Mike's PointsMike's PointsVarious public relations and journalism resources. Plus, providing "points," comments & links about PR, journalism, blogging, communications, marketing, branding and other items of interest. Articles
Web 2.0 bad for websites?
2007-05-21 19:07:00 At least when considering a site’s usability, Web 2.0 characteristics make for a poorly-designed website. That is according to Jakob Nielsen in a BBC News article (Web 2.0 ‘neglecting good design’). “Describing Web 2.0 as the ‘latest fashion,’ Mr Nielsen said many sites paying attention to it we’re neglecting some of the principles of good design and usability established over the last decade. Good practices include making a site easy to use, good search tools, the use of text free of jargon, usability testing and a consideration of design even before the first line of code is written. Sadly, said Mr Nielsen, the rush to embrace Web 2.0 technology meant that many firms were turning their back on the basics.” It never hurts to focus on the basics. Sound fundamentals. And, it’s easy to lose “site” of the basics when new tools and trends come around. So, Nielsen’s comments are a good reminder that: WE ALWAYS NEED T... More About: Websites
Quotable Quotes #2: Client service
2007-05-21 14:18:00 Mostly for the agency folks, but can also be applicable for in-house personel: “A client will always find additional budget for a good idea that addresses its business objectives.”* Ken Lauerer (president of previous employer) The thinking is to always be thinking about how to serve and be of value to the client — even if it says it’s out of budget for the FY/CY. If you can develop an idea and plan that will impact sales (or another significant business objective), the client will find the money to implement it. So, the client ends up winning (improving its business) and the agency ends up winning (additional revenue). – Mike *This may not be an exact quote, but it’s pretty close. More About: Service , Quotes , Table , Vice , Quote
How old is too old?
2007-05-15 15:51:00 In doing research looking for trends, stats, supporting documentation, I’m amazed at how relatively recent information (like from 2004 or 2005) is too old. The speed of light has nothing on the speed of information. – Mike
Quotable Quotes #1: Client service
2007-05-10 14:38:00 Taking a page from Ike Pigott’s blog, I thought I’d start a Twitter-like (meaning, brief) feature and post neat, interesting, thought-provoking and/or interesting quotes I’ve heard or even uttered. “The best thing you can do is tell the client bad news as soon as you can.” Mike Osswald (my direct supervisor/boss) Granted, that doesn’t happen too often, but when it does, it’s a good rule to remember. – Mike More About: Service , Quotes , Table , Vice , Quote
It’s just you and me: 1:1 communication is king
2007-05-08 15:05:00 “For personal communication, they (Digital Natives) rely on the “wall” in Facebook or send messages within their relatively closed communities of friends. They have a lot to say about what and who they are, but they shut out the outside world and take refuge in an inner sanctum of like-minded young people — some friends, some strangers — who share their passions and interests. To reach Digital Natives, you have to understand the community and respect it. You need to participate, but in an authentic way.” Courtesy of MediaPost’s Email Insider today. Reading/Researching today reminded me just how personal, one-on-one communication is evolving into (it is now, but not as encompassing) — and really should be. There will always be the mass media of newspapers, TV, radio, etc. — but they continue to be a smaller portion of our communications and marketing outreach. Social media marketing is social. Human. Personal. We as professi... More About: Communication , King , Comm
Other great points . . .
2007-04-20 14:49:00 (UPDATED 4/20/07, 10:30 a.m. with two Virginia Tech links of interest.) For your browsing, reading, laughing and thinking pleasure (not necessarily in that order), I offer: PlanetBlacksburg: Stories (with commenting available) and photo galleries. PlanetBlacksburg on Twitter (courtesy of Jim Long on Twitter) Virginia-Pilot page (from Weds.), NewsDesigner.com: “Striking front page by the Virginian-Pilot today. And a gutsy editorial choice.” How To Work Faster on High-Res Screens, the thinking bog. Crack Smoking And Swamp Walking Do Not Mix, The Futon Report Thursday Afternoon Caption Contest, PR Differently ‘ . . . a naked grab for bucks,’ The Bad Pitch Blog – Mike More About: Great , Point , Points
The Temptation of . . . Photoshop
2007-04-19 05:29:00 . . . and other digital image altering tools. If you’re not in the Toledo, Ohio-area or don’t have eye tuned into journalism, then you might have missed the stories about veteran Blade photographer Allan Detrich saying he mistakenly submitted a photograph that he altered. And, that image wound up in print. Of course, manipulating an image to change history — even if only for aesthetics — is a sin in journalism. The Blade’s review of other photos Detrich submitted turned up many other images that he doctored. (For a good column on the subject, including Detrich’s comments after the Blade review, see here.) I bring up the incident to raise a question: For those of us in media relations (evening social media relations): What ethical guidelines should — or must? — we follow regarding photography we provide to media? I’ve never had a reporter question the legitimacy and honesty of any image I’ve supplied. I assume that’s b... More About: Photoshop , Shop , Temptation , Photosho , Temp
Picking apart a blog post is easy
2007-04-17 16:31:00 (UPDATED: approx. 12:30 p.m. 4/17/07 with clarification on my point — at the end.) I’ve done it. I’m sure we all have. Focus on one line or point — forget the rest — and the launch your critique. And, with Twitter, you can do it easier because the thoughts often are broken up into smaller pieces. Courtesy of Tom Brio, I was made aware of a guest piece by PC Magazine Editor in Chief Jim Louderback at BC/AC’s blog called strumpette. Louderback’s piece dealt with a seemingly off-the-cuff comment Twittered by Steve Rubel of Edelman/Micropersuasion: “PC Mag is another. I have a free sub but it goes in the trash” If you look at the stream of Rubel’s twitters, you’ll see he was not necessarily pointing out PC Magazine. He was talking about where he looked for his product reviews — going to blogs rather than print and other established media: “Does anyone read CNET anymore? Webware rocks, but that’s the on... More About: Post , Blog , King , Part , Pick
Random thoughts . . . .
2007-04-12 19:03:00 For no particular reason (or value to society for that matter), here’s a few thoughts that have popped into my head during the past week . . . . I find it kind of funny (at first glance) when a person apologizes over his/her lack of recent blog posts, or the self-admitted poor quality of posts. One could look at it as arrogance. I tend to look at it at those posts (or, now tweets) as the person being realistic that he/she does have a level of regular readers (me, for instance), and maintains a passion and sense of pride over the quality of his/her work. I think all bloggers should have a brief audio recording of their voice to help personalize their blog(s). Am I going to do it? Naaaaa. I stutter at times and think I sound too nasally when I hear a recording of my voice. I have talked with Kami, Ike, Phil, the BC part of BC/AC, Peter, and I think that’s it. (Did I miss anyone?) So, on some level, I feel as if I know them better than other bloggers. Badges?! Badges?!... More About: Random Thoughts , Random , Thoughts , Thought
Other great points . . .
2007-04-09 18:50:00 For your reading and browsing pleasure, I offer some great reading, and a few new blogs I’ve added to my Bloglines account. Retooling the Public Relations Industry, Ed Lee/BloggingMeBloggingYou. Ed makes some great points in the changing ways we receive information and the change our industries needs. However, IMO, print and broadcast will still be major players for many years to come (especially magazines). Marketing in Second Life, Todd Zeigler/The Bivings Report. The key is Todd’s final couple of sentences: “Bringing an old mindset to a new medium doesn’t accomplish anything. Your only chance of having real and sustained success is if the mindset shifts as well.” My First Time on Second Life SUCKED, Aliza Sherman/Rants and Raves. As with the cyberbullying issues of a few weeks ago, real live creeps into the cyber world. Eight Meaningful Measures of Social Media, Kami Huyse/Communication Overtones. Yeah, I know, I’m late on this one. But, in case yo... More About: Other , Great , Point , Points
Get a (real) life!
2007-04-04 19:07:00 The Web is a great tool and offers great opportunity to connect with people we wouldn’t connect with otherwise. Duh. You already know that. But, unless you are a hermit, the social media aspects of tools like blogging, boards and forums, online communities, etc., are NOTHING MORE THAN SUPPLEMENTS TO OUR REAL-WORLD , OFFLINE LIFE. The world Linden Lab created was called a Second Life because it is secondary, as in a second life. Not a first (a.k.a. primary) life. The opportunites afforded by the Web is supposed to assist and expand our life. Not replace it. If you have Twitter account, you’ll be amazed at how often and at what some people Twitter about. On a seemingly continuous basis. And, this morning I read this — The Wonderful World of Webkinz — in my e-mail (courtesy of MediaPost). “Webkinz is a social network tied to a toy company that targets young children and places them in a virtual world that is safe, exclusive, and appears to be a lot of fun!... More About: Real , Real Life
Newspaper publishers are poor businessmen?
2007-04-04 14:26:00 That seems to be the point of Jim Cramer in a RealMoney.com column (”Lack of Financial Acumen Burns News papers“). “All of these companies seem to be run, frankly, by jokers or dreamers who had no idea how to deploy capital. The only explanation I can think of is that they were run by people who are up from the newspaper side or are heirs to the founders and had no idea what they were doing financially.” That may be, but I’m sure there are other reasons. One could be: Publish ers and owners of newspapers should think of themselves of being in the business of informing the public. The Fourth Estate. The delivery of the information should not matter. So, I simply see the majority of newspaper publishers as being myopic. Narrow minded. Even arrogant that print has been king so long, so why not even longer? Up until recently, has running a newspaper really been that easy? I mean, how could newspapers have been so successful so long? It is because the media i... More About: Business , Men
Social marketing: Are you in it for the long haul?
2007-03-29 06:01:00 For the most part, traditional communications are centered around projects, campaigns, launches. Sure, there’s the overriding, long-term strategic positioning and messaging, but that is broken up into bits and pieces. In media relations and in advertising, you can have on-going relationships (professional, not personal) with reporters and ad reps, but that’s mostly with trade and select consumer media. There is little on-going interaction with customers and prospects. It’s primarily ADD Marcomm. Short-attention-span PR. Hit-and-run advertising. But, in the evolving world in social media (social marketing, WOM — whatever), you have to commit for the long haul. Courtesy of Market ing Vox is a story in BrandWeek about the disappointment of SecondLife citizens in the lack of staying power of many brands in SecondLife: “Even more disappointing are shops and outlets set up by brands, subjected to a certain amount of hype - and then all but abandoned. That non-p... More About: Social , Soci , Long
Medium is king? Medium dictates message delivery
2007-03-27 19:04:00 While you can make a valid point that “the message is king” (or some other catch phrase) in marketing communications . . . I wouldn’t. The medium dictates how that message is delivered, and what you are trying to accomplish. The message — the core message — can be said varying ways to get the same affect. And, the medium of delivery dictates how you say it, why you’re saying it and what you’re trying to accomplish. For example, here’s how I view common delivery methods. Let me know if you agree, disagree or __________ (you fill in the blank: consumer-generated blog post!): Advertising: Short and sweet; more about being seen and generating awareness; obviously and expected to be self-promotional. Direct mail: Short and sweet; eye-catching; promotional; hoping to provoke a response/the next step. Media relations: Seeking third-party objectivity; can be either generating awareness or trying to educate and inform by havng others write abou... More About: Essa , Live , Message , King , Sage
Other great points . . .
2007-03-23 13:29:00 For your learning, thinking and even a bit of laughter pleasure, I offer a few other great points: Apples, oranges, blogs and boards, David Binkowski. Great overview of why discussion boards are useful and their value. The value of WOM (it’s a cartoon), Amena/Idegosuperego Business etiquette pointers for PR students, Karen Miller Russell/Teaching PR. And, those pointers are not just for students. More About: Other , Point , Points
Selling the sizzle
2007-03-20 19:03:00 If you’re learning about something, then you want know about the features and then the benefits. But, if you’re selling something, shouldn’t you present the benefits . . . and then the features? I don’t see that as often enough as I think I should. – Mike More About: Selling , Sell
Tech products: Ya got 10 minutes
2007-03-19 14:15:00 WSJ columnist (and blogger, of course) Jeremy Wagstaff started his own online publication of reviewed technology, Websites and related products and services: tenminut.es. tenminut.es takes a look at new and old products, services, software, gadgets and people, the only requirement being each is given no more than ten minutes (excluding download and installation times.) You can read more about it in this announcement. Oh and, speaking of new media outlets, there’s Social Media Today (pointer to Mike Manuel/Media Guerrilla). (But, why do we need a collection or “media” of bloggers? Isn’t that what feeds are for?) - Mike (Clock image from: http://www.sharelibrary.com/Desktop/Scree nsavers/Mechanical_Clock_3D_Screensaver03 060268.htm ) More About: Products , Tech , Product , Minutes , Minute
U.S. manufacturers: Blame others & die, or change & grow
2007-03-19 04:21:00 Sunday’s Toledo Blade Business Section has a great story about a cat fight going on at Tecumseh Products, a Fortune 1000 company based in Tecumseh, Mich. Essentially, the Herrick family (who started Tecumseh Products and still have a good deal of say) doesn’t like what the board and a consulting firm (AlixPartners) are trying to do: take control of the the company. Tecumseh is a old U.S. industrial manufacturer of engines, compressors and related items, and employs 19,000 people (about 70 percent of them outside the U.S., according to the Blade article). The power struggle is over financial trouble for Tecumseh in recent years, and differing opinions as to who should run the company to try to steer it toward better times. All in all, it sounds like good corporate drama. But, a couple items caught my eye. According to the article: “Mr. Herrick has blamed the company’s problems, including financing issues that some feared could push it into bankruptcy, on g... More About: Manufacturers , Change , Other , Others , Fact
Awww, poor wittle Twitter cat
2007-03-18 04:33:00 Okay, I’ve been dying to try to come up with a clever, catchy Twit ter-related blog headline. (How’d I do?) Anyway, with the Twitter chatter out there among the Twittter haters and Twitter lovers, I’ve thinking about it myself of late. Twitter is nothing more than another tool. If/How it gets used will determine if it out-lasts its current 15 minutes of fame (though it seems like its fame is pushing 20 minutes). So, I thought of how could Twitter be used for the good of all mankind. And, here’ what I came up with: Internal use: For company-wide announements, why not Twitter them, rather than e-mail. Of course, these would be brief announcements (like the Outlook server will be down at noon for a five-minute reset). Though, with internal use, there’d be some licensing involved, which would allow the licensee to expand the dialogue box limit. What about integrating a Twitter box into a Wiki-like page or even a service like WebEx when collaborating on a ... More About: Cat , Poor
Who’s gonna invent a double-sided laptop screen?
2007-03-14 02:10:00 Yeah, I know it was an eBay hoax a couple years ago. (Though I just found out while doing a search a few minutes before starting this post.) But really, wouldn’t that be a great idea: to have a dual-sided screen for a laptop? That way, you could share with others around a table a particular Web site or other bit of information on your laptop computer (rather than projecting to a screen or crowding behind you to see the monitor). Chalk this up to as another one of my great technology predictions. – Mike More About: Screen , Laptop , Double , Side , Vent
One of the early corp bloggers is leaving
2007-03-13 04:12:00 One of the early corporate bloggers — and one that doesn’t seem to get as much press as GM and others — is retiring as of the end of April. Boeing Commercial Airlines Vice President of Marketing Randy Baseler announced his pending retirement on March 9. He is leaving Boeing as of the end of April: So I’m coming down for a landing, and looking forward to enjoying more time together with my wife, Linda, and our family and friends. Those of you who’ve met me might have guessed that I’m a “country boy”at heart. My plan is to settle into my cowboy boots, blue jeans, and flannel shirts, and stay closer to the ground …. Of course, I’ll still be sticking around Boeing for the next couple of months, and continuing with the blog until then. Mr. Baseler started blogging in January 2005 — the same month that GM’s Fastlane blog debuted. I’ve read Mr. Baseler’s blog periodically, but mostly early on in my own blogging efforts. ... More About: Blogger , Blog , Bloggers , Early , Logger
Survey Says: Education of the PR industry?
2007-03-08 14:44:00 The moderator of Image Management, one of the Yahoo! PR groups I belong to, publishes a monthly PR e-zine: PR-e-sence. It’s pretty informative, and gives a good perspective on the PR and related industries in another part of the world. An upcoming issue will focus on the university/college education of PR professionals and related issues. To gauge how the industry fares on this issue overall, a survey was developed: http://www.primepointfoundation.org/poll/ public/survey.php?name=PReducation The results will be published in the issue, and the survey will be live March 13. While some questions are specific to India, there are several of the 13 that anyone can answer. So, please take a few minutes and give ‘em your $0.02 (or, your two rupees, in this case). – Mike More About: Education , Cat , Industry , Survey , Ducati
Other great points . . .
2007-03-06 14:53:00 Be careful. That seems to be the message for many of the “other great points” below. So, without too much further ado, I offer: Leaving the Bad News Trail, Jeremy Wagstaff/loose wire blog. I’ve always said that news is typically negative because, by definition, “news” is out of the ordinary and most of the ordinary is good, positive. But, Jeremy makes a great point: “Old media should look for a way of using its reporting strengths and resources and tell … stories that reflect the community, the good parts and not just the bad parts. They’re harder stories to tell and they run against the grain of every newsroom lesson we’ve learned, but if we’re serious about connecting to the communities around us, we need to understand them better.” Bloggers are wimps, Colin Mckay/Canuckflack If you’re using Google Images for your Chyrons, make sure you read what they say, Peter Shankman/PR Differently Blogbots replace boring bloggers, A... More About: Other , Great , Point , Points
Are you out of your mind? Hopefully, yes
2007-03-05 05:15:00 One’s mindset is an interesting thing. When you’re single, it’s predominantly about you. You do what you want when you want to do it. When you get married, it’s not so much about you. It’s about her (or him), too. There are other considerations. So, you adapt. Then, you have kids. And, you adapt again. It’s predominantly about the kids, some about your spouse, and relatively little about you. Your mindset about what’s important and what needs to be done and how you do it changes. Whenever one changes his/her environment, whether it’s a relationship, a home, a job, etc., your mindset changes and you get perspective. One’s mindset changes either by force — such as a life-changing event like becoming a parent — or by being open to change. Our industry — professional communicators, no matter what service we offer — has been expanding in recent years. The socialization of marketing has started. For the most p... More About: Mind , Hope , Hopeful , Full
PR: A big (bad?) melting pot
2007-03-03 04:56:00 Unlike many industries, the marketing communications industry — specifically, those relating to PR — is very big, very fragmented. You range from the multi-nationals and behemoths to the solo practitioners. The size of our industry and the opportunity for new companies to spring up quickly (relatively little cost to entry) means that there is competition to (hopefully) keep us on our toes. It also means there are enough poor quality practitioners to give the rest of us a bad name. In that whole bunch, you get the good, the bad and the ugly. I firmly believe that most companies operating in PR — whether off line or online or a combination — are good. Honest. Ethical. And, that gives companies a lot of good choices — whether they want an “integrated” firm or one specialized in some way. But, there’s enough of the bad. Some unintentional and just poor, but honest judgment. But, in the end, they give the majority of the good firms a bad...
I have seen the future of PR, and ….
2007-02-25 04:02:00 I have seen into the future (of public relations, of course) . . . and it is good. It is filled with strategy-focused communicators. It is filled with people who know the difference between affect and effect, and can spell correckly. It is also filled with media relations professional who know more than a thing or two about the professional media — and the BadPitchBlog has nothing to post about. It is filled with professionals who are familiar with a range of PR-like tactics and techniques. There will be no need to differentiate between “social media releases” or “social media newsrooms” and traditional news releases and newsrooms. We will know what’s best for communicating our clients’/employers’ messages in formats each of our media targets want them. As experts in communicating and dealing with people (i.e., social science), we will have the right tools for clients and employer’s needs — and recommend the right tools bas... More About: Future , The Future , Hell , Have
Copyright protection v spreading the word: When is technically legal actual
2007-02-20 05:23:00 Yes, this is old, but like Marie/Flackette and Todd, I’ve been busy (even shoveling snow here in SE Michigan). But that’s likely not why you’re here, so . . . for an update on the YouTube copyright saga, see here. Now, in a logical and common sense world, in every decision we, clients and other corporations make, we weigh the positives and the negatives. The risks and the rewards. The opportunity costs. (There’s that social science theme again.) Tech nical ly, I would agree that YouTube is in the wrong for allowing users to air copyrighted material from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart or David Letterman’s Top 10 Lists. But, if unless those uncopyrighted, illegal re-broadcasts are taking money away from Viacom and the producers, portraying the particpants in a negative light, or otherwise doing some harm, what is the problem? Could it be that these unauthorized re-broadcasts are cramping CBS’ own use of YouTube? I’m no lawyer and am definitely ... More About: Reading , Word , Legal
Other great points . . .
2007-02-13 18:32:00 For your reading, learning, browsing and thinking pleasure, I offer: Account planners can be your friend, PR; Colin McKay/Canuckflack 24-Hour News Cycle (R.I.P.); Mike Manuel/MediaGuerrilla Five Lessons for Viral Video Campaigns; Todd Defren/PR Squared I Get Letters from Idiots, Michael Brooks/HistoryMike – Mike More About: Other , Great , Point , Points
Getting ’social’ in public relations
2007-02-11 05:31:00 (UPDATED Feb. 11, approx. 9:15 a.m. with examples below, marked **. These examples either involved me, or my current employer.) More and more I’m convinced that public relations should be categorized as a social science in colleges, universities and in the professional world. Not in “Communications.” Not part of the journalism or English curricula. (I’m also convinced that journalism is more of a trade than a profession that requires a degree. Ask, and I’ll explain why.) At its roots, public relations — and, I suppose, advertising and other marketing communications — is about communicating to people. (Very similar to one of my two college majors, economics.) Soci al media like blogs, online communities, boards, etc., is a couple steps closer to a true social science than traditional marcomm activities. While I’m still a firm believer that corporations have the most significant control over their brand, you can employ a bit of social sci... More About: Public Relations , Public , Relations
Branding: Better to build from scratch or rebuild?
More articles from this author:2007-02-08 05:28:00 They say (whoever “they” is) that it’s more cost effective to retain current loyal customers than it is to generate new loyal customers. Along that same line of thinking, is it best to start with the right brand positioning and try to promote it or rebrand — that is recreate — yourself? It seems as if Brian Connolly and the others behind the famous?/infamous? Strumpette blog are trying to rebrand the blog. If you’ve perused the PR-type blogs you’ve undoubtedly come across the strumpette blog. Early on (still now?) it has a reputation for lashing out against some bloggers and companies involved in social media. And, it often labeled those posts as “satire.” (Search for yourself. I’m not providing links here. I’ve done that enough.) But, of late, has strumpette been turning over a kinder, more civil and credible leaf? Former PRWeek Editor and now author Phil Hall with his regular Friday “gospel” posts? And,... More About: Branding , Brand , Better , Build , Bett 1, 2, 3, 4 |
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