Category Archives: Blogging

Are blogs the new resumes?

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The folks at Innovation Zen make a good case for this:

“Imagine you are a prospective employer, and you can compare two identical candidates. The first candidate has simply handed you a 2 page resume + 1 page cover letter. The second candidate has done the same, but they have also included a link to their blog. Now, further imagine that although the blog gives a more detailed picture, it does not change your opinion of the second candidate. Which candidate would you choose? My guess is that you would choose the blogger simply because they are a known quantity.”

I like the idea that we are our own “brand” and a blog is THE best tool for promoting same.

Twitter: “microblogging”

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Have you been following the Twitter thing? Ian Curry at frog design describes it better than I can:

Twitter“Twitter is perhaps the best example of a new kind of blog that some are calling a “tumblelog.” The tumblelog is a bit like the old link lists: quick one or two-line entries – sometimes just a picture. Twitter in specific allows you to post, through a variety of means (IM, phone, web), short messages meant to describe what you are doing at any given moment. By establishing contacts on the site, you can also get a collected list of what all of your friends are posting.”

I set up a Twitter page, just to get a feel for the tool and I almost get it. There are times when I’d like to just post something that doesn’t quite fit on smays.com. I can see how this could be even more useful for texting.

And handy for live-blogging something like a basketball game or debate in the state legislature. Some have used the term “microblogging” to describe this. Looks like something to watch.

Running after the Cluetrain

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I spent a lot of energy in the late 90’s trying to convince people I worked with (and anyone I could get to listen) the Internet was a force to be reckoned with. Something that would touch and change every part of our lives and our business. There was plenty of eye-rolling and rib-nudging. Then, one day, I didn’t have to say another word. Anyone with a functioning cortex understood the Internet wasn’t just happening… it had happened.

Five years ago I started blogging and, a couple of years later, listening to podcasts. Again, I tugged at a few sleeves and suggested these tools would be/could be/should be part of what we do. The reactions were very similar.

As I swill Rocket Fuel and surf away another Saturday morning, I come across story after story about how people, company organizations are blogging and podcasting. Out of habit, I started to forward these to those who would (or should) want to know…and I stopped.

No need. If you don’t get it by now, you won’t. I’ll continue to post on these topics (until even that seems pointless), but I won’t spend every evening tip-toeing up and down the hall, sliding these links under co-worker’s doors.

Whew. Glad that’s over.

Blogging makes you respectful and clear

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Seth Godin explains two of the biggest benefits of blogging:

“The act of writing a blog changes people, especially business people. The first thing it does is change posture. Once you realize that no one HAS to read your blog, that you can’t MAKE them read your blog, you approach writing with humility and view readers with gratitude. The second thing it does is force you to be clear. If you write something that’s confusing or in shorthand, you fail.

Respectful and clear. That’s a lot to get out of something that doesn’t take much time.”

I’ve been dealing with clients and customers for 35 years and there’s no question that the past five years of blogging has made me better at it.

Student Blogger Wanted

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How can you make money blogging? Learfielder Len found this job posting on the Journal of Sports Media blog:

“Career Sports & Entertainment, a sports marketing and PR agency in Atlanta, is looking for qualified journalism students for a program called “AT&T SEC Snapshot.” It will provide weekly coverage for SECsports.com, devoted to Olympic spring sports across the SEC. The student blogger/reporter would provide weekly articles/blogs on SECSports.com. The program is scheduled to launch in early March, so they would like to find a good candidate as soon as possible. If interested, please contact Melanie Jarrett, Career Sports & Entertainment, or 770-995-1300.”

We’ll see more of this. Good, experienced bloggers will be in demand. Can every MSM reporter blog? Some can. But years of traditional writing and reporting seems to rob some of the human voice that the best blogs have.

Why blogs matter: Reason #236

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Let me preface this by saying –again– how much I like Hy-Vee. Our local store is working hard and making a big investment to give us an even better shopping experience.

Over the noon hour, I posted about trying to take a photo in our newly remodeled store. No biggie.

Fast-forward less than 10 hours: I search Technorati (a blog search engine) for “Hy-Vee” and get 5,000+ results. My post was #3 on the list.

Technorati

How many will see my post? Who knows. The point is…in 2007…every customer can be heard. When they walk out of your store, they can sit down at a computer and talk to the world about their experience with your company. Do you know what they’re saying?

Pork Board sees light (feels heat?) of citizen media

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A few days ago I posted about Jennifer Laycock getting hassled by the National Pork Board because she was selling T-shirts they felt infringed on their trademark and campaign “The other white meat.” Laycock was surprised by the Boards threats, and wrote an impassioned blog post about the situation.

It looks like the Pork Board realized that hassling an activist blogger over a T-shirt that parodied their branding in the name of a good cause (breast feeding) would probably hurt their brand more than it would ever protect it. Laycock reports that “I have received an apology from Steve Murphy, the CEO of the National Pork Board and we are currently working toward a resolution.” [via Podcasting News]

Big Pork puts squeeze on breastfeading blogger

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Jennifer Laycock runs a blog called The Lactivist and writes about breastfeeding and human milk banking. It’s mostly a gathering place for breastfeeding moms to come and share their thoughts and experiences. Yesterday she received a cease and desist letter from a law firm representing The National Pork Board. The gist of the letter was her use of the phrase “the other white milk” violates their trademark on the phrase “the other white meat.”

I’m certainly not qualified to argue who is right or wrong in this case, but I’ll bet the folks at the National Pork Board didn’t expect their letter would get any publicity.

Blogging the Hoosiers

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Disclosure/Disclaimer: The company I work is the current multimedia marketing and broadcast rightsholder for Indiana University (and a bunch of other high profile colleges and universities). The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own and have no connection to Learfield Communiction.

Newspaper BlogsIt was brought to my attention today that a couple of Indianapolis newspapers –The Herald-Times and The Indianapolis Star– were blogging about the Hoosiers. Hoosiers Insider and the Hoosier Scoop are pretty typical for newspaper blogs.

Hoosier Scoop had audio of a post-game press conference and included short video clips from the press conference and students storming the floor following Indiana’s 71-66 win agaisnt No. 2 Wisconsin. And they had someone (an intern?) live-blogging the big game.

“3:38, second half: Indiana 64,Wisconsin 59”

Companies like ours –and there are only a handful– pay a lot of money for exclusive broadcast and marketing rights. But we’ve entered the world of blogs and podcasts and YouTube and camera phones and maintaining “exclusive” control of the sporting events becomes something of a challenge.

And what’s a “broadcast” now? Just radio and TV? And the fans are getting in the act. How do we stop them from putting audio, video and still images on their blogs and in their podcasts? And should we stop them? Should we encourage them?

But back to the Indianapolis blogs. Here’s what I’d do:

Hold a contest to find the best Hoosier blogger in Indiana. To be eligible, you have to have been blogging for at least six months. Fans come to a website to vote on the three finalists. The winner gets a brand new laptop and digital camera…and a seat in the press box for every home game, where they blog the game. What the hell, let’s plut a webcam in the booth so fans can watch the announcers. I’d have our on-site producer pulling play-by-play audio highlights and making them available to post. All of this, of course, would be sponsored.

I’d leverage our broadcasts and access to coaches and such, to out-blog the newspaper guys.

I remember, back in the mid-nineties, the first time we saw a university include webcasting in their bid specs. It seemed almost… cute. A novelty. I can’t wait to see what the next ten years bring.