admin's blog

Seth Godin Says Be Patient

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 21:48:08 -0400

Lately we've been handling a lot of launches for start-ups. We enjoy this immensely--we like being able to both strategize and then execute on that strategy. Plus, we often contribute to the start-ups' web presence by writing their website copy. Occasionally we even contribute to the development process of their app (for it seems these days that most of our clients have web apps).

Some clients, I think, expect to get 50,000 visitors the first week they launch. This happens on the odd occasion (bonjour, RobotReplay), but it's more the exception than the rule. So, sometimes we have to urge our clients to be patient. Seth Godin has our back on this one:

The media wants overnight successes (so they have someone to tear down). Ignore them. Ignore the early adopter critics that never have enough to play with. Ignore your investors that want proven tactics and predictable instant results. Listen instead to your real customers, to your vision and make something for the long haul. Because that's how long it's going to take, guys.

Here's one resource the start-up community could use: an anonymous database of actual visitor and user numbers for the first year of operation. That would help us set client expectations beyond the small data set to which we have access. Maybe we ought to talk to Boot Up Labs about that.

More on Second Life Marketing

Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:49:50 -0400

I recently read three cutting critiques of marketing and advertising in Second Life. The first is by Rebecca Lieb (found via Adam):

Inhabitants of virtual worlds don't have real-world needs. To get very far in Second Life, you do need money (in the form of Linden dollars) to buy goods, services, and property. No small quantity of the virtual currency is spent on goods and services related to virtual sex. Way-far-out-there virtual sex, and no small number of sex businesses (one of which recently changed hands for $50,000) often seem like the primary purpose of Second Life. As ClickZ columnist Ian Schafer told the "Los Angeles Times," "One of the most frequently purchased items in Second Life is genitalia."

Ms. Lieb refers to an LA Times article, discussing some of the abandoned marketing projects littering the virtual world:

But the sites of many of the companies remaining in Second Life are empty. During a recent in-world visit, Best Buy Co.'s Geek Squad Island was devoid of visitors and the virtual staff that was supposed to be online.

The schedule of events on Sun Microsystems Inc.'s site was blank, and the green landscape of Dell Island was deserted. Signs posted on the window of the empty American Apparel store said it had closed up shop.

The Most Common Mistake in Product Demos, Marketing Collateral and Tech Docs

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 14:26:28 -0400

Ever since I started working in technology, I've watched companies make the same communications error again and again. When talking about their products, they start by talking about "how it works" or "what it does".

Here's a secret: hardly anybody cares how it works. They may say they do, but what they really mean is this:

How will it make my life better (where 'better' means 'more fun' or 'more productive' or 'longer' and so forth)?

I Built It and Here's What It Does

I first observed this phenomenon when I worked as a technical writer, writing and editing software manuals. I'd often review support documentation for a product that was written by the software engineers who built it.

Inevitably, the docs would itemize the product's functionality, often by describing each interface element: "The Save button enables you to save your work" and so forth.

It's an understandable mistake among developers. They built it, and they're describing how it works from their perspective.

The right way to write docs (and any product collateral) is to focus on tasks, not functionality. If the user will be saving files, then provide a topic called "How to Save Files" or "Saving a File".

But before you get into the nitty-gritty details, you need to answer that all important question: how will this make my life better?

PitchWire: Improved Pitching for Publicists and Influencers?

Thu, 17 May 2007 11:46:03 -0400

Via Chris Pirillo, I learned about Pitchwire. From their pitch to Chris:

PitchWire is an online community for influencers (journalists, bloggers and analysts) and publicists that promotes responsible pitching and transparency. The results are more successful “hits” and a better relationship between influencers and publicists.

Leveraging PitchWire’s patent-pending technology, you can create a personalized PitchWire page, your first line of communication (or defense in some cases) with the PR community. You can also find sources and content for an upcoming story and manage your pitches, sources and contacts in a CRM-like database (think of it as a MySpace.com, eHarmony.com and Salesforce.com all rolled into one).

Off the top of my head, this sounds a bit like The WeblogWire, which appears to have gone the way of all times.

Well, I'm (ahem) both an influencer and a publicist. Why don't I try out both sides of the service and pitch myself?

Three Articles on Managing Online Communities

Sun, 13 May 2007 11:38:18 -0400

A part of what we do at Capulet is create, manage and advise on online communities. I wouldn't necessarily call it a core service, but it's inevitably an important chunk of any social media project.

So, we do a fair bit of reading and blog monitoring on the subject. Here are three articles which recently crossed over our transom:

Social Signal writes about how to rage-proof your online community. I don't necessarily agree with all their points--there's no real way to avoid invective, and I think any social group needs a bit--but their advice is very sound.
Over at Common Craft, Lee's created a huge master list of what your community can look like beyond a simple discussion forum. It'll make a very useful checklist when deciding what should and shouldn't go in a given project.
Nancy is sociliting feedback for an update to her excellent article about faciliting online communities.

Sign DeSmogBlog's Petition

Thu, 10 May 2007 17:54:49 -0400

Gosh, we've been bad bloggers. Sorry about that, it's been a busy time around Capulet. I've got a couple of blog posts in the hopper, though, so don't give up on us.

In the meantime, please consider signing this petition (and Digging the related blurb) being run by our of clients, DeSmogBlog:

Yesterday we reported that News Corp. CEO and Fox News owner, Rupert Murdoch announced that his company would join the battle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The first thing Murdoch and News Corp. can do to show that they are truly committed to fighting global warming is ending its reporting of misinformation about the science behind global warming on the Fox News Channel.
And the best thing you can do to help make this happen is by signing DeSmogBlog's online petition and then send it to all of your friends and have them sign it as well. Ask them to forward it on to their friends.

I actually thought it was quite a remarkable announcement by Murdoch, given the politics of Fox's viewership. The inertia behind the climate change skeptics seems to be melting away like so much, well, ice.

The Marketing Folly of GreenTeaGirlie

Mon, 02 Apr 2007 03:42:55 -0400

A couple of weeks ago, a new video shot to the top of the 'most viewed' list on YouTube. It was ten seconds in length and was utterly benign. In other words, it was just like the other zillion young talking heads in front of a webcam. Why, then, did this young woman named Kallie (with a YouTube account called GreenTeaGirlie) garner 268,653 views (according to Utility Belt, who otherwise misses the point, the video got about 215,000 views in the first two days)?

View spam. Unethical marketers, presumably with green tea to promote, apparently used auto-refresh software and fake accounts to ratchet up the number of views and subscribers. As always happens, the YouTube community detected this bold and ill-advised deception, and piled in with a schwack of nasty comments. Here's a quick sampling:

Viral marketing sucks. So why make the whole YouTube community go mad over this?

OMG OMG! You are like the Mostest AWESOMENEST ever! I am going to call all the TV stations and newspapers in my area and let them know of this AMAZING discovery!!

i hate you already.

You get the idea. Kallie replied with a pretty vague, denial-free follow-up. If she wasn't, in fact, a marketing shill, I would have expected some moral indignation.

The Other Monkey in the Jungle

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 23:56:01 -0500

"If ya ain't Dugg, ya ain't got nothing."

Digg, a popular social networking site, is the current brass ring of the Internet. Like Slashdot before it, if you want to drive attention, traffic and potential customers to your site, then the front page of Digg is your mother lode. This is doubly true for technology companies, because the early adopters and alpha users of these social news sites are geeks.

In fact, there's such a focus on Digg that there's a burgeoning industry of grey market companies and individuals dedicated to boosting your site onto that magical front page. Discussions of how to 'game' Digg--to artificially boost your site's chances of making the front page--prevail in cubicles across the country.

As it turns out, Digg isn't the only social news and bookmarking site that can drive big traffic to your online project. StumbleUpon is Digg's older, less nerdy brother. Launched in late 2001 as an add-on to Internet Explorer (long before Tim O'Reilly coined the term 'Web 2.0'), StumbleUpon is a recommendation engine for websites. You use the service to surf for compelling sites on topics that interest you ("I like dogs. Show me entertaining sites about dogs."), and then vote for or against them using a specialized toolbar in your browser.

Get Creative and Granular With Your Marketing

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 06:10:59 -0500

I was at an HTCE event last night. A recurring theme was the exploding multiplicity of marketing channels, and the need to get extremely granular in your approach. There are fewer and fewer reasons, for example, to get your clients into (or advertise in) The Vancouver Sun. Instead, you want to narrow your audience as much as possible, and market appropriately. At the risk of blowing my own horn, I think QA Podcast is a good example of this.

The Future of PR

Thu, 03 Nov 2005 18:05:38 -0500

Via PR Studies, Brendan Hodgson's late night musings on the future of PR. He predicts the mainstream inclusion of "Consumer-Generated" media and the further stratification and focus on niche markets, but one of his most interesting suppositions is that employees...

Forbes' Attack of the Blogs

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 17:06:34 -0500

Scott Baradell at Media Orchard has a great response to Forbes' recent Attack of the Blogs article (use BugMeNot to bypass registration). The Forbes article has caused something of a maelstrom in the blogosphere, but Baradell takes a practical look...

Attack of the Zombie Copy

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 14:11:06 -0400

Halloween is fast approaching, so it's no surprise that A List Apart's recent article Attack of the Zombie Copy, caught my attention. While author Erin Kissane's description of zombie content is hilarious, "They're not hard to recognize: syntax slack and...

Top 25 PR Blogs

Mon, 24 Oct 2005 17:36:45 -0400

I've been reading blogs more than writing posts in the last couple of weeks, so this post is a bit late, but I was reminded of it again today while reading Media Culpa. Scott at Media Orchard lists the top...

The Press Release Has a Pulse, and Other Tales from PR

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 14:57:28 -0400

This is essentially a linking post, and I generally try to avoid those, but I've come across some interesting PR posts and links lately that I have been interesting and useful to me, and I wanted to spread the joy....

Web Design and Strategy Development

Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:10:42 -0400

Those great folks at A List Apart are at it again with an excellent article on web development and strategy. Author Greg Storey offers a solid overview of necessary objectives and strategy planning for web design. The formation of strategy...