How to avoid being a new media DB

Am I am new media DB?



Hope not. I hope I'm creating content that people WANT to read instead of just pumping out content to gain more followers on Twitter.

What's truth telling about this video is the fact that it's pretty much dead on with about 85% of the new media "experts" out there. Lots of talk. Lots of tagging. Lots of posting. Lots and lots of lots of stuff. Volume, volume and more volume. Those actually something of relevance to you or your company are the ones to pay attention to. Then again, not all content speaks to everyone and as such, not all new media "experts" are "experts" in the eyes of all.

So what does all this mean? Why all the double talk? Well, most of what I read comes across as double talk. This isn't brain surgery here people. Simply find relevance for your content and read people that provide relevance to you. That's how you avoid being a new media DB. Provide value to SOMEONE (preferably groups of people) and you should avoid being labeled as such. Read more!

We all know enough about something or other

Seth brings up a question about knowing enough. Do you know enough, he asks? That's an interesting question because I participated in a leadership conference this week and one of the things that stuck with me is that you need to make new offers every 15 minutes. Offers can be things like a media opportunity for a client, a new way of thinking about a solution or an offer to change the way you interact with someone. The opportunities for offers are limitless.

My point here is that we all know something. Whether it's how the Patriots can make the playoffs with the roster they have, what useful business apps there are for the iPhone or how to make a killer cup of coffee, we all know something. The key is, finding your sweet spots and using them to make new offers and become an expert or someone valued by others because of your point of view.

Do you know enough?

If not, what are you doing about it?

If so, who do you think you're kidding?

(Via Seths Blog.)

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If I had an alter-ego, Hector would be it

I'm a firm believer that everyone has two personalities. For example, I grew up in an urban neighborhood and consider myself very street smart. When it comes to books smarts, I'm a few pennies short of a dollar. However, I do have clusters of areas where I am an expert - take photography, graphic design, computers, socialnet and corporate PR for example. These are areas I have excelled at over the years. In fact, it's because of those clusters that I am in the position I am today - VP for a PR firm, working in the corporate practice, lead socialnet and tech go-to person in the office, etc., etc.

While in the office, I'm a mild natured sort of guy who brings a blue collar approach to a white collar job. On the other hand, when I'm with the fellas, at the Razor for a Pats game, I'm a different beast all together. Now I know that's probably not considered two personalities, but if you have ever seen me in action at a Pats game, you'll agree.

My point here is that everyone puts on a front at some point in their lives and that's not a bad thing.

If I were to have an alter-ego on the blogosphere, it would be my man Hector. I could go into all the details, but just read a few of his posts and you'll see where I'm coming from. Hector is raw. I'm more well-done. This is true in every way with the exception of sports. Hector is a Tampa Bay Devil Ray fan and I'm hoping that the Sox meet the Rays in the ALCS. I would love to read a long, fire-laden rant from Hector about how sick and tired he is of the Sox, especially after they stomp, spit and throw away the world series hopes of all the bandwagoners who now call the Trop home.

Despite all the profanity and hatred, Hector is a good writer and is pretty darn funny. Too bad his Rays are going to be playing golf sooner than the Red Sox will be.

(if you can't tell by now, this post was all about firing up Hector and getting him to spit something witty, trashy and down-right rude back at me. Why? Because it'll be funny as all hell) Read more!

Study of Blog Designs

Trolling through a river of Twitter posts and I came across a link to a blog about a study on blog design - looking at trends in blog design, specifically with some of the more popular blogs.

It talked about how many columns were popular. What font sizes are typically used in headlines. What type of background to use - white with black text or vice versa. Typeface. CSS or Tables....

You get the picture. Without further ado, here are the results:

- large blogs require a multi-column layout solution (usually 3 columns suffice)(58%);
- layouts are usually centered (94%),
- layouts usually have a fixed width (px-based) (92%),
- the width of the fixed layout varies between 951 and 1000px (56%),
- 58% of the overall site layout is used to display the main content,
- CSS-layouts are used (90%),
- the background is light, the body text is dark (98%),
- the most usual (not necessarily most user-friendly) line length lies between 80 and 100 characters,
- Verdana, Lucida Grande, Arial and Georgia are used for body text (90%),
- the font size of body text varies between 12 and 14px (78%),
- Arial and Georgia are used for headlines (52%),
- headlines have the font size between 17 and 25px.

Let me ask you this. Who cares? How many people actually visit sites these days. Yea, they might come across it initially but if they want to follow the content, they do it in an RSS reader. So while there's all this chatter about blog design, trends, to-dos, don't do's, etc. let's worry about the content. Yea, it's good to have a clean and simple design that's not all over the place and one where people can find the content that's relevant to them but after all, it's about the content. Would you buy a car that looked good, but drove more like a Chevy Chevette? No.

Aesthetics are important, but it is what's under the hood that really matters
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Wanted: Blog Designer

I'm seriously thinking about a blog overhaul - something unique, something different. My problem is, do I learn style sheets, html, javascript, etc. and do it myself or do I just get someone who lives and breaths this stuff to make it happen for me? I'm just a bit tired of using the blogger templates and tweaking them. I want something that's screams me.

Anyone out there interested in this challenge? I am willing to pay, within reason. Otherwise, I'm diving head first into this thing and will figure it out for myself. Read more!

FeedBurner problems

Sometimes the string of action items for my posts aren't showing up. This is the string I'm talking about:

Digg This! • Share on Facebook • Stumble It! • Technorati Links • Add to del.icio.us • Discuss on FriendFeed

I can't figured it out. Anyone? Bueller? Help? Read more!

Style sheets, really not my thing

Weird happens on this blog with comments and stuff. I might need a redesign because I might have gone too far down the CSS hole.

Let's see if I can save the day. Read more!

John Mayer's Blog

John Mayer is one of those artists that I don't tell everyone I like (though I just did). Lots of people hate on him because he's pop. Others love him because he's rock. I just find his music interesting. His arrangements simple, yet complex. His lyrics right on the money. And his band fantastic, especially his drummer. One of things that blogging allows people to do is to get to "know" folks they normally wouldn't have.

What do these two subjects have in common?

Well, it's the John Mayer blog. You have to go check it out. A couple of recent posts are about life basically. The latest is about a young kid he met with a rare disease. He embraces him like a brother, brings him back stage, let's him lead the pre-gig ritual, etc. The second post is a wrap up about the summer Euro tour. He goes on to talk about life and getting older. In this post, he's basically saying, "I'm young, rich and doing what I love to do. Basically, I'm living the dream. The best part of it all is that I know I'm living the dream and it's not going to last. I'm basking in the glow as long as I can."

Well, those are direct quotes, but that's basically what he's saying.

I guess you could say I'm also living the dream. I'm happily married. Have two wonderful kids. Have a great job (two really), doing what I love to do (PR & photography).

I'm no spring chicken but I'm not on the flip side of senility either. What I do have in common with Mr. Mayer is that I realize that I'm in the midst of my prime and I'm loving it. Or should I say, I'm living the dream?


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WWIII and the price of gas

A blogger friend of mine, Hector, has an interesting slant on the rising costs of gas, who's getting fat off it, how to curb the rising costs (buy more he says) and how it all relates to WWIII.

Sometimes I think that I go off the deep end with some of my rants. Take my pink hat situation for example. Well, maybe that's not the deep end, but you get my drift.

Hector, on the other hand, lives in the deep end and speaks his peace. Can't fault him for that. That's what happens with the Declaration of Independence meets blogging. You can say what you want, when you want and how you want it. If people don't like it, oh well. Read more!

Does Jim Rice have to apologize for not blogging?

I used to do this. I used to apologize to the thousands of people who read my blog if I wasn't posting frequently enough. Well, maybe not thousands. More like a few.

Jim Rice posted an apology for the lack of bloggy love. What he should apologize for is the use of the sullivantire.com domain. You're telling me you don't have enough dough to get your own URL and set up a fan page, blog, etc.?

Back to blogging apologies...

I have since stopped the practice because I soon realized that it doesn't matter. Post when you want to post. If you want to keep your readers engaged, do it frequently. Use a scheduled post system like I do (i.e. write a lot of your posts at night or early in the morning and have them appear throughout the day).

So don't apologize Jimbo. Just post.
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Rajan Rondo's blog: insight into the NBA Finals

Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo has a blog. He's not the best writer in the world, but I love the fact that he's posting frequently during the playoffs. You talk about a first person reading experience. He's there. On the floor. Running the offense. Driving the paint. Dishing the ball.

He's no Jesus Shuttlesworth, but "he got insight."

That's what is so cool about blogging. Anyone can do it.

All within a short time frame, I read Curt Schillings post about being at the game, courtside, and all the things he heard and saw up close and personal during the game. Then I read Rondo's post about how the crowd kept the team in the game and what his mental state is being up 2-0, taking that long flight to LA.

Add to all this my own viewing of the game at home on the high def 42" plasma and it has provided a 360 degree type of fan experience.
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Thanks to Lifehacker, Shift Comm exec feasts on crow

Trolling through my Google Reader this beautiful Sunday afternoon while trying to find inspiration for another work week where I pretty much worked all weekend, I came across an interesting social media-PR-related post. It's about blacklists and eating massive amounts of crow.

The PR Blacklist issue has been hot these days. Lifehacker blogger Gina Trapani put a hack from Shift Communications on her blacklist wiki. Basically, she's now banning the entire shiftcomm.com domain because of one person's actions.

As a result, Todd Defran of PR Squared (a shift communications exec and blogger though the blog is not a corporate blog) posted a long grovel to Gina.

I hope you’ll re-think your blanket condemnation of the thousands of employees who work at those firms listed in your wiki. Thanks to outcries like yours, the PR profession is becoming ever-more cognizant of the need for change, and it truly is changing.

I am really not sure how I feel about his approach. However, don't get me wrong, I do understand it. I understand the importance of trying to make amends with Gina and Lifehacker. However, why not just pick up the phone? Why risk more damage to the company's brand by airing the dirty laundry out for the public to see/read? If this social media thing is all about personal communications, this approach isn't personal. It's sorta like the shotgun approach we are all trying to avoid.

Tough call. Not sure what I'd do in this case (other than the fact that I'd be sure everyone that works for me or is on my team understands each bloggers' quirks, likes and dislikes BEFORE I pitch them as to avoid this situation all together). Then again, if you catch a blogger on a bad day, you might just get blacklisted for being cheery. As hacks, we are at the beck and call of the allmighty blogger.

Regardless, kudos to Todd for trying to make amends. It'll be interesting to see if Gina accepts the olive branch (maybe she has and I don't know yet). Read more!

Blogs, Celtics, and Long Weekends

Here's yet another pot of "whatever you can find in the kitchen" post. This time covering two news items surround blogs, Celtics game four prediction and a quick note about long weekends.

My gal friend, former co-worker, and fellow blogger Allison needs a blog name. You can read her story over at her blog, but basically, she's a cancer survivor and has recently dove head first into this "blogging thing." It's very hard to select your blog name. It's basically the start of the creation of your online ID. I'm simply known as the big guy. I'm a big dude so it was sorta easy. However, with Allison's story being more complex than mine, I'm sure it's tough to nail down a strong of letters, put them together to make words, then slap it on a URL.

Another blogger who I've been following just so happens to be the starting point guard for the Celtics - Rajan Rondo. Apparently, he's on the verge of blowing up the bloggy world with his own URL and an official myspace page.

Speaking of the Celtics, game four is tonight. My prediction? Celtics will lose. I don't see the C's winning back to back games on the road. Then again, I could be wrong. That's why they play the game right? Thus far, however, I've called each game - including the first loss at home and the first road win. The game is on tonight, the tail end of a long weekend....which leads me to...

Long weekends. ;)

I'm a big fan of long weekends. They recharge the batteries. They get your prepped for a work week much better than the Saturday/Sunday tag team weekend. This long weekend is thanks to the men and women that served our country. I thank them for the long weekend, but really thank them for the sacrifices they have made to make this country what is it. Read more!

Blacklisting PR firms

To those outside of the PR/journalism/social media realm, you're going to be bored with this post. Don't both reading more. For those of you who are, please continue to read. Believe me, it won't be a waste of your time. I have some pretty poignant comments to make to both PR hacks like myself and scribes.

Sorry, maybe this isn't a ground breaking post, but rather my simple-minded thoughts on something being discussed in the blog/pr/social media world these days.

A massive part of the existence of PR hacks is to get media coverage for clients (and sometimes avoid it). Selling ground breaking widgets? Hired a new controversial CEO? Think you've created the best bread slicer in history? Whatever the "story" is, clients want to get media lovin'. They want heaps of it. They want it now, not later. They want it above the fold, read by millions, in front of customers/potential business partners...it makes them look like king tut. The point? They want coverage and it's our - PR hacks - job to get it.

Sounds like a pretty fun gig, right? Should be pretty easy to do, right? Just pop over an email, come up with a catchy subject line, slap together a few witty graphs, stitch in a press release and you're good to go, right?

Maybe this is true for the dot-com, www.4realmen.com, days. Not anymore. The media landscape has changed dramatically. There are no clear lines as to who is a journalist and who is a hack. Some hacks ARE journalists. If you're reading this, then I guess you could call me a SMS - social media scribe (you heard the term here first).

The changes in the media landscape have fueled the scribe/PR battle. The social media world is now is now blazing with talk about blacklists and using gmail filters to give hacks the heisman.

Now, by no means and I sticking up for my fellow hacks or slapping the hands of scribes. Here's my point to this waste of cyber space: can't we just all get along?

Kidding.

Seriously though, here's the deal as I see it.

SMS's are being bombarded with bullcrap pitches from everyone and anyone. I can understand their frustration and the move to blacklist or filter out hacks. At the same time, I know where the hacks are coming from. They have real pressures coming in the form of clients who want coverage and no excuses. Pressures that in some cases, mean employment with benefits or flipping burgers at McDonalds.

There needs to be balance in the force. Here's how we can make it happen - "we" as in SMS's and hacks. It'll be like the good and bad sides of the force coming together to make a better galaxy. So, without further delay, here are my three key steps that should help SMS's and hacks play together nicely in the sandbox:

To SMS's:
1. Respond - I know you can't respond to each hack email, but for those that are on target in terms of the focus of the pitch, yet you're not interested, reply back to the hack and politely say, "Thanks for the pitch. I'm not interested at this time. Keep the ideas coming. Thanks!"

2. Educate - To those that bark up the wrong tree, give them a second chance, but tell them that they f-ed up. If it happens twice or three times, put them in the filter bin.

3. Share - give us hacks a bit of insight as to what you need from us. It's all a guessing game, but if you take a bit more guessing out of the game, then we can be more in tune as to help. Maybe post a "here's how to pitch me" item - a road map or sorts, so we will be on target (or at least be in position to).

I know, this is asking a lot because once you bend over for one person, you gotta do it a million times a day. In the long run though, don't you think you'll get better pitches and smarter sources?

To hacks:

1. Think - Think about what you're pitching and who you are pitching it to. Think sniper, not shotgun. Be smart about what you're pitching and ensure that it is right in the wheel house of the person you're pitching it to. These folks don't have the time to read BS pitches. Think before you hit the send button. Think as a journalist. Are you giving them everything they need to make an intelligent decision about your story? Is it even a story? Just think. For the love of Pete, think before you hit the send button.

2. Communicate - To be part of the conversation, you need to engage. You need to be part of the conversation. SMS's will take you more seriously if you're blogging, are on twitter, understand their world. Don't always pitch. Ask about their family. What they drive. Where they grew up. Went to school. Anything, nothing, everything...just communicate. Be a human and communicate. Stop being a PR robot. Build a relationship with your contacts by communicating and coming to them with something of substance and be reliable. Clear communication is the building block to a fruitful SMS/hack relationship.

3. Share - Hacks need to do a better job at sharing their wealth of resources. It shouldn't all be about your clients media coverage. Provide sources to scribes even if it's not a client source. Share you expertise even if it means you'll get no kudo's for it. Help a reporter out, is what I'm trying to say. Be helpful and it will come back to you. Trust me. I've been doing this long enough to learn that it does pay to play.

So there you have it, words of wisdom from the big guy. It's not brain surgery. It's really just common sense when you think about it.
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Verizonwireless is spamming my pic/vid blogging

Seems as if wireless carriers are finding as many ways to plug their advertising into our daily blogging lives.

Any time I post to this blog with a picture of video, I get this messages:

This message was sent using PIX-FLIX Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getpix.

To learn how you can record videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getflix.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime Player. Note: During the download process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

It's total bullsh*t. I don't want any extra stuff attached to my posts. I wouldn't mind a small little signature or something, but this is a bit ridiculous. I was reading on another blog that someone had the same beef and contacted VZW. Apparently, this crap was added for "legal reasons."

Yea, right. If you're reading this and are a VZW PR person, please log this "clip" as an official complaint. I've been a long time customer and have never had another carrier. As a matter of fact, I have successfully gotten friends and family to switch to Verizonwireless because of the reliability of the network. Because after all, you need a good signal to have 24/7 connectivity.

So Verizonwireless, why not give us the option to "opt out" of this legal crap your dumping on us or how about shortening the message just a tad.
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Can you die from over-blogging?

The Time has a piece today about the burdens of blogging for those that do it professionally or at least get paid for it. The question posed, is blogging coming at the expense of our health, mental stability and, gulp, life?

Two weeks ago in North Lauderdale, Fla., funeral services were held for Russell Shaw, a prolific blogger on technology subjects who died at 60 of a heart attack. In December, another tech blogger, Marc Orchant, died at 50 of a massive coronary. A third, Om Malik, 41, survived a heart attack in December.

I love blogging. I love social media. I love following the trends. I love writing about them. I love interacting with smart people online. That's why I do it. Not because I get paid to do it (though I think that would be cool). I guess if I was in the "I get paid to blog" category, I would want to be the type that visitors were interested in my style of writing, my online personality, my wit, my jokes, my honesty, etc. I wouldn't want the pressures of being a breaking news blogger. No more are the days that you pick up the newspaper and there is "breaking" news in it. Breaking news happens all the time and by the time it's actually covered by the print media, it's old news. If any outlet has it the easiest, I guess it's broadcast. They can shoot and throw on the tube within seconds. Then again, they have to have the footage. If not, then we're just looking at talking heads.

Same goes for the social media reporters. It takes them a little time to gather their thoughts, write the post, quickly edit, and then go live.

However, micro-blogging sites like Twitter have now changed the game completely. All you need is a good story and 140 characters and you're breaking news. Check Mashable for an example of that. They are always breaking tech news. Steve Garfield and Steve Rubel are two other examples.

So while blogging is fun, informative and a great source for all the news that's fit to print, I don't think it's a real cause for people kicking the bucket. It might lead to unhealthy eating and abnormal sleeping habits. People just need to get a grip. Let's be smarter about what we are writing instead of always trying to beat the other guy. Yes, we need people to cover breaking news, but there has to be a balance of writing smart posts that really add to the value of the story versus pumping out 140 characters just to gain ad revenue. Read more!

Note to web editors of Boston.com

Hey, Boston.com, if you really want us to embed your content on our blogs, you might think about giving us the option to resize video. As it stands now, any time I post something from your site, the video is way to big for my design. Yes, I know, I can change the code myself, but it doesn't resize the video. It just resizes the player.

File this under annoying. Read more!

Buggin' over Bloggio

Seem as if my boy Dbink is in a tongue lashing war over the Bloggio service. Well, maybe not a war, but a very constructive argument. Check out the link to find out more about the service and the "war."

What amazed me about this was how the PR person responded so quickly to Dave's post as well s the manner in which she did it.

You have to tread ever so lightly these days when responded to bloggers and their content. As a PR pro myself, I understand where she was coming from. She's protecting her company's brand and wanted to point out some of the "holes" in Dbink's post. That's the thing with blogging, you really never know where the bullshit stops and the real info begins.

IMHO, seems as if the service is a pay for play deal just like any of the traditional "find the right journalist" applications like Bacon's or MediaMap or Cision or whatever the hell they are calling it these days.

I'm going to keep an eye on this one. Can't wait for Dbink's retort. Read more!

Me? Getting Pitched?

As some may know, I'm a PR guy. Been in the business for 14 years or so. Since my journalism days (started with the Boston Globe) have been long gone, I've been doing most of the pitching, i.e. trying to "sell" stories to the media. That's what I do. That's what I'm good at, among other PR related skills.

So, the other day, I was very shocked when I opened up email the other day to find a pitch in there from a PR dude representing RealPlayer.

Don,

My name is PR DUDE, and I’m the Outreach Manager for PR DUDE'S COMPANY. I'm writing to you because I think that the new RealPlayer® might be of value to you and your DEM Photography blog readers.

We’re currently working with RealNetworks to help promote the release of their new RealPlayer (www.realplayer.com), which has changed quite a bit since their last version. The new version is now more of a video tool and utility that enables a user to instantly download streaming videos in the most popular formats (except DRM-protected videos) to their hard drive and to share the links with friends from the library they are creating. The player also enables users to watch videos without an Internet connection.

Once the player is installed, a user watching videos on YouTube, Break, Metacafe and other similar sites will see a “Download This Video” button automatically appear directly above the video, enabling them to save it to their hard drive with a single click.

With the new RealPlayer Plus, a user can transfer downloaded videos to their iPod and burn them to DVD to watch whenever and wherever they want.

I’d love to send you a complimentary copy of RealPlayer Plus (which is normally $39.99) for you to check out, and if you like it, write a review. If you’re interested, please email me back and I’ll send you the download URL, username and password for such.

We have also developed a backend electronic press kit for the RealPlayer containing a how-to slideshow and videos (including a Zombie demonstration of the RealPlayer), banners, press releases and much more for your convenience. You can find this at www.guerillapr.com/real.

Please confirm receipt of this email and let me know if you would like to receive a complimentary copy of the player. Thanks.

Respectfully,

PR DUDE

Here's my beef with this.

1. Anyone who pays attention to my photography blog - which is like, two people - know that all I really do is post photo's I've taken for gigs, weddings, etc. or shots of my kids, family, etc. It has to do with PHOTOGRAPHY. Yea, maybe I talk about technology from time to time, but it really focuses on my photography, post processing, the business of photography, etc. I don't cover videography.

2. The way PR DUDE found me was through a google search of PHOTOGRAPHY BlOGS. Why photography? Why not videography? It's this type of laziness that drives real journalists nuts. That's why us PR hacks get a bad wrap some times.

3. Why would I want to install an application from an untrusted source? I don't know you. Yes, I know that RealNetworks is a brand that I know of. I never have liked their software. The pop-ups drive me nuts. The interface blows and there is HARDLY any content that I listen to or watch that isn't in a format that can be played by winamp, my preferred media player.

4. Just to bait PR DUDE, I told that since I cover technology on this blog (the big guy), maybe I would consider it. He jumped all over me like white on rice, giving me a download link, instructions, etc. I told that I would consider it and would let him know. Don't shove the bullsh*t down my throat. Being overly aggressive is another tactic that PR people need to stop.

Overall, I know blogger-relations is the wild, wild west. How do you pitch bloggers? How should you interact with them? What's fair game? What isn't? The lines are blurred and there is MUCHO grey area.

In the end though, it was cool to be considered a "journalist" again. Call it my 15 minutes of fame. Read more!

Work & Blogging

I realize that I do my own part in terms of generating online content. I blog in three places (here, here and here. I have a twitter feed. I tumble. I pownce. I also have a "pulse". Lastly, I'm on myspace and facebook.

I never, never, never, talk directly about work, those I work with, clients, etc. It's just a bad practice.

See this as an example. Read more!