Marketing Roadmaps

Susan Getgood

BlogHer 06 Business Blogging Unpanel

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Well, regular readers have noted that blogging has been ultra-light recently. Reason? Burning the midnight oil on client work so I can enjoy my trip out to BlogHer at the end of the week.

I am really looking forward to the whole conference, but particularly the Saturday "Unpanel" on Business Blogging.

More than once, I’ve had a bit of angst about this, worrying that maybe nobody would step up and volunteer to share their case studies.

Well, I needn’t have worried. My fellow women bloggers have come through and we are going to have some great case studies to get us started. And I hope that EVERYONE attending the session chimes in as we go along. No experts here. Just folk figuring it out as we go along 🙂

I’ve posted a summary doc with all the links to the various case studies on my site. You should also check out the BlogHer post on the session (where this will be cross-posted.) One of the blogs is no longer active, but we have some docs and screen shots, also on my getgood.com site. Please, if you are planning to attend this session at BlogHer, take a few minutes to check out the blogs. While we will have WiFi, we will NOT have an overhead projector during the session.

And don’t forget, we have a great giveaway, thanks to Debbie Weil, who couldn’t be with us but has donated a copy of her new business blogging book. Hot off the presses!

My thanks to the wonderful women who have volunteered their case studies for this session: Stephanie Hendrick, Jody DeVere (Ask Patty), Celeste Lindell (Average Jane), Heather Sanders and Lori Taylor. And a special thank you to my co-panelists Toby Bloomberg and Yvonne DiVita who joined me in this experiment, and without whom the blogosphere would be a far less pleasant place.

Thanks! See you in San Jose.

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Rocketboom and Net Neutrality

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While I don’t think the changes at Rocketboom merit quite the attention they’ve been getting, I have to admit, I do like Joanne Colan’s style.

Something that DOES merit our attention is the debate about net neutrality. Ted Stevens’ "tubes" comment notwithstanding, everyone online should take the few minutes necessary to familiarize themselves with the issues, and US legislation, at stake. Website "How Stuff Works" has a good primer on the issues (courtesy CBS News Public Eye blog). For more, check out Save the Internet. And of course Jon Stewart.

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Wayback Machine: Remington Steele

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For a complete departure from our usual marketing and PR topics, today I invite you to step into the Wayback Machine with me, and take a little trip to 80s television.

To Los Angeles and "Remington Steele."

Last weekend, we were in Best Buy picking up some gear for our podcast rig (yes, you read that right, more later this summer once I have time to get everything sorted) and I saw the DVDs of the first 3 seasons of the series on sale for 1/2 price. Of course this is a gambit to build new viewers for the last 2 seasons (out on DVD in August) but who cares. I was a big fan of the series during its original run, so all three DVDs made their way into the shopping cart.

And my friends, I am hooked all over again. I had forgotten just how good it was. Sure the hairstyles and clothes are a little dated. Everyone isn’t walking around with things stuck in their ears talking (presumably)on the phone but looking like nothing so much as "Crazy Eddie" talking to the Invisible Man.  Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist have pretty classic styles. Since they have the lion’s share of the screen time, 80s big hair and knit ties on the secondary characters don’t bug  me that much.

And the stories themselves hold up pretty well, all things considered. The plots rely more on smarts and the flirtation between the two leads than they do on high tech gadgetry so we don’t have to laugh too much at "technology."  All in all, Remington Steele is  pretty good screwball romantic comedy with a dash of detective.  As I recall, it wasn’t as good in later years, when the stars reportedly weren’t too fond of each other, as in the beginning, which is what I am watching now, but it is still better than most. I’m sure enjoying it a heckuva a lot more than the dreck on TV these days.

But if you’d rather pass the time with a cheesy 80s star, I direct you to David Hasselhoff’s music videos on YouTube. As I commented this morning on Andrea Weckerle’s blog, Hasslehoff just might be living proof that Botox causes brain rot. Or something. Anyway, check out the videos (hat tip to Andrea for reminding me about them in her post today).

And finally stepping out of the Wayback Machine, but still in TV-land, don’t miss the French TV commercial for Canal Plus (hat tip to Sandy for this one).

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Dell’s New Hell and other ruminations

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Poor Dell. Damned if they don’t and Damned when they do. I’m joining the voices who want to give Dell a break, and let them get their feet under them in the blogosphere. They deserved to be damned when they ignored bloggers’ comments and complaints. They do not deserve it now, when they are trying to engage.

Those of us that believe in corporate blogging should be glad that they are giving it a go, and not be so quick to jump on them for not doing it the "right way." Just exactly what is the "right way" and who said there was only one right way to do this blogging thing anyway? Hey, if Dell screws up, and doesn’t treat the blogosphere with respect on its blog, there will be grounds for criticism. But every newbie deserves the benefit of the doubt, even a major corporation with a history of customer service problems 🙂      Far better commentary in this vein from the following folks: Kevin Dugan. Shel Holtz. Andy Lark. Tom Murphy. Jeremy Pepper. John Wagner.        

Contrast Dell’s efforts with some of the other corporate behaviors we’ve seen this month alone. Comcast: its response to the YouTube video of the sleeping repairman was to fire the repairman. That’s it? They are way underestimating the scope of people’s dis-satisfaction. But then again, quasi-monopolies often do. More from Rick Short  and Mary Schmidt       

And then there’s Jupiter Research. Where to begin this tale? Short version: Jupiter issues press release about some research. Bloggers ask questions about research methodology. Jupiter blows them off, says you aren’t reporters. Bloggers try again. Jupiter gets offensive. Bloggers quizzical, wonder just what exactly is Jupiter hiding? Certainly not the fact the the press release about the "research" was a thinly disguised advertisement for new clients. That’s pretty obvious. Could it be that the "research" isn’t robust??? Toby Bloomberg started it all with some honest questions, Fard Johnmar did the research and you can find some good commentary on Neville Hobson’s blog. Methinks Jupiter needs to get on board the cluetrain… And rethink its marketing approach. Crappy press releases that are really thinly disguised advertisements are part of how we got into the "press release must die" meme (remember that?) in the first place.

UPDATE 7/13: Toby reports that Jupiter is making some changes !

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New Workshop: Getting the Message Out – Be Heard, Understood and Remembered 

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Two months ago, I gave a short talk on communications to one of the dog clubs to which I belong. This group does a fair amount of lobbying on the state level, and the club officers wanted to give the members some guidance on how to speak effectively with legislators and other influencers. I’ve turned the material into an one-hour workshop:

Getting the Message Out – Be Heard, Understood and Remembered 
Whether you are talking to a reporter, lobbying a legislator, or speaking to your employees, you need to be heard, understood and remembered. Our one-hour workshop “Getting the Message Out” offers three tips that will help you tell your important message effectively and memorably.


While this is a for-profit endeavor when it comes to for-profit organizations, I’m happy to do the workshop pro bono for charities and civic groups. All I ask is that the group cover my expenses to get to their location. Drop me an email at sgetgood@getgood.com if you’d like more information.

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