There’s a new weblog business venture afoot. It’s called Weblogs Inc. and it’s focused on creating niche weblogs.
It seems to be pushing an idea of building a single portal that aggregates relevant blogs in a whole range of industries, then selling Adwords type ads on those blogs to pay the rent.
They are currently looking for bloggers with experience of media, technology, business and life sciences.
Thanks for my favorite Moose Tickler for the link.
USA Today published a very interesting story about a former Wall St. Reporter, Les Gapay who was downsized and now lives in his pick-up, camping in various national parks around the West coast as he looks for work. It’s worth a read.
Tom Mangan did some research and it seems Gapay left the Wall St. Journal in the late 1970’s to become a Cherry Farmer. In fact the only mention of the Wall St. Journal in the story is the headline. In fairness to Gapay he doesn’t write about the Journal.
Even with that correction, it remains a harsh reminder of the realities of a downturn.
USA Today link courtesy of Mitch Wagner.
Microsoft is a fantastic case study on the power of effectively managed and implemented Public Relations. Their business was built on PR.
I did some work for Microsoft outside North America, way back in the sands of time, and I have never, in twelve years of high tech PR, seen any company with the systems and processes Microsoft have to keep their PR machine moving.
However our world moves in cycles and according to Jon Oltstik who writes in CNET, Microsoft’s latest PR blitz around security will not be enough to stop the damage. He argues that what’s required is less PR and more engineering effort. And I find myself agreeing with him.
For every PR win Microsoft achieves around security they will lose any gained ground once the next vunerability appears. It’s a losing strategy until the products match the rhetoric. PR can’t fix what is clearly broken.
“Money won�t win this war. Nor will additional security tools or yet another PR blitz. People are already voting with their pocketbooks buying more and more Linux–and security is a big reason why.”
Link courtesy of G2B Group blog
Another PR blogger has entered the fray. Elizabeth Albrycht has launched the CorporatePR blog.
Among her most recent posts she tackles the Agency Analytics post from last week. As a small agency owner, Elizabeth has some interesting views on the proposition and her questions seem to reinforce my view that for “Agency Measurement” to be a success you have to engage with the Agencies.
“Corporations today are rightly skeptical of PR agency performance, given the bad, sometimes downright unethical practices that occured during the tech boom. Demanding accountability and performance measurement is their right. However, as many many academics, practioners and others have written about PR — it is inherently difficult to measure. And I fail to see how timesheeting and billing practices are the key to success here. As an agency owner, I would demand to know the details of the methodology before I let any of their auditors muck about.”
Ben Silverman, New York Post columnist, famed author of DotComScoop which documented the height of the Internet boom, and the mind behind the PR Fuel newsletter has launched a PR Fuel blog.
Given the huge readership of PR Fuel, I think it’s safe to say this blog will reach out to a whole new audience of PR readers.
Best of luck with it!
As most of you will know earlier this month a Federal judge threw out the case taken against McDonalds by a group of obese people.
I was delighted. It’s about time people took responsibility for their actions.
McDonalds are in trouble however. People are catching on (after fifty years) that while the food is tasty and fast, it’s probably not the healthy option.
So McDonalds are now providing healthy options. Another good thing.
But my rant this morning centers on their advertising. Built around the ridiculous tag-line “i’m lovin’ it”, their new TV ads show loads of slim, athletic people jumping around “lovin'” McDonalds.
Please. Do McDonalds really think we are that stupid, that a series of images of beautiful young things eating McDonalds will all make us go “oh yeah, I’m cool, I’m fit, I’ll eat in McDonalds”.
What is this, a move back to the 1950’s? No wonder their market share is slipping.
In protest at these adverts I am providing a link to the most famed anti-McDonalds site, McSpotlight. That’s my little protest.
Richard Bailey’s excellent PR Studies blog has been tracking the discussion around Patrick Weever’s anti-spin campaign.
Earlier this month Patrick wrote in the UK Observer, an interesting piece on the danger of PR and Journalism education intermingling – with particular reference to the University of Sunderland.
Last Sunday there was an interesting response from Chris Rushton, head of journalism and PR at the University, who argues that journalists need to understand PR.
“Now, it is virtually impossible to write a story for publication without having to cross swords with a public relations executive, communications manager, external relations officer, etc – often several, each representing a different interest.”
Following my post last week on Agency Analytics, their CEO Michael Young was in touch to respond to some of my points.
In reply to my comment:
�While this offering is interesting, in that it’s in my knowledge unique, I’m not sure of the value proposition here. My feeling is that your agency is measured by the client’s level of satisfaction with the agency’s work, advice and ultimately outcomes. I’m not sure where these guys fit in to the process.�
Michael writes:
“Yes, we are unique; I�m the first poacher to turn gamekeeper. Who better to show clients what is really going on inside their agency.
Our radical approach to measurement does beget the question about value proposition, but try this on for size. Large agencies operate on a productivity model better suited for the 1950s (probably the early Industrial Age), than the early 21st century, which is exacerbated by high turnover, poor training, shoddy systems and non-existent process control.
The net effect is that client�s budgets are burnt up at a harsh and needless clip. Agency Analytics helps clients recover and recapture the lost or hidden value in their PR spend, which exceeds 20 percent in most cases and sometimes much more�it�s a pretty compelling value proposition when clients hear it. Agencies do a good job of papering over their inefficiencies but, clients know it, agencies know it. It�s just that no one has cracked the code �til now
You�re right the old way to measure the agency was based on client satisfaction and quality of work and outcomes and all that other stuff, which is still important, but every client is looking to save money and improve productivity, we just give them the tools to do it objectively. If you want to see a CFO high-five his Communication of VP, show him how much more his money bought this quarter than last.”
Anyone want to share their thoughts on this?
I personally think that Agency Analytics need to get out and talk with agency owners, because it does seem (from their perspective) like all stick and no carrot!
I am sure there are some agency readers and/or freelancers with pertinent thoughts….
Sometime it is.
E-mail has some well documented issues.
Foremost on my e-mail hates list are spam, cc politics and laziness.
But do we want to go back to the time before E-mail?
Not me. For all it’s problems, and for all the potential of RSS as a publishing medium, E-mail remains an effective tool for what it offers.
Yes it promotes laziness. Yes people surreptitously delegate using e-mail. Yes corporations substitute good communication for e-mail. But does that make it bad? No. IMHO.
E-mail makes it easy to share, store and find information.
News that UK company, Phones 4U has banned all internal e-mail is certainly an interesting departure.
The company’s CEO commented that:
“It’s a very effective tool if used properly…. While I do believe that e-mail in general is the absolute cancer of British business, I only believe that because of the misuse of it.”
I think he has a point, and he believes his staff will save three hours a day. But banning all internal e-mail?
When I think back to the days before e-mail I remember a lot of time being wasted in unnecessary meetings and on unneccessary phone calls. Certainly in my case, I estimate I am doing at least fifty percent more per day than in the days before e-mail – even with spam and lazy e-mail.
There is of course a case for balance.
Phone, face-to-face contact, meetings, bulletin boards and Intranets are all essential, but e-mail does help information move around an organization and reduces the time that it takes to achieve many tasks.
I certainly wouldn’t like to live in an organization where everything had to be conducted through the phone or face-to-face.
Well I recently ranted on how large organizations are substituting good communications policy for strong arm legal tactics.
No sooner had my rant about the RIAA and SCO settled down than another case appears.
In a story on Wired we hear that Monsanto is suing Oakhurst Dairy because it pledges on its milk labels that their milk doesn’t use artificial hormones.
Yes you read that correctly. Here is a quote from the Wired story:
“Oakhurst Dairy in Maine labels its milk: “Our farmer’s pledge: no artificial hormones.” Monsanto’s lawsuit says the label implies Oakhurst’s milk is somehow better than milk from cows treated with rBST, and that unfairly harms Monsanto’s business.”
Huh? It doesn’t slag off hormones directly, it certainly doesn’t slag off Monsanto directly or indirectly. But we’re suing?
What’s happened to competition? What’s next?
Will US Sugar begin suing sugar-free alternatives? Will meat producers start suing vegetarian food outlets?
Please.
[Link courtesy of the I-PR discussion list]
Murphy's Law 