I asked my wife if she heard about this Monday night and she told me it was "old news" by then.
I'm secure enough in my masculinity to say I've worn a baby in a sling. In public. Several times. And after a while my back gets sore too. But it's clear the ad was a mistake.
However, give McNeil credit for responding to the fairly robust criticism rather quickly and doing the right thing.
Of course all the social media folks are writing their "behold the power of Twitter" and "behold the power of mommybloggers" posts. The truth is in this situation Twitter probably saved McNeil here, not harmed it. It served as the canary in the coal mine, giving the company a strong warning that something was wrong. And McNeil was smart enough to be watching for it and courageous enough to apologize and change direction quickly. Now they need to take the next step - building strong relationships with many of the discussion drivers and opinion leading parents who talk with each other online.
Showing posts with label mommyblogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mommyblogs. Show all posts
18 November 2008
23 July 2008
Behold, the Power of Mommybloggers
No, this isn't another post about BlogHer.
This week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced a large package of non-controversial bills wrapped into a single "omnibus" piece of legislation and placed it on the Senate calendar. Ordinarily this wouldn't get much attention, but the legislative history of each individual proposal makes Senator Reid's action a very, very big deal.
Each provision in the omnibus had fallen victim to a "hold" by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).
I have some personal experience with this tactic. When I worked for a Senator several years ago, I helped write a piece of legislation called the LEADERS Act that would provide federal support for small business incubators based in academic settings. It was a bipartisan bill and passed unanimously through committee.
The bill was put up for passage by "unanimous consent." Within minutes it cleared the Democratic side, but one Republican Senator - someone who was allegedly upset that my boss opposed confirming a controversial judge from that Senator's home state - objected to the unanimous consent request, effectively "holding" its passage for reasons that had nothing to do with the merits of the bill. He wanted to send my boss a message - "there are political consequences for voting against one of my people."
I was upset because I thought the bill was - and still is - a very good idea. But I understood that's the nature of politics, that my boss' opposition to that judge was an important issue, and the quiet-if-not-quite-anonymous hold is one of the most guarded traditions in the Senate.
Apparently no longer.
Senator Reid has apparently decided to call out Senate Republicans in general, and Senator Coburn in particular, for political obstruction. I think it's a bit risky - after all, Democrats have "held" non-controversial bills as well and this tactic invites a tit-for-tat response from the Republicans, probably in the form of an amendment to the bill that includes non-controversial items "held" by Senator Reid or any Senate Democrat up for re-election this year.
Regardless, this is the kind of inside-baseball political stuff that Senate nerds like me see as a sea change within the world's most deliberative body. And as I look at the list of proposals in what Democrats are calling the "Coburn Holds" package one very important provision stands out:
The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act.
The package contains a number of bills with "star power," like the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, or are essentially re-authorizations of laws that get done within the normal course of Senate business, like the Overseas Private Investment Corporation reauthorization. In short, many have that extra political or bureacratic nudge to get them noticed and passed. But the MOTHERS Act really doesn't.
So how does a bill that helps one of America's least powerful political constituencies (moms with postpartum depression), named after a woman no one ever heard of, get on the Senate Majority Leader's radar and on the list?
Mommybloggers.
OK, one in particular - Katherine Stone of Postpartum Progress, who has been banging the online drum and organizing bloggers on this issue for some time now and has worked with a non-profit to organize and submit an online petition to Congress. In short, Ms. Stone has demonstrated to the United States Senate that there is an interested and important constituency for this legislation, and those who support it will be recognized. Plus passing the bill is the right thing to do.
It's clear that Senator Reid isn't doing this because Katherine Stone told him to. He's scoring short-term political points while getting some good ideas passed. But it's obvious that Stone's efforts helped Reid and the Democrats understand that people want to see these bills passed, and helped convince him this tactic is worth the risk.
There are some important lessons to be learned here. First, sometimes all it takes is a little effort and organizing - plus some political opportunity - to overcome the legislative inertia the Senate often displays.
Second, that organizing can be effective even if it's done primarily in the online channel - businesses can use social media as a primary component of their government relations efforts, if they do it right. The key is to understand the community you're working with, identifying the leaders within it, building relationships with them, building and sustaining a coalition of support, and motivating individuals to act at the right time.
Finally, the nature of the Senate has changed, emphasizing transparency and process - ironically, the values that are promoted most in social media. Holds are no longer anonymous and the worst abusers of the hold won't be tolerated. It will take some time for politicians to get used to the new rules here and those who understand them best will do well.
This week Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) introduced a large package of non-controversial bills wrapped into a single "omnibus" piece of legislation and placed it on the Senate calendar. Ordinarily this wouldn't get much attention, but the legislative history of each individual proposal makes Senator Reid's action a very, very big deal.
Each provision in the omnibus had fallen victim to a "hold" by Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).
I have some personal experience with this tactic. When I worked for a Senator several years ago, I helped write a piece of legislation called the LEADERS Act that would provide federal support for small business incubators based in academic settings. It was a bipartisan bill and passed unanimously through committee.
The bill was put up for passage by "unanimous consent." Within minutes it cleared the Democratic side, but one Republican Senator - someone who was allegedly upset that my boss opposed confirming a controversial judge from that Senator's home state - objected to the unanimous consent request, effectively "holding" its passage for reasons that had nothing to do with the merits of the bill. He wanted to send my boss a message - "there are political consequences for voting against one of my people."
I was upset because I thought the bill was - and still is - a very good idea. But I understood that's the nature of politics, that my boss' opposition to that judge was an important issue, and the quiet-if-not-quite-anonymous hold is one of the most guarded traditions in the Senate.
Apparently no longer.
Senator Reid has apparently decided to call out Senate Republicans in general, and Senator Coburn in particular, for political obstruction. I think it's a bit risky - after all, Democrats have "held" non-controversial bills as well and this tactic invites a tit-for-tat response from the Republicans, probably in the form of an amendment to the bill that includes non-controversial items "held" by Senator Reid or any Senate Democrat up for re-election this year.
Regardless, this is the kind of inside-baseball political stuff that Senate nerds like me see as a sea change within the world's most deliberative body. And as I look at the list of proposals in what Democrats are calling the "Coburn Holds" package one very important provision stands out:
The Melanie Blocker Stokes MOTHERS Act.
The package contains a number of bills with "star power," like the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, or are essentially re-authorizations of laws that get done within the normal course of Senate business, like the Overseas Private Investment Corporation reauthorization. In short, many have that extra political or bureacratic nudge to get them noticed and passed. But the MOTHERS Act really doesn't.
So how does a bill that helps one of America's least powerful political constituencies (moms with postpartum depression), named after a woman no one ever heard of, get on the Senate Majority Leader's radar and on the list?
Mommybloggers.
OK, one in particular - Katherine Stone of Postpartum Progress, who has been banging the online drum and organizing bloggers on this issue for some time now and has worked with a non-profit to organize and submit an online petition to Congress. In short, Ms. Stone has demonstrated to the United States Senate that there is an interested and important constituency for this legislation, and those who support it will be recognized. Plus passing the bill is the right thing to do.
It's clear that Senator Reid isn't doing this because Katherine Stone told him to. He's scoring short-term political points while getting some good ideas passed. But it's obvious that Stone's efforts helped Reid and the Democrats understand that people want to see these bills passed, and helped convince him this tactic is worth the risk.
There are some important lessons to be learned here. First, sometimes all it takes is a little effort and organizing - plus some political opportunity - to overcome the legislative inertia the Senate often displays.
Second, that organizing can be effective even if it's done primarily in the online channel - businesses can use social media as a primary component of their government relations efforts, if they do it right. The key is to understand the community you're working with, identifying the leaders within it, building relationships with them, building and sustaining a coalition of support, and motivating individuals to act at the right time.
Finally, the nature of the Senate has changed, emphasizing transparency and process - ironically, the values that are promoted most in social media. Holds are no longer anonymous and the worst abusers of the hold won't be tolerated. It will take some time for politicians to get used to the new rules here and those who understand them best will do well.
25 October 2007
Yet another mom in politics
Yesterday Katherine Stone rallied dozens of bloggers to call their Senators to support a bill "to ensure that new mothers and their families are educated about postpartum depression, screened for symptoms, and provided with essential services, and to increase research at the National Institutes of Health on postpartum depression." The bill, also called the "MOTHERS Act," is sponsored by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Richard Durbin (D-IL).
(I'm a little confused with the bill number - Congress.org says the bill number is S.1375, but I've seen it also reported as S.3529, even though there doesn't seem to be a bill with that number in the Congress.org database.)
This is just the latest example of someone you wouldn't necessarily think of as "overtly political" making a major investment of time, creativity and emotion in a public policy issue. People who read Katherine's blog know she has a ton of credibility on the issue, much more than virtually any blog that discusses nothing but politics 24/7. She's working closely with two large organizations - BlogHer and Postpartum Support International.
I've said this before, but the mom-o-sphere is the next source of leadership on political and consumer issues. Moms make the overwhelming majority of purchasing decisions in households. They regularly voice concerns about health care, education, safety, the environment, and work/life balance. They are leveraging blogs - yes, other forms of social media too, but mainly blogs - to build relationships and even coalitions. They're starting to use the online channel to exert their influence in politics and in the marketplace.
The companies and campaigns that ignore their issues-based discussions do so at their own peril.
(I'm a little confused with the bill number - Congress.org says the bill number is S.1375, but I've seen it also reported as S.3529, even though there doesn't seem to be a bill with that number in the Congress.org database.)
This is just the latest example of someone you wouldn't necessarily think of as "overtly political" making a major investment of time, creativity and emotion in a public policy issue. People who read Katherine's blog know she has a ton of credibility on the issue, much more than virtually any blog that discusses nothing but politics 24/7. She's working closely with two large organizations - BlogHer and Postpartum Support International.
I've said this before, but the mom-o-sphere is the next source of leadership on political and consumer issues. Moms make the overwhelming majority of purchasing decisions in households. They regularly voice concerns about health care, education, safety, the environment, and work/life balance. They are leveraging blogs - yes, other forms of social media too, but mainly blogs - to build relationships and even coalitions. They're starting to use the online channel to exert their influence in politics and in the marketplace.
The companies and campaigns that ignore their issues-based discussions do so at their own peril.
10 October 2007
WHAT DO WE WANT? WHEN DO WE WANT IT?
Best wishes to "Lactivista" and "Pregerella" and the crew of moms participating in the Great Virtual Breast Fest today. I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure this has never been done before - at least not in such an organic, grassroots fashion. It's amazing what a small group of people can do when sufficiently motivated and armed with just a few tools.
And some relevant, helpful advice from my wife this morning, as always, based on the research.
UPDATE: The LMJ's video montage was a top-ten most-discussed video on Youtube yesterday.
And some relevant, helpful advice from my wife this morning, as always, based on the research.
UPDATE: The LMJ's video montage was a top-ten most-discussed video on Youtube yesterday.
03 October 2007
You may already have won...
One of the best things about BlogHer '07 was the chance to meet social media PR/marketing rockstar Susan Getgood. One of the things I respect most about Susan - and something I try to emulate - is that she's taken the "participation is marketing" idea to the next level. To Susan, ADVOCACY is participation. She advocates for bloggers and tries to be a resource. To look at the future of using social media in marketing, look at Susan Getgood today.
Susan invited me to participate in a discussion about blogger-run contests and sweepstakes. So many bloggers are doing this, but are they aware of the liability implications?
Susan sought out Donna DeClemente, an expert on the subject and author of Donna's Promo Talk, for some answers and guidance. You can see their discussion here. She also asked if I'd be interested in reaching out to someone in the legal profession and talk about this from a policy perspective.
Entrepreneurship, and particuarly women's entrepreneurship, is an issue I examined in great detail while working on Capitol Hill. One of my biggest thrills was drafting legislation with people from the National Association of Business Incubators that was called the "LEADERS Act" - Linking Educators and Developing Entrepreneurs for Reaching Success. The bill never got through the Senate, but it had bipartisan support and got a lot of people talking.
Of course, the bill was drafted before the advent of the "mommyblogger based business," but one of the things I learned was many entrepreneurs (online or off) lack the basic administrative infrastructure and knowledge to ensure the sustainability of their businesses. One of the most important things to keep in mind when building a business is the advice a boxing referee gives the fighters just before they touch gloves: "protect yourself at all times." That's because in America, anyone can be sued for anything at any time. Entire blogs have been built on this premise. The fact that you're online may make things a bit more complicated, but I've never seen something like that stand in the way of an aggressive trial lawyer with a client and an axe to grind.
So at Susan's invitation I sought out someone the mommybloggers will wholeheartedly accept as one of their own, and also has the legal chops to teach us all: Stephanie Himel-Nelson, an attorney at the firm of Vandeventer Black, LLP in Norfolk, Virgina. Stephanie may be known better in the blogosphere as Lawyer Mama. Stephanie also writes for DC Metro Moms.
She writes:
Susan invited me to participate in a discussion about blogger-run contests and sweepstakes. So many bloggers are doing this, but are they aware of the liability implications?
Susan sought out Donna DeClemente, an expert on the subject and author of Donna's Promo Talk, for some answers and guidance. You can see their discussion here. She also asked if I'd be interested in reaching out to someone in the legal profession and talk about this from a policy perspective.
Entrepreneurship, and particuarly women's entrepreneurship, is an issue I examined in great detail while working on Capitol Hill. One of my biggest thrills was drafting legislation with people from the National Association of Business Incubators that was called the "LEADERS Act" - Linking Educators and Developing Entrepreneurs for Reaching Success. The bill never got through the Senate, but it had bipartisan support and got a lot of people talking.
Of course, the bill was drafted before the advent of the "mommyblogger based business," but one of the things I learned was many entrepreneurs (online or off) lack the basic administrative infrastructure and knowledge to ensure the sustainability of their businesses. One of the most important things to keep in mind when building a business is the advice a boxing referee gives the fighters just before they touch gloves: "protect yourself at all times." That's because in America, anyone can be sued for anything at any time. Entire blogs have been built on this premise. The fact that you're online may make things a bit more complicated, but I've never seen something like that stand in the way of an aggressive trial lawyer with a client and an axe to grind.
So at Susan's invitation I sought out someone the mommybloggers will wholeheartedly accept as one of their own, and also has the legal chops to teach us all: Stephanie Himel-Nelson, an attorney at the firm of Vandeventer Black, LLP in Norfolk, Virgina. Stephanie may be known better in the blogosphere as Lawyer Mama. Stephanie also writes for DC Metro Moms.
She writes:
This information is meant to bring awareness to the topic and is not intended to be used as legal advice. If you have questions about any of the information above or related matters, please contact an attorney licensed in your state.Online Giveaways: Sweepstakes? Or Lottery?
Be mindful of state and federal laws. The FTC and federal authorities will carefully investigate allegations of unfair or deceptive promotions. If you are not careful to run a fair promotion, you can run afoul of the Federal Trade Commission or mail and wire fraud statutes. The attorney generals of every state are also empowered to investigate alleged violations of state consumer protection laws. Trust me, you don't even want an investigation into your online practices started. It's better to play it safe and disclose as much information about your contest as you can.
Make sure that the contest, giveaway or sweepstakes that you're conducting doesn't fit the definition of a "lottery." A sweepstakes or giveaway is usually a giveaway involving chance. Anyone can enter and no purchase or "consideration" is necessary. A lottery, however, is an entirely different animal. An animal prohibited by state and federal law, with the exception of lotteries run by the individual states. A lottery will generally have a prize, some sort of chance, but it also involves consideration, meaning money or something else of value is given by the entrant. Even requiring your readers to give you detailed consumer information can sometimes be considered "consideration," transforming your "giveaway" or "promotion" into an illegal "lottery." After all, in this day and age, consumer information has a great deal
of value.
Things you can do to ensure that your giveaway won't be seen as an illegal lottery:
1. List your rules on your site and make sure the contest is run fairly:
- How many entries are allowed per person?
- When will the contest end?
- When will the prize be awarded?
- Are there any geographical restrictions?
- Are there any age restrictions?
- What information is required for entry?
2. Provide an alternate or offline method of entry. Allow people to enter by fax or mail if they choose, without giving online information or drafting a quid pro quo blog post.
So you've listed your rules on the site; you've provided an alternative method of entry; you're sure that your contest can't possibly be considered a lottery. Are you good to go?
Maybe not.
Several states have enacted strict disclosure requirements for sweepstakes and giveaways, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas. If your online contest is open to everyone, you need to comply with the most stringent of these rules or exclude entrants from those states. Have international readers? Have you thought about international laws regarding giveaways and sweepstakes? If not, you should limit your contest to U.S. entrants. And don't forget to include those all important words in your contest rules: "Void where prohibited."
06 September 2007
Seriously, just stop it already
Every time I see this I gag:
I swear I was going to drop this topic. I thought I've said enough about it. I didn't want to write about it. Big-time bloggers have written about it better than I could.
But it's becoming clearer to me that maybe the marketing folks should just stop pitching to moms altogether, because here's the bottom line: The online outreach tactics from a majority of PR firms are actually making it harder for everyone to engage bloggers transparently and respectfully and effectively. We are hurting our own cause.
I don't know exactly what the goal of this blind pitching is, but I'm fairly sure it's NOT to help bloggers write posts ridiculing marketers - something that's happening with greater frequency. And if PR flacks don't get it by now, they won't ever get it. We're in a hole. Stop digging.
The PR/marketing industry, with only a few exceptions and despite many statements to the contrary, has made a clear decision to "mail it in" on online outreach. It's become the sassy little add-on to our proposals that allow us to check the box and say "we do online too," but we invest almost no good thinking in it. We're clearly not inclined to build relationships and have discussions with moms or just about any other blogger.
We're developing and implementing models of online outreach that more closely resemble direct mail tactics that generate a one or two percent response rate. We're pushing the online outreach portions of our PR plans to interns. We're still reserving the high-powered, big-think resources for scoring the NY Times story or the placement on CNBC.
Except bloggers WRITE BACK, and they're smarter than we are, and when they're angry and snarky and clever and funny our clients take the blame. So then our clients get upset and scared, and don't want to engage.
And then we blame the bloggers for being radioactive.
Seriously, I just gagged again.
Once in awhile I get an e-mail from a PR person who wants me to write a blog post about one of her clients. I must have been pretty feeble in a previous life to deserve to be left on some infernal master list of babybloggers way past Jackson's toddlerhood expiration date...
Typically they read whatever post is at the top of my page, work some comment about it into their first paragraph, and then paste in their pitch directly below...
Because it's the job of online PR to woo me into inserting their client's latest cross-platform marketing solution into a long pointless blog post about my blisters.
Hello Eden, I hope you are doing well. I'm writing today in follow up to my [intentionally ignored] message last week. I'm eager to hear your thoughts and feedback on [big retailer's] online resource center and back-to-school promotions and deals.If you are interested, please feel free to share with your readers the shopping guide and news of the [huge retailer's] contest. You can contact me with any questions about [massive retailer's] programs. Have a great day!
This is basically personalized spam. Sweet robot monkey god, it makes me itch. I know that someone somewhere thinks the Internet is full of soccer moms swapping tips on where to get the latest backpacks -- I have not seen such web sites, but maybe they're out there.
I swear I was going to drop this topic. I thought I've said enough about it. I didn't want to write about it. Big-time bloggers have written about it better than I could.
But it's becoming clearer to me that maybe the marketing folks should just stop pitching to moms altogether, because here's the bottom line: The online outreach tactics from a majority of PR firms are actually making it harder for everyone to engage bloggers transparently and respectfully and effectively. We are hurting our own cause.
I don't know exactly what the goal of this blind pitching is, but I'm fairly sure it's NOT to help bloggers write posts ridiculing marketers - something that's happening with greater frequency. And if PR flacks don't get it by now, they won't ever get it. We're in a hole. Stop digging.
The PR/marketing industry, with only a few exceptions and despite many statements to the contrary, has made a clear decision to "mail it in" on online outreach. It's become the sassy little add-on to our proposals that allow us to check the box and say "we do online too," but we invest almost no good thinking in it. We're clearly not inclined to build relationships and have discussions with moms or just about any other blogger.
We're developing and implementing models of online outreach that more closely resemble direct mail tactics that generate a one or two percent response rate. We're pushing the online outreach portions of our PR plans to interns. We're still reserving the high-powered, big-think resources for scoring the NY Times story or the placement on CNBC.
Except bloggers WRITE BACK, and they're smarter than we are, and when they're angry and snarky and clever and funny our clients take the blame. So then our clients get upset and scared, and don't want to engage.
And then we blame the bloggers for being radioactive.
Seriously, I just gagged again.
22 August 2007
Candidates: Run Home to Mama
Joanne Bamberger, on Huffington Post and her own blog, PunditMom:
First, moms are getting more involved, thanks to the online channel. Virtually any increase in civic engagement is a very good thing, and more involvement from moms is a great thing. They're putting a little coin on the table - and thanks to the 'net, you don't need huge dollar amounts, you just need groups of people - and this will get candidates' attention.
Second, the rhetorical bar has been raised for the candidates. It will no longer suffice to say the other side stinks. "Political blogs," whose stock in trade has typically been discussing the latest outrage from the other side, will see a new kind of blogger enter their space - one who isn't as interested in anger and vitriol but one that demands specifics on policy. And since they have kids, they know when they're being hustled.
It will take time for the candidates to figure this out. It will also take time for companies and trade associations that want to have political discussions. You can't market to this crowd like you used to. There is a huge opportunity out there for the candidate that seizes it - and gets it right - first.
I am newly motivated, though, to start a PunditMom coffee campaign here in my neighborhood. What if I could convince a good number of my friends to chip in $27 to a fund for a candidate we could all agree on? I know things aren't going to change overnight, but it might be a good start to raising our profile and getting the attention of those who think we're just not that important.This means two things to me.
First, moms are getting more involved, thanks to the online channel. Virtually any increase in civic engagement is a very good thing, and more involvement from moms is a great thing. They're putting a little coin on the table - and thanks to the 'net, you don't need huge dollar amounts, you just need groups of people - and this will get candidates' attention.
Second, the rhetorical bar has been raised for the candidates. It will no longer suffice to say the other side stinks. "Political blogs," whose stock in trade has typically been discussing the latest outrage from the other side, will see a new kind of blogger enter their space - one who isn't as interested in anger and vitriol but one that demands specifics on policy. And since they have kids, they know when they're being hustled.
It will take time for the candidates to figure this out. It will also take time for companies and trade associations that want to have political discussions. You can't market to this crowd like you used to. There is a huge opportunity out there for the candidate that seizes it - and gets it right - first.
03 August 2007
more for moms...
I have so much going on lately that I can't bloviate today, so instead I'll do the link thing.
First and most importantly, every mom should check out Attention Moms: Got Stress? where Dr. Leigh Ann Simmons (my wife) gives the momosphere some news about important mental health research.
And while I love the momosphere, here are two reasonably non-mom but still really cool (at least to me) links:
Crowds: The Other Renewable Energy. Enviro-blogger Maria Surma Manka keeps us up to speed on what the brainiacs at MIT are up to.
The Tribrary. Andrew Wyllie (a friend) shows us what you can do with open source technology, a flair for working with Google Maps, a global perspective, and a passion for triathlons.
First and most importantly, every mom should check out Attention Moms: Got Stress? where Dr. Leigh Ann Simmons (my wife) gives the momosphere some news about important mental health research.
And while I love the momosphere, here are two reasonably non-mom but still really cool (at least to me) links:
Crowds: The Other Renewable Energy. Enviro-blogger Maria Surma Manka keeps us up to speed on what the brainiacs at MIT are up to.
The Tribrary. Andrew Wyllie (a friend) shows us what you can do with open source technology, a flair for working with Google Maps, a global perspective, and a passion for triathlons.
01 August 2007
Because we really stink at this
So I'm at the State of the Momosphere panel, offering apologies on behalf of corporate america and stuff, and Kelly "Mocha Momma" Wickham gets the microphone and asks a question that basically stumps me:
The microphone is passed around, and Kelly never gets an answer to her question. Then Stefania issues the smackdown:
I've already offered my personal defense: I'm not really in marketing or advertising, I do issues, blah blah blah. But it's all a load of crap. I did a quick review of the work I've done recently, and looked at the bloggers I've "pitched." With only a few exeptions, my "target lists" are predominantly white.
And frankly, Mocha Momma and Kimchi Mamas easily "make the cut" in terms of the kinds of blogs I typically look for. I use the available search and ranking tools (which aren't all that great but are all any of us have to work with), and their numbers are stronger than some of the blogs I've occasionally pitched. And as for content relevance - I only pitch the folks who have expressed an interest in a particular issue - Kimchi Mamas have discussed plenty of health issues as well as immigration. Mocha Momma has discussed some of her experiences as a teacher (she's now a high school dean). So they discuss or at least seem interested in discussing any number of issues. In short, they deserve an invitation to participate in some top-level discussions.
I really don't know why the pitch lists I and others develop aren't as diverse as the blogosphere as a whole. The short answer: we just stink at this.
Maybe it has something to do with the relentless specialization that happens in our industry. I'm the "blog guy" at my company. A number of entrepreneurs approached me at BlogHer wanting to partner with my company, explaining that "we know how to market and communicate with moms." In DC, there are "republican" and "democratic" lobbying firms. And there's a constantly growing number of boutique firms that specialize in any "core demographic" - GLBT, African-American, Latino, you name it. Some might think it's harder and more expensive to develop your own core competency when you can just outsource it.
In one way, that's not such a bad thing. For example, the writers at Kimchi Mamas share a distinct cultural perspective, and I'm sure they're proud of that. The people in my industry who might pitch them should take the time to learn more about that perspective. Those who do it best might want to do it full-time.
However, it's also a huge cop-out. It's our obligation as communications professionals to know our audience. I can't say I put together an all-encompassing discussion about health care, for example, if I haven't taken the time to include as wide a range of perspectives as possible. And this isn't the web2.0 version of "political correctness" - this is my job.
Maybe it also has something to do with the sheer size of the blogosphere and the fact that the tools we use are so nascent. I'll readily admit I don't know what I'll find when I enter keywords in technorati sometimes. Sure, I have to read more fully to get context, but most searches start with really vague keywords and you have to refine from there.
But here's the bottom line: We just haven't made a point of including as many perspectives as possible in the discussions we'd like to join or lead, and there's no good reason for it. It's not about tools, it's not about specialization, it's not about the size of the blogosphere. It's because we just haven't made it a priority to include everyone. We have the power to change that. It's not like diverse voices are hard to find online.
I'd love to hear from the moms and anyone else who cares to speak up on this issue.
My question, then, was directed at those two marketing professionals and I asked when they would tap into the mothers of color and bring us into the fold because they are leaving us out of the loop. When will the diversity come into play?
The microphone is passed around, and Kelly never gets an answer to her question. Then Stefania issues the smackdown:
I also told them that even though I get pitches everyday at CityMama, over at Kimchi Mamas we get none. Not a one. Ever. Because people of color do not matter to advertisers.
I've already offered my personal defense: I'm not really in marketing or advertising, I do issues, blah blah blah. But it's all a load of crap. I did a quick review of the work I've done recently, and looked at the bloggers I've "pitched." With only a few exeptions, my "target lists" are predominantly white.
And frankly, Mocha Momma and Kimchi Mamas easily "make the cut" in terms of the kinds of blogs I typically look for. I use the available search and ranking tools (which aren't all that great but are all any of us have to work with), and their numbers are stronger than some of the blogs I've occasionally pitched. And as for content relevance - I only pitch the folks who have expressed an interest in a particular issue - Kimchi Mamas have discussed plenty of health issues as well as immigration. Mocha Momma has discussed some of her experiences as a teacher (she's now a high school dean). So they discuss or at least seem interested in discussing any number of issues. In short, they deserve an invitation to participate in some top-level discussions.
I really don't know why the pitch lists I and others develop aren't as diverse as the blogosphere as a whole. The short answer: we just stink at this.
Maybe it has something to do with the relentless specialization that happens in our industry. I'm the "blog guy" at my company. A number of entrepreneurs approached me at BlogHer wanting to partner with my company, explaining that "we know how to market and communicate with moms." In DC, there are "republican" and "democratic" lobbying firms. And there's a constantly growing number of boutique firms that specialize in any "core demographic" - GLBT, African-American, Latino, you name it. Some might think it's harder and more expensive to develop your own core competency when you can just outsource it.
In one way, that's not such a bad thing. For example, the writers at Kimchi Mamas share a distinct cultural perspective, and I'm sure they're proud of that. The people in my industry who might pitch them should take the time to learn more about that perspective. Those who do it best might want to do it full-time.
However, it's also a huge cop-out. It's our obligation as communications professionals to know our audience. I can't say I put together an all-encompassing discussion about health care, for example, if I haven't taken the time to include as wide a range of perspectives as possible. And this isn't the web2.0 version of "political correctness" - this is my job.
Maybe it also has something to do with the sheer size of the blogosphere and the fact that the tools we use are so nascent. I'll readily admit I don't know what I'll find when I enter keywords in technorati sometimes. Sure, I have to read more fully to get context, but most searches start with really vague keywords and you have to refine from there.
But here's the bottom line: We just haven't made a point of including as many perspectives as possible in the discussions we'd like to join or lead, and there's no good reason for it. It's not about tools, it's not about specialization, it's not about the size of the blogosphere. It's because we just haven't made it a priority to include everyone. We have the power to change that. It's not like diverse voices are hard to find online.
I'd love to hear from the moms and anyone else who cares to speak up on this issue.
31 July 2007
An open letter to mommy-bloggers everywhere
Dear moms,
I'm the guy that Jory Des Jardins referred to as "the suit" at the State of the Mom-o-Sphere breakout panel at BlogHer07. I'm also the guy who stood up in front of you and said, "on behalf of everyone in corporate America, I humbly apologize." (thanks for laughing at that.)
I apologized because the anger in that room toward the PR industry was palpable. You can't stand the fact that we bombard you with emails asking you to write about products, and we often don't take the time to even read your blogs to see if you might be interested. In our emails we try to make you think we read your stuff, but we get enough of the details wrong to let you know we're basically trying to do as little as possible for you to get you to do as much as possible for us.
What's funny is I don't really even pitch products to bloggers. I pitch issues. I typically pitch discussions with opinion and business leaders about issues that I hope are important to you. But PR is PR, and nobody else was standing up, so someone had to apologize.
I said I try to be relevant and respectful when reaching out to bloggers - I act as though I'm a guest in your home, and I read your blog to see if you'd even be interested in what I'm pitching. Some of you applauded, which was really nice and polite. But it was clear that more than a few of you were still unimpressed, even skeptical of what I was saying to your faces. Citymama took the industry to the woodshed. Yes, I do note the irony of an industry whose purpose is to strengthen clients' reputations has such a terrible reputation of its own.
We're accustomed to pitching mainstream media - it's their job to consider what PR flacks have to say, and it's not personal. We apparently haven't figured out yet that you're not mainstream media - you're a mom with a million things to do, and your blog is your outlet, your means of self-expression, and your connection to a larger community. To you we're essentially a cross between telemarketers and spammers. To us we're just fishing for a placement, and your blog is more relevant to us than we are to you.
What's truly sad is we know we stink at this. Entire blogs have been published dedicated to how bad some of our pitches are. We're not really doing much about it, though. I really hate to add one more thing to your never-ending to-do list, but a number of you have asked me how you make it stop, and sadly that will fall on you. So I'll risk the wrath of some of my colleagues and share some ideas for whacking the flacks.
First, you have to decide if you want us to contact you at all. If you don't, the first thing to do is put a note in your "about this blog" section of your sidebar that says something like, "sorry, I don't accept solicitations from PR professionals asking me to write about their products on my blog." If you do want to hear from us, demand respect and relevance. State your terms, like "send pitches to a separate email and I'll consider them for my product review site" or "I only want to hear from you if you're talking about products that I use" or "I only accept offers to place an ad on my site." If you don't want a bunch of text clogging your sidebar, write a post about it and then offer a link to that post in your sidebar. Make sure the flacks understand the rules of your blog. If you get a pitch from someone who hasn't read the terms of your blog, then you can do with them what you will.
Of course, this isn't going to keep many solicitors from sending you bad pitches. You can take progressive disciplinary action against flacks - and this is where you get to release your inner snark.
One way to do this is to simply put the flack in timeout. Reply to the email you get saying something like, "sorry, you were rude and disrespectful to me. I'm not your tool. For the next 30 days any email I receive from your firm or your client goes to a spam filter." Of course, while this may give you some satisfaction, this may not be a big deal to a PR flack since there's so many great mommy-bloggers out there the flack can just skip to the next one.
If you really want behavior to change, you have to make sure the flack realizes there's a meaningful downside to being sloppy. In politics, there's an old saying - "sunshine is the best disinfectant." That's what I think you should do here.
Some of the best PR pros in our business are talking about how discussions are moving away from blogs a bit and into social network utilities like Facebook, and how we'll have to send pitches to facebook pages if people stop reading emails. This means that the pitches we write will be public. But here's the thing: EVERY PITCH WE WRITE IS ALREADY PUBLIC.
That's right - the standards of the PR profession essentially tell us that anything we send to you can be printed verbatim on the front page of any newspaper in the country. So why not your blog? If you get a bad pitch and it really makes you angry, say so on your blog. Call the person out. Seriously - use their name, firm, and contact information. Don't tolerate this disrespectful behavior. Exert your power as a consumer, as a parent, and as a blogger.
Many of you might feel hesitant about this. Some of you might think slapping people back is inconsistent with the civility of the mom-o-sphere. Some of you might feel this is too rude, maybe beneath you. Maybe you just want to treat people they way you'd like to be treated. However, we're not talking about 5-year-old kids. We are talking about professionals who are engaging in unprofessional conduct. There should be consequences to this.
Don't want to clutter your blog with bad pitch complaints? Perfectly understandable. Then work with your friends in the mom-o-spere to create a new "bad pitch blog" - except this one is written by parents, for parents. Bad Pitch Blog meets Consumerist meets Mom101. You'll be able to track who the worst offenders are and call them out. I'd read that blog every day. (I hope I never see my name there, but I'd still read it.)
Finally, if none of this is working, there's always the "nuclear option." PR firms pitch you on behalf of their clients. If you get something that really crosses a line, contact the director of communications of the COMPANY and tell them that their PR firm is spamming you on their behalf, and you're planning to write about it. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will stop this faster than a call from the client saying, "What the heck are you doing? We pay you to improve our image with parents, not piss them off."
I'll close by saying thank you - I really appreciated meeting so many of you and I learned a great deal. I'll have more to say about this topic. I'll also talk about how or why PR firms don't show enough respect to communities of color in the near future, which was also discussed at the panel. Please always remember that you're the person with the power. It's your blog, it should be your rules.
Sincerely,
David Wescott (a.k.a. "the suit")
I'm the guy that Jory Des Jardins referred to as "the suit" at the State of the Mom-o-Sphere breakout panel at BlogHer07. I'm also the guy who stood up in front of you and said, "on behalf of everyone in corporate America, I humbly apologize." (thanks for laughing at that.)
I apologized because the anger in that room toward the PR industry was palpable. You can't stand the fact that we bombard you with emails asking you to write about products, and we often don't take the time to even read your blogs to see if you might be interested. In our emails we try to make you think we read your stuff, but we get enough of the details wrong to let you know we're basically trying to do as little as possible for you to get you to do as much as possible for us.
What's funny is I don't really even pitch products to bloggers. I pitch issues. I typically pitch discussions with opinion and business leaders about issues that I hope are important to you. But PR is PR, and nobody else was standing up, so someone had to apologize.
I said I try to be relevant and respectful when reaching out to bloggers - I act as though I'm a guest in your home, and I read your blog to see if you'd even be interested in what I'm pitching. Some of you applauded, which was really nice and polite. But it was clear that more than a few of you were still unimpressed, even skeptical of what I was saying to your faces. Citymama took the industry to the woodshed. Yes, I do note the irony of an industry whose purpose is to strengthen clients' reputations has such a terrible reputation of its own.
We're accustomed to pitching mainstream media - it's their job to consider what PR flacks have to say, and it's not personal. We apparently haven't figured out yet that you're not mainstream media - you're a mom with a million things to do, and your blog is your outlet, your means of self-expression, and your connection to a larger community. To you we're essentially a cross between telemarketers and spammers. To us we're just fishing for a placement, and your blog is more relevant to us than we are to you.
What's truly sad is we know we stink at this. Entire blogs have been published dedicated to how bad some of our pitches are. We're not really doing much about it, though. I really hate to add one more thing to your never-ending to-do list, but a number of you have asked me how you make it stop, and sadly that will fall on you. So I'll risk the wrath of some of my colleagues and share some ideas for whacking the flacks.
First, you have to decide if you want us to contact you at all. If you don't, the first thing to do is put a note in your "about this blog" section of your sidebar that says something like, "sorry, I don't accept solicitations from PR professionals asking me to write about their products on my blog." If you do want to hear from us, demand respect and relevance. State your terms, like "send pitches to a separate email and I'll consider them for my product review site" or "I only want to hear from you if you're talking about products that I use" or "I only accept offers to place an ad on my site." If you don't want a bunch of text clogging your sidebar, write a post about it and then offer a link to that post in your sidebar. Make sure the flacks understand the rules of your blog. If you get a pitch from someone who hasn't read the terms of your blog, then you can do with them what you will.
Of course, this isn't going to keep many solicitors from sending you bad pitches. You can take progressive disciplinary action against flacks - and this is where you get to release your inner snark.
One way to do this is to simply put the flack in timeout. Reply to the email you get saying something like, "sorry, you were rude and disrespectful to me. I'm not your tool. For the next 30 days any email I receive from your firm or your client goes to a spam filter." Of course, while this may give you some satisfaction, this may not be a big deal to a PR flack since there's so many great mommy-bloggers out there the flack can just skip to the next one.
If you really want behavior to change, you have to make sure the flack realizes there's a meaningful downside to being sloppy. In politics, there's an old saying - "sunshine is the best disinfectant." That's what I think you should do here.
Some of the best PR pros in our business are talking about how discussions are moving away from blogs a bit and into social network utilities like Facebook, and how we'll have to send pitches to facebook pages if people stop reading emails. This means that the pitches we write will be public. But here's the thing: EVERY PITCH WE WRITE IS ALREADY PUBLIC.
That's right - the standards of the PR profession essentially tell us that anything we send to you can be printed verbatim on the front page of any newspaper in the country. So why not your blog? If you get a bad pitch and it really makes you angry, say so on your blog. Call the person out. Seriously - use their name, firm, and contact information. Don't tolerate this disrespectful behavior. Exert your power as a consumer, as a parent, and as a blogger.
Many of you might feel hesitant about this. Some of you might think slapping people back is inconsistent with the civility of the mom-o-sphere. Some of you might feel this is too rude, maybe beneath you. Maybe you just want to treat people they way you'd like to be treated. However, we're not talking about 5-year-old kids. We are talking about professionals who are engaging in unprofessional conduct. There should be consequences to this.
Don't want to clutter your blog with bad pitch complaints? Perfectly understandable. Then work with your friends in the mom-o-spere to create a new "bad pitch blog" - except this one is written by parents, for parents. Bad Pitch Blog meets Consumerist meets Mom101. You'll be able to track who the worst offenders are and call them out. I'd read that blog every day. (I hope I never see my name there, but I'd still read it.)
Finally, if none of this is working, there's always the "nuclear option." PR firms pitch you on behalf of their clients. If you get something that really crosses a line, contact the director of communications of the COMPANY and tell them that their PR firm is spamming you on their behalf, and you're planning to write about it. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, will stop this faster than a call from the client saying, "What the heck are you doing? We pay you to improve our image with parents, not piss them off."
I'll close by saying thank you - I really appreciated meeting so many of you and I learned a great deal. I'll have more to say about this topic. I'll also talk about how or why PR firms don't show enough respect to communities of color in the near future, which was also discussed at the panel. Please always remember that you're the person with the power. It's your blog, it should be your rules.
Sincerely,
David Wescott (a.k.a. "the suit")
30 July 2007
The women bloggers are talking, are we listening?
I managed to attend a good chunk of BlogHer07 this weekend, and learned a great deal. First, it was great to finally meet some of the women I've been reading and interacting with for a while now - Liz, Kristen, Julie, Catherine, Jenn, Leah, Penelope, and a few others - and to meet a lot of smart and interesting bloggers who take their writing and their role very seriously.
Second, I appreciated getting an education on the issues these women care about most and the meta-issues they're experiencing as they adopt the identity of "citizen journalist" and weigh options about monetization and commercialization.
Third, it was just cool to live-twitter a huge discussion with Elizabeth Edwards.
Finally, it was important to hear the wakeup call that Stefania Pomponi Butler issued to the marketing and PR professions. (I wasn't the person who issued the "money quote" she mentions, but I and other PR folks did meet her briefly after hearing Catherine talk about the state of the mom-o-sphere.) Mocha Momma had some important things to say as well. To be plain, many of these women are more than a little upset at the way the PR and marketing industry has treated them, and with good reason.
I'll be writing in much more detail about this over the course of the week - there's a lot to digest and share.
Second, I appreciated getting an education on the issues these women care about most and the meta-issues they're experiencing as they adopt the identity of "citizen journalist" and weigh options about monetization and commercialization.
Third, it was just cool to live-twitter a huge discussion with Elizabeth Edwards.
Finally, it was important to hear the wakeup call that Stefania Pomponi Butler issued to the marketing and PR professions. (I wasn't the person who issued the "money quote" she mentions, but I and other PR folks did meet her briefly after hearing Catherine talk about the state of the mom-o-sphere.) Mocha Momma had some important things to say as well. To be plain, many of these women are more than a little upset at the way the PR and marketing industry has treated them, and with good reason.
I'll be writing in much more detail about this over the course of the week - there's a lot to digest and share.
19 July 2007
Beyond Bizlex: Elisa Camahort
As a co-founder of BlogHer and an online communications entrepreneur in her own right, Elisa Camahort is clearly one of the more influential and innovative people in the blogosphere. Planning and running a conference for an organization that serves 12,000 bloggers is no simple feat, and requires substantial work over several months. Elisa was very gracious to take the time to provide some very thoughtful answers to my questions for the bizlex column. You can tell by her answers that she's done this whole interview thing before. Sharp.
So that's the "beyond bizlex" for this month. Again, I want to thank Elisa and all of the women bloggers who have shared their thoughts with me and taught me a great deal about how this stuff really works. I hope my colleagues in the industry will put their iPhone crushes on hold and drop the twitter vs. pownce debate for a few minutes and just listen to what these women have to say -- I think they'll learn something as well.
What is BlogHer?
BlogHer is an organization whose mission is to create opportunities for education, exposure, community and economic empowerment for women online. To that end BlogHer puts on conferences, hosts a vibrant web community hub and maintains an advertising network.
BlogHer's Annual Conference is the largest blogging conference in the world, and between that, our new topic-focused conferences and regular meet-ups we provide the opportunity for bloggers to connect face-to-face, both to form tighter community bonds, but also to get in-person and in-depth education about all things blogging.
At our community hub (http://blogher.org/) our 12,000 members have listed almost 10,000 blogs in the directories, and we have 50+ editors who round-up and link to the best blogging going on in 25+ topic areas every week. This provides regular exposure to both well-known and unsung women's voices in the blogosphere. The community hub is also a plce for the community to convene on a daily basis, whether in comments or the Forums to drive the conversaations they want to have.
The BlogHer Advertising Network provides a way for women bloggers of all sizes to work together to get more value for the quality writing they're producing. BlogHer manages the technology and does the selling, while the bloggers can focus on doing what they love: blogging. By providing quality guidelines and consultative work on how to engage our network, we also provide the advertisers with a more reliable and higher quality engagement. The Ad Network is entirely optional, and is managed at another site (http://blogherads.com/) so that those members who have no interest in it don't have to be.
Have you seen women leverage their membership in BlogHer to build or promote their own businesses or to strengthen their position as consumers?
It's obvious that since BlogHer '05 women bloggers have started to realize their power as not only consumers, but as influencers. Women continue to control over
80% of the household dollar on purchases ranging from groceries to cars to consumer electronics. Our advertising network is only one way that women are leveraging BlogHer and their blogs to promote themselves and create a business. There are women with blogs of all sizes in the advertising network. One of our largest bloggers is going to buy a house with her ad network income. Other bloggers find that their ad network income buys each month's groceries for their family. Still others feel ratified to earn even small amounts of income simply because they write.
But there's more than that: We know women who have gotten jobs through BlogHer, who have formed joint ventures through BlogHer, who have gotten their "dream job" after using the lessons of BlogHer to create and promote something about which they were passionate. There is a heavy networking, both online and off, element to BlogHer...and we know networking is a key to advancement and opportunity. There are also a significant number of ways that BlogHer creates the opportunities for members and attendees to promote themselves and their platforms to a wider audience than they already have...and we know that self-promotion and branding is another key to advancement and opportunity.
What did I miss at BlogHer Business?
You missed sharing insights and information with nearly 200 people focused on social media and how it intersects with the world of business. You missed case studies from companies as big as Wells Fargo to as small as individual consultants who have built a brand and reputation using social media. You missed a series of sessions that featured a high level of interaction and active conversation, and were each focused on providing practical, specific information on *how* to investigate and implement social media strategies. You missed insights from the Editor-in-Chief of Redbook Magazine, the President of iVillage, the CEO of Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive, and the women who manage Google, Yahoo and Cisco's corporate blog initiatives. And in true BlogHer style you missed hearing insights from a business blogger with a baby in a sling and a business blogger with a chihuahua in her bag and even a few male business bloggers. You also missed a fabulous cocktail party with massages, a Yahoo! ice sculpture and Yahootinis for all!
What are your goals for your meeting in Chicago this summer?
Our goal is to bring together the many blogospheres that exist and for a few short days create the opportunity for us all to find common ground and learn from one another, no matter how different our blogging interests may be. Our goal is to provide the opportunity for bloggers to get hands-on education with various blogging tools and technologies, to meet bloggers who are both part of and completely apart from their existing blogging communities, and to have rich, interactive discussions in sessions that cover the breadth of the blogosphere, from the personal to the professional to the political. And I have to mention that our goal is to keep the price very very low for our attendees (Just $99/day), so that as diverse a blogging crowd as possible can make it...and so our goal is to work with sponsors to give them the opportunity to support this community of women bloggers to help us achieve that
goal.
So that's the "beyond bizlex" for this month. Again, I want to thank Elisa and all of the women bloggers who have shared their thoughts with me and taught me a great deal about how this stuff really works. I hope my colleagues in the industry will put their iPhone crushes on hold and drop the twitter vs. pownce debate for a few minutes and just listen to what these women have to say -- I think they'll learn something as well.
Beyond Bizlex: Liz Gumbinner
I introduced myself to Liz (and her blogging compatriot Kristen) last year in an email entitled, "Actually, Gloria Steinem may want your number after all." The love-fest between GreenStone Media and dozens of women bloggers that followed was beyond anyone's expectations, but know this - it all started at Liz Gumbinner's Mom101.
Liz is the award-winning Creative Director at David & Goliath advertising. They're based in LA, but she lives in New York. (Move to Boston, Liz. They have a better baseball team.) She's the co-founder of Cool Mom Picks - you know, the one that gets mentioned in Time and Advertising Age, not to mention by my wife and her friends. She will be speaking at BlogHer on the "Professional Blogging: Art and Commerce" panel, so I hope the Q&A she provided for my bizlex column serves to spark everyone's interest.
Liz is the award-winning Creative Director at David & Goliath advertising. They're based in LA, but she lives in New York. (Move to Boston, Liz. They have a better baseball team.) She's the co-founder of Cool Mom Picks - you know, the one that gets mentioned in Time and Advertising Age, not to mention by my wife and her friends. She will be speaking at BlogHer on the "Professional Blogging: Art and Commerce" panel, so I hope the Q&A she provided for my bizlex column serves to spark everyone's interest.
One final post before I drag this "beyond bizlex" thing into the ground: tomorrow, Elisa Camahort, co-founder of BlogHer.Why do you blog?
Because it's there. (haha)My personal blog, Mom101, is like having a newspaper column with no editor. And no guidelines. And no pay. I use it both to document events in my life as a mother, and to explore various aspects of parenting culture that facilitate provocative discussions with dozens of people I have grown to respect and admire. While the community aspect of blogging was secondary to me at first, it's definitely grown to be an essential part of the experience.
How did you decide to go into business with Kristen and the gang?
Kristen emailed me about this idea she had to start a blog just to promote some of the great products she was seeing around the blogworld that were made by moms. It was called Cool Mom Shit. I of course jumped right in and demanded a 50% split and for some crazy reason, she agreed. Our first business decision together however was to go with a name that was a wee bit less PR-restrictive. Thus, Cool Mom Picks. I never could have imagined how big it would grow and how quickly, with a mention in Time and magazines like Real Simple picking up our content.
How have folks at your "other" job reacted?
My ad agency colleagues have been amazingly supportive of CMP submitting friends' businesses as potential "picks" and forwarding on potential pr and business opportunities. Although I must be honest, I think a few of them thought I was doing some "cute little website project" on the side, until we were featured in Advertising Age in February. I even have a few co-workers who read my personal blog. It's probably what keeps me from writing anything that could get me dooced.
Has there been any overlap?
Plenty. Now that I finally know that "html" isn't pronounced "hatemail" I think I've gained some more credibility with our interactive department. I've also tried to ncourage clients to explore blog-related marketing and PR efforts, although admittedly without a whole lot of success just yet. But I'm not giving up.
What do you enjoy the most about blogging?
I love the freedom to write whatever I want, however I want to. There's no such thing in advertising. Or most fields to be honest. I can't think of another writing venue in which you really have total carte blanche. Maybe stand-up comedy. And there's no way I'm doing that.
What advice would you give women who want to achieve some level of financial independence and are thinking about using blogs?
I think as with any profession, do what you love and the money will follow. If you set out to blog to make money I think there will be something inherently disingenous about your writing and blog readers can sniff that out in seconds. But if you find your voice and stay true to yourself, there are plenty of financial opportunities that will follow.
You'll have to hear me come speak at the BlogHer conference about balancingart and commerce for the rest of this!
18 July 2007
Beyond Bizlex: Kristen Chase
Kristen Chase's flagship blog is aptly called Motherhood Uncensored. She's not shy about sharing what's on her mind. Don't click on the link if you're uncomfortable reading a rated-R blog; try her rated-G Mom Trap instead.
And yet companies line up to work with her, and slap their brands right next to the condom box on her blog. Kristen has assembled an impressive network of media properties that emphasize the strength of the community she's built and her own online street cred. People read her blogs and listen to her radio show because she's smart, funny, and authentic, and she talks about the things that moms care about most. Companies that can handle the huge picture of the condom box quickly learn the value of working with properties like Parent Bloggers Network (I have) or simply paying attention to how she leads - no, creates - discussions her Blog Exchange. I honestly think the media network that signs her up (I think it has to be something in sattelite radio, online or cable) won't be sorry. Here's what Kristen had to say to me for my Business Lexington column:
Next up: Liz Gumbinner, and then Elisa Camahort.
And yet companies line up to work with her, and slap their brands right next to the condom box on her blog. Kristen has assembled an impressive network of media properties that emphasize the strength of the community she's built and her own online street cred. People read her blogs and listen to her radio show because she's smart, funny, and authentic, and she talks about the things that moms care about most. Companies that can handle the huge picture of the condom box quickly learn the value of working with properties like Parent Bloggers Network (I have) or simply paying attention to how she leads - no, creates - discussions her Blog Exchange. I honestly think the media network that signs her up (I think it has to be something in sattelite radio, online or cable) won't be sorry. Here's what Kristen had to say to me for my Business Lexington column:
Why do you blog?
I initially started blogging to connect with other people through my stories about motherhood. Being a new mom stuck in a house with a really cranky baby left me desperate to interact with anyone who didn't find motherhood to be a glamourous, soul-saving endeavor. The community of blogging has embraced a side of me I never knew existed until someone handed me a baby (oh if it were only that easy) and a
keyboard.
When did you discover you could make money doing it?I really stumbled upon the actual ad revenue of blogging thanks to a fellow well-connected blogger who took me under her wing. With her guidance, I ended up signing up for an ad network and suddenly I was getting a check at the end of each month. As far as writing-for-hire, I was very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time. I applied for a blogging position at Clubmom, and through both that blog as well as my personal blog, I've been afforded opportunities that have turned into paid columns and other freelance writing gigs.
Separately, I saw a niche for a shopping blog with savvy writing and cool products, many of which were made by moms who had decided to give up their busy careers for life at home with their kids. What started as a way to connect mom-trepreneurs with an audience turned into another way to provide an income source for my household.
How has the Internet helped you build relationships and global businesses?
The internet makes the world incredibly small and accessible. It seems that in this world, particularly blogging, everyone knows everybody else somehow, thus allowing for countless connections with people I would have never known had I not been blogging. Plus, anyone who's anyone is blogging these days.
Is this something you'd like to do long-term?
I imagine I'd like to see where the blogging platform can take me. Spending my days tied to the computer has become a bit tiresome, but when I feel as though all my energy is drained, I can step back, take a break, and return refreshed and renewed. The ability to make money working from home and doing something that I enjoy seems incredibly wrong. But also, amazingly satisfying. But that's not to say I wouldn't be open to trying other things.
What advice would you give moms who are starting out?
Write from your heart and tell your stories. And read blogs. Persistence and good writing will take you far. And your children will thank you later in your life (at least you hope they will and not be terribly embarrassed).
Next up: Liz Gumbinner, and then Elisa Camahort.
17 July 2007
Beyond Bizlex: Julie Marsh
One of the limitations of the "traditional media" newspaper column format is you're limited by column inches and valuable discussion contributors sometimes don't get their say. My column in this week's Business Lexington mentions global mom-trepreneur Julie Marsh, co-founder of the Parent Bloggers Network, but the discussion we had didn't survive the last round of edits.
I've pitched Julie on ideas for her posts and I've worked with her Parent Bloggers Network on behalf of clients. I hadn't worked with PBN until after I submitted the column. (By the way, Julie made a little announcement on her personal blog, Mothergoosemouse, yesterday. Drop her a note if you'd like.)
Another important reason Julie is a leader in the blogsphere is her passion for politics. Brad directed me to an outstanding piece written by BlogHer Political Director Morra Aarons for techPresident that everyone should read.
Of course, the fact that women are moving online in greater numbers is just the beginning. Online issues management professionals see the same trends Morra Aarons does. The best in this biz aren't simply looking at women as an audience - the best are looking to women to lead discussions and drive opinion.
As the author of Imperfect Parent Magazine's Parental is Political column and contributor to the Soccer Mom Vote, Julie is clearly an opinion leader. But unlike many political blogs, Julie doesn't just scream at the "base" about how wrong or how bad the other side is. It's a combination of her own values and the mommy-blogger effect. She gets into substance and she follows the rules moms teach their kids, like "play fair." So while ideologues like Arianna Huffington or Michelle Malkin have throngs of people nodding in agreement with anything they say, Julie has one the largest audiences of "undecided" or "persuadable" politically-oriented people on the 'net. Guess who's opinion they value more?
Sometimes it's important to feed the base the red meat it craves. Julie's actually more interested in the food pyramid they've developed at USDA and may have some thoughts on it.
Julie approaches her online entrepreneurship in a similar fashion -- she's thoughtful, she works well with others, and she encourages a diverse range of opinions in PBN. Here's what Julie had to say to me for the column.
I honestly thought that Julie's comments about working to bridge the gap between technology and business was the best of the original piece. But in a local business column where local people get priority, not everything gets published. At least not on paper.
I've pitched Julie on ideas for her posts and I've worked with her Parent Bloggers Network on behalf of clients. I hadn't worked with PBN until after I submitted the column. (By the way, Julie made a little announcement on her personal blog, Mothergoosemouse, yesterday. Drop her a note if you'd like.)
Another important reason Julie is a leader in the blogsphere is her passion for politics. Brad directed me to an outstanding piece written by BlogHer Political Director Morra Aarons for techPresident that everyone should read.
Of course, the fact that women are moving online in greater numbers is just the beginning. Online issues management professionals see the same trends Morra Aarons does. The best in this biz aren't simply looking at women as an audience - the best are looking to women to lead discussions and drive opinion.
As the author of Imperfect Parent Magazine's Parental is Political column and contributor to the Soccer Mom Vote, Julie is clearly an opinion leader. But unlike many political blogs, Julie doesn't just scream at the "base" about how wrong or how bad the other side is. It's a combination of her own values and the mommy-blogger effect. She gets into substance and she follows the rules moms teach their kids, like "play fair." So while ideologues like Arianna Huffington or Michelle Malkin have throngs of people nodding in agreement with anything they say, Julie has one the largest audiences of "undecided" or "persuadable" politically-oriented people on the 'net. Guess who's opinion they value more?
Sometimes it's important to feed the base the red meat it craves. Julie's actually more interested in the food pyramid they've developed at USDA and may have some thoughts on it.
Julie approaches her online entrepreneurship in a similar fashion -- she's thoughtful, she works well with others, and she encourages a diverse range of opinions in PBN. Here's what Julie had to say to me for the column.
Why do you blog?
I began blogging as a means of regaining my sense of self after a series of sudden changes (most notably, moving cross-country and leaving my job of five years to be a SAHM). Now my reasons for blogging depend on which site I'm talking about, but overall, I do it because I love the interaction and the attention.
When did you discover you could make money doing it?
Enough money to upgrade from a Grande to a Venti now and then, or REAL money? When BlogHer invited me to be a part of their Ad Network a year ago, I was pleased to start receiving a small check each month. But I honestly was more excited about the potential exposure and traffic increases than the money. It was when Kristen and I launched the Parent Bloggers Network and received such an overwhelming response from both bloggers and clients that I began to realize the business potential of blogging.
How has the Internet helped you build relationships and global businesses?
My online relationship building began in 2002 with the Babycenter.com Working Moms message board. It was an incredible source of support and friendship, and after a group of us met in person in 2003, these reunions have become an annual event. My experience there led me to see the potential in blogging for an actual community. Because blogging encompasses an even wider range of demographics than a single message board, the sphere of influence is that much larger and the opportunities for collaboration are that much greater.
Is this something you'd like to do long-term?
Hell yeah. In my last professional IT position, I worked hard to demonstrate the value of technology to my clients. Sometimes they saw it; sometimes they didn't. I hated being beholden to someone else's budget and constrained by their limits of understanding. Working on my own or with trusted partners, I can do so much more to bridge the gap between technology and business than I ever could as a cog in Corporate America.
What advice would you give moms who are starting out?
Write about what interests you. Give yourself time to develop a style. Don't write anything about anyone that you wouldn't say to their face. Read other bloggers; comment when you have something insightful or witty to say. Click on comments from other bloggers - when you leave them a comment, tell them where you came from. Link, but don't be a whore about it. Learn some basic HTML. Join blog rings. Join BlogHer. Above all, remember why you started blogging (and it shouldn't be because you want to be the next Dooce).
I honestly thought that Julie's comments about working to bridge the gap between technology and business was the best of the original piece. But in a local business column where local people get priority, not everything gets published. At least not on paper.
12 July 2007
Women leading the way
My latest Business Lexington "living locally, working globally" column is about how women are leveraging social media to strengthen their position as consumers and build their own global businesses. Women are using technology to overcome so many of the obstacles that have historically prevented them from exerting their influence and creativity, both as consumers and entrepreneurs.
As I interviewed people and did the research for this piece, I kept thinking about how these were all creative and entrepreneurial people who have each experienced success in their own right. The technology they use isn't regarded as particularly sophisticated by the brainiacs at NASA, but because these women all use the technology strategically to harness their own creativity, they've all done some pretty amazing things.
I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have some educational conversations with these smart, funny, and entrepreneurial women:
Alison Kerr, Alithinks
Sharon Tessandori, Barefoot Works (her yoga studio website is here)
Kristen Chase, Motherhood Uncensored
Julie Marsh, Mothergoosemouse
Liz Gumbinner, Mom 101
Elisa Camahort, Blog Her
So - in advance of Blog Her '07 - A World of Difference, the world's largest conference of bloggers slated for July 27-29 in Chicago - over the next few days I'll be posting the emailed Q&A from each person mentioned in the column.
Again, I want to thank these women for taking the time to participate in this and, frankly, for providing the hands-on education in social media that no PR professional has ever been able to match.
As I interviewed people and did the research for this piece, I kept thinking about how these were all creative and entrepreneurial people who have each experienced success in their own right. The technology they use isn't regarded as particularly sophisticated by the brainiacs at NASA, but because these women all use the technology strategically to harness their own creativity, they've all done some pretty amazing things.
I'm very grateful for the opportunity to have some educational conversations with these smart, funny, and entrepreneurial women:
Alison Kerr, Alithinks
Sharon Tessandori, Barefoot Works (her yoga studio website is here)
Kristen Chase, Motherhood Uncensored
Julie Marsh, Mothergoosemouse
Liz Gumbinner, Mom 101
Elisa Camahort, Blog Her
Alison and Sharon are local bloggers. Alison's got a wry sense of humor and a global perspective, which is really valuable in a place like Lexington. Sharon is entrepreneurial and yogic at the same time, which gives her blog a very positive and uplifting vibe. Both are outstanding photographers with flickr photostreams that are definitely worth checking out (Alison's is here and Sharon's is here).
And I hope I get all of this global mom-trepreneur stuff right -- Kristen and Liz founded and Julie contributes to Cool Mom Picks; Kristen and Julie founded the Parent Bloggers Network; Julie contributes to the Soccer Mom Vote and writes a column for Imperfect Parent called Parental is Political; Liz is Creative Director at David & Goliath, co-author of Booty Food and writes regularly for Time Out New York Kids; and Kristen also blogs at The Mom Trap, leads the Blog Exchange, hosts the Motherhood Uncensored radio show, and writes a sex column for Imperfect Parent called Mominatrix.
Now consider that Julie, Liz and Kristen each have two kids. Amazing, yes, I know.Elisa is, of course, one of the extraordinary leaders at Blog Her. She is the founder of Worker Bees , writes a monthly column called "Silicon Veggie" for Metro and has a personal weblog as well, but I identified her above in the "official" role that I included in the column.
The Business Lexington audience is, of course, Central Kentucky civic and business leaders. Many if not most business leaders here don't write or even read blogs, so I have to include a little bit of background to set the stage when writing about blogging for a traditional paper. The column typically focuses on how global issues have a local impact, but the editor gives me a lot of freedom to explore things like the blogosphere.
However, the limitations of the mainstream media format are apparent here -- I'm limited to about 1000 words, so it's impossible to include all of the perspective and insight everyone shared with me. But that's why we have blogs, right?So - in advance of Blog Her '07 - A World of Difference, the world's largest conference of bloggers slated for July 27-29 in Chicago - over the next few days I'll be posting the emailed Q&A from each person mentioned in the column.
Again, I want to thank these women for taking the time to participate in this and, frankly, for providing the hands-on education in social media that no PR professional has ever been able to match.
06 June 2007
tracking political discussions to determine relevance...
John had some fun with tag clouds today. For those who may not know, a tag cloud is a simple tool that tracks the frequency a word or phrase is used in a gaggle of text (or a discussion) and represents that frequency graphically. They help communications professionals track and understand discussions a little better. John's a political guy, and decided to see what themes the republicans and democrats invoked in their presidential debates this week and last.
The dems' tag cloud looks like this:
The republicans' cloud looks like this:
In a tag cloud, the bigger the word, the more often it's used. So the dems use the words "care" and "tax" more than the GOP, and the GOP use the words "god" and "government more than the dems.
Political campaigns choose their words very, very carefully. Words and phrases are tested to see if they resonate. For example, there's a reason republicans call the estate tax the "death tax" while democrats call it the "paris hilton tax." Both describe the same thing but the terms are designed to elicit different feelings about the issue.
My question, however, is a little different: are the candidates having the same discussions the American people are having?
I thought I'd generate a tag cloud that follows a different but very important discussion -- moms talking about politics. So take a look at what the women at The Soccer Mom Vote talked about for the entire month of May 2007:
The words in this cloud are all fairly large, so the women are using them a lot. Check out the three clouds and decide for yourself whether the pols and the soccer moms are talking about the same things.
FREE THE DUCK
As an online public affairs and issues management professional, I'm always looking for interesting and smart topics to discuss on a blog. Susan has an interesting piece today on "blogola." I found another really smart blog in this genre called Communication Overtones that I'll be adding to my blogroll soon.
Today's issue, however, comes from a self-described mommyblogger, Kristen Chase. Seems a toy duck just "fell" into her shopping cart at the mall and she took it home. Now she's taking all sorts of humiliating pictures of the duck, and she and her partner in crime Julie are inviting everyone to take sides by creating graphics for other bloggers. Return the duck. Keep the duck. EAT the damn duck.
I live in a pro-duck household, as my wife explains. I SAY FREE THE DUCK.
Kristen may not realize this, but her mocking pictures may, in fact, violate article 3(c) of Part 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. (I worked for a Senator for years so I get to be all snooty like this.)
I've asked Kristen and Julie to provide a Free the Duck option. I'm also asking bloggers to provide their own video shout-outs to Mr. Duck. Here's mine:
Today's issue, however, comes from a self-described mommyblogger, Kristen Chase. Seems a toy duck just "fell" into her shopping cart at the mall and she took it home. Now she's taking all sorts of humiliating pictures of the duck, and she and her partner in crime Julie are inviting everyone to take sides by creating graphics for other bloggers. Return the duck. Keep the duck. EAT the damn duck.
I live in a pro-duck household, as my wife explains. I SAY FREE THE DUCK.
Kristen may not realize this, but her mocking pictures may, in fact, violate article 3(c) of Part 1 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. (I worked for a Senator for years so I get to be all snooty like this.)
I've asked Kristen and Julie to provide a Free the Duck option. I'm also asking bloggers to provide their own video shout-outs to Mr. Duck. Here's mine:
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