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Posted on January 24, 2007
5 Tips for Smarter Digging
BY JASON CORMIER
The social media site Digg has become tremendously popular -- which gives it considerable power to enhance your search visibility.
If you're not already using Digg, it's worth checking out to learn how it works. Even if you never become a regular Digg user, it's helpful to know what to do if some of your online content (or someone else's content that mentions or links to you) gets "Dugg," becomes popular, and sends a sudden spike of traffic your way.
I recently created a video tutorial called Digg Basics. If you're brand new to Digg, this 12-minute tutorial explains how Digg works and shows you how to register with Digg, how to Digg and get Dugg, and more.
Of course, there's much more to Digg -- and to all social media services (there are so many similar ones) -- than I could possibly fit into a short basic tutorial. So here are five tips to help you make the most out of Digg and avoid common pitfalls...
Posted on January 10, 2007
TOMS Shoes - A Case Study in the Power of a Great Story
BY JAMES CLARK
TOMS Shoes is a one of the best examples of what a great story will do to catapult your business.
Journalist and good PR professionals know that great stories have three elements:
1. Differentiation
2. Emotion
3. Simplicity
Well TOMS Shoes knocks it out of the park in all three areas.
Founder Blake Mycoskie, who appeared on CBS's The Amazing Race ended up in Argentina where the local footwear and poverty inspired him to launch a TOMS Shoes.
So here's the story from TOMS Shoes website. Pay special attention to the mission - it captures all three of key elements of a great story.
"Inspired by a traditional Argentine shoe and challenged by the continent's poverty and health issues, I created TOMS with a singular mission: To make life more comfortable. TOMS accomplishes this through its unique shoe and my commitment to match every pair purchased with a donated pair to a child in need...no complicated formulas, it's simple...you buy a pair of TOMS and I give a pair to a child on your behalf."
I bought two pair, and recently received the following email from Shannon Douglas at TOMS Shoes
Dear TOMS Customer,
Due to recent press in Vogue, Elle, and GQ Magazine as you may have seen, we have been blessed with incredible sales. Unfortunately, that means that we ran out of shoes quickly and your order is on backorder. We realize you may have received a similar email like this in the past; unfortunately, due to incredibly high demand and press we've received, the delay has been longer than expected.
Please keep in mind that your order may be shipped out before the next shipment. We hope this has not caused you any inconvenience, and once again thank you for your support. There are many people who appreciate it.
If you would like to switch a backordered style to something in stock please contact me directly and we can get you another style you'd like.
Take Care,
Shannon Douglas
www.tomsshoes.com
disclaimer: you will not when the rat race wearing TOMS.
I was one of 391 people included in the email distribution list.
Oh and by the way, I read about TOMS in Outside Magazine
Take a look at the shoes - Blake's right - they're simple. It's the story that sold me.
Posted on September 25, 2006
Distributing News by Feed: Simpler, not Lazier
BY JASON CORMIER
On Sept. 19, I wrote this posting for the Poynter Institute's group weblog E-Media Tidbits (which is read mainly by mainstream media pros) that caused a little stir in the PR field.
See, part of what I do is journalism, so consequently a lot of PR folks unthinkingly add me to their press release e-mail lists. I really, really don't like that. In fact, I routinely flag any unsolicited press release as spam. I strongly prefer to get news by feed, and I subscribe to lots of feeds on the beats I cover.
It's not that I'm closed to new sources. In fact, PR reps for prospective sources can always e-mail me to request permission to send me releases. If I think they're relevant enough, I'll first ask for their feed URL. If they don't offer a feed, then I'll let them send me e-mail only if I think their content truly is on-topic for me.
Not surprisingly, several PR pros were alarmed that I'd flag their precious releases as spam. Tough! It's my inbox, and have no trouble finding good leads from diverse sources.
On Saturday, PR blogger Barbara Iverson picked up on my theme and encouraged PR pros to offer feeds. I appreciate her support in that community.
In the comments to her post, I asked Iverson whether she thinks most PR folks know how to set up a feed, or know enough to ask their tech people to set it up for them. From her reply, I gather that most PR pros probably don't even know what feeds are, let alone how to set them up.
Then she responded with a good question of her own: "Do you think most reporters know about feeds or how to ask for them?"
Here's what I told her, plus more reasons why organizations should publish their news via feed...
Posted on September 20, 2006
Conversational Relevance: John Cass Nails It
BY JASON CORMIER
Here's what PR blogger John Cass had to say on the role of conversational media in marketing. I couldn't have said it better.
"Effective blogging is about joining an existing conversation, rather than interrupting your audiences' conversation. What that means in practicality is that a corporate blogger does not pitch their articles to other bloggers, or ask for links directly. Rather a blogger should look for opportunities to join in an existing conversation. Make comments with relevant statements on another blog or write a follow up post on your own blog."
So true, so true.
I think that's the core of what's irked most people about traditional marketing for decades: It interrupts their conversations. It tries to foist messages (or, more accurately, "messaging" -- ugh) on them. It's attempted attention hijacking. It's like someone who shows up at a party, walks up to strangers, and blurts, "Enough about you, let's talk about me."
Way to go, John.
(Thanks to David Wilson for the tip.)
Beyond Blogs: Moleskine Goes Where the Conversation Happens
BY JASON CORMIER
 |
| My Moleskine reporter's notebook -- which is holding up well, despite frequent abuse. |
Moleskine notebooks aren't fancy. In fact, this brand's reputation hinges almost entirely on quality, and on a vocal, dedicated community of customer evangelists -- such as Merlin Mann of the popular productivity site 43 Folders.
Therefore, when sharply worded complaints about Moleskin's quality and service erupted on the 43 Folders Google Groups forum on Aug. 15, Modo & Modo (manufacturer of Moleskine notebooks) had a pretty big problem.
Apparently, some Moleskine notebooks started falling apart after just a few weeks or months of use. Some owners of these defective notebooks tried contacting Moleskine US, but got no response. Later, it turned out that Moleskin US is not the US distributor for this brand. The official US distributor is Kikkerland Design Inc. But in the meantime, these customers believed Moleskine was ignoring them. Not good.
Clued in by e-mails, Moleskine maker Modo & Modo began checking out the online complaints. On Aug. 30, the company posted a sincere apology on its blog. They offered an explanation of their late response: they're a small company, and in Italy everyone's on vacation in August -- not a great answer, but an honest one. They also offered clear instructions on how owners of defective notebooks could get their problem addressed.
Even smarter, Modo & Modo posted the full text of this statement onto the 43 Folders forum where the complaints arose. It's interesting to note that, despite earlier frustrations aired in that forum, all the responses to the company's apology were positive and supportive.
This story demonstrates the importance of three lessons for all organizations who understand how conversational media can help make or break your reputation...
