Disqus - Latest Comments for Eric Pratum

Re: Beware the Social Media Guru

Eric Pratum — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:54:18 -0000

Sorry, forgot to include this in the previous comment...

Your post is spot-on and well written. I hope the response is strong.

Re: Beware the Social Media Guru

Eric Pratum — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:52:36 -0000

I think that it has really only been in the last few months that I've begun to see some people waking up to the reality that there is a difference between being familiar with social media tools and being able to execute strategy with those tools.

While much better written and thought out, your post reminded me of my own "What did your social media consultant do before social media?" from a few weeks back.

Re: Where is the Kernel of Your Blog

Eric Pratum — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:08:32 -0000

In my opinion, a site's kernel should be evident on every page. To me, it shouldn't matter what page visitors first land on. They should easily be able to get a sense of what they entire site is about. If they want to read more in depth without having to go through every post, they can (and hopefully will) read the About page.

On every page, visitors to my site can see the kernel "Self-Promotion for Smart People."

Re: We Need The Right Advertising

Eric Pratum — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:40:22 -0000

I guess that my first note would be that his title "Advertising is failure" could be a dissertation unto itself, but is at the same time a great start for generating interest, talk, links, etc.

I believe this is really a matter of definition in that a passionate entrepreneur, salesperson, developer, etc could easily say that a product sells itself if they believe so fully in what they have to offer that they never feel like they have to advertise it, but instead, they simply inform about it.

When I worked for New Balance, I essentially felt the same way. I rarely thought that I was selling or advertising. I truly believed the products sold themselves to the people that really needed them because we catered very well to certain types of customers. For the others, I was happy if we could match them up with something that worked, but as long as we satisfied our core demographic, advertising (at least the way I thought of it at the time) was not necessary.

Re: Looking to manage blog chatter, Visible raises $6 million

Eric Pratum — Fri, 22 May 2009 08:53:00 -0000

Having formerly worked in pre-IPO investing and being a current user of Visible's tech, I'm not at all surprised that they've raised this much money. Their tool has just as many flaws and benefits as their competitors', but despite that, a need for systems of this type still exist.

If you're hating on Visible simply for having raised money or because you think their tech is worthless, the whole idea of social media, new marketing, and word-of-mouth is probably over your head, so get back to your phones and continue your cold calling. Maybe, that sort of sales, marketing, and brand management is simple enough for you to grasp in terms of ROI. The rest of us will be the thought leaders.

Re: Beware the Social Media Guru

Eric Pratum — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:52:36 -0000

Re: Beware the Social Media Guru

Eric Pratum — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:54:18 -0000

Sorry, forgot to include this in the previous comment...

Your post is spot-on and well written. I hope the response is strong.