DISQUS

"Thanks for coming, Melle, I knew I could count on you. It's the sock monkeys. I should have known that wee little shelf at the top of the closet couldn't hold them. Maybe if I quit making them after one or two. But you know how addicting those woolen bastards can be, Melle. I think it was number 982 that finally did it, though I heard creaking and cracking way back at number 434. Anyway, I've found a home for them. A nice hobby farm out in the country. They monkeys will have plenty of room to roam there. Or, you know, lay about casually in the fields. But I need to get them there. And a job like that demands more than just your pappy's wheelbarrow."

With you all the way, Danny. Your post certainly repeats that a one-fit solution will never work and I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. If more PR types paid heed to this way of thinking, life would be easier for everyone.

The PR-friendly/unfriendly badge is an interesting idea but I'm not sure it's going to get traction - especially the latter. Hard to see "casual bloggers" being engaged enough in the PR realm to even know they need such a badge. Still, better than nothing, I guess.

Danny,

At the risk of hikacking your comment thread / ignoring the key thrust of your post, I think we have to get past refering to bloggers and any kind of a homogenous collective.

There is finally (maybe) starting to be a growing understanding that the blog is the tool, not the strategy. The extension of this, though, is that bloggers are simply people who use that specific tool.

A hockey blogger is not the same as a PR blogger, who is not the same as a knitting blogger, who is not the same as a travel blogger etc. Within each of those communities lies even more variation.

You've done a good job of capturing this with the point about "find out who we are" but I think some of your comments here go too far the other way. To suggest that bloggers "love to be involved early on," for example, makes some big assumptions about bloggers that PR people should be wary of. Some people blog for their friends, some blog for themselves; they may not want to hear from PR companies no matter how tailored and gentle the pitch.

This isn't to take away from what you've written. You've made some excellent observations and suggestions. I'm just wary of trying to define a good way to approach bloggers as a collective.

Drew,

I don't know you but I want to. This is a brilliant, brilliant idea and a wonderful way to turn shitty news into something great. Good on you for being so positive. Hang in there and I will blame your cancer for everything and anything I can.

In my experience (including a year as editor-in-chief of a community newspaper), an apology is never, ever a bad idea, so long as it's sincere and delivered in the right spirit.

If somoene is pissed at you beyond repair then an apology won't make it any worse.

If someone is pissed at you but the relationship is salvagable, a nice apology will get the reconciliation process started.

If somoene is apathetic, a good apology makes you look good.

Balderdash! I have my home business set up nice and neatly on Geocities and I'm just waiting for my customers to come rolling in.

I kid, of course. I'm constantly amazed how many posts like this (you know, the ones from people who know what they're talking about?) offer up wonderful advice for social media marketing that could just as easily apply to good old fashioned communications and marketing.

If you're going to do an ad buy, wouldn't you expect to do some research on what publications or tv channels your target audience consumes? If you're sending a press release, don't you try to identify the journalists who give a rat's ass about your subject matter (actually, I guess this one isn't as hard and fast. But we all agree it should be, right?)?

Social media is not some comprehensive entity that one is either invested in or not. Social media are a suite of tools that share some characteristics but are inherently different media. They attract different audiences and serve different purposes.

What luck! I've been looking for a new business partner. I help wealthy Nigerian oilmen transfer money to the New World. We give our partners 10 per cent for their troubles. Do you think we can work together?

Danny,

Next time a client (or potential client) busts out the ol' "But my competitor has one" line, try asking them if they would release a press release just because their competitor did. Or do a major ad buy because their competitor did.

Actually, scratch that, a few of them might say yes.

Hey Danny,

I love the new look. And don't feel bad about changing it up a bit; I only did a redesign a few months ago and I'm already looking to swap it out again.

Great post, Angela. I think in-tweet ads, should they catch on, might be enough to drive me away from Twitter. It's one thing to integrate advertising into the UI but to actually make it seem like my tweeple are the ones promoting the products or services? ya, that's not cool.

Good luck, Ryan. I am eager to see what you can create.

Thanks for organizing this, Ryan. I will be there.

I will be there. Is heckling encouraged?

Well, I fear change, so take this with a grain of salt. But for some reason this screams Microsoft to me. Maybe the colours? I don't know. But I prefer the old one.

This is really interesting. Do you think the Mr. Clean folks might pursue legal action? I mean, it seems from the (admittedly brief) plot synopsis you've provided that our bald-headed hero is playing the Mr. Clean character...

Are spokespeople going to start seeing new clauses in their contract? Will that annoying guy in the red Wendy wig from the Baconator commercials be told outright that he can't star in some gender-bending porno?

Who knows what the crazy future will hold?

I'm guessing you've seen this?
http://www.pr-squared.com/2007/07/downloadable_...

It's going to be interesting to see how this takes off.

All I'm saying, man, is that if you've wandered into Hobo Capital, USA, you best hope the next revolution isn't about to start.

Seriously, read John Hodgman - he'll tell you what's up.

For shits and giggles, walk around tomorrow saying "I just think gaming peaked with Commander Keen, that's all." See what kind of reaction you get.

It is entirely unbelievable that charging employers is some sort of national standard. When I did journalism at the same school, our biggest industry outreach was through internships organized by the journalism school - we had no real connection to career services proper. I guess maybe that was a good thing.

My sage words are based on doing conventional radio, not podcasts, but I think they'll be helpful.

1) Speak much more slowly than you think you should. When we are talking to people in person, the ability to see lips move and body language goes a long way to what we think of as simply "hearing" people speak.

2) Watch the preambles. Typically, people are tuning in to hear the interviewee, not the interviewer. Nothing is worse (to me, anyway) than an interviewer espousing his or her views on a subject at length, then following with an insightful question like "Your thoughts?"

3) Ask open-ended questions. Most interviewees won't be a douche and hit you with a Yes/No answer but man oh man do you not want to be holding the mic when one does. Especially if you've just finished pissing all over Joe's Sage Words of Advice #2.

Those are my big three. Mostly just have fun with it.