Buzz Bruggeman is a founder and EVP of ActiveWords Inc., which publishes a powerful software program by the same name that easily automates thousands of everyday computing tasks. He is responsible for all marketing, evangelizing, and business development for ActiveWords. Bruggeman was previously a demonstrator at DEMO, and has spoken and demonstrated his company’s products at many industry events and conferences. He also is scheduled to participate in Chris Shipley's upcoming BlogOn 2004 conference in July.
As Robert Scoble recently noted here, Buzz relies on blogs heavily to market ActiveWords to users around the world. An active blogger himself, Buzz is also a pioneer in the new world of participatory journalism. Dan Gillmor recounts how Buzz shaped his coverage of Qwest in this must-read passage and in his amazing new book, We The Media.
I conducted an email interview with Buzz to get his read on the potential impact of blogs and participatory on both marketing and PR.
MP: How have weblogs helped you generate mass media coverage for ActiveWords and vice versa?
BRUGGEMAN: Early on, I recognized that we didn't have the budget to advertise via traditional media and at the same time, I began to realize that other than for "branding" type coverage, traditional media in our space was not really effective. I spent a lot of time talking to our users, asking them where they got information related to trying/buying decisions, and the bottom line always came back to "word of mouth."
I had been a fan of Dave Winer for a long time. I had used "More" on the Macintosh a lot, and when I found out that Dave was involved in "Userland" I set out to figure out what their products were all about. It was through Userland that I met Robert Scoble. I watched how Robert and Dave were getting the word out about Userland via blogging. Their users were coming to them via word of mouth. I had this eureka moment when I realized that smart tech journalists were experimenting with blogs, and were reading them. I figured if I could understand the interplay, then I had a chance of pitching ActiveWords to both smart writers/smart bloggers/influencers.
MP: How do you typically interact with other bloggers?
BRUGGEMAN: Before the advent of news aggregators, I used ActiveWords to read maybe 40 blogs a day. I would name them with ActiveWords so that I could instantly go to a blogger site, i.e. "wldan" took me to Dan Gillmor, "wldave" to Dave Winer, etc. So in an hour I could read 30-40 blogs.
With the advent of RSS, I began to watch who was blogging a lot, what they were writing about, and who they were writing about. When I saw someone whose ideas resonated with me, and who I thought might like ActiveWords I reached out to them. I tried to give them examples as to how ActiveWords might make their lives easier and more productive. Since it was early in the process, some of the great bloggers didn't have a lot of readers. So getting to know them was easier. I also, tried to make sure that if I saw something that someone might find interesting I made sure to get the link to them. I never sought any credit, just hoped that they might benefit from my reading/thinking, etc.
I think that a critical part of this process is accelerating information and sharing it. Everyone has a perspective, most are very unique, and I love the richness that comes from, and excuse the baseball metaphor, of throwing someone a fat pitch, and letting them hit it out of the park.
MP: What tips can you share with PR pros who might just be getting their feet wet on the blogosphere?
BRUGGEMAN: You have to start somewhere. I am a big fan of NewsGator. Until I got a new computer I was reading about 200 blogs a day inside NewsGator inside Outlook. As Robert Scoble is quick to point out, you don't really read 200 blogs, you just read the new postings.
I used to read a number of newspapers daily, i.e. the N.Y. Times, WSJ, the Orlando Sentinel, and parts of The Mercury News/Seattle Times/Minneapolis Tribune, and my home town paper, the Daily Journal in International Falls, MN. ActiveWords allows me to instantly navigate to the sections of those papers that I read a lot.
But now with RSS/NewsGator, and I seem to living in Outlook, I can read lots of very smart people, whose ideas I really enjoy and leverage off of. Frankly my newspaper/traditional media reading is way off.
Also, you need to blog. I am a big fan of TypePad. I firmly believe that the more you write, the better you write. I have three blogs. One that is visible and two that are not. I use the other two sort of as staging areas where I can park ideas, let them bake a little before I spring them on an unsuspecting public. I blog about what I call the ActiveWords Odyssey, and some other personal "rants", but I try to separate my personal ideas from ActiveWords. I have learned that there is a skepticism from users about people like me if they only see one dimension. They want to see that there is some substance to you, and to your ideas.
MP: ActiveWords is a technology product, which makes it a natural for blog PR. Are blogs just as important in other industries or does is the medium still nascent?
BRUGGEMAN: I think they are. But we are really still very early in the process. You hear this cliché about technology that says something like "We always over-estimate the short term impact of a technology, and underestimate the long term impact". I think blogs are a perfect example of this.
Doc Searls, who I think is a genius, wrote in the Cluetrain Manifesto, "Markets are conversations"...I have lifted a portion of that idea and I would submit to you that "Products are conversations". If he's right, which I am sure of, and if I am right, which I am hoping I am, then the notion that you can have a conversation about your product, whatever it is, with your users then blogs are a brilliant amplification that idea.
We are living in "Internet Time" Look at sites like "Technorati" and "Feedster", they are incredibly powerful in terms of allowing you to connect the dots in this space. Maybe I am missing something, but I am unaware of anything similar in terms of traditional media.
MP: On numerous occasions, Dan Gillmor has written about how your citizen reporting helped shaped his coverage of a particular speech. What is the future of participatory journalism?
BRUGGEMAN: I think it is explosive. I was lucky enough to be paying attention when Dan Gillmor and Doc Searls were blogging a speech by Joe Nacchio at PC Forum. That story is a big part of the introduction of Dan's new book, i.e. We The Media. I have read Dan's book, it is sensational, I plan to buy a copy, and ask him to autograph it for me. I am a huge believer in the collaborative process, and I see participatory journalism as part of that process. I think Dan has written that his readers are smarter that he is. I am sure they aren't smarter, maybe as smart, and if they bring to the party insight and perspective that makes for a richer experience then we all benefit.
MP: Finally, what's the single best way PR pros can benefit from your product?
BRUGGEMAN: I would love to have them try it. Tell us how we can make ActiveWords better. We live in an 80/20 world. If ActiveWords can make their computing lives better then we have succeeded. If ActiveWords gives smart people back perhaps as much as an hour of productive time a day, then it is a win/win deal. To date, we have attracted a fiercely loyal group of users. They seem to be smart people, who are self organized and who want to get more stuff done. A lot of them also don't want to be tech support for their friends and hence have stopped talking about products that really work for them. Our challenge is to convince your readers to try ActiveWords, tell us how to make it better, and then tell their 10k closest friends about us.
My take is the PR pros are about ideas, they are about accelerating information, ActiveWords can change their computing lives forever.
