Biznology

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When blogs and social media rose to prominence about a decade ago, pundits were quick to declare that these innovations would likely spell the end of the news media. After all, the word “media” literally refers to being an intermediary (note the word “media” embedded in “intermediary”). If newsmakers could now reach their audiences directly via the Internet, what use would there be for intermediaries to carry the news? The news media, it was believed, would be one of the first industries to be “disintermediated,” a multisyllabic word for “cutting out the middleman.” Read the remainder of this entry »

Photo credit: Automotivespace

Yesterday’s Biznology® Webinar by Paul Gillin was about how to prepare for and prevent social media attacks on your brand.  That Facebook page you set up to promote your business might just become your biggest headache. Customers who used to suffer frustration in silence now have a voice, and they’re taking their opinions to the whole world. Customer attacks on brands via Twitter, blogs, Facebook, Change.org and many other outlets are skyrocketing, and the task of protecting brand reputation has become one of the top concerns of corporate executives and marketers.

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Yesterday, two bombs exploded near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. I first learned about the bombing on Facebook. Then Twitter, then NPR, and then TV. Strangely enough, my television experience is markedly influenced by ubiquitous computing, Internet, networked cameras and video — even Vine! I don’t have a lot to add to the conversation except that we at Biznology are shocked and appalled–our thoughts go out to everyone affected. We’re going to take a day off from talking about digital PR and social media marketing. There’s quite a lot of graphic photos below so please be aware; also, these social media mentions, which span all day yesterday from the time of the event through the afternoon, are in no particular order. Let us take a quiet, pensive, moment to experience emergent news as reflected through the eyes of the social media panopticon . . .

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Something’s always going to go wrong. Murphy’s law demands it. It is your mandatory tithe into the Universe. This is true about everything. I guess character is what shows when things go wrong. And it’s what you do when things don’t go right that defines you. And it’s never the end of the world. In fact, sometimes really messing up can initiate a valuable interaction that wouldn’t have ever happened were the mistake avoided. You’ll always be remembered more for how you handle something than for what you did in the first place. This is what I call “Mea Culpa Marketing.” How to handle something going terribly wrong with as much honestly, aplomb, and grace as you can muster while you’re petty convinced that the end is nigh. And when things go even worse than that, I call it “Mea Maxima Culpa Marketing.” Read the remainder of this entry »

While I concur with Vizzini, the Sicilian from the movie The Princess Bride, that one should “never get involved in a land war in Asia,” sometimes there’s no escape — and taking on Google’s search index, algorithmic prowess, and the natural results of organic search itself is, indeed, akin to getting involved in a land war in Asia. Most folks know only of the fierce fighting associated with organic search engine optimization (SEO), a process by which we write copy, optimize architecture, use keywords, add hyperlinks, and interlink sites in order to associate a keyword phrase with our particular brand, product, service, and site; another, larger battle is online reputation management (ORM). Read the remainder of this entry »