Brave New, Annoying New, Social Media

1. Brave New, Annoying New, Social Media (Or why aren’t you blogging yet?) IABC/Phoenix IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

2. My background • Writer • Marketer • Communications strategist • Media watcher* IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

3. Seven things I believe in • Everything is connected to everything. • Non-linear media rocks. • Analog & Digital are strange bedfellows. • Screens will open books. Books will open screens. • Pull is better than push. • Content is (still) king. • Take risks. IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

4. “Groups with guitars are on their way out” Decca Records, c 1962. On turning down the Beatles! IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

5. What if… IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

6. It’s risky business! IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

7. Eight Reasons Companies Don’t Blog 1. “It takes too much time.” 2. “We do a good job of with press releases.” 3. “Don’t we have enough thought leadership? Our White Papers are online…” 4. “Conversations and comments may get out of control.” 5. “Readers may criticize us.” 6. “We are in the X business, not in the publishing business.” 7. “A blogger may leave the company. Then what?” 8. “Who reads blogs, anyways?” IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

8. Eight Reasons Companies Don’t Blog • “It takes too much time”. • “We do a good job of with press releases.” • Don’t we have enough thought leadership? Our White Papers are online…” • “Conversations and comments may get out of control.” • “Readers may criticize us” • “We are in the …….. business, not in the publishing business.” • “A blogger may leave the company. Then what?” • “Who reads blogs, anyway?” 1. So does golf. Long meetings. Email 2. Different audiences. Different timing. Different market conditions 3. Blogs create buzz. White papers create zzzzzz 4. It’s called feedback 5. Should we also prevent customers calling in? 6. And yet we ‘publish’ web sites, white papers? 7. So do attorneys, HR managers and PR people 8.Short answer: Search Engines. Long answer: Technorati (tracks 112.8 million Blogs) (250 million ‘pieces’ are tagged “social media”) Better answer: Recent research shows that more than ¾ of journalists get story ideas from blogs. FYI: There are 1.3 billion people on the Net IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

9. Three excuses • Time & Resources • Control and Fit • Feedback and Transparency IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

10. Why are blogs so important? Some 300 CEOs blog 14% of businesses are unclear about the value of blogs (but think they do need help!) IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

11. Should CEO’s Blog? 1. Jonathan Schwartz (President & CEO, Sun)2. Craig Newmark (CEO, Craig’s List)3. Mark Cuban (Owner, Dallas Mavericks)4. Ross Mayfield (CEO, Socialtext)5. Matt Blumberg (CEO, Return Path)6. Alan Meckler (CEO, Jupiter Media)7. Kevin Lynch (Adobe)8. Robin Hopper (CEO, iUpload)9. Jason Calacanis (CEO, Weblogs) 10. John Dragoon (CMO, Novell) IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

12. Should CEO’s Blog? “While a journalist is writing about my blog, I am blogging about his journalism.” Jonathan Schwartz President & CEO Sun Microsystems IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

13. Should Journalists Blog? • Kevin Sites – Hot Zone / CNN • Dave Barry – Miami Herald • Chris Anderson – Long Tail / Wired • Reuters blogs – Reuters • Andrew Sullivan – New Republic • Brian Williams, Pete Williams - NBC IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

14. Should Communicators Blog? “These are difficult times because we are witnessing a clash of cataclysmic proportions between two great technologies.” Marshall McLuhan On the clash between print and TV! IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

15. The Eco-system Blogs*, Photo sharing, Video sharing, social networks, wikis, forums, listservs, podcasts, virtual worlds, citizen journalism, livecasting, PRblogs, book reviews, music reviews. IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

16. The “Modern Mediasphere” IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

17. *Different Blogs Courtesy: Rohit Bhargava, OgilvyPR IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

18. Reality Check For Writers (1) Social Media provides better distribution: • More Channels • More Platforms • More Outlets • New ways to “Be Heard” Facebook. LinkedIn News By You IABC MyRagan Flickr Amazon Slideshare Plastic SocialMediaToday IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

19. Reality Check For Writers (2) Social Media provides better targeting: • Greater Relevance • More Niches Social networks for pet owners – dogster.com Social network for decision makers – kluster.com Video network for advertising commercials - firebrand • Cut through clutter • On-demand • To over-communicated audience IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

20. Reality Check For Writers (3) Social Media provides: • Better Feedback: • Blog stats – real-time tracking tool • Trackbacks – acknowledgement tool • Comments – personal feedback • Technorati – monitoring tool • Google analytics – marketing analytics • Google alerts – due diligence IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

21. Writers Have… Distribution Targeting Feedback IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

22. Distribution. Targeting. Feedback. We have choices • Flickr and Zooomr • Digg and Reddit • Twitter and Jaiku and Pownce • Delicious and StumbleUpon • YouTube and Brightcove • Facebook and MySpace • TalkShoe and BlogTV • BlogTV and EncycloMedia • MySpace and BBC-MYSpace • FaceBook and CIA-FaceBook • Campfire • JohnTV (surveillance) and EveryBlock (city watch) • Flickr and Flickr Commons • Book reviews and Book Blogs – Meatball Sunday & Meatball Mondae) • Wikis and MediaWikis IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

23. Should You Blog? 11 Things To Consider 1. Passion for topic 2. Commitment – time, frequency, longevity, professional interest 3. Goals: • We need to start a blog because…..(reason here) • The blog should help us ….. (goal here) Examples of Goals: • Communicate relevant & timely information • Anticipate & respond to market situations, issues • Target the media • Do what can’t be done via press releases • Become a place to showcase thought leaders • Invite customer feedback • Make us look more human IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

24. Should You Blog? 11 Things Continued 4. Length of posts? 5. Point of View & Attitude & The Authoritative factor “Authority factor overweights poor writing skills.”ProBlogger 6. Provocative or Controversial? (Dell, VPRB) 7. Creative or academic? 8. Personal or Professional? 9. Text and/or Visuals? 10. Honesty and transparency 11. Writing style and vocabulary –see “Six common writing errors” - Copyblogger IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

25. Blog Platforms Free! $ 49.50 / yr - $150 / yr - $899.50 / yr IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

26. Your first blog - 3 easy steps • Find a theme, topic, layout (2 groups, 5 minutes) • Write 5 posts before you launch blog (create two posts) • Sign up (free blog: WordPress) IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

27. Getting Started: WordPress IABC Workshop Blog http://IABCWorkshop.wordpress.com IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

28. Your New Blog Improve your blog in 5 more steps • Create categories • Add a Blog Roll • Use trackbacks • Acknowledge, link to, ask • Build traffic by commenting on other blogs, podcasts etc IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

29. Your New Blog Brand your blog • Register a domain name • Add a header • Point domain to your blog www.yourname.com • Create an About page IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando

30. Be focused. Be Social. Dive in! Thank You! angelo@hoipolloireport.com IABC | Writers' Workshop | Angelo Fernando