This week I discovered two fascinating blogs, both through newspaper articles, which shows how retro I still am...
They are www.booooooom.com and www.365fashionrehab.com
I am fascinated by them because they are successful blogs with large readership, which I find amazing as I am still trying to figure out why anyone would visit a blog regularly.
The obvious reason for a blog's attractiveness and success is that the writer is well known. It could be a politician, sporting figure or someone in a niche. I like reading Seth Godin on Facebook, but don't do it nearly enough. I can't be bothered to visit regularly even though I know I should as he is brilliant.
And beyond the celebrity appeal? Why do people visit blogs?
The first reason, as with all effective communications, is a great story to tell. The Fashion Rehab blog is one of these. The two writers are taking a year from fashion shopping for themselves. Their site is successful in numbers AND that they have advertisers, which is in some way the ultimate seal of approval. Amazingly, they are writing every day, posting polls and keeping the site incredibly active. They have an engaged audience and it will be interesting to see if they morph into something else when their year is over or if this is just a one-year-wonder. I hope they come up with something to keep things going.
The Booooooom site is more fascinating. It is a Vancouver artist's posting of interesting visual art that comes his way. Started little over a year ago, he now has an enormous following and ad agencies worldwide are scouting his site for talent and artists, again from far and wide, are begging to be included. It is different from most blogs in that there is almost no text, it is pretty much all visual. This is the most fascinating blog for me as he is not telling a story, was not a celebrity when he started, but has hooked into something that has been hugely successful.
And to be fully honest, I am also jealous of the blogger. I am also a big art lover and aspiring artist. I feel as if I could have done this, but never pushed myself to think about something this creative. This is definitely a blog I will visit very regularly and is the only one I have bookmarked right now.
So despite the fact that I write my own blog, I am a bit of sceptic of their value. Largely, this is because I cannot quite understand how blogs can possibly work for any extended period of time and what is the mechanism that draws people to visit and return. Because of these two blogs, I am starting to glimpse at the answers. This is pretty important as I can understand the dynamics of Facebook, YouTube, Podcasts and even Twitter, but blogs already are getting pretty old school in the social networking world and I have been scratching my head.
Blogs are here to stay, there is no doubt, but understanding how they attract an audience and advertisers is the real key to gaining full communications value. I hope I am learning!
Thanks for reading!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, December 25, 2009
Speed Christmas
As reliable as Boxing Day sales ads at this time of year are the newspaper columns decrying some aspect of Christmas.
And yet, there are many wonderful things about Christmas. It is one of the few times of year that I actually socialize, write letters and emails without asking for anything. I feel good to have friends and to tell them that. I spend time with family members even when the travel effort involved feels tiresome at times.
It is also a time of year when I spend more time talking to other customers in stores. People are actually friendlier, at least before the crowds become oppressing. There is a good feeling.
And yet other things just don't feel right. I have been trying to express it for the last weeks as I see the crowds, the displays, go to at least a few stores, hear the music and feel the nervous energy. I have passed by street people and felt that I am too rushed to acknowledge them or much less stop and give them something. So what's wrong? The essence of my unease is that as everything we do in the modern world, we have to overdo it and change it into a great competition.
Expectations for a 'perfect' Christmas are so high that we pressure ourselves into a frenzy, even leading to a bizarre bragging ritual about how much last minute shopping or preparation we need to do. Why do we need more when less would be more satisfying for ourselves and everyone else?
So my resolution is to try to spend just a few more minutes talking to people. Stop the rush, move back into a human mode - and smile. There is still a lot of positive in the Christmas spirit, we just have to slow down and focus on it. Let's have a human Christmas rather than a perfect one.
And yet, there are many wonderful things about Christmas. It is one of the few times of year that I actually socialize, write letters and emails without asking for anything. I feel good to have friends and to tell them that. I spend time with family members even when the travel effort involved feels tiresome at times.
It is also a time of year when I spend more time talking to other customers in stores. People are actually friendlier, at least before the crowds become oppressing. There is a good feeling.
And yet other things just don't feel right. I have been trying to express it for the last weeks as I see the crowds, the displays, go to at least a few stores, hear the music and feel the nervous energy. I have passed by street people and felt that I am too rushed to acknowledge them or much less stop and give them something. So what's wrong? The essence of my unease is that as everything we do in the modern world, we have to overdo it and change it into a great competition.
Expectations for a 'perfect' Christmas are so high that we pressure ourselves into a frenzy, even leading to a bizarre bragging ritual about how much last minute shopping or preparation we need to do. Why do we need more when less would be more satisfying for ourselves and everyone else?
So my resolution is to try to spend just a few more minutes talking to people. Stop the rush, move back into a human mode - and smile. There is still a lot of positive in the Christmas spirit, we just have to slow down and focus on it. Let's have a human Christmas rather than a perfect one.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Scratching my head over Social Media
Almost every communications job listing these days includes a request for experience with social media. This vast and ever-changing landscape includes everything from video, podcasts, e-newsletters right up to the more wow-factor of Facebook groups, YouTube videos and Twitter. I imagine there are other social media channels that I am missing. I feel relatively up to date, but it sure is hard keeping track of everything!
The inclusion of social media in the communications tool kit is certainly one of the major changes in the PR/communications world in the last few years. The reality is, there are a few huge successes and untold numbers of other atttempts that are not getting traction (including this blog! But that's OK).
So why the rush to include social media in the skill set of a communicator? I think it makes sense that any organization wants their communications team to be up to date with the latest developments. But do those developments make sense for every organization? Clearly, organizations that are looking for the youth demo, like McD's, are into social media in a big way, and rightly so. It's a great way to engage with their audience.
But what about B2B companies, or those who cater to an audience that may not have Facebook accounts or be able to watch videos on their wireless device during business hours? The big question is what makes sense for your audience and how do you start and maintain a dialogue that interests them. That's a tough nut to crack and at the end of the day, we all want a dialogue that touches us in variety of ways, including face-to-face whenever appropriate or possible.
What will be interesting will be to see how I change my views on social media in the coming months and years - and how they will figure on job postings in the years to come.
The inclusion of social media in the communications tool kit is certainly one of the major changes in the PR/communications world in the last few years. The reality is, there are a few huge successes and untold numbers of other atttempts that are not getting traction (including this blog! But that's OK).
So why the rush to include social media in the skill set of a communicator? I think it makes sense that any organization wants their communications team to be up to date with the latest developments. But do those developments make sense for every organization? Clearly, organizations that are looking for the youth demo, like McD's, are into social media in a big way, and rightly so. It's a great way to engage with their audience.
But what about B2B companies, or those who cater to an audience that may not have Facebook accounts or be able to watch videos on their wireless device during business hours? The big question is what makes sense for your audience and how do you start and maintain a dialogue that interests them. That's a tough nut to crack and at the end of the day, we all want a dialogue that touches us in variety of ways, including face-to-face whenever appropriate or possible.
What will be interesting will be to see how I change my views on social media in the coming months and years - and how they will figure on job postings in the years to come.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
How Starbucks Saved My Life
I have just finished racing through How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill. It's the story of a high-flying ad exec who was let go and spiralled down the next ten years to basically being one rent payment from homelessness.
Sitting in a Starbucks, he was offered a job and surprising himself, he took it. It transformed him, as the title implies - saving his life. I can certainly relate to Mike's experience, what he calls be shoved off the escalator and then making it worse himself. He was a workaholic who gave too much of his life for his company and was summarily rejected. He would never scale the corporate heights again, and now has no interest whatsoever in doing so.
What is most interesting is the self-analysis of work, pay, class, race and professional prestige in his life. He learned that serving others, even in what is considered a menial job, is a path to great dignity. He continues to work at Starbucks to this day as the best job he ever had.
Would I do that? I have to say I am not quite that desperate yet, although it is very lonely when the phone never rings for job interview requests...
I appreciate the book as what is best about American society, the opportunity to try again and at least have a genuine chance to start over through hard work.
I was very moved by this book, likely because I can identify with his situation, emotions and anxiety. I also hope it will help me on my journey as well.
Sitting in a Starbucks, he was offered a job and surprising himself, he took it. It transformed him, as the title implies - saving his life. I can certainly relate to Mike's experience, what he calls be shoved off the escalator and then making it worse himself. He was a workaholic who gave too much of his life for his company and was summarily rejected. He would never scale the corporate heights again, and now has no interest whatsoever in doing so.
What is most interesting is the self-analysis of work, pay, class, race and professional prestige in his life. He learned that serving others, even in what is considered a menial job, is a path to great dignity. He continues to work at Starbucks to this day as the best job he ever had.
Would I do that? I have to say I am not quite that desperate yet, although it is very lonely when the phone never rings for job interview requests...
I appreciate the book as what is best about American society, the opportunity to try again and at least have a genuine chance to start over through hard work.
I was very moved by this book, likely because I can identify with his situation, emotions and anxiety. I also hope it will help me on my journey as well.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Six months and counting
I have now passed six months since my last job. It is the longest I have ever been without work, usually it has taken me five months between jobs.
I would be lying if I said this is not something that gets me down or weighs on me. Like everyone else in this situation, I have good days and more difficult ones. It is a test of many qualities, such as patience, cheerfulness and hope. I have learned over the years the importance of having a network and felt that I had done some work to develop one. And I do have one, but nothing has come in through that path that has worked out for me.
I know I need to keep on working at it, but the effort to do so feels like more than I can do at times, it is just easier to stay within my cocoon of not risking being ignored or being told 'no' one more time. As I have learned every time I have had to look for work, you become invisible when you are not in the mainstream of the world of work. I really have nothing to offer to anyone who is working, so there is little incentive for them to take notice of me. Certainly, friends and former colleagues have been helpful, along with many other people to whom I have been referred. Nevertheless, it is challenging to exist on people's radar.
This is not the first time I have had to learn life's hard lessons when looking for work, but I had hoped it would not be this long. So there are new and tough lessons for me this time around. I hope I remember them and put them to good use.
I would be lying if I said this is not something that gets me down or weighs on me. Like everyone else in this situation, I have good days and more difficult ones. It is a test of many qualities, such as patience, cheerfulness and hope. I have learned over the years the importance of having a network and felt that I had done some work to develop one. And I do have one, but nothing has come in through that path that has worked out for me.
I know I need to keep on working at it, but the effort to do so feels like more than I can do at times, it is just easier to stay within my cocoon of not risking being ignored or being told 'no' one more time. As I have learned every time I have had to look for work, you become invisible when you are not in the mainstream of the world of work. I really have nothing to offer to anyone who is working, so there is little incentive for them to take notice of me. Certainly, friends and former colleagues have been helpful, along with many other people to whom I have been referred. Nevertheless, it is challenging to exist on people's radar.
This is not the first time I have had to learn life's hard lessons when looking for work, but I had hoped it would not be this long. So there are new and tough lessons for me this time around. I hope I remember them and put them to good use.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Here comes the auditor
Wednesday, October 7 will be a day of reckoning for eHealth Ontario as the Provincial Auditor will issue a report, about which the leaks have already told us quite a bit. It won't be pretty.
As a former employee, I am following the news quite closely. It has been a rough four months for the agency with senior departures, microscopic scrutiny and now what should be the nadir in reputation for the organization.
Is there anything that can be done for the embattled agency's reputation and communications? I imagine people are hoping this will blow away as soon as possible. It will blow away eventually, but the question is what can be done about its communications at this point?
Likely not too much in the immediate term. The provincial government is too involved to leave the agency to communicate on its own at this point as the problems have affected them in many unhappy ways.
The bottom line is that trust has been broken and needs to be re-established. This is going to take a long time. But the place to start now is to build alliances with other eHealth organizations and leaders. This will have to be an under the radar effort for some time, but it is the place to build the new reputational foundation for the future.
Of course, if management decisions keep being made that will embarrass the organization in future, then there is not much that any communications program can achieve. Let's hope that fundamental change is the first order of business.
As a former employee, I am following the news quite closely. It has been a rough four months for the agency with senior departures, microscopic scrutiny and now what should be the nadir in reputation for the organization.
Is there anything that can be done for the embattled agency's reputation and communications? I imagine people are hoping this will blow away as soon as possible. It will blow away eventually, but the question is what can be done about its communications at this point?
Likely not too much in the immediate term. The provincial government is too involved to leave the agency to communicate on its own at this point as the problems have affected them in many unhappy ways.
The bottom line is that trust has been broken and needs to be re-established. This is going to take a long time. But the place to start now is to build alliances with other eHealth organizations and leaders. This will have to be an under the radar effort for some time, but it is the place to build the new reputational foundation for the future.
Of course, if management decisions keep being made that will embarrass the organization in future, then there is not much that any communications program can achieve. Let's hope that fundamental change is the first order of business.
Monday, September 21, 2009
PR and Celebrities
Since I live downtown, I have passed by the memorial of Darcy Allan Sheppard on Bloor St. several times. One of the sub-plots of this ongoing tragedy is the role of PR in Michael Bryant's defense tactics.
Personally, Navigator is not what I would call a PR firm and one that operates largely in the shadows unlike most others. Certainly in this case they are acting more like a publicist for a Hollywood star. In addition, given the political backgrounds of their principals, they certainly move in spheres that would put them into the Government Relations area of activity. I am sure they could mount a full defense of their PR credentials, but then they would have to talk about some of their clients a bit more openly!
So what is PR then? I have worked in the public, private and non-profit communications and PR areas. Clearly, regardless of the type of organization, there is a lot of overlap and common purpose. We work to ensure that our organization's messages are heard and that our organization is well perceived.
So is it fair to call it being a publicist when you do it for an individual but PR when you do it for an organization? My heart tells me yes although my head does not fully agree. Building a brand for an organization is a larger and more complex task than for an individual.
Certainly, in this case, given Mr. Sheppard's death, the association of PR with Mr. Bryant's overall defense strategy has understandably raised a negative backlash. He may be fully entitled to it, but the optics of it look and feel all wrong.
Personally, Navigator is not what I would call a PR firm and one that operates largely in the shadows unlike most others. Certainly in this case they are acting more like a publicist for a Hollywood star. In addition, given the political backgrounds of their principals, they certainly move in spheres that would put them into the Government Relations area of activity. I am sure they could mount a full defense of their PR credentials, but then they would have to talk about some of their clients a bit more openly!
So what is PR then? I have worked in the public, private and non-profit communications and PR areas. Clearly, regardless of the type of organization, there is a lot of overlap and common purpose. We work to ensure that our organization's messages are heard and that our organization is well perceived.
So is it fair to call it being a publicist when you do it for an individual but PR when you do it for an organization? My heart tells me yes although my head does not fully agree. Building a brand for an organization is a larger and more complex task than for an individual.
Certainly, in this case, given Mr. Sheppard's death, the association of PR with Mr. Bryant's overall defense strategy has understandably raised a negative backlash. He may be fully entitled to it, but the optics of it look and feel all wrong.
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