Find, Listen, Engage and Empower

At CooperKatz, our new Micro Persuasion agency practice has four basic philosophies. We help companies find their evangelists/vigilanties, listen to them, engage them in dialogue and, where appropriate, empower them to help spread the word for us. Here's a good example.

Tonight I noticed that Gordon Gould was trashing WeatherBug, one of our clients. I left a comment on his post that we could set up a conversation for him with the WeatherBug team to address his concerns. The result? Gordon was smack down impressed and now is willing to listen. Will he change his tune? I am not sure. But at least I know we're all listening to each other, which is a start. So for all PR people thinking about getting started in blog relations, I challenge you to ask yourselves this: "How big are your ears?"

Comments

[betapundit]

interesting...I used to run weatherbug with no problems. Now I just use a firefox extension. Should be interesting to see how this plays out. great post.

[Goncz]

Some of the topics are so advanced, that you need a Hi-Tech flashlight to read it.
I just find one at www.goncz.net Made in USA

[Rich...!]

I love the concept of the service you've launched at KC, but just cant help wondering about the wisdom/logic of using the Micro Persuasion name. I can't see a real upside (Steve Rubel is the brand in this case, not Micro Persuasion), but there are quite a few negatives; what if you leave? What if you want to publically disagree about something your company has done? What if you want to discuss an issue a client may not like?

I'm just curious...!

[Shawn Lea]

A PR listener's ears are only as big as his or her search knowledge and capabilities. If you aren't actively searching for conversations about your company (or those you represent), you might as well be deaf (or have your hands over your ears chanting "I can't hear you" very loudly at the least).

[Nick]

Hi, Id like to tell your team exactly what is wrong with the software it makes. It installed a toolbar on in IE without me giving it permission to do so. I never want to see the window unless I click on a Weatherbug icon. Do legitiment programs like Word pop up by themselves? No. It shouldnt have alerts or whatever you call them. The traffic section is completely useless and is just used for ad space. We understand that ads pay your bills ,but if you are going to put ads in the system just be upfront and honest with us. Don't try to make the ads look like features. I know the check my PC guys probably paid you ,but you added the button for it to the same section of the program that displays real options. If you want to display advertisements just put a banner ad at the bottom. Don't let scams like toolbars and desktop icons come anywhere near my computer.

[rob]

Another great example I just experienced deals with Firefox and the SwitchProxy extension.

http://eministrynotes.blogspot.com/2005/02/customer-service-in-blogsphere.html