You Can Be A Blogger Too

The cool thing about today’s web 2.0 is that anyone can communicate with the rest of the world.  If you handle PR or marketing for a venue, show, sports team, or event you should start a blog.

When I talk to someone about this blog, the most asked question is “how do you find time to write it”?  We have all heard the term “time is what we make it”.  That is how I look at this blog.  It is part of my daily routine. The average time to write this blog is one hour. It shouldn’t take that long but you have build in interruption time. Some of you may be saying that you don’t have an hour to write a blog.  What if the blog is part of your job?  Blogging is a PR or marketing tool.  If you find the time to write a press release, buy media, or pitch promotional deals then you can find an hour a week to write a blog.  Use your blog to publish the press releases.

Posting blogs can be done for free.  Most blog sites host for free.  For example this blog is on WordPress.  I also use a free email subscription service call FeedBurner.  By using free services, I pass the free service to my readers.  You can also link your blog to other online and social sites such as Facebook.  If you are not yet using Twitter for your business, start a Twitter account today.  Twitter is a 140 character mini blog.  You can also send your Tweets to Facebook or even link them to your blog site.

This blog is used for marketing my event & entertainment marketing services.  It works.  Not only does it create online exposure for the business but it does generate leads and clients.  Why not try blogging for your business?

Is Radio Next To Go Bye-Bye?

Last week I wrote about the demise of WBCN in Boston.  This “tastemaker” station was once the place where you found your next great band.  Today, there is an article in The Boston Globe about young people finding their new music in different places but not on commercial radio.

Top 40 and pop stations still exist on commercial radio.  These stations still appeal to children and pre-teens. However, once they hit the young adult years, their choices on commercial radio gets really thin.

Have you listened to commercial pop radio today?  How much music are they really playing?  During morning drive on a commercial radio station you will hear very few songs.  You will hear lots of on-air personalities talking.  You will hear lots of commercial spots running. Instead of saying “where’s the beef”, we need to say “where’s the music”? While this may work for the moms and dads that are driving, what does this do to build a future audience?

Where are younger people hearing their music today?  They learn about new music from friends (word of mouth), the internet, bloggers, and social networking.  They are downloading songs on their iPod.  You can put thousands of songs on an iPod and plug it into your car stereo.  No need to ever listen to a radio station.  Satellite radio plays music with no commercials (endless music).  The listener can hear any genre they want.  Internet radio is on the rise.  The article mentions Pandora Radio.  Even mobile devices are playing music. On my Blackberry I have Slacker Radio.

If music is not what drives commercial radio today, what does?  The answer is talk. The problem with talk radio is that you are not attracting a younger audience.  If we don’t get the younger demos listening to radio then we are going to see a dramatic drop off of listeners. Fewer listeners mean less advertising dollars.  

Doesn’t this whole discussion sound familiar?  Didn’t newspapers lose the younger readers first?

Beware Of The Blogger

I read an Associated Press article this morning on how the Federal Trade Commission is going to monitor bloggers.

The world of online blogs has become a very important piece of web 2.0.  It is an opportunity to communicate your thoughts, knowledge, and opinion.  It has the power to influence readers.  This is where the problem lies. 

Like anything in this world, there are always people who want to take advantage of a good thing. Some bloggers are getting perks for the words they write. Some are getting laptops, trips to Europe, free products, or even cash.  Wow, sounds great sign me up (just kidding).  Sometimes these words are really not the writer’s thoughts, knowledge, or opinion but some ad agency creative department. In the past I wrote a ghost post for another blog.  But I got to write my opinion and I wasn’t selling anything.

The article states “journalists who work for newspapers and broadcasters are held accountable by their employers, and they generally cannot receive payments from marketers and must return products after they finish reviewing them”. Are you kidding me? Maybe the reporter didn’t get the perks but what about the employer? The writer should have thought twice before making that statement.

The most asked question I get from people today when I discuss this blog is “how do you make money from it”?  The quick answer is: I don’t.  I decided a year ago when I started that I want people to read my blog for the merit.  I never expect everyone to agree with everything I write.  What fun would that be?  But I want my readers to respect my thoughts, knowledge, and opinion.  I tell people that I hope to make money from the results of what I write.  I use this blog as one of my marketing tools to market me.  If these posts convince someone I am knowledgeable in marketing, then hopefully they will hire me to help them.

I receive requests from people all the time to write ”guest posts” for this blog site.  They are usually from people who have something to sell or promote.  I always explain to them that this blog is not intended for those purposes.

I am not a fan of the FTC getting into blog monitoring.  I don’t want the Government telling me what I can say and not say on my blog.  That goes against what this country was founded on.  I agree the role of the FTC is to protect the consumer about false product statements.  What about company websites?  Are they monitoring them?  A blog is designed to be someone’s opinion (good, bad or false).  I think most people today understand the internet is too big to believe everything you read.  When I research something, I don’t just believe the first thing I read on the net.  What is great about web 2.0 is the two-way communication.  If someone is spewing out crap, others will let it be known.   Like anything, a reader will find a place they trust.

Do You Blog?

In this blog we have discussed various types of non-traditional digital marketing including; social, mobile, and email.  What about blogs? Many people ask me what is a blog?  Here is how Wikipedia defines it:

A blog (a contraction of the term weblog) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

The fact that you are reading this means that blogs can be an effective marketing/PR tool.  Today, there seems to be a blog for just about everything.  If you don’t believe me do a Google search on any topic and you can find a blog. If you tweet on Twitter then you are writing mini-blogs.

People do read blogs.  The amount of readership really depends on the topic.  If you want to write about Hollywood gossip and you have the inside scoop, then you could be the next Perez Hilton. His blog has made him into a household name and he even got to judge the Miss USA contest.  Of course we all know the results of letting a blogger be a judge.

Video blogs are like internet TV shows.  One very popular video blog (vlog) is Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library TV.  He posts a new show almost every day.  He claims to get 90,000 hits a day.  This video blog is making him a household name not only in the wine world but in the web 2.0 world.  Wine producers and sellers all know who he is. A good review on Gary’s show can mean a lot of wine sales.  The main reason Gary does this video blog is to sell wine.  Gary owns a wine store in New Jersey.  Because of this video blog and the internet, he took his small family owned wine store to a $50 million business.

If you are a PR person for events, sports teams, shows, or venues you should have a blog.  You don’t have to write something everyday.  Just write when you have something to promote. I am sure you have a website for your product.  Place the blog post on the website.  Put it right on the home page.  You could use this blog to announce on-sales, publish press releases, poll your customers, and interview artists.  You could give your readers a behind the scenes look at the venue. How many times have you had a PR story idea that you could not get placed in the newspaper?  Do the story yourself and post it on your website. 

Blogs are a marketing/PR tool. With newspapers on the decline, you can be the information source for your fans and customers.  Use it to stimulate your customer into buying tickets.