Ted Demopoulos :: What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting

Blogging is a difficult concept for some people to embrace. Often, the best way to learn how you might be able to use a blog for your own benefit is to hear how others use it.

This is where Ted Demopoulos comes into your life. Ted has written a book - What No One Ever Tells You About Blogging and Podcasting: Real-Life Advice from 101 People who Successfully Leverage the Power of the Blogosphere. (Amazon)

Ted agreed to sit for an interview and we discussed many of the individuals he interviewed. He has stories from around the world. Big names and relative unknowns. But, they have all found positive (even profitable) uses for blogs and podcasts in their personal and professional lives. The book includes stories from “Seth Godin, Large John, Guy Kawasaki, surferdude/deep thinker Dave Kesel, Dave Taylor, Andre the Siberian Splogger and reindeer breeder, and even my (Ted’s) favorite, ANONYMOUS!” We discussed several of these people in our interview.

I have edited this down from a one hour conversation. It now runs 21:06 (7mb download), and I hope you will enjoy it.

Full disclosure: I am in the book. Ted kindly included our discussion which is condensed down to the quite simple section - It’s All an Experiment. Thank you, Ted. I’m grateful and honored you chose to include our interview.

Despite my good fortune to be in the book, I’m still grateful for the opportunity to read it. Stories like those Ted has compiled will serve me, and you, well. Check out the book at Amazon. It was released yesterday. My apologies for being a day late.
Here is the interview.

HigherEd BlogCon Starts Today!

Today marks the launch of HigherEd BlogCon, “an online event focused on how new online communications technologies and social tools are changing Higher Education. The month-long event begins with a week of presentations about the impact of new tools on teaching and the learner.”

Please visit HigherEd BlogCon and see some truly wonderful examples of social media and online strategies being used around the web.

This is “a fully web-based event focused on how new online communications technologies and social tools are changing Higher Education. Except as noted, presentations are offered free of charge.”

Edelman Worldwide Has The Premiere Stable of PR Bloggers

Thinking about the Edelman Worldwide / Wal-Mart story of last week gave me an idea. Yeah, I don’t really think this might happen, but I do believe it would be a true test of all the “bloggy goodness” a lot of us have been talking about for a few years now.

The Premise

Can anyone deny that Edelman Worldwide is the premiere PR firm when it comes to the bloggers they have online?

They have Richard Edelman, Phil Gomes, Mike Krempasky, David Weinberger, Marilynn Mobley, Josh Morgan, Guilluame du Gardier and now - Steve Rubel. They also have insights and the earshot podcasts.

It is almost Citizen Kane’s stolen stable of reporters, only flipped by being PR and bloggers. No, I’m not equating Edelman with Kane. Now that would be funny - and stupid.

Anyway, can anyone even come close to this bevy of new media offerings from senior execs and consultants? No. They can’t. Edelman Worldwide is ahead - by a mile (or more).

What Made Me Think of It

Richard Edelman stated:

If The Wall Street Journal goes after a client, we don’t have to accept that anymore. Let’s post the documents we gave The Journal; let’s show the interviews the newspaper decided not to show.

Well, people not only went after your client … they went after you, too.

Edelman Worldwide and Wal-Mart were tagged for not being transparent (enough) by two reporters and a few PR bloggers. Isn’t this the perfect opportunity to put the information that would clear up the questions out where all can see? You know, one of those “total disclosure” things we all dream about - but rarely see.

Edelman Worldwide’s team of PR bloggers should post their inside, and in-house, instructions used by all account reps re: how to deal with bloggers. Share the process that employees are required to follow. What training do they provide to their account reps for dealing with bloggers? Let us see the inner workings - at least as much as Edelman Worldwide is willing to share - and we all learn from the process. And please, don’t give us any of this proprietary nonsense. For me, I just want to see if any of these documents actually exist.

The Experiment

If we are going to carry these calls for transparency to their natural “bloggy” conclusion, how about this.

Let us have Edelman Worldwide do something bold and in keeping with the culture of the new medium we/they have so embraced. This will accomplish the following in the spirit of the all important Cluetrain Manifesto that helped start it all:

• Answer the questions that have been raised re: their pitching practices and remove doubt.

Cluetrain Thesis #28: Most marketing programs are based on the fear that the market might see what’s really going on inside the company.

• Take the leadership role a step further, while illustrating the power of blogs in a manner atune with this new WOM mentality.

Cluetrain Thesis #14: Corporations do not speak in the same voice as these new networked conversations. To their intended online audiences, companies sound hollow, flat, literally inhuman.

• Give back to the community, as leaders should.

Cluetrain Thesis #23: Companies attempting to “position” themselves need to take a position. Optimally, it should relate to something their market actually cares about.

• Embrace the character and supposed culture of the blogosphere.

Cluetrain Thesis #12: There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.

• Provide a learning experience for many, and …

Cluetrain Thesis #38: To speak with a human voice, companies must share the concerns of their communities.

• Be as blatantly transparent as any PR firm can be, or has been.

Cluetrain Thesis #53: There are two conversations going on. One inside the company. One with the market.

Cluetrain Thesis #36: Companies must ask themselves where their corporate cultures end.

Certainly anyone could pull other lines from the Manifesto. I just chose these. David Weinberger could certainly tell us if I chose the right ones, or if they even fit.

Sure, there are crib sheets available for all of us to compose our own policies and practices. But, wouldn’t you rather see the real deal - the pdf’s and pages from the Edelman intranet that state the policies and practices clearly?

Well, I’m not holding my breath or anything, and neither should you. Yes, the above was intended to be a bit loopy (in an almost sane voice). Some have taken this idea in other paths of lunacy re: “Let us see the phone call lists, daily diaries, meetings schedules and more.”

My point? Honestly, I think I have one.

There is no better recent example that would make this type of action quite powerful. Moreso, if a company ever chose to truly take this path - fully embracing these ideals we talk about so often - we might actually learn how well the many theses of the manifesto really fit and work.

The one thing that could - realistically - happen? The collective family of Edelman Worldwide bloggers could write posts of their own about how to pitch bloggers, what they are doing and how they will assure that these vaunted ideas of honesty and openness will be achieved.

The term “vaunted” was chosen on purpose. We do seem to talk about this new medium with a bit of bravado, don’t we? How wonderful to actually see it in action - some day.

Tag … Four Things

Pepper is like salt in an open wound.

Four Jobs I’ve Had

• Camp counselor
• Bookkeeper
• Deejay
• Elephant Jockey (I’m not kidding.)

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over

• Lord of the Rings (Pick one.)
• Dr. Strangelove
• All The King’s Men
• Blazing Saddles

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch

• News (Pick any channel. Even Fox. I like comic relief.)
• Sports Night
• Twilight Zone
• Who’s Line Is It Anyway (BBC Version)

Four Places I’ve Been on Vacation

• Grand Canyon (Fell asleep on the mule ride down the canyon.)
• Miami
• Canada (200 mile canoe trip)
• Gulf Shores (to see Dad)

Four Favorite Dishes

• New Orleans Creole (Well, maybe before the hurricane.)
• Texas Chili
• Blackened Pepper Catfish
• Southern Fried Chicken (If my Grandma Ava cooked it in her deep fat fryer.)

Four Websites I Visit Daily (Can’t be mine, huh?)
Easy one to answer. The four default tabs in my Firefox browser.

• Gmail
• Camp ASCCA Easter Seals
• O’Dwyer’s PR
• PR Week

Four Places I’d Rather Be

• Playing with George and Shekiya
• Whitewater Canoeing
• Mount Cheaha in a chalet
• Camp ASCCA Easter Seals

Four Bloggers I am Tagging (I’m picking people that live far away so I am not harmed.)

• James Farmer
• Paul Woodhouse
• Allan Jenkins
• Matt Collins OK, not so far away.

I kinda doubt any of these four will blog this, but - we’ll see.

Maria Sanchez: Cost Efficient PR for Nonprofits

I loved seeing this post from SMU’s Maria Sanchez. Their PR class is blogging, too.

Maria is quite a student. She hopes “to work in nonprofit administration, foundations or the government” and is “particularly interested in working for educational, cultural or religious organizations.” And, you know I’m going to be happy to read of a student interested in non-profit PR.

Check out her post. I suggested she also look in on Camp ASCCA’s blogging efforts as another example of cost efficient PR for non-profits.

Maria Sanchez: Cost Efficient PR for Nonprofits

In a world where everyone is looking for the next big thing, and where many people are willing pay the price for it, it is a wonder how something so simple and cheap is the new phenomenom.

Although blogs are being created daily by professionals and average Joe’s alike, I have chosen to research the effect that blogging has had on the nonprofit sector. An article on techsoup.com gives ten reasons why blogging is important in the nonprofit world today. It points out that “updating is easy” and that “blogs provide a more personal communication vehicle.” I agree that it is important for nonprofits and those interested in them to tap into this new technological resource in order to stay current with our business-focused society.

Critiques and Suggestions :: “Friend, can you spare your time?”

PR Student Blogging :: We need your input, please.

Along the lines of that famous phrase, “Brother, can you spare a dime?”, I come seeking your time. So, brothers and sisters, please consider this appeal.

This is a follow up to my previous post. I am reaching out to active PR practitioners seeking input on how to improve our classroom blogging experience.

We request your advice and criticisms. Comment below or post in your blog and trackback to this post. Actually, posting in your blog will be better. It will help us reach more people and gain more insight.

This project serves two purposes. First, my students will benefit from your opinions and I may improve our process. Second, the HigherEd BlogCon is approaching in April 2006. I would like to point other educators to your ideas (in your blogs or here) in an effort to encourage more faculty to consider a classroom blogging experience.

I have tried to make it brief, while providing a good idea of what we are looking for in your suggestions. Read more

Open Appeal For Critiques, Suggestions, Ideas

Ihave not asked this one of the PR blogging community in awhile. So, here is my appeal for suggestions, criticism and any input about our blogging exercises. Gee, how transparent of me.

Yes, I realize this could open a can of worms. But, why not live on the edge. You PR bloggers have never been shy about sharing ideas and I’d like to hear them. I bet the students will, too.

Post a comment here, or - even better - write a post in your blog and trackback to this one. More people will read it in your blogs and we’ll probably get a better pool of suggestions.

So, here is my question for the day. This is for my students, PR practitioners, educators or random passers-by. Let us hear from you. Check the pullquote.

A quick synopsis of what we are doing here.

I require my students to blog twice a week about PR. They must also post one comment on a Marcomblog post and one other comment in another PR blog of their choice. I start them out pointing them to the Marcomblog contributor’s blogs, Jeremy Pepper and some others. Then I steer them to an even larger list of really good blogs. Finally, I let them loose on the entire PR blogging community.

I’ve noted along the way that some students just do what they have to in order to get by. A few don’t even do that. But then there are the real go-getters. The ones you always love to see. They go beyond that minimal level and really take the exercise to heart. I, of course, wish that all of them would take this path. If nothing else, they are going to benefit from the increased exposure to PR practitioners and their views. There is so much to learn and I really only get students when they are seniors. Sure, there are a few exceptions, but mostly seniors. So, a future goal would be to see if I can encourage others to include this in the junior classes. Hey, why not get an early jump on it.

Still, baby steps is the way we’ve proceeded over the past two years. Overall, I still think that is the best idea. Just like learning about blogs, developing an idea of what you want to write about, and then developing a voice - each blogger should take at least a few months to truly become immersed in the practice.

My goals are to first send them out reading other blogs. Then, make them write about PR issues/trends. Along the way, they should begin to make contacts with other bloggers. Get to know the wide variety of PR bloggers out there and understand their interests, see how they post about issues and how they analyze them, too. My student’s posts should, in a perfect world, show that they can dissect PR issues, analyze them, apply them to real world examples they may experience later on, and to make a good impression that they have actually thought about PR beyond the classroom.

I hope that by the end of the semester the students will have a collection of about 30 posts. They will have read numerous blog posts from a variety of PR angles. At the end of the semester I suggest that they go back through their blog (if they didn’t do it along the way) and re-read their posts. Check for grammar and typos. If a post just doesn’t seem to be the best, take it down or re-write it. This is, after all, a possible online resume item and I want them to put their best foot forward.

What do you other PR bloggers think about these ideas? Critique them and make suggestions for other things they should be pursuing.

infOpinions? del.icio.us link for 2006-01-17

• SPSS’ New Data Mining Product Will Significantly Boost CRM, Marketing & Fraud Detection; Enables Greater Productivity & Cost Efficiency
  Press Release: “SPSS Inc. today unveiled its new data mining workbench, Clementine(R) 10, that will provide a substantial boost for customer relations management (CRM), marketing, fraud detection and revenue assurance applications.”
  (tags: CRM SPSS survey+research data+mining)

Finding a Path to Blog PR Bliss … Goose and Gander?

Ah, the metaphors come flowing in at times like this.

What follows is really kind of sad. You don’t want bad things to happen to people, especially when (even if they are not) they think they are doing good deeds. That is what is happening here.

What is good for the goose, is not necessarily good for the gander. Well, so says the goose, Steve Rubel.

Scott Baradell has a great post about this. His contains much wiser, kinder and gentler advice, too. The comments are great, as well. Check it out.

So, now the story…

Steve Rubel is a blogger. When he started blogging, although no where near the first of PR bloggers, it was still relatively new. People then, and even now, think it is a bit strange.

But, he worked hard linking and SEO hacking and pitching and promoting and eventually found his own bit of fame.

Yesterday, Rubel tossed out his own self-proclamation of how he is a “top tier” blogger. He owes that to his own personal long tail. Links, links, links. Pitch, pitch, pitch.

Over one and a half years ago, Steve Rubel went in search of his own long tail. He decided that he needed Google Juice (links) to achieve the fame that could drive his blog to success and - eventually - into a micro-practice. He needed that juice to appear legitimate when he pitched himself, and his blog, to traditional media. He needed it to have something to show potential clients. He threw out his many links and readers as if it was a flambouyant scarf.

Notice how we haven’t discussed ‘content’ much, yet? Isn’t content king? I think it is. I’ve heard Rubel’s blog referred to as a “regurgablog” or link blog. If you think about it, that is true. He posts other people’s thoughts. He is, quite literally, a one-man aggregator. He is aggregating other people’s content.

Rubel had no qualms with asking others for help. An unknown, he wrote, in April 2004, asking for links. He did become a successful aggregator via his blog in the eyes of many. The Micropersuasion practice was realized.

Yesterday, Rubel wrote a little homily about best practice in link acquisition. I believe he probably thought he was being nice. It wasn’t received that way by everyone. Rubel was a role model for some. But, that blogger and other observers see that Rubel was actually discouraging those that are simply practicing what he did over a year ago to start his climb to A-list status.

Rubel forgot that blogs give everyone a voice and are supposed to (if you ‘really’ believe in the Cluetrain and Long Tail) help democratize the communication flow. They can help level the playing field.

But Rubel has his own idea. He has established a tier system for people wishing to climb the link ladder. The “Z” list asks the “Y” list for links. The “Y” list ask the “X” list, and so on… Convenient for Rubel, today.

Rubel’s tactics are an example of a pseudo “New PR” practitioner. He does love to talk about new media, but supplements his tricks and hacks with the old practices. Hey, they are good tactics and strategies. He just rarely talks about that traditional practice of PR, which he uses a great deal.

Sadly, he actually calls himself a “top-tier” target. Well, it is true. But, if he is on top, shouldn’t I know it already? Aren’t some things best left unsaid? There is an old saying. Act like you’ve been there before. Don’t flaunt it.

Yes, what Rubel has accomplished/achieved has somehow made him a sought after source for traditional media. But I believe that most of his visibility comes from the old world press agentry promotion of what he is doing in his blog. It is that traditional media relations work that has served him best, more so than the blog itself. The media coverage is what really drives people to his site.

For me, I really don’t go to Rubel’s blog - unless I am sent a link or see it referenced in some other blog and it seems interesting. It has lost value for me. Heck, anyone can do RSS searches, Google Alerts, Yahoo! Alerts and any number of other RSS feed scanning practices. I find all the things Rubel posts about, but in the other blogs I read. And, I find something more. I find the thoughts of those bloggers and what they think of these new ideas, tools, tactics and more. They add to the conversation, not echo it. That, my friends, is content worth reading. They may not be A-List bloggers, but they are the true Kings and Queens - the royalty - of blogs.

I hope Rubel enjoys being there - in his blog. Chance the Gardener has a new crop of squash. As in, squash the lil’ guys. He doesn’t have time for anything but the really big vegetables.

58 Students Begin Blogging

58 new bloggers will be kicking off their blogs this week. I will add them all to the the aggregator where you may easily view excerpts and links to their posts. Right now you’ll see a lot of “Hello World” posts, so be patient for their first posts which will begin shortly.

A different slant on blogging this semester will be evident in some of the blogs. The PR Survey Research group will post once a week. Their goal is to (a) find examples of research - or what is passed off as research - online and critique it, (b) identify best and worst practices, (c) look for transparency and evidence of methodology being clearly revealed, (d) critique the instrument and (e) general analysis of the value of the research effort.

An interesting part of this will be that the students currently do not know much about survey research. I willl be interested to see how their analysis improves throughout the semester. This puts a lil’ pressure on them, but also puts a great deal on me, too.

The PR Messages in Style & Design class will be posting to their blogs twice a week and each post must have a direct relation to current PR/Marcom issues and trends. I prefer that they focus on areas of PR/Marcom of particular interest to their future career paths, how they might implement new media/social media in practice, and what they feel are the most pressing issues for PR/Marcom, overall. Respectful, yet in-depth, critique and/or praise is expected in all of their observations.

Blog Mafia, PR Education, A Birthday, Deer, Meyers-Briggs and “The Future of PR”

I have been negligent this past week, so here are some highlights among posts I found in PR blog world.

A PR Guru’s Musings - Stuart Bruce

Stuart Bruce has a very funny post - if only for one quote:

One of my channels in FeedDemon is called “So-called A-list Bloggers”. It is dedicated to what I term the blogging mafia.

How refreshing to see someone state - publicly - their feelings on this topic. I have felt it for a long time, and written about it. But, the phrase “blogging mafia” to describe the self-proclaimed gurus and “PR blog” koolaid addicts? Well, that is too funny. And, to sweeten the punch, Stuart links to several ‘true’ PR / Communication blogs in order to educate the masses of linker-oners that seem to be similarly koolaid drunk.

NevOn by Neville Hobson
PR Opinions by Tom Murphy
A Shel of my former self by Shel Holtz
POP! PR Jots by Jeremy Pepper
PR Studies by Richard Bailey
Mediations by Philip Young
Hyku Blog by Josh Hallett
Public relations from an Irish perspective by Piaras Kelly
Marketing Technology by Niall Cook

Nice job, Stuart. Thanks for the public wake up call.

Allan Jenkins: Desirable Roasted Coffee

Allan Jenkins’s blog is now two years old. Congratulations to Allan. He is now participating in Marcomblog.com with our students. Prior to this, his blog was the focus of several exercises devoted to blogging ethics and/or best practices. Many thanks to Allan for his kindness and support, too. Also, for sheer fun - please read Allan’s post entitled “Man Kills Buck With Bare Hands in Bedroom for an interesting chuckle. For southerners, especially, deer stories have a special meaning. I almost hit two the other night on the way back from my sister’s house. It is late Fall and deer are everywhere.

Phil’s Blogservations: www.philgomes.com

Phil Gomes recognized our program of PR student blogging activities and PRblogs.org and elsewhere. Thank you, Phil. I had the pleasure of speaking with him on the phone last week and it was quite enjoyable.

I also enjoyed Phil’s Meyers-Briggs shoutout: Love To The World’s INTJs.

After years of work in Student Affairs at two universities, I am very aware of Meyers-Briggs - and, have taken the test several times myself. For the record, I most often test out as an INFJ, but my scores are often borderline (about 50/50) on each. Other times, I - like Phil - test as an INTJ.

I don’t know how you feel about personality assessment tests, but I’ve seen students and their results. Too often, they are quite revealing. I find it interesting to learn, after that phone conversation, that Phil and I test relatively the same. Hmm? I wonder how other PR practitioners test on Meyers-Briggs? It would be an interesting study.

The Future of PR :: HigherEd BlogCon

The Future of PR provides news of the pending 2006 HigherEd BlogCon online conference modeled after Global PR Blog Week.

The organizers are Dan Forbush of PR Newswire’s ProfNet and the IAOC blog, Thomson Peterson’s Dan Karleen and Richard Salatiello of CASE.

Other good news, one of our favorite people - the founder of The NewPRWiki, Constantin Basturea, is consulting for the group. Congrats to Constantin.

I will be participating in the event, too.

The NewPR ::: Web 2.0 et.al.

Good post today from Mike Manuel at Media Guerrilla: DIY PR in a ‘Cheap’ Economy. It reminds me of the meme Jeremy Pepper was tacking during Global PR Blog Week - Jeremy Pepper: PR Blogging, and the New PR Meme. Note: The full post is here at Global PR Blog Week is down now (database snafu) so this is Jeremy’s post that refers to it. Global PR Blog Week blog is back up now.

Certainly, these two bloggers are two of the best you can read. And, their posts/articles take a pretty rational view of NewPR and how CMS is making inroads. They understand blogs. They get it.

Still, I think most all of these posts and articles fail to state the one point that would really make it true, or valid for the broader business community. All should say / add “smaller regional or national/international” companies instead of the broad and generic ’small business’.

Why? Well, I fail to see the successful broad application for truly small business (a.k.a., mom & pop). Sure, there is a handful of examples. Maybe three or four handfuls. But, the PR blogging meme for small business ‘other than’ the one person shop of consultants, etc. just hasn’t proven true - yet. Can it? Will it? I don’t know. It may. But, right now - the proof isn’t available in sufficient numbers.

The problem? It is due to where most PR bloggers are coming from. Almost all are working in national / international companies - or, they serve clients with national/international customer bases. So, they don’t think like small / regional businesses.

I think that is, in a way, a natural omission due to their focus on PR activities.

So, I believe that if we can make the distinction - clarify, clarify, clarify - when speaking of where blogging / CMS has worked in PR and avoid the broad generalizations - we have started to make inroads. It is, perhaps, the broad promises of how it will work (without the examples to back it up) that may be a barrier to entry for many small business owners.

The last step is to truly identify and analyze a sufficient number of small business blogs. Anita Campbell does a fine job of it. And, she gave me “a talkin’ to” when I posted about Blogs as Panacea or Placebo some time ago.

Still, I don’t think we’ve acquired a sufficient database of small business blogs (other than individuals in business) to judge the effectiveness.

Kudos to Anita, by the way. She now has added a radio program to her armada of small business tools for all of us to enjoy:

Small Business Trends Radio
Tuesdays, 1:00 PM Eastern U.S. time
on Voice America network
Click to listen

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