Day: August 25, 2004

Jim Horton has a great post on the folly of trying to link blog postings with advertising dollars.

Blogversations have launched an initiative where they will effectively act as an agent between advertisers and bloggers. 

The business plan is as follows: Advertisers will suggest topics to blog on and then bloggers will either accept or reject the opportunity to blog on that particular topic – but according to Blogservations it’s not an advertorial…. huh?

“Evil is a shortsighted strategy. If bloggers sell out, they lose readers; if they lose readers, we lose sponsors. The pie shrinks for everyone. That’s why we don’t want bloggers to sell out. If you’re a blogger in our network, you always retain control over your blog; you’re always free to reject any proposed discussion or sponsorship which you’re not comfortable with. The power stays in your hands.”

If anyone know the folks over at Blogservations they should point them at the “wonderful” new book on “PR without BS”.

Of course this is advertorial. What is advertorial? Sponsor-supported content. This is no different. I doubt any blogger with an audience would dare to participate in this rubbish. Unless of course they want to lose their audience.

The good news is that this is doomed to fail. PR people often have a horrendous time trying to legitimately reach out to bloggers. How do you think those same bloggers will react to the idea of being paid by an advertiser to write on a pre-specified topic?

Nah…

 

The Good..

Following on from the positive news from the Council of Public Relations on billings for the first quarter of this year, WPP the large marketing conglomerate has announced that the revenue of its PR firms, which include Burson Marsteller, Ogilvy PR and Cohn & Wolfe, have risen 7.3% in the first six months of the year.

The Bad…

A new PR book is out titled “PR Without BS: The Practical Handbook of Ethical Public Relations”. So what angle did the author and publishers decide for the launch press release?

“Public Relations and Honesty Can Co-Exist, Says New Book”

Gee, I must buy the book to find out. Looks like they forgot to write the press release “without BS”.

The Smelly…

If you thought the PR profession had image problems, what about PR job applicants? UK PR recruitment specialist, VMA Group has published the results of a survey of PR employers and the findings were somewhat alarming.  When asked for their top issues with PR job applicants they listed: farting, smelling of alcohol, yawning, biting finger nails, taking shoes off and excessive scratching and sniffing as common issues… sounds like every PR practitioner I ever knew… More at HR Gateway.