The Pre-Commerce Blog

Gatekeepers Require Scarcity

When Wal-Mart turns to blogs as a serious part of its communications strategy, you know there are changes going on in PR, media, and commerce. BuzzMachine, BubbleGeneration, Richard Edelman and others are taking a look at the PR and media angles. It basically comes down to this: * With power comes responsibility - bloggers have gained power and not surprisingly some of them are misusing it or at least not yet fully using it responsibly. * Power is a zero sum game - the power bloggers have gained comes at the expense of journalists and media, some of whom not surprisingly respond by sniping and whining * Marketing/Journalism/PR 2.0 � have neither arrived nor been defined any better than Web 2.0, and really are just the hope that with some new technology, the lessons of experience, and the optimism that a new start brings, we can do things better next time. (But nobody agrees on what �better� means.) I find the implications for commerce more interesting. Jarvis discusses the idea that gatekeepers are changing or disappearing in terms of corporate information, celebrity, and politics. But gatekeepers only exist where there is scarcity. Product information and reviews used to be scarce, and companies and the media (magazines usually) were the gatekeepers. Boy are those days gone. Now �unofficial� product information abounds, in many cases far before the company acknowledges or releases a product. Once a product is available, anyone can write reviews or share opinions, perspective, and analysis. And subject only to the relevance of search results or the coincidence of finding the link, anyone trying to learn about a product will have equal (or sometimes superior) access all of this information. Clearly the marketer is no longer in control. This means that marketers now have to do two things they didn�t have to do before. First, you need to provide complete and high quality �official� information and work hard to distribute it. Picture-price-paragraph isn't going to sell anything to anybody. Secondly, you should assist and enable the �unofficial� providers because there is nothing you can do to edit or stop them. Like it or not, they�re going to have a huge, perhaps decisive, impact on your success. Wal-Mart clearly recognized this and so they hired a high-end PR firm to impact the process for them. Regardless of the intentions or ethics of either side of the equation, if these people don�t think they can shout-down or ad-drown out the masses, you better believe that you don�t have any chance either. And that is true whether you�re trying to hire lots of people without providing health care, or sell high-tops to kids that skateboard.

How and Why To Blog

There are lots of reasons to blog, and lots of ways to blog. Hugh is giving a speach on this topic and highlights some of his wisest words, and links to a few from others. If you're still trying to figure this out, you could do a lot worse than absorbing his words and links.

Feed Icons

Subscribing to the RSS (or Atom) feed of a blog (or any content) has become a crazy game of 'find the icon' as the tiny orange little XML icon has mutated into a thousand variants. While standards rarely tend to get simpler again, it looks like we have a shot with this one, because someone created a nice little 'feed' icon that Firefox is using, and Microsoft of all people has adopted it and so a movement has been born.

We're all for it, and will be dumping our existing XML and other icons in favor of the new standard. Please consider doing the same.

Spam Blogs

Pro and Con.

We're con, by-the-way.

Blogging BPM: Business Process Management Blog from CommerceQuest

Another business blog we're working on for and with a client has been live in the world for a number of weeks now, so we wanted to talk about it a little bit.

CommerceQuest is a Business Process Management Software developer, and their new blog is called "CQ on BPM". It's about how business process management (or BPM) helps companies to better manage processes and behind-the-scene stories and ideas about selecting, installing, and using BPM software.

It's primarily a corporate blog, with input from the sales and marketing staff of the company, but there's also a regular CEO column from Mike Forster called 'Outta The Blue' and a series of 'guest bloggers' from across the BPM industry.

Like any young blog, CQonBPM is just getting started and has great ambitions for the future. We think it's off to a great start and look forward to helping along the way.

CEO Blogs: Advice from GM's Vice Chairman

Bob Lutz is Vice Chairman, global product development for GM, and a blogger at FastLane. He writes about his blogging experience in InformationWeek, and shares advice based on his experience:

To blog or not to blog? For a lot of senior executives these days, that is the question. The answer, simply enough, is to blog.

He provides some other good advice and input: * Leave the corporate-speak behind and keep the tone conversational, open, and honest * Don't filter out negative comments, complaints, or hate mail. * We've found the blog to be a hugely effective communications tool and a terrific way to conduct a grassroots, largely unfiltered conversation with GM fans and nonfans alike. [Via Blogwrite For CEOs]

Podcasting Joins The Marketing Mix

I haven't been quick to jump on the Podcasting bandwagon, for several reasons. The first being that I can't see myself (or very many others) having the time to listen to too many of these things. Now the hype (and maybe even the trends) is proving me wrong. The second was a complete lack of interest in finding and configuring another batch of software and utilities for yet another specialized use. With the new iTunes, that problem is solved.

But it was a short rant on Buzzmachine against one specific podcast, and some lengthy thoughs on 'casting itself by Marc Cuban that helped me to realize that - for online marketers - podcasts are here to stay.

Jeff Jarvis basically makes fun of a new Disneyland podcast. His point seams to be, who would want to listen to crass commercial messages. Cuban isn't so much anti-podcast as he is trying to cool down the hype, reminding everyone that once-upon-a-time streaming was going to change the world too. He's not so much anti-podcasting as he is warning off investors and entrepreneurs.

These are to very smart guys, and I agree with a large majority of their posts. But I think commercial or advertorial-podcasts have a huge future. Because they're just another form of targeted and (hopefully) deep information that fits the 'consumers are in control' communications model. If I were planning to take the family to Disneyland, the right Disney podcast or two could be of interest.

Another example, I'm fairly interested in the new Thinkpad X41 tablet PC, and just this morning found a good personal blog post of one new users' impressions. If Lenovo had a podcast with info and details and user testimonials, I may subscribe for a few days or weeks.

So in this case podcasts aren't about the 'pod, they're about the 'casts. Audio is a good medium to transfer certain kinds of info -I can imagine many situations where it's easier to just say it that write it out - and that simplicity may lead to sharing lots of depth that never makes it onto the web.

Blogs as a format allow for lots of sharing of details that web pages, with their navigation and design and other issues just make too hard. Podcasts simplify creation and distribution for another kind of information (as the PodFather happened to point out just today).

Deep specific information just when the consumer wants it - to gain trust and confidence so they can make a buying decision is a winner in whatever form it takes. One of those forms just became the Podcast.

Business Blogs Explained

Hugh at GapingVoid is not only one funny SOB, he's also wicked smart. Reach him explain why blogging matters/works and you'll see what I mean. And he's not afraid to discuss the tough realities of blogging either.

Also worth looking at: The Seven Business Models for Blogging by Dana Blankenhorn (as retold by BL Ochman).

A Little Blogsterbation

Thinking and reading a lot about Blogs today. First a great fisking of the Business Week cover story by the guy who runs BlogAds. (Read the actual BusinessWeek story here.) Then, a CIO article about how blogs are impacting business from that viewpoint. And finally, a blog conference that actually looks like it's worth attending (and I might) in NYC this week. Free webcast also available.

PS: Blogsterbation is just a cute little name for blogging about blogging. I try to avoid it, but it seems to happen anyway...

Business Blogging Gains More Visibility

Investors Business Daily is the latest mainstream publication to notice the corporate blogging trend, and brings us the same editorial vision that spent the whole of the Internet boom screaming about impending doom. They start with a reasonable statement:

Proponents of blogs say the medium is an unmatched tool for getting your message to customers. That includes reaching existing customers, prospective customers and ones that might be under the radar.

But then they jump into lazy, thoughtless sensationalism.

But with these opportunities come risks. Unlike a company Web page or press release, which is usually carefully vetted before it is posted, blogging is more of a spontaneous action. Blogs allow instantaneous posting by anyone with password access to a firm's authoring software. Plus most blog postings are quick and short. They aren't typically written with a lot of reflection or caution.

In many ways, blog postings resemble e-mails. But with e-mail, the message goes to a specific group of recipients -- though it can always be forwarded endlessly. With a blog, an inappropriate posting could do more damage.

Post an entry about the attractiveness of the new assistant or whether the company might go public, and it's there for the whole world to see.

While blogs do provide a great way to say stupid things in a very public way, defining spontaneity as the key attribute of blog posts is wrong. I think informality is the key, which is something different altogether.

Blogs give companies a chance to talk about their products and services, and areas of interest and expertise, in a human voice that has been ruled out of most other forms of corporate communications. This is why they're resonating with people - both consumers (no I don't hate that word) and marketers (though I do hate that one).

And just for good measure, IBD includes a completely impossible statistic, but at least they don't even claim that it's true:

There are no exact figures on how many companies are blogging these days. But it's estimated that around 45% of the largest 1,000 publicly held companies in North America have blogs or plan to start them sometime this year.

Business Blog Launch: The Green View

We're pleased to announce a new lawn care weblog that we've created for the GreenView fertilizer division of Lebanon Seaboard.

The new blog is part of an expanded online presence and ecommerce launch for GreenView, who aims it to inform and communicate with people interested in their products and areas of expertise - fertilizer and lawn care. The blog covers the full range of lawn care issues from equipment to techniques, from grass seed to weeds, and provides a very steady stream of tips and Q&A. We're even hoping to have a number of different home owners provide 'diaries' of their own experiences working to have the kind of lush green lawn that the neighbors can't help but envy.

A blog is a great way for any company to humanize itself and its products, and share the wealth of subject matter expertise that usually stays stuck inside the business and hidden away behind formal marketing communications. The good folks at GreenView are providing another great example of this every day. It's going to be fun and interesting to watch throughout this spring and summer lawn care season - and beyond.

Tips to Blog By

Since I'm trying to get my blog groove back, Halley Suitt's list (as recounted by BlogWrite for CEO's) is worth thinking about and sharing:

Here are Halley's top 7 tips:

1. Always tell a story.

She refers to Malcom Gladwell's new book, Blink. He tells stories to explain his ideas.

2. Tell the truth

If your CEO can't do that then maybe he/she shouldn't be blogging.

3. Be passionate

Halley: "The writing has to have passion... for your industry or your topic... or nobody will care."

4. Write about "things of this world"

Halley: "Anything that people are jumping all over… the Tsunami or credibility and ethics in writing as it's being discussed at a Harvard conference. You have to take a stand. You have to put yourself out there and let your head get chopped off."

5. Brevity

Halley: "Better to write 12 posts than 12 paragraphs. (In blog writing) brevity IS the soul of wit."

6. Freshness

Halley: "You need to be posting a lot every day. At least one thing a day, the more often the better."

Note: I disagree... this just isn't practical if you've working either in a job or independent consultancy where you're strapped for time. Yes, I know that Microsoft's Scoble posts a dozen or more times a day. But he's not your ordinary blogger.

7. Voice

Halley: "The blogs you want to read have a voice. When people meet me they say I sound like my blog." (Is that a compliment, she wonders??)

Halley, cont. "Be careful. Especially with corporate blogs. You can’t sound PR-ish."

8. BONUS TIP… know when NOT to write something!

Halley: "Learn when to take your hand away from the keyboard."

Business Blogging Gets Noticed

Fortune Magazine starts the year out with a bang by declaring that 'There's No Escaping The Blog'. They quickly get to the crux of it, showing how even the formerly faceless monolith Microsoft is using blogging and bloggers to communicate, listen, and foster better customer relationships.

The articles goes a lot farther than the usual ain’t-blogging-hot drivel. It really gets at why this is an important trend that won’t go away: your customers now have a public voice, and they’re going to use it whether you join the conversation or not. The Krptonite story is used as a recent high-profile example.

Of course, not everyone has a large enough profile or customer base that ‘your customers’ are actually out there talking about you. And hopefully not everyone does things as stupid as Microsoft and Kryptonite which would lead customers to say these kinds of things anyway. But your customers in your market are out there talking, and the premise remains the same. They’re having a conversation. You can be involved or not. And if you’re not, one of your competitors surely will be. (One interesting fact the story points out is that a new blog is created every 3 seconds!)

Update: Fortune Follows Up with More Tips and Reasons To Blog