Hey Everybody,

 I probably shouldn’t be so flattering to Richard Edelman as he is technically competition, but I gotta say, I love this guy. He has vision, guts and the will to work at things that he beleives in. And, of course, he is also a champion of everything new media and public relations.

This is a quote given by Edelman in the Book Naked Conversations during an interview with Robert Scoble and Shel Israel:

On Blogging:

Blogging is not a passing fad. Any brand, business or organization that fails to grasp [that] fact may very well be. It’s essential to any company seeking to connect in a spontaneous, continous fashion with its publics. It affords a window into a company unlike any other — more credible because it lacks the dimension of control, more sustainable because it is rooted in reality, more powerful because it can be connected to comments of others having primary experiences with a company’s product or service. Smart companies will take heed of what they learn from online critics, amending the product or process by being committed to continuous improvement from whatever source.

On Traditional Marketing and its coming demise:

Marketers could reach 97 percent of the target audience with three ads in prime time on network TV. They relied on a pyramid of authority in which elite audiences such as investors, regulators, retailers, and elite media received advance notice of company plans. A large commitment to advertising and appropriate monies for slotting allowances guaranteed favorable treatment at retail…and the consumer, lured by the ads, would purchase, especially if a big name celebrity is in the ad. The big idea — keep everything under wraps until the last moment before the ads break — give an exclusive to the Wall Street Journal and you are home free.

So now a smart company has a different approach — call it the “paradox of transparency.” Co-create your brand with key consumers. Talk to critics at NGO’s (non-government organizations) in advance to reach an understanding. Use your employees as your first line of offense. Use a real person as a spokesperson or maybe the winner of a reality show like American Idol. Create synergy among the promotions and talk across the silos, but offer real dialogeue, not hot air.

I love that he makes it so simple. I am sorry that I haven’t linked to his blog yet in my blog and this post is my tiny homage to the man that is making these strategies popular and profitable. I can preach the same ideals all day and then once a senior member of our PR team finds an Edelman interview in an AdAge article from 2 years ago saying the same thing, and it becomes fact.

So here’s to the guy that gives hope to all of us tired and haggard PR guy’s trying to push new media to clients and in our own companies.

Richard Edelman.

Promote your blog with real honest to goodness ink.

I just read a story in the Nov. 2007 OMMA magazine called Build Blogs’ Mass Appeal. It turns out that you can get you blog listed in Blogger & Posdcaster Magazine for $495 annually or $50 a month.

Blogger & Podcaster it seems, has also teamed up with the USA Today to host a blog guide on the newspaper’s site. The guide is featured at the bottom of www.USAToday.com. It includes topics such as arts, cars, sports and video to find relevant blogs and podcasts. You can also rate and add comments to the listings. The site also lets you add a variety of news widgets directly from their page: http://www.usatoday.com/community/widgets/index.htm

And if you go to USA Today, I couldn’t find this blog index either. Maybe it isn’t up yet. If you hear anything new. Tell me about it.

Later,

Bill

I don’t know about you, but I live in the Midwest of the United States. To be more exact, I live in Omaha, Nebraska. And let’s just say that the New Media explosion hasn’t really exploded here. So I spend a lot time searching for good resources on new ideas in this area.

When I started researching new media about half a year ago, I would have killed for a list of great blogs.

Well, I don’t know how great these are. But this is what I am reading now.

1. Seth’s Blog (www.sethgodin.typepad.com). Seth is a very smart and funny guy. He has written several books on the subject of new media including Meatball Sundae, Purple Cow and The Dip.

2. The Long Tail (www.longtail.com). This is Chris Anderson’s blog. He is also a very smart guy in the area of new media. He wrote The Long Tail. Hence the blog name.

3. On the Record (ontherecordpodcast.com). This is PR podcast/blog site that focuses on trends (namely new media) affecting the world of PR. They get a ton of good interviews and attend a lot of summits and conferences. I also like that it features a podcast, so I can learn while I work.

4. New Media Currents (www.newmediacurrents.com) This is mainly a podcast site. It is run by John Houghton. Again, good interviews and conference attendance. I also like that I can learn at work. John (from is site):

John Houghton is the CEO and Founder of MobileCast Media which performs production, buying, and syndication of new media. On this program he shares his insight on the rapidly changing media industry.

A combination of marketing, artistry, and technology, John is a pioneer in electronic commerce and has twice successfully built $100 million dollar e-commerce brands, in one case growing new license revenue from $4 million to $76 million in one year.

So, it is a really simple post today. But I thought that it might be useful.

Thanks and enjoy.

And Remember in the world of user-generated content and 1-to-1 communication, Everybody’s a Genius.

I have nothing against traditional media sources. In fact, I work with them everyday. And, of course, I acknowledge the ability of a big media hit to leverage the opinions of management,  distributors and consumers. But I must say that from what I have recently seen, the level of penetration and staying power of many forms of new media is a very impressive alternative.

 Think of it this way, if you produce a traditional ad and place it. It would get seen by a percentage of the current circulation population. While its influence may still have a little life after publication, the piece itself would likely be gone forever. And its message would have to reinforced again and again to gain continued effect.

On the other hand,  if you invested (money and honest time) in a podcast, blog or podcast sponsorship you may be investing in a long lifeline and multi-channel pickup. Let’s try the example of a podcast. You build a reputable podcast and people who listen to it, like it. Then they want to post it on their blog, their facebook, their linkedIn or on their own Web site, to show that they too are knowledge. Or maybe to share it with friends. Maybe you see that others want to use your information so you create a RSS feed of the podcast so that people can more easily receive updates from you and add your podcast to their sites.

Now if the feed gets enough coverage, maybe you can join a RSS feed aggregator and get information hosting from them. Maybe a pay service podcast aggregate hosting site likes your stuff and wants to feature you in their pay site. Or other people take the code snippet of your podcast and embed it in their sites. So, now you are at maybe five to seven different levels of penetration. With the information linking back to you every time. Remember that the Web is all based on interconnectivity. Not to mention that in the eyes of the media (online and maybe traditional), you are now an expert on your particular subject. If people think that you are an expert, then surprise, you are!

So now you have multiple levels of penetration and many of them do not have a defined lifespan. It is possible that your information could live forever on your site and many others. This long life and multi-level penetration is no dream. It is happening today. And the people who are pulling it off are making money and pushing into traditional media sources.

Just a thought.

Everybody’s a Genius
P.S. And we can all create, publish and review. Age of the printing press eat your heart out. Welcome to the age of the user.