Micro Persuasion

Blog Building 101

Feedster has put together an awesome tutorial on how to build a blog using Blogger.

(via Steve Garfield)

Om My God! Press Silent as Influencers Report iPod Glitches

One of these days I am going to write an Ode to Om… Om Malik of Business 2.0 that is. On his blog today Om points out a nifty story that the press has largely ignored.

Malik notes that there is a significant glitch in Apple's latest iPod software updater. Three heavy hitter influencers - Om,
Jeff Jarvis and Fred Wilson - all reported that their iPods are D-O-A thanks to this B-U-G.

Here's the amazing part, however. As of this writing, no one in the press is reporting the Apple glitch. Is CNET's slogan still Tech News First? Maybe that's why one of their columnists today dissed bloggers.

A Conversation with Convention Blogger Matt Stoller

Matthew Stoller is one of the 30+ webloggers who are blogging this week's Democratic National Convention. He is the producer and cocreator of the Blogging of the President web project, an interactive media series on the ongoing digital transformation of politics and media.

Matt has worked in software product management, holds a BA from Harvard University.

MP: You're a blogger, but are you also in part an organizer helping the DNC manage the bloggers? What is your exact role here? Are you working for the DNC yourself, etc?

STOLLER: Funny you should ask that question. The National Journal just did a story on the DNCC supposedly 'firing' me because my name was removed from the blog. Of course, the story isn't true, but it is a reflection of the ambiguous role that I played and the conflict between organizations and the media cycle that so distorts effective descriptions of democracy.

As unpaid advisor to the DNCC, I put a lot of work into the convention to make sure the bloggers had a good time. And they are being treated wonderfully. I used the Democratic National Convention Committee blog to help coordinate this group. But I am also blogging on my own blog, BOPnews.

MP: Does the fact you are working at the DNCC mean you have more responsibility than others?

STOLLER: Great question. When the Convention came around, we had to figure out what to do, which speaks to the essential question - when I blog on my own site, am I me Matt Stoller or a representative of the Convention? And what are the consequences of this being misrepresented one way or the other?

Well, I think that it is possible for media outlets to misconstrue what I say on my blog and confuse it with the DNCC blog, especially those with partisanized agendas. In an environment with such an immature media culture, this can become controversy very quickly. How could someone want to help the Democratic National Convention and not love every single thing that's going on?!?! Zut alors!

The determination was that if I was speaking for myself publicly in an online forum, I was speaking for me and not the Convention.

People have conversations all the time about what's going on. Once conversation moves online, however, it goes 'on the record'. I happen to have some of my conversations online, but the political media hasn't caught up with the fact that most normal people act like normal people and have normal conversations. They curse. They have opinions. These are normal things. But putting this normality online challenges the structures of our cultural institutions, which tend to rely on images of perfection rather than authenticity.

MP: What, generally, has the reaction been like by the press to the presence of the bloggers? Are any of them resentful?

STOLLER: Oh, I don't know. Most of the ones I talked to are like 'oh, neat'. Some say that they love blogs and read them all the time.

MP: Do they feel competitive at all to break news?

STOLLER: Perhaps. I think the bloggers here have different agendas. Some just want to watch the Convention.

MP: Are the bloggers getting special treatment? There was a blogger breakfast this week attended by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

STOLLER: Some are journalists looking to break news. Some are consultants looking to broaden their understanding of political issues and races. We are starting to see that 'bloggers' doesn't mean anything anymore. Because blogging is just a tool. The people that used it were initially in one community. But no longer.

MP: But are bloggers getting white-glove treatment the press does not get?

STOLLER: Yes. They don't have to pay for their space in the Fleet Center.

MP: Why should they if blogging is just a tool?

STOLLER: Because this is a special moment.

MP: Do they get greater/lesser access than journalists do?

STOLLER: I bet that bloggers could get better access if they wanted it.

MP: Some say the bloggers are the news at this convention. Are the bloggers stealing the spotlight? How does the DNC and the Kerry campaign feel about this?

STOLLER: You'd have to ask them. But my interactions with them have been quite positive. I think, and I think they think, that blogging and participation will be very good for the Democratic Party, and great for democracy. Anything that distributes power downward, as Joe Trippi or Seth Godin might say, is good for populism.

MP: Jay Rosen told the New York Times this week: "Whomever they decide to let through the gate is now the press. What the credential means to me is that someone just expanded the idea of the press a little bit." Is blogging journalism? Are these bloggers closer to journalists than folks like me? What’s the relationship between blogging and journalism?

STOLLER: Well the whole edifice of journalism is built on the idea that ethics in speech are important. But why must this be? Well, because if there are a limited number of printing presses, the people in charge of them have special responsibilities and special power.

Now, anyone with a computer, an Internet connection, and some degree of literacy can have their own printing press. The challenge is to figure out a set of institutional arrangements that maximizes the credibility of the content that is displayed to the largest number of people. And I'm not convinced that our current system of commercially organized media does this. In fact, I think it doesn't. Individual blogs don't do this either, but the blogosphere as a whole presents good quality content very efficiently.

We are used to a system where if you work in commercial media, the content you create will be edited and honed, but it will be consumed The blogosphere doesn't work that way. Neither do people. We don't remember most of the conversations we have - we only remember a few key moments in them. 99% of the content is ignored, but the 1% that isn't becomes very meaningful. And the bad 99% is critical to the creation of the good 1%.

So even though the blogosphere creates a lot of innuendo - in fact most of it is terrible - the content that the blogosphere presents to most people who participate in it is great. Why? Because the blogosphere is one institutional arrangement that has figured out how to allow people to mostly ignore crap, and pay attention to stuff they are interested in.

MP: But does this mean that gatekeepers - by limiting access to a select few of these individuals - risk setting this system backward?

STOLLER: Gatekeeping, which is intrinsic to the system of media and PR that we have right now, creates corruption. And that's what our public discourse is right now - corrupt. And so the question of 'is blogging journalism' is really an attempt to redefine the notion of journalism when its institutional arrangements don't make sense any more.

How do you find a business model for Seymour Hersh, in other words? But this crisis is everywhere. A lot of corporations are trying to figure out how to sell what they want to sell, rather than restructuring their businesses to encourage risk-taking. The whole 99% of crap produces the 1% of greatness.

Anyway, no, I don't think that credentialing a few bloggers will set this back at all.

MP: What impact do you think this seminal event will have on politics, journalism and (most importantly) PR?

STOLLER: Well, it legitimizes blogging as a medium that the press is now allowed to pay attention to. So that's a shift in media culture. Over the long-term, this will alter the media ecosystem to allow for more boutique journalists - and 'beats' will become 'communities'.

Politically, we are in the midst of an enormously significant change, perhaps as large a political realignment as the American Revolution. The anger we see between the parties and within the parties, and within organizations generally, is over how much information to share and how much power to distribute downwards - classic populism rocket fuel.

In terms of PR, the industry will become a lot happier. Authenticity is a great thing, and authenticity sells. The need to portray perfection when all is not perfect is inherently anxiety producing. PR will become about managing conversations among stakeholders in a product or service line. It will grow to encompasses CRM and some elements of product design and marketing.

It's fairly obvious once you drink the kool aid. The thing is, people don't want to believe that cynicism doesn't work. They are used to assuming that manipulating fear and imagery can get you everything you want.

If I sell you a bad product, and I know you can't talk about it, I'm not going to care what you think. So my PR strategy will be about convincing other people that they need this product. Obviously, this is an oversimplification.

But without strong word of mouth, the tool set available shrinks to information delivery and emotional manipulation. It's hard to convince people that just by making a good product and being honest with your customers, you can do well. They just don't believe that 'word gets around'. And so they are skeptical about substance, because without word of mouth or community, style is all that matters.

PR Blogger Pushes Boundaries with Post on the Wiki Street Journal

Matthew Podboy blogs about a story in today's Wall Street Journal on wikis. There are two interesting things to note about his post (besides the interesting story itself that is). One, he posted the full text of the story. Did Kara and Dow Jones give him permission? Two, he calls attention to a story about one of his clients. Something I have specifically tried to avoid myself. I give Matthew credit for taking chances, but I am not sure how I feel about these two practices.

MediaBistro to Launch Seven PR/Media Blogs

Fresh off its acquisition of CableNewser (now TVNewser), MediaBistro is planning to launch seven more blogs, each focused on a category in the media business. This includes blogs focused on public relations and magazines, Frank Barnako reports.

Will Blogs One Day Replace Consumer Reports?

If this guy has anything to do with it, then yes!

(Via Gary Stein)

Matt Stoller Interview Coming Tonight

I recently completed an interview with Matt Stoller of the Democratic National Convention Committee. He is blogging the Democratic Convention over at the DNC Web site and The Blogging of the President weblog. I will post it later tonight after work and once I have had a chance to compile my notes.

Amateur Bloggers Giving "The Pros" a Run

The Seattle P-I reports that some of the DNC delegates have been posting content on their blogs from the convention floor, challenging the credentialled bloggers.

Credentials Then vs. Now

Kaye Trammel posted this Doug Marlette cartoon and I couldn't resist...

Hoax Blogs

The New York Times has a story by Daniel Terdiman on hoax blogs in Thursday's Circuits section ...

While enabling everyday people to publish a continuing chronicle of their thoughts and deeds, blogs are also are becoming a popular medium for having a little fun with the credulous. The more frequent the postings, the more they respond to reader feedback and the more interesting the subject matter, the more people are drawn into the fiction.

I'm in the story, but I am not a hoax - no worries.

Scoble for President

This just in. There's now a new poll "What do you think of Robert Scoble?"

* He is the greatest blogger
* He is ok
* Who is Scoble ?
* I hate Scoble

A vote for Scoble is a vote for America! To quote Howard Dean: "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggh!"

Swiss Say "We Don't Need No Stinkin' Blogs"

Weblogs are springing up in many parts of the world, but they have yet to catch on in Switzerland. Why? They don't have any interest in trasparency. This is quite a startling revelation given their success with semi-transparent cheese!

Corporate Blogging Moves Mainstream

Reuters: Blogs are fast gaining corporate recognition and soon may be acknowledged simply as important.

iMedia's All Over Blogs

Have you noticed that lately iMedia Connection has been writing about blog marketing extensively? It's no wonder, especially given that Executive Editor Lee Watters (who I met at BlogOn last week) now has his own Weblog.

Today they have an article by Rebecca Weeks on calculating blog influence. Yesterday they published Part II of Lee's BlogOn Boot Camp experience and a story on the convention bloggers.

I feel so irrelevant!

TV Academy Member Starts Blogging

Shelly Palmer, Chairman of the New Media Committee and a member of the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, has started blogging. I am a big believer in trade association blogging. Welcome Shelly!

(Via Unmediated)

Blogger Dines with Bill Gates

A Microsoft intern had dinner at Bill Gates' house and he blogged extensively about his experience.

(Via Scoble)

ABCNews.com Says Blogs are a Form of Media

ABCNews.com has a six-part article on how blogging is now basically a form of media.

"People are recognizing that there is a shift in the way consumers consume media. It's an indication that the parties believe these people will be listened to," said Gaby Darbyshire, director of business development for Gawker Media, which publishes five of the most widely read blogs in the United States.

Using RSS to Listen and to Talk

A Left Coast reader writes in …

I am an intern for a PR firm. I am working on a presentation on how our company should and needs to work with the new medium, this could mean blogging or RSS feeds. I was curious on your take of RSS feeds and how they may be helpful or not. I understand the impact that blogging has, but RSS feeds were mentioned as a way that journalist can read PR pitches better. Do you think that RSS feeds are important or will have an influence on how PR companies pitch stories to journalists? Any advice would help. Thank you for your time.

Smart man! Here's my reply, which I thought I would also share here in case it might be helpful to others…

First, thank you for your note. You're way ahead of a lot of other PR pros in taking the lead to both understand and evangelize the application of RSS in PR. Over the next couple of years such feeds will become one of the most important and powerful tools that we will use in our day-to-day jobs. For now, however, RSS is primarily used in technology-savvy circles, but this will all change as adoption moves more mainstream just like email, instant messaging and other disruptive technologies all did back in the 1990s.

There are two key ways PR pros can use RSS feeds right now in their day-to-day jobs -- for listening (something not all of us do well) and, to a lesser degree, for talking (which those of us in PR all seem to do very well).

Using RSS to Listen

The best public relations professionals do more than talk. We constantly have our fingers on the pulse of the American public. We know (or at least guess) what's on the minds of our constituents and what's being discussed at the water cooler and over the dinner table. We learn intimately as much as we can about our audiences' pains. Then we figure out how to work with internal/external clients to develop smart positions, messages, strategies and tactics that will influence these audiences either via direct channels or through third-party influencers such as analysts, bloggers and the media.

Back in the days when PR pros dragged their knuckles on the ground, it was very difficult for us to listen to such conversations. We would try to observe the public by reading dozens of newspapers and trade magazines and by sitting in on focus groups. This gave us a glimpse into the customer's psyche and enabled us make some educated guesses, develop marketing insights and build out a PR program.

Later, as the media world mushroomed online and also as message boards began to thrive, this became a lot easier, yet more cumbersome all at the same time. We now had to visit hundreds Web sites. Eventually this became too impractical because of the sheer number of channels we had to regularly and frequently monitor and many of us just began to skip this crucial step entirely. Ahh, but then along came RSS!

RSS (really we’re talking news aggregators here) is a powerful tool that enables us to “Tivo the Web.” We can now set up smart agents using services like Feedster and PubSub to listen not only to what the bloggers and media are saying, but also to what our audiences are discussing among themselves. RSS makes it easy for us to sift through this mountain of information and conversations when it’s most convenient for us and then apply it – all in real-time.

For example, in my day job (yes, blogging is a side gig!) I use a powerful RSS news aggregator called FeedDemon. I subscribe to dozens of feeds that are relevant to the industries/companies I need to track. The list of feeds I subscribe to not only includes influential Weblogs and relevant professional media outlets, but also dozens of Google News, Feedster and PubSub keyword search feeds that help me monitor what's being said about my clients and the topics that relate to them. All of this puts me in a terrific position to act quickly. For example…

* When certain news breaks I will know instantly and can proactively offer a client spokesperson up as an expert/thought leader
* When misinformation spreads in the blogosphere or mediasphere I know about it quickly and can decide how to act
* When media coverage hits I can instantly click a button and send it to my clients in real-time

Using RSS to Talk

RSS, naturally, is also just starting to be used by PR pros as a tool for publishing/communicating as well. Some journalists like Dan Gillmor and John Udell are even asking PR pros to distribute press releases not through email, but by RSS feeds. Will more do the same? Yes, particularly as RSS adoption moves from the fringe toward the center.

The key thing that PR pros need to keep in mind right now is that RSS publishing isn't a panacea. It isn't something that should replace email or the POTS (plain old telephone service) pitching. Rather, it's an entirely new channel for distributing information not just to journalists and analysts, but directly to the public! The beauty of RSS is that it is a opt-in medium. The people who subscribe to your RSS feed – and stick with you – are truly interested in what you have to say. Disobey this trust and you risk losing them forever.

My advice is that if you have a client that pumps out a lot of press releases - particularly in technology - creating an RSS feed is a good value-add. However, adoption has not reached a critical mass yet where RSS has replaced the wire or email distribution. Could it eventually? Yes. So getting on board right now - particularly if you're in the technology industry - is a good idea.

Pitches, when done right, are really a one-to-one communiqué best distributed via email or phone. Every pitch should be like a snowflake, customized for the journalist you are targeting, so pitching via RSS (a one-to-many medium) will probably never really be ideal. Perhaps one day in the future journalists will set up feeds for specific PR people they trust and this will change, who knows.

In sum, I would use RSS feeds as:
* An opt-in distribution channel for press releases for those journalists who are using RSS readers
* A means to distribute key information to many on a given subject - e.g. product updates, white papers, position papers, etc.

But I wouldn't use them to distribute pitches just yet. Use them more to listen. The more we listen, the more we'll know how to craft a relevant pitch that won't get tossed.

DNC Highlights Blog/Journalism Chasm

USA Today: The arrival of the bloggers is perhaps the most overcovered media story of the convention so far.

MSN Launches US News Search Engine

MSN Newsbot has launched in the US, ClickZ reports.