CustomScoop's PR Blog Jots

CustomScoop's PR PodJots

It’s time for another edition of CustomScoop’s PR PodJots, our weekly rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podosphere.

It’s a truncated version after a busy week, but I promise we’ll be back with the usual expanded recap section as usual next Friday!

Around the PR Podcast Horn (in alphabetical order):

For Immediate Release #278 and #279 – Monday’s episode featured discussions of PR and Facebook, the end of paid content on the New York Times website, and a report from Lee Hopkins. Thursday’s episode saw Shel and Neville discussing the Ragan Unconference in Chicago, retail in Second Life; employee blogging, and a report from Dan York from the AstriCon conference.

Inside PR #78 – This week, David and Terry discuss a number of upcoming events, including the Podcast and New Media Expo taking place this week in Ontario, CA. Their main topic of discussion is how different agencies organize their account teams. As always, they conclude the show with “Inside Proper English” (a “favourite” of mine!).

Marketing Over Coffee – John Wall and Chris Penn delve into their usual wide variety of topics this week, covering brand awareness, Internet advertising, “creepy” marketing tactics, and privacy concerns. Blogger Chris Brogan also reports on professional networking site LinkedIn, and John and Chris discuss Facebook applications.

Marketing Martini #26 – Bill Sweetman, in a succinct and useful episode, explains how to drive readership to your blog using the conversation as a tool. That is, he recommends commenting on the blogs of others in your area of interest to raise awareness of your own blog.

PRobecast #32 – Adam Zand, Doug Haslam and Rob Capra offer a rundown of the Boston Social Media Cub event last Thursday, which I can agree was quite compelling. The event featured Forrester's Josh Bernoff, Dan "Fake Steve Jobs" Lyons of Forbes, and Steve Restivo of Wal-Mart.

Six Pixels of Separation #70 – After a comprehensive rundown of upcoming events and appearances and user comments, Mitch Joel covers his weekly Six Points, this week’s involve six questions you should be asking your digital marketing agency. They include questions about RSS, wikis, search engines, and other social media concerns.

Personal (Brand) Responsibility (and Other PR Blog Jots)

You Are Who You Hire
Personal Branding Blog
Using his personal unpleasant experiences dealing with a high profile retail chain as an example, Dan Schwabel reminds corporations that the personal brand of their employees can directly affect how consumers view a company. He admits, however, that this issue mainly affects only those companies whose employees deal directly with the public, such as in retail chains, where the customer interacts with both a sales team and the customer service teams at checkout. “When you are greeted by one of these individuals, they are supposed to convey a sense of trust in their brand and that of the product they are explaining. Not only this, but they are supposed to help the customer by providing an exceptional experience from knowledge sharing till purchase. This also works similar with the sales people, as they are customer facing and can claim or lose the sale based on character, attitude, experience, technical competencies and the brand of their business.”

Writing Them Into It
Copyblogger
I’ve argued repeatedly that the quality of writing in business, and in public relations in particular, is often startlingly poor (for examples, check out all the poorly crafted pitches on the Bad Pitch Blog). This is why a post like Brian Clark’s is so important for everyone, not just those who make their living solely by writing. Brian lays out ten tips for writing persuasive copy, required reading for anyone in PR or marketing with room to improve their writing abilities (otherwise known as everyone, including me). “Persuasion is generally an exercise in creating a win-win situation. You present a case that others find beneficial to agree with. You make them an offer they can’t refuse, but not in the manipulative Godfather sense. It’s simply a good deal or a position that makes sense to that particular person. But there are techniques that can make your job easier and your case more compelling.”

Relationship Metrics?
Communications Overtones
Kami Huyse examines the argument that in public relations, managing and measuring the value of relationships can be just as essential as measuring results. She highlights a 1999 research paper from the Institute of Public Relations, which measured relationships based on six factors, including trust, commitment, and satisfaction. She also urges for personal surveys with questions meant to delve into the six factors, to get a better understanding of where your relationships stand, and where they could improve.  “So what do you think of this method of measuring relationships, and do you think that the main role of PR should be to develop and nurture these relationships.”

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us (and Other PR Blog Jots)

The Emperor Has No Viral Strategy
Social Media Marketing
It must be a maddening undertaking to explain to a client that no, there really isn’t any way to just create a viral out of thin air—particularly since no one can predict the next YouTube sensation. That’s the beauty of the medium, many of the best virals have been happy accidents, or (the Mentos/Diet Coke thing comes to mind) not even actually the result of any marketing effort whatsoever. That being said, Scott Monty argues that there are some things you can do to improve your chances at getting some love from the online community. Do your homework on your audience, and be as entertaining as possible. “That's not to say it's going to work. Odds are, it won't. But this is the formula that has to be followed, in my opinion, if you want any shot at success. You don't just upload some half-ass video to YouTube and claim you've got a viral video. The 42 people who view it may think so, but I doubt your client or manager will.”

Nine Billion Served?
Six Pixels of Separation
According to a recent Comscore report, in the month of July alone nine billion videos were viewed online, with 75 percent of Americans watching an average of three hours of online video in the same month. Mitch Joel reports on this news, noting that most (this blogger included!) would probably be somewhat incredulous at the nine billion figure, which is so large it could very easily be a typo. “I always believed that consumers don't just want to sit and stare at a computer screen... that's what they were doing with television. Especially when you factor in the quality of online video and the bandwidth buffering issues that still persist to this day. I have the humility to say that I was (and still am) shocked that in an interactive environment like Web still has people who are eager to sit back and passively watch videos.”

Disclose, Disclose, Disclose!
Shel Holtz
In one of the more apropos blog headlines I’ve seen recently, Shel Holtz implores “Will we never learn?” Seriously. The Guardian is reporting that Microsoft PR firm Burson Marsteller has caused a bit of a kerfuffle by advocating for high-profile corporate memberships in an organization meant to fight the recent Google acquisition of DoubleClick. Not coincidentally, Microsoft had been bidding on DoubleClick as well. Shel’s problem isn’t so much the formation of the organization or even Burson advocating for it—but a lack of full disclosure. “The world is transparent, and many eyes are focused on the lens peering into the business world. Deceit will be exposed. There is no benefit in trying to get away with something like this, which only hurts the public relations profession, including those who would never engage in such practices.”

PR FunJots (a PR Blog Jots Special Edition)

Kick Butt Marketing
Canuckflack
I think it’s time for a PR Blog Jots: Fun Stuff Edition. First up, I offer this fun-yet-informative post from Colin McKay, regarding a rather creative marketing technique from a home renovation specialist looking to get his small business off the ground. The man posted a picture of his hilarious butt-kicking invention on Craigslist as a want ad searching for people with “strong butts” to test it out, pointing out at the end that aside from humorous inventions, he has more than ten years experience in home remodeling. “There you go: the key to success as a small business. In a field with many similar competitors, identify a quality that separates your services from the pack and promote that quality. Make it real for the consumer.”

Check, 1-2-3
Unspun
In a new discovery (thanks, Twitter!), the employee bloggers over at Shift Communications have offered up another post to make you chuckle and think—particularly about what you’re putting into that email or instant message before you hit the send button. In an excellent reminder, particularly for everyone in the instant digital communication era, Matt Trocchio points out that giving your emails and other messages a thorough once over before sending them into the world can do wonders in protecting your reputation. He also offers some good (and funny) resources for avoiding costly email mistakes. “Common sense says that if you wouldn’t want to see it in print, than you probably shouldn’t write it down.  However, for those out there that like to live dangerously – here is a tip.  Always double check the “to” portion of whatever you are using: email, IM, whatever.  Sometimes it is even more important than hitting spell check before an official sign off.”

How To Be a Dilbert Manager
Common Sense PR
Are you tired of happy, engaged, productive employees? (Well really, who isn’t!) Then this is the post for you. Eric Eggerston lists “9 Ways to Disengage Your Employees,” a great guide for any manager looking to “Dilbertize” their workforce. Eric recommends long, unproductive meetings, unclear business strategies, poor employee recognition guidelines and blockage of all personal communications and non-work related websites. As for social media, he recommends launching and quickly abandoning a CEO blog and podcast. (For additional entertainment, see Eric’s 99 of the Worst Things to do in Business post.) “Brainstorm to find your own company-specific demotivators. Tweak your disengagement efforts, based on measurement. Don’t let setbacks stop you. It’s important to have faith in your ability to crush morale, even if some naysayers question your goals or your tactics.”

We Get Sacks and Sacks of Letters...
Now is Gone
While I realize I may be the only one who would recognize my headline here as the David Letterman mailbag theme song, I nevertheless offer a reader mailbag from Ike Pigott over at Now is Gone. Ike addresses Web 2.0 questions from consumers, IT department workers, and even Fake-Fake Steve Jobs! He points out the difference between Web 2.0 and PR 2.0, with references to previous forms of two-way communications between companies and consumers. “In the past, companies would communicate with the public using one medium, and the clients/customers/serfs would communicate back through another. Examples: 1567 - King sends town criers to announce a new tax | Peasants respond with torches and pitchforks…2007 - Ad placed on website | Fan creates mashup of ad, links back to original.”

Zzzz... (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Zzzzz....
Murphy’s Law
Congratulations, you’re boring me to tears! According to Tom Murphy, that’s the point when you know your social media program is starting to sink in with the public. I’m reminded of a rule regarding political stump speeches. Just when you think you’ve said the same thing so many times your head might explode if you say it again, that’s the moment when your target audience is starting to “get it.” Tom uses the blog as an example, while 2.0 enthusiasts consider the blog old news, the general public is finally starting to get on board. “When you think of Web 2.0 (snooze…) you don’t often think of blogs - they’re boring - they’re not on the bleeding edge. But that’s a good thing. While investors and entrepreneurs are hosting 2.0 love-ins across the world, the humble blog is continuing to be quietly and efficiently adopted.”

Never Write a Bad Blog Pitch Again
Social Media Marketing
Are PR professionals so hard-wired to the mass-email mentality that they’re incapable of courting bloggers effectively? Scott Monty offers three easy steps to effective blogger outreach programs, hoping to educate the practitioners so used to the blast method. Scott recognizes that to actually follow and interact with the number of bloggers a PR pro would want involved in any given program would be quite an undertaking, but he emphasizes the importance of doing just that. “And this is difficult to do when a PR professional - who, let's face it, is used to mass mail-merging press releases and pitches - is trying to contact maybe 100 different bloggers. To spend a couple of weeks of lead time following, reading and responding is a major commitment. But I think it's crucial.”

Personal vs Professional
Disruptive Conversations
Dan York examines the intersection of personal beliefs and political philosophies with professional networking; has Facebook changed the way we perceive our professional colleagues? He relates a story of finding, through Facebook, that a professional contact he had previously admired had listed political and religious views entirely opposite to his own. Dan wonders if bringing previously “taboo” topics such as religious beliefs into a professional network is very wise. “To me this is just yet another one of those areas where we don't fully understand the full impact of the profiles of Facebook and, in fairness, all the other social networking services. In the rush to join these services, we just fill out all sorts of information, not necessarily taking the time to think about the potential impact exposing that information may have.”

Crisis Comms Direct
Crisisblogger
Gerald Baron comments on the evolution of crisis communications in the era of short message systems (SMS), microblogging platforms and other direct communication tools that have altered the spread of critical information. He gives examples of communications during weather-related crises, notably a school district using email updates to alert parents to closings, and also notes that ad dollars are falling in the wake of skipping usage of the media to communicate. “The future, folks, is direct communication. Mass communication is now in the hands of people just like you who have access to the powerful tools that make that possible. Data management must be on the minds of all communicators.”

Reminder: Blogs Work
PRSA
In a post for the PRSA’s PR Evolution Conference, Paul Gillin argues the benefits of corporate blogging, and wonders what excuse a business could have for continuing to refrain from joining the conversation. He notes the widespread corporate fear of loss of message control, and of some of the more negative aspects of the conversation, going on to cite five examples of successful, positive corporate blogs that should serve as reminders that this medium can actually work. “But ignoring the enormous opportunity of business blogging for these relatively minor risks is like choosing not to drive because you might hit a telephone pole. With a little planning and a clear sense of purpose, blogging is a simple and inexpensive way to reach customers and the media.”

CustomScoop's PR PodJots

Welcome to PR PodJots, CustomScoop's weekly rundown of the best of the PR and marketing podcasting conversations.

This week marks the return of a PodJots favorite, Heidi Miller, who gives some valuable advice on interviewing and public speaking.

Diary of a Shameless Self Promoter #95 – How to Win Friends and Interview People

This week, after announcing that the Diary will be going to a bi-monthly schedule, Heidi Miller offers advice for anyone conducting interviews. She covers the top five “interview pitfalls, and how to avoid them.” A podcast commenter claims her biggest problem comes at conferences, when there is often nowhere to get a subject alone and tons of loud background noise. Heidi doesn’t mind not getting people alone, and thinks the background noise can actually add to an interview, liven it up, if you will. She recommends lapel microphones for interviews in these situations.

She mentions an interactive presentation at the New Media Expo she’ll be delivering with tips for conference interviews in particular, for anyone looking to hone their interview style beyond the usual tips.

Pitfalls:

Your guest is just not that interesting. – Drop them soon, and warn them the interview may be edited.

Dealing with a “pompous blowhard,” and droning on – Heidi urges people to find an “interruption point” and steer the conversation back to the topic you’re most interested in.

Help! I spaced out and now I don’t know what my guest just said! – Heidi advises you be honest, and just mention that you need a moment to find your next question, being sure to note that the guest was interesting.

Guest using terms you don’t understand – Never be afraid to admit when you don’t know about something. Just ask them to explain! Your listeners may need an explanation as well.

Guest is on a terrible cell phone – Simple: Never, ever, ever interview anyone on a cell phone! Get thee to a landline, guests…

Forward Podcast #31 – Managing Your Voice (not to mention your brand)

Following a flurry of posts last week (which have been well documented in PR Blog Jots) regarding young PR professionals managing their voices both online and in the office, Paull Young interviews Edelman’s Phil Gomes. Phil wrote a post recently regarding managing up, or the youing professional's ability to effectively communicate ideas and goals to superiors without overstepping boundaries.

Phil thinks that the managing up debate is actually separate from the issue of young PR pros’ ability to blog respectfully. He points out that for everything we teach in college, there’s very little out there to prepare a student to join the workforce, and how to behave as a part of an office.

As for online behavior, he points out that online “viciousness” can come from any level, and has more to do with the individual than how many years they have put in an given industry. People with years and years under their belts have also managed to get into trouble online, and all you can do is “dust yourself off” and keep going.

Also in the podcast:

The podcast concludes this week with some lengthy and useful comments from “the horse’s mouth,” so to speak: young PR professional and blogger Kait Swanson. According to the Forward team, Kait’s “thoughts really put Phil’s theory into practice from the point of view of a young communicator.”

Around the PR Podcast Horn:

Inside PR #77 – Continuing the discussion of the place of young PR bloggers, Terry and David and Terry also cover the topic. They discuss David’s reaction to the conversation launched by a particularly controversial post by a young blogger, and mention some of the blogosphere reactions.

PRobecast #31 – Rob, Sandy and Tim covered a number of issues last week, including the new Yahoo social network Mash (and its unfortunate leak pre-launch), and attempt to answer the question "Does social media make you dumb?" (If I am any indication…that issue is definitely up for debate!) They also touch on the PR behind the "High School Musical" Vanessa Hudgins scandal, and AT&T’s rebranding efforts.

Six Pixels of Separation #69 – After covering the usual housekeeping items on conferences and other concerns and a conversation with Todd Maffin of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Mitch offers his six tips of the week. This time, they concern better blogging practices, including writing a draft first, checking for spelling and grammar concerns, and being creative.

Marketing Over Coffee – This week, Chris and John discuss their usual wide variety of topics, covering comment spam, astroturfing, email and podcast deliverability issues, Google AdWords, Facebook Flyers, and much more, including a segment from Chris Brogan.

For Immediate Release – The Hobson & Holtz Report #276: Neville and Shel discussed a number of interesting items, including the recently released UK blogging survey for business and IDC survey.  The pair also covered the crucial topic of Ogilvy’s code of ethics for blogger outreach. The Hobson & Holtz Report - Podcast #277: The duo continued with another interesting podcast later in the week.  Check out their discussion on the StopBlocking.com campaign and media generated by employees.

Marketing Martini #25 - Marketing Martini host Bill Sweetman discusses email marketing, and how to avoid ending up in the “deleted items” folder with the rest of the spam.

Online Equality (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Everyone Has a Say...
Wildfire Strategy
In the latest excellent response to the young PR bloggers debate from last week, Tamera Kremer discusses the role of senior management in providing mentorship at the junior level, and learning to listen to the next generation. Among Tamera’s many arguments is the notion that senior level PR staffers will have a hard time using social media to communicate their clients’ messages if they completely shut out younger voices, pointing out that a terrific aspect of the Internet is its ability to put everyone on equal ground. “Anyone who has spent time on political blogs, entertainment or tech discussion boards knows the territory is fraught with flame wars and unpleasant conversations. It’s part of the landscape and if we hope to advise our clients and senior managers of the power and need for participating in the space we should take every opportunity to probe deeper and expand our knowledge.”

The Importance of Playing Facebook Scrabble
Twopointouch
While he at first eschewed all the seemingly silly Facebook applications that have launched since the site opened its doors to outside developers, Ian Delaney recognizes the value in some of these online games and “fun stuff.” He responds to an argument heard at a conference that face-to-face contact is the only way to build lasting relationships, and points out that interacting over a medium like Facebook can provide true intimacy and real friendship, along with business benefits. “Getting updates on the statuses of my professional contacts is actually deepening my relationship with them. I know if they’re tired, bored, elated. I know about the status of their latest projects. And they know about mine. There are people who have been friends to this blog since way back who I feel I could walk up to and hug when we actually meet in the flesh. And with those casual friendships - when we meet again - we’re so much more intimate than the first time we met.”

MSM Recognizes Social Media Impact (!)
Tough Sledding
Responding to a recent story out of the Chicago Tribune in which the paper gives credit to social media’s role in raising money for a civil rights cause, Bill Sledzik points out that the “grass” in grassroots movements has gone digital. He points out the strength of networking sites like Facebook in growing business and rallying for causes, and argues that all PR practitioners (even the reluctant ones) need to start including social media in their strategies. “A wait-and-see approach to social media isn’t the answer. You don’t have to shift your world view here, but you need to view the world, at least in part, from a Web 2.0 perspective.”

Mad About Ads (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Free Press
Six Pixels of Separation
The New York Times announced this week that all online content would be free of charge from now on, and Mitch Joel thinks it signifies a shift in power from paper to electronic media. The NYT is just “following the money,” and realizing that the profits may not lie in subscriptions as much as online advertising and other methods. The audience for the paper’s online content will only increase now that it is all free-of-charge, and therefore the cost of the ads can also rise. “While many in Digital Marketing question the power (and longevity) of online display ads (the cool new saying for "banners"), NYTimes.com generates tons of traffic, and this move will open up the inventory and enable them to stockpile some ad cash in the short haul. Sulzberger and his team may not be looking at the next four years to stop the presses, but there is no doubt that they are testing the model of "content as media" in a very unique way.”

Speaking of Ad Dollars...
MicroPersuasion
Steve Rubel argues that there are some social media or networking sites that will never attract the big money advertisers, no matter how popular they become. According to Steve, it’s the audience that matters most, and the type of consumer a site attracts. While many 2.0 sites (Twitter, for instance) attract a great number of eyeballs, those eyeballs don’t have enough of a “commercial intent” to be attractive to advertisers. “My personal conviction - one that I plan to table - is that search should be the most important driver for how advertisers size up the influence of different community sites and the individuals who make them up. The problem is no one is thinking this way. Everyone is overlooking the organic impact of Web 2.0 on product-related searches in favor of quick and dirty old school metrics.”

Ads vs Privacy?
Marketing Conversations
Following the MySpace announcement that it would begin tailoring advertisements to users’ individual likes or activities, Dani Sevilla wonders if this practice (which is common throughout the Internet) might infringe a bit too far on users’ privacy. Dani argues that while any user of a social networking site is aware that the site’s administrator’s can access their profile, they may not be aware that their personal information is being shared with any corporation willing to pony up the money for ad space. “Users of MySpace are already going to be attacked by these oh-so-enticing advertisements geared directly towards them and in addition to this MySpace is going to help the advertisers know MORE about their target audience. Social network users would surely not like to know that not only are they being monitored but that their “private” information is being sent out to corporations for the purpose of being able to sell them more things.”

I Don't Want to Go Off on a Rant Here...but..
Strategic Public Relations
In a rant I could not agree with more, Kevin Dugan wonders why companies (using Yahoo! and their new social networking site Mash as an example) feel the need to jump into the social networking craze on their own, instead of using an existing network to their advantage. For example, Wal-Mart, after attempting to launch its own network, reaped far greater rewards by involving itself in the already existing world of Facebook. “While being a small widget with a long tail is all the rage, we see old world thinking bolted onto the new. My guess is that many companies want the new world rewards of customer engagement without relinquishing old world control. If they own the social network, it’s easier to presume that control exists. The benefits of giving up control of the message are proven online. New tools require new rules and you should expect mixed results (at best) by mixing the two.”

Talk is Cheap (and Other PR Blog Jots)

Conversations are People Too
Now Is Gone
In another excellent response to the Jonah Bloom Ad Age kerfuffle, Ike Pigott reminds bloggers that as we continue to participate in the online conversation, we mustn’t forget to also represent ourselves as respectfully as possible. We are all our own brand managers as we send thoughts out into the blogosphere, and taking the time to dial down the rhetoric and remember that there are humans behind every blog will go a long way towards keeping the conversation civil and useful. “With the interlinking and intermingling of social networks, it is even permissible to be a little more sarcastic on one than on another, as we expect each to bring out a different aspect of our personalities. At the end of the day, though - you still need to be accountable for what you say. The script is flipped, and you don’t just own what you write. What you write can own you.”

Not Another Social Network
PR 2.0
Brian Solis reviews Mash, Yahoo!’s foray into the social networking world that attempts to mash up the best of both Facebook and MySpace. He notes that the network more closely resembles MySpace, considering the user ability to alter the design of their personal page and other elements, and therefore probably won’t contend with Facebook as the central “online hub” of a user’s personal brand. That being said, he does find plenty to like about Mash—though interestingly, the features he praises are the ones most similar to Facebook. “So as a marketing professional, pay attention to Y! Mash. It's easy to immediately disregard it as a young Facebook or simply as just another MySpace. I think its value lays somewhere in the middle. Either way, our job is to listen to relevant conversations taking place and engage wherever the people we want to talk to congregate.”

Heading to the Tool Shed
Web Strategy by Jeremiah
The 2.0 era offers a nearly endless array of tools to use in your online marketing strategy, but which one is best? There’s no clear answer, according to web strategist Jeremiah Owyang. He points to surveys indicating that prospect conversion rates are the best for email campaigns, with paid keyword searches close behind. However, there is no telling what will work best for a particular prospect and urges companies to consider their options before diving into web marketing. “[W]hen deploying your strategy, here are the steps I recommend: 1) First determine the needs of the users and community, what do they want, where are they, who are they, and why are they going to care? 2) Understand business needs, what are you trying to accomplish? What are the short and long term goals of the organization? 3) What tools and technology (resources) do you have?”

Miniskirt Marketing
The Flack
Peter Himler praises Southwest Airlines’ recent campaign to regain some goodwill following a controversial incident in which a scantily clad passenger was asked to cover up. The airline launched a fare sale “in honor of miniskirts,” with “skimpy” prices as low as $49 for some flights. The passenger in question is still fuming, however, claiming that Southwest is using her “traumatic experience” to sell more tickets. Who is right? “Good for you, Southwest. Clever, fun, irreverent, and I bet you sold lots of flights as a result. Of course, the provocateur wasn't drinking the lemonade. She rejected Southwest's attempts to make light of a skimpy situation. I guess fame and an apology from the airline's CEO didn't measure up.”

Are You Ready for Some Good PR? (and Other PR Blog Jots)

In Football, as in PR...
Engage in PR
In a great follow-up to Ed Lee’s post last week regarding the best PR strategy for the Patriots following “camera-gate,” Kyle Flaherty examines the Pats’ PR moves as a case study for crisis communications. He advises those in a one-person crisis let that person take the blame, so the organization that person represents takes as little heat as possible. He also praises the Patriots for allowing the right people (the players) to offer their support to Belichick, and for continuing to operate at the highest of levels, silencing critics with outstanding play. Kyle further highlights the strategy of changing the story’s perspective. “Shift the story from “them against us” to “us against them”. Everyone likes an underdog and when you are under attack from all angles there comes a point when the tide will turn and people begin to see that people are just piling on.”

The Blogger Outreach Quiz
Bad Pitch Blog
Kevin Dugan presents a questionnaire that every PR practitioner should take before attempting a blogger outreach program on behalf of clients. Fail the quiz? Don’t hit send. Sending bad, un-researched pitches to bloggers is the best way to either get your client no social media publicity at all, or worse, bad publicity. His six-question quiz inquires as the length of knowledge about the blog you are reaching out to, and the amount of research you’ve done pre-pitch. “Does this read like a lot of work? If your news doesn’t merit this level of effort, don’t pitch it to a blog. This will eliminate a few of the irrelevant news releases many blogs receive. If you answered no to any of the above, you may need to ramp up your approach to mainstream media first.”

Learning Experience
Student PR
After sparking a long conversation about age vs experience among other PR bloggers with a somewhat incendiary post about Joe Jaffe and crayon, Chris Clarke writes thoughtfully about what he’s learned from the experience. While he stands by the decision to write about crayon’s recent loss of prominent staffers, he admits that the way he approached the issue was not right. Chris takes the experience and offers advice to other bloggers, which boils down mainly to “think before you blog.” “Don’t call anyone out unless you feel it’s justified on every level, and even then, consider the person/company you’re calling out. Would you say it to their face the same way you want to say it in a blog post?”

Corporate Doesn't Always Mean "Evil"
Chrisbrogan.com
Responding to a piece that questions whether PodCamp Boston has “gone corporate” following Microsoft’s decision to participate, Chris Brogan argues that corporations do not necessarily always have “evil” agendas, and that Microsoft may bring something to the table at this year’s Boston unconference. He admits that big companies can screw up just as easily as individuals can, sometimes easier. But does that mean we should automatically exclude them from the conversation? “But aren’t stumbles better than letting corporations sit around and “do it all wrong” over and over again? Was GM wrong for the Tahoe campaign? I don’t think so. Rather, I think it was a matter of implementation. Should they try again? Another way? Damned straight.”