blogging

Influence. It has always been an emotive word. Always been something that has attracted some types of people. The ability to exert influence over others. The world of Social Networking, Social Sharing & Social Media has created more opportunities for more people to become influential and to witness the amount of influence particular individuals have increase.

While at first this might seem a good thing, almost a leveling of the playing field it brings with it a new set of issues for many. The myth that being a blogger with a certain number of readers will bring recognition as being influential is a common one. The “many” see a few people being selected and think that it is as easy as that.

Many PR companies base their selection of bloggers on what they perceive as influence. What this has created is commonly referred to as the A list. That select group of bloggers that are perceived as being extremely influential, able to sway the masses with only a few words.  Having them review your product or service is almost as good as a celebrity endorsement and a whole lot cheaper.

But is this true? Follow any of those on the A list long enough and you will see some form of rejection of the pressure they are under to deliver this influence. They are asked to do more, produce more, by an increasing number of people. Not just companies but individuals who feel that they only need a few mentions, tweets or a blog post and their idea will take off because of this one persons influence.

But really, lets look at the math. If an A list blogger has 10,000 page views per day is it better to court them or 10 non-A list bloggers who get 1o00 page views per day? Which is more effective at getting your message out?

As a blogger would you rather try and build an empire around your blog at a national or international level or build a local circle of influence that has a more tangible impact where you live? I’m not trying to say that you can’t do both or that by doing one you should give up dreams of the other. However, how many High School quarterbacks play in the NFL?

My point is, in aiming to be the next Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse, Brian Clark you could miss out on being you. Being a big fish in a small pond is always considered a bad thing as though it has no value. But what if your ability to influence your local “pond” created real change?

Instead of striving to be someone else why not try to be you?

I often refer to myself as a writer. The funny thing is that, while I have a bunch of different qualifications from formal education, not one of them says I’m “qualified” to write. I didn’t study English, Journalism, Creative Writing or any of those other disciplines so often associated with writers.

LipSmacking…

What I really am is a talker that types fast. A few months ago I saw a comment left on a Facebook post that said – “Fast typists have more friends”. I love this concept. In this world of “online” friendships, being at least a competent typist certainly helps. I am what used to be called, and for all I know still is, a touch typist – that is, I don’t look at the keyboard when I type and I use both hands to type. Rather bizarrely I learned to type in the military on an Imperial 66 typewriter. A monster, industrial grade typewriter that had all the keys blacked out. To pass the course you had to be able to type at 40 words per minute with only 5 mistakes.

I still remember vividly that course, it is probably the most useful skill I have ever been given. Later, when I became a software developer it helped me write code and now as a blogger and writer it is indispensable. But typing or the mechanics of writing is not what makes you a writer.

As I said at the opening, I really see myself as a talker that types fast. I’ve always been a talker. In high school it got me out of trouble with the bullies, in trouble with the teachers and others in authority and not a lot has changed.

Plan For Your Audience

Writing, especially for different audiences needs a plan. One of the best ways I have encountered to achieve this is to map out what I am going to write in the same way I would if I were going to deliver the same content as a presentation.

Start with a concept, break that down into ideas, explain the ideas, before you know it you have an article, a blog post or a presentation. So why is public speaking useful. Unlike writing, there is no backspace, no grammar or spell checker – other than the audience and they aren’t as always as undiscriminating as a software tool.

Standing in front of an audience to share your ideas makes you hone those ideas, ensure that they are grasped by the listener and shared properly. Unlike writing, speaking to a group of people gives you instant feedback. You can tell by the looks on their faces if they get it or not. You can tell if you are building toward your point properly or not.

Often with writing you get little or no feedback, sure you might get comments on your blog, occasionally an email but they are usually only sent by a few small percentage of the actual number of people who have read your writing. Getting feedback from a live audience helps you understand what concepts you are good at explaining and those you need to refine.  Applying the lessons learned from those can make you are more engaging writer.

How do you improve your writing?

Publicity is something all businesses need.  For many small businesses this starts and ends with a listing in the local Yellow pages. They have neither the expertise nor time for anything more elaborate.

Blogging Partners – A new Publicity Channel

Occasionally they will find the money to do some small scale advertising, perhaps in a community newsletter or even the local newspaper. All of these methods are credible, viable methods of spreading the word. However, another channel that seems to be, as yet, fairly untapped is partnering with local bloggers to have the word spread.

Bloggers, like all other content producers are hungry for one thing – more content. Preferably new content. By feeding this need small businesses can in fact create a relationship that helps both parties. So how does a small business find a blogger and get their attention?

Reach Out To The Community

Firstly, do what small businesses are usually very good at, interact with the local community. Perhaps blogging is something you know nothing about, beyond reading one or two, if that. So your first step is to read more, do google searches for blogs in your area of business, then narrow it to your geographical area. We will look at why geography is important in a moment. Find out which events bloggers are attending in your area, Twitter is an excellent source of this information, a good percentage of people attending Tweetups are bloggers – they might not be writing about your line of business but they probably know someone who is.

Finding a local blogger is important for two main reasons, firstly it enables you to develop a real relationship with them, secondly it gives them the opportunity to get to know your business. If you are a coffee shop they can come and work from your shop, if you are a car mechanic they can get their car serviced, anything that gives them an insight into what and how you do what it is you do.

Why Would They Care?

So why would they write about you? Read what they write, find an angle in their writing that applies to your business. I write mostly about Marketing, Social Media & Blogging, so the best angle to approach me is how your business is using those things differently. Come with a story at least outlined so that some of the work is already done for them.

From a bloggers perspective, why would you be interested in writing about local businesses? Well unless you are already have an unlimited supply of content, you want & need fresh content that appeals to your readers. Local businesses are a great source of that content. They want the publicity, you want the content, the question you should be asking is “why am I not approaching local businesses?”.

Which bloggers do you know who could write about your business?

I recently attended a guest lecture by Dan Rather at the University of Texas, Austin on the Crisis of American Journalism and Why We Should Care. I wanted to attend for a variety of reasons not least of which was to hear what such a notable journalist had to say about the crisis faced by the news media industry and what he thought could be done about it. I also wanted to hear his views on New Media and its impact on that decline.

He made some extremely, in my opinion, valid points. He highlights that one of the reasons we (the public) were given for the bailout of the banks is because the banks are the lifeblood of the American Society. He stated that if the banks were viewed as that then so too were News outlets. They provide the people with the ability to understand the major issues of the day, to be involved and to participate in the democratic process. He quoted Thomas Jefferson who said “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” He blames the lack of belief in the current News media on the corporatization of the news which has led to an increase in politicization, risk aversion and homogenization of the news.

On these points I have to agree with him. It is perhaps, these three reasons, more than any other that so many now turn to outlets like Twitter for their news. He argues, and I again agree with him that true journalism, is not just about reporting the news, but investigating it. It is, if done right, predictive not reactive. While many bloggers try for, and in some cases achieve, a style closely approaching journalism, they are often not qualified/trained to produce the level of investigative pieces that a journalist can.

Perhaps the future of news media lies in the truly investigative pieces, the stories behind the stories that are reported by “citizen journalists”. When I asked Dan Rather what his view of Citizen Journalism was, he said he was in favor of it, felt that it made a valuable contribution and that outlets like Twitter had a role to play in news reporting. He was also quick to point out the lack of editorial control, fact checking and general overview can and does lead to false stories, misuse and just general errors.

As a huge fan of Twitter and of course Social Media in general I was surprised to find myself agreeing with him on these points. It took me back to my college days as an Anthropology student and reminded me that “original sources” are the most reliable and that secondary sources need to be validated. Twitter, blogs, and google are no replacement for a tough investigator examinging the facts.

What is the future of your news reading?

image from How Stuff Works

As the week opens the FTC has finally issued its amendment to the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. This is a significant ruling for anyone in the blogging world, as well as others who take part in endorsements of any kind.

Disclosure is Key

The first clarification was completely expected and to some degree has already been implemented by bloggers themselves, at least the more credible ones. That of disclosure. The text of the amendment is as follows:

“that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed.”

What is significant about this is that it specifically covers in-kind payments, e.g. bloggers being given products or services to trial have to be disclosed. Why is this significant? In my opinion what this does is open the door for the IRS to view in-kind payments as exactly that, earned income. That is a significant detail for a lot of bloggers who may not actually be earning income, or at least not significant income from any other part of their blogging enterprise.  Receiving a few thousand dollars of in-kind payments could have serious implications for some bloggers.

Social Media – An Endorsement Channel

In the second clarification the FTC recognizes the use of Social Media by celebrities as an endorsement channel, so if a celebrity Twitter user posts that they are enjoying a particular product, they are now obligated to disclose any connection they have to the manufacturer/provider of that product or service – that could be difficult in 140 characters, perhaps we will see the use of new tags or definitions of tweets to encompass this.

It also means that any mention of a product or service can be considered an endorsement, whether that was the intention of the author or not and a failure to disclose a connection with the provider could be considered an infringement of the guidelines.  It is important to note that these are guidelines and not law, and as such form the basis only for cases that might be brought against a perceived offender, they do amend the FTC Act, but rather provide administrative interpretation of the Act.

What I find interesting is that there is no definition of Celebrity, I would imagine that the FTC considers celebrity to mean those that appear in the public eye on Television, in Print or in Movies. However, I find this to be a shortcoming of the guidelines in general and of course an indication that the FTC needs to update its understanding of how “influence” works in the age of Social Media.  Are Cewebrities equal to celebrities? True, having 1m followers on Twitter doesn’t equate to having a hit TV show, or a blockbuster movie, but as people move away from traditional media or at the very least blend their use of it with online media, there is a new category of celebrity appearing that are highly visible, extremely well known, all be it to a smaller sub-section of society.

The guidelines, do not clarify the issue of liability and whether it lies with the perceived endorsor or the seller, however, the past case law does show that both parties share liability. This means that bloggers, celebrities & cewebrities are all now liabile for prosecution under the Act.

See the press release here.

How do you think this will change blogging and Social Media use?

Over the next few days I’ll be sharing my thoughts from the 140tc Twitter conference where IncSlingers are sponsors.

The session opened on the first day with a preview of a new service called Twalkin. 

Twalkin describe it as ”The next generation of Social Networking”… the telephone? An interesting turn of events. Using telephony tied to Twitter, talk to followers one on one or one to many.

Conference calling for the Twitter age – not sure that it is that innovative, the technology is, but will people beyond teenage girls want to use this ?

They (Twalkin) say that the inflection is missing from Tweets, which is true. However, is it something that we want to do ?  Facebook has voice chat, google has voice chat, how well are these services used?  What is the difference between this and Skype? Is this just a service that spammers will decide to co-opt – now I will have telesales calls on Twitter? Isn’t it bad enough that I have to deal with the “click my junk” guys.

I asked Thomas Scriven about how they would filter those people out but they didn’t seem to have a cohesive plan for it.  He did share that they are rolling to other platforms such as LinkedIn which I see a real benefit for. Having the ability to arrange an instant conference call for a LinkedIn group seems to me to a great step forward for LinkedIn.

What would you use telephony in Twitter for ?

If you have ever worked with wood, textiles or anything else that requires you to cut something to size then you may well be familiar with the adage “Measure twice, Cut once”. If you’re not familiar with this and you have ever cut something and then found you didn’t measure properly you will know the frustration that it causes.

I have adopted a similar adage for using Social Media – “Think Twice, Post Once”. Just as good email etiquette suggests that you always read through an email before hitting send, posting to blogs, micro-blogs & social networking sites requires even more thought.

Once you have posted something to one of these sites, its out there forever. You might be under the impression that as it was your post you control it, after all if you post to your blog, you can always delete the post or even remove the blog. Even Twitter has a delete button. Unfortunately, other than to provide you with a “feel good” factor these “deletions” do little in reality.

If you post you have posted, it then comes under the control of all who read and interact with what you have posted. If I comment on your picture on Facebook then my network can see the picture. If I Retweet your post to Twitter my network sees your Tweet. If you delete it from your stream, it doesn’t delete my Retweet. You no longer control the content.

So before you hit the “submit” key, I strongly suggest you Think Twice, Post Once.

I used to think Mashable.com was a pretty good online publication. Certainly enough to pitch them ideas and actually have a few posts published by them, but of late, I really think that Pete Cashmore and his organization has lost the plot. Mashable used to be “All That’s New on the Web”, now they are titled “The Social Media Guide”. Unfortunately they aren’t either.

The posts they now put out are mostly lists, now I know that blog readers like lists, 10 best this, 7 ways to do that, 18 plugins for this problem. But seriously are there not enough bloggers out there already producing those types of posts. If you have a visitor base of some 1.5m unique visitors per month (according to Compete.com) don’t you think you could try and be a little bit different?

Has Mashable gone the way of its print cousins and become so focussed on Ad revenue that they have decided it is better to turn out the same old stuff that everyone else is doing and play it safe?  One post today just made me laugh, 18 Wordpress Plugins for RSS – this is one of the laziest types of posts, and takes about 5 minutes to pull together. Just go to the WordPress Plugins Directory type in the resource you are looking for, and viola you have a list of plugins.

For example here’s how to produce a post called 5 WordPress Plugins for Podcasters:

Type in podcasting, get the following result:

Now just rewrite some of this info which comes from the developers and you have a post! No magic to it, no effort either.

Perhaps I am holding them to too high a standard, perhaps I shouldn’t expect anything approaching journalism from what is really “just” a blog. But I do, if Social Media is to progress, those that put themselves out there as “leaders” in the space need to try harder, need to raise the bar, not just produce the same old junk that any hack can pull out in a pinch.

Whilst I agree finding new and interesting Social Media stories is hard work, if you are truly going to be “The Social Media Guide”, then guide don’t follow.

Mashable Image via CrunchBase

An article on Read Write Web caught my attention yesterday because of its position on a Forrester report on why companies should pay bloggers to write articles about their products.

Now my first impression is that the RWW article is an “opinion” post, these are always good for driving traffic. Take a stance and put it out there, some people will agree with you, some will disagree, hopefully some of them will leave comments and therefore you increase your audience. So when we get into “tactics” used by organizations whether they are branding companies or “blogging” companies like RWW we should examine all the tactics used.

That out of the way I think that the RWW post ignores the “Why” question and takes a too simplistic view of how brands are trying to cope with the surge in interest in Social Media and their efforts to keep up or in some cases catch up.  They are taking the stance of blogging as a pure art. To that I say “nonesense”, blogging is no such thing, if it were Adsense wouldn’t be available to bloggers. Bloggers have utilized different ways of making money since they first started to produce blogs. The very fact that there are so many posts out there on how to position ads, how to get the most out of ad based systems is testimony to that.  The argument that As are not the same thing as paid articles is to some how elevate the blog post.

All bloggers, by their nature are opinionated, therefore all blogs have an angle.  For example, anyone who reads my updates on Twitter knows I don’t like iPhones. So there is not much point in reading my blog looking for something great about an iPhone here. I have an opinion and I am not afraid to share it. Therefore it would come as no great surprise to my readers if I were to make a post about the Blackberry Storm and disclose in the post that RIM had paid me to do the post.

What the RWW article misses is why brands are doing this and why Forrester would tell them its ok to do it. Its a very simple reason – scalability. Large brands are still struggling with internal discussions over where Social Media Marketing sits within the organization – I know this because some of our own clients are still having these discussion as they engage us to help us solve that question. Is it a MarCom activity, is it PR, is it Online? When you are dealing with organizations that employ tens of thousands of people and have had only one way communications for decades, figuring out how they truly engage their customers is extremely difficult. People point to companies like Zappo’s and say thats how you do it. Zappo’s employs 250 people, even at that level its still relatively easy to make it a company wide activity, try doing that with 25,000 people not all of whom are there because they love the company but because they need a paycheck.

Hiring an enthusiastic blogger to write about your product, giving them a free sample, or even, heaven forbid, actually paying them for their efforts, is a scalable way to get the word out while making adjustments internally. Is it a long term solution, in my opinion no, is it particularly imaginative, again in my opinion no. Does it work? If done right, with the right disclosure, undoubtedly.

With Social Media tools being so readily available now it seems that some people are getting very obsessed with ranking tools.

I have written about these several times, Twitter Grader, Twinfluence and Facebook Grader most recently.  I decided to do a little experiment whilst at the same time promoting my blog.

I used the “NetworkedBlogs” application on Facebook to add my friends to my blog network.  Its a very easy tool to use. You simply send an invite to your friend network on Facebook which asks them to join your network. If they do it displays your blog thumbnail on their profile page and adds them to the list of “Fans” for your blog.

It allows you to include a personal message with the invite, which I like to do, emphasizing this is really from me. That it gives the invitee the opportunity to not only see what I am writing but also what I am reading – I currently have 30 or so blogs in my network, so this is a virtual blog bookcase.

One of the things that NetworkedBlogs does in their application is provide a list, by topic of the Top 50 blogs.  My blog appears in the Social Media list.  What I wanted to show with this post is the subjective nature of these types of lists.

Take a look at the screenshot below

Social Media List

You will see that my blog appears immediately above that of Scott Monty, Ford’s Social Media evangelist. WOW, right, my blog is more popular than that of Scott Monty! I have made it, I’m on the “A” list. No more waiting for restaurant reservations or perhaps at least invites to cool parties at SXSWi.

Thankfully, both for me and those who know me, I am a little more grounded than that and a lot more cynical. Of course my blog isnt more popular than Scott’s (btw if you haven’t already started reading it, you really should). What this shows is the small group of blogs that are being measured. I am sure Scott receives thousands of readers a day, my readership is no where near that level.

This is what happens when you take a very small sample of data and extrapolate it to show importance, influence and popularity. Without lying I can state that my blog is now rated as the number 11 blog in Social Media on Facebook. Everyone knows that Facebook has 150 million users ergo I must be popular, influential and important.Don’t get me wrong I am not dissing the NetworkedBlogs application, it has actually brought me several new readers, for which I am always grateful, but in reality I am not in the “A” list, nor anywhere near it. If you would like to join my blog network please do

So the next time you are impressed by the fact that someone quotes a Social Media “rank” or “Score” dig a little deeper and find out just how that is being measured.