage, which left users completely without service for two days, Neville Hobson disagrees with arguments that the company should have done a better job communicating during the down days. He argues that the lines of communication were open and information readily available on the problem. It’s now that service is back up and running, that he feels is an appropriate time for Skype executives to chime in with some information that may boost user confidence in the product. “That was the most effective means of communication at the time - regular updates via an appropriate channel, which was picked up and further communicated (or commented on) throughout the mainstream media, online and print, and the blogosphere. It wasn’t the moment for the C-suite to be issuing statements. Perhaps that moment is now. The immediate technical problem is fixed, which leaves an immediate business problem to address - confidence in the service and the company’s reputation.”

Will Red Cross Suit Hurt Johnson&Johnson?
Common Sense PR
As Johnson&Johnson continues its trademark suit against the Red Cross, Eric Eggerston points out that the entire thing is probably not even necessary—after all, there is a federal mandate banning any other companies from using the famed red cross logo. He further questions whether or not going up against a venerated volunteer agency in the courts will come back to bite the corporate giant in the court of public opinion, deciding that outcome is unlikely. “I’d like to think this lawsuit will boomerang on Johnson & Johnson, sullying its otherwise bland reputation, but that’s a long shot. By engaging in a PR battle, the Red Cross is no doubt hoping to shame Johnson & Johnson into easing up on their restrictions of the logo use. But the courts (or a pre-trial settlement) will resolve this situation eventually, and probably not in favor of unfettered fund-raising sales by the Red Cross.”