Web Ink Now

Some Webinars I am participating in

Here are a few Webinars that I am participating in. I realize that there is short notice for some of these, but I'm told that all will be available on replay if you miss it live.

Vocus
The Inside Scoop on Blogger Relations
June 26, 2007 1:00 PM Eastern

Feature Plan: Product Management View
The New Rules of Marketing and PR: Reaching buyers directly with blogs, news releases, online media, and viral marketing
June 27, 2007 12:00 noon Eastern

Bulldog Reporter's PR University Audio Conference
Supercharging Press Releases: How PR Can Use SEO, RSS and Multimedia to Craft ‘Smart’ Releases for Wider Audiences
July 12, 2007 1:00 PM Eastern

RainToday
6 Keys to PR Success in a Web Based World: Using Websites, News Releases, And Online Media To Build Brand And Generate Leads For Professional Services
July 11, 2007, 3:00 PM Eastern

HR Marketer
The New Rules of Marketing and PR for HR Professionals
July 17, 2007 at 1:00 PM Eastern

The podcasting dentist: Successful Smiles!

Many times when I am on the speaking circuit or cocktail party and the subject of The New Rules comes up, people say to me something like, "Well that stuff sounds good for others, but I am a ____________" (fill in the blank with Dentist, Lawyer, Product Manager, Real Estate Agent, Swim Coach, CFO, (basically anything)).

I always respond that blogs, podcasts, video and other ways to reach buyers directly can be used by anyone. Which is why I like stumbling upon interesting people and their blogs.

A tip of the hat to Dianna Huff for pointing me to Dr. Helaine Smith's Successful Smiles healthcast. Yes, Dr. Smith is a podcasting dentist! She’s relatively new to this form of communications, but off to a great start.

In episode 3 of Successful Smiles, Dr. Smith cover the questions people should ask their dental professional when considering dental veneers (sometimes referred to as "teeth caps"). She provides details on what you should know and also questions to consider before having the procedure done. Hey. I'd like to listen to this in the car on my way to some dental torture.

It's probably too soon to know what result the podcast is having on Dr. Smith's business. But I hope she checks in with me in a year or so and lets me know.

Smart Marketers are statistically improbable according to Amazon.com

Amazon recently turned on Search Inside for The New Rules of Marketing & PR.

I finished the manuscript for the book way back in December 2006 (about a decade in Internet time). As an author, some of the things that get surfaced by Search Inside jolt me. Did I write that? It’s like running into an old girlfriend after many years.

Search Inside takes every word of the book and runs it through a bunch of algorithms. Many authors and publishers don’t like search inside because they feel people can "steal" their work. Nonsense. Having my book appear in search results when someone enters a phrase that is used in the book is a terrific benefit. Search Inside also allows buyers to virtually flip through the book as they would in a bookstore. Being able to browse before a purchase is important for any Web site. Amazon lets publishers opt out of Search Inside, but I think those who do are making a mistake.

I'm particularly intrigued by the Amazon.com Statistically Improbable Phrases which are the most distinctive phrases in the text of books in the Search Inside program. To identify Statistically Improbable Phrases, Amazon indexes every word of every book in the Search Inside program. Phrases that occurs a large number of times in a particular book relative to all Search Inside books are considered Statistically Improbable Phrases. The idea here is if a consumer is looking for a book on a subject, the Amazon search engine surfaces the right books by analyzing the text inside the book, not just the title and subtitle.

Some of the Statistically Improbable Phrases for The New Rules of Marketing & PR include: buyer personas, online media room, news release content, persona research, news release strategy, persona profile, influential bloggers, news release program, search engine marketing, click fraud, landing page, social networking sites, blog posts, online news sites, smart marketers. What a great way to surface long tail content.

So if someone, such as Adele Revella for example, had entered buyer personas into the Amazon search engine, my book would pop up in the book search results page because that phrase is statistically improbable and it appears in my book a lot. How cool is that?

I think the list of Statistically Improbable Phrases that are surfaced for my book is a great one. My book is about those things!

But hey, why are "smart marketers" statistically improbable? What does that say about marketing people?

IBM blogging guidelines and the company's 3,000 employee bloggers

I really like the way that IBM has worked with its employee bloggers to advance the company's goals and corporate reputation as well the personal goals of the individual employee bloggers. Nice job, IBM.

There is a comprehensive IBM employee blog directory that's easily found from the IBM home page. The introduction serves as a perfect description of the IBM philosophy towards blogs: "As they'll tell you themselves, the opinions and interests expressed on IBMers' blogs are their own and don't necessarily represent this company's positions, strategies or views. But that doesn't mean we don't want you to read them! Because they do represent lots of business and technology expertise you can't get from anyone else."

Isn't this a great recap of what blogs are about and what they mean to a company? Thanks to IBM for putting it in such a straightforward and easy to understand way.

The blog directory includes IBM employee blogs that are written on IBM Web real estate with IBM branding like this one from Rawn Shah, developerWorks' Community Program Manager, who focuses on how to develop greater interaction between members through the many community services IBM has such as blogs, forums, user groups, wikis and other services.

But there are also many blogs that are outside IBM gates such as this one called gengnosis by Mike Burr who writes: "While it is true that I work for IBM, I most certainly do NOT speak for them. Everything you read here reflects my own skewed view of the world and not necessarily IBM's view."

Interestingly, when you click on a blog in the IBM employee blog directory that is not on IBM's Web site, you are presented with a popup letting you know that you are leaving the IBM site.

One of the coolest aspects of this intelligent way of working with the passionate individuals who want to blog, is that IBM lets employees and any other interested people (like me!) read the company guidelines for blogs. IBM blogging guidelines are listed publicly for all to see, not hidden away in the HR or legal department.

I think the IBM model works really well. If your company is struggling with blogs and employee bloggers, think about emulating some of what IBM has pioneered here.

My 250th post

I've been writing this blog since late 2004 and this is my 250th post.

Yeah, it's just a number. But it is also a milestone that gives me a moment to pause and reflect on how far these pages have taken me. I've met many amazing people. I've learned a great deal.

My blog has given me a platform that has allowed me to take my business into areas that I could never have imagined just three short years ago. Quite simply, my blog is the best thing I've ever done in business.

Look Mom, I really did publish a book!

Here's the problem. My mother and her friends don't see my book in the local independent bookstore in my hometown. And if my book isn’t sitting there next to Harry Potter, does it really exist?

To make matters worse, I'm not on the Today Show or Oprah or Jon Stewart plugging my book (although if invited I'd happily appear). I've explained to Mom that this is a business book with a niche audience, but I sense some skepticism.

So at my recent appearance as a keynote speaker at the Vocus User Conference in Washington DC, I filmed "proof" of my book, just for Mom.

And I also put the video into a news release and sent it using the spiffy new PRWeb video news release feature. David Meerman Scott Proves to His Mother that He Really Did Publish a Book

As of this writing, Mom hasn’t seen the video. She's at a friends house for the week and is unlikely to check email until her return next week.

How to convince your boss to let you start a corporate blog

Amazingly, I'm still hearing from many people that the geniuses who run their companies forbid employees to blog and prohibit posting in online chat rooms.

I think that these misguided executives simply don’t understand new social media tools and therefore in their confusion and fear, they just ban participation.

Many employees lament to me that they know the policy is a bad one. They want to participate in social media. But they can’t because they risk being fired.

The most common reason given for the company position? "Fear of revealing company secrets." Yikes. That was the same excuse given 15 years ago for supplying computers and email addresses only to people of director level and above.

People want to know, how do I convince management to let me blog?

The most important thing is to take it in steps.

Here's a plan that I would suggest you implement with the leaders of you company:

1) Monitor what millions of people are saying about you, the market you sell into, your organization, and its products. Read important blogs. forums and chat rooms. Bring any interesting tidbits to the attention of your bosses. Do it in writing.

2) Stick your toe into the water by getting approval to place a specific comment on a particular forum entry or blog post. Get the agreement in writing and show the link that you created to your bosses.

3) If this goes well, see if you can get approval to comment as a full participant in conversations on other people's blogs without gaining approval on each one.

4) After a few months, share evidence with your bosses that you have helped shape conversations and see if they'd be willing to let you create a mockup (password protected) blog of your own.

5) After a few months of trial password protected posts, show your bosses that you aren't giving away secrets and perhaps you will become a celebrity by being the first person in your company to be allowed to blog.

6) Become a thought leader in your marketplace through your own blog.

Where people end up hitting brick walls with management is starting with step 6. That's too big a leap for people whose closest encounters with blogs are reading about them in BusinessWeek Magazine.

And if you're successful with this strategy, let me know so I can blog about you!

Are the new rules for you?

I've just finished a whirlwind book promotion blitz that centered around the "birthday" of my book on June 4. Thanks to everyone who has blogged about The New Rules of Marketing & PR (more than 100 of you!). And many thanks to everyone who has purchased the book (more than 2,000 of you so far!).

I'm thrilled that the book reached number 66 overall on Amazon. It has been the top PR book on Amazon and in the top 5 marketing books since publication. Thank you for your support!

I've delivered three major speeches this past week in three different cities. Damn, I'm beat! Book Expo America in New York, National Investor Relations Institute in Orlando (my gig was sponsored by NASDAQ), and the Vocus / PRWeb user conference in Washington DC.

Here are select reviews of the speeches:
> Book Expo America via American Booksellers Association

> Vocus / PRWeb via Matt

> No bloggers at NIRI? Hmm… I guess that says something about Investor Relations people…

When I give speeches like these ones on the new rules of marketing and PR, many people are excited to get out there and make it happen. They want to start a blog right away or generate some news releases or begin buyer persona research in preparation for writing a marketing and PR plan that will guide them to create a content-rich Web site.

And inevitably I get detractors. These are the people with folded arms who stare at me with hostility or just look at the floor for a half hour. They want things to remain safe and comfortable. You know what? That's fine. It's OK to continue to invest in expensive advertising and try to convince the media to write about you. Go for it.

But in the audience there is always a third group of people who tend to feel a bit overwhelmed. There is just too much information, they say, or too many new and unfamiliar ideas. Some people think this stuff just too complex and time-consuming to tackle, especially given an already hectic schedule. Hey, we all have stuff on our plates, and for most of us, implementing the ideas I talk about will represent an addition to our workload.

But here's one of the greatest things about the new rules of marketing and PR: you can implement these ideas in bits and pieces!

In fact, I don’t expect anybody to implement all the ideas. Heck, I don’t do that many of them myself (OK, I admitted it—don’t tell). Yes, I have a blog, and it is very important to me. But I don't have my own podcast, and I don't have a MySpace or Facebook page. But that's OK. I just do what I can and what works for me. And so should you.

Unlike a linear, offline marketing campaign where you must take a methodical, step-by-step approach leading up to a big "release day," the Web is…well, it's a Web. You can add to the Web at any time because it is iterative, not linear.

Think about the last print advertisement you or others in your organization did. Everything had to be perfect, requiring thorough proofreading, tons of approvals from your colleagues (or your spouse), lengthy consultation with a bunch of third parties such as advertising agencies and a printers, and—above all—lots of money. Your neck was on the line if there was a screw-up, so you obsessed over the details. Contrast that with a Web content initiative that you can implement quickly, get people to check out live, and make changes to on the fly. It really is much less stressful to create an online program.

Heck, if you create a Web page that doesn't work for you, you can just delete it. You can't do that with a print ad or direct-mail campaign. So I would urge you to think about how you might selectively experiment with the new rules rather than fret about coordinating them all and trying to get everything right on the first go.

Experiment and see what works.

I experiment a lot. For example, I've had some great successes with viral marketing. But I've also had a bunch of dismal flops. That's OK, people don’t remember the flops and it didn't cost any money (just some time).

How Mark Batterson used his Web site, blog, podcasts, video, and viral marketing to become a leader

Imagine that you want to start a new church. What do you do? Well, you look for a building, buy some stained glass and an organ, and hire a pastor, right? Not necessarily. In any marketplace (even church) it is always best to start by understanding market problems and buyer personas.

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of a hugely popular church in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. But his isn't a typical church, because he doesn't actually have a church building or traditional services or all the trappings of religious devotion. Instead Batterson started with an understanding of the people he wanted to reach -- thousands of twentysomethings who had largely ignored other churches in the area. National Community Church (also known as TheaterChurch.com), conducts five services per week in three nontraditional locations because Batterson learned that a church building can be an obstacle to many young people. So he does church in theaters and has built the largest coffee house in the Washington, D.C. area. And because most of his "customers" don't drive, the locations are all near subway stops.

What distinguishes National Community Church is Batterson’s approach of embracing technology and Web marketing and applying it to church. The TheaterChurch.com site includes a content-rich Web site, podcasts of the weekly services, a motivational Webcast series, video, an e-mail newsletter, and Batterson’s extremely popular Evotional blog.

"The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing," Batterson says. "I am challenged that Madison Avenue and Hollywood are so smart at delivering messages. But I believe that we need to be just as smart about how we deliver our messages."

"I think we attract twentysomethings because our personality as a church lends itself to twentysomethings," Batterson says. "Our two key values are authenticity and creativity. That plays itself out in the way we do church. I think that church should be the most creative place on the planet. The Medieval church had stained glass to tell the gospel story to the churchgoers, who were mostly illiterate. We use the movie studio to tell the story to people. We use video to add color and to add flavor to what we do."

Batterson's focus on the Web site, podcasts, and online video (as well as video at the services) means that National Community Church staff members have some unique job titles, including "media pastor," "digital pastor," and "buzz coordinator." COOL!

"We want to use technology for really good purposes," Batterson says. "Our Web site and my blog are our front door to National Community Church. The site is a virtual location in a sense. We have a lot more people who listen to the podcast and watch the Webcast than who go to the services, so it is a great test drive for people. They can get a sense of the church before they arrive physically."

Batterson has gained online fame well beyond the Washington, D.C. area—his blog is followed by tens of thousands of readers all over the world, and the podcast is one of the fastest growing church podcasts in America. He also wrote a book that was released in October, 2006, called In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars.

"Blogging cuts six degrees of separation into three," he says. "I write knowing that my audience is another pastor in Australia, a housewife in Indiana, my friends, and people in Washington, D.C. Marketing through my blog is powerful. For example, last week I did a blog post about my book and asked my blogging friends to also post about it. We went up to number 44 on the Amazon bestseller list, and Amazon sold out of the book that day. They just ordered another 1,000 copies."

Batterson's enthusiasm for how churches can use the Web has caught the attention of thousands of other church leaders who follow his blog. "The two most powerful forms of marketing are word of mouth and what I call word of mouse. A guy named John Wesley, who founded the Methodist church, traveled 250,000 miles on horseback and preached something like 40,000 sermons. With one click of the mouse, I preach that many sermons with my podcast—that’s word of mouse. It is about leveraging the unique vehicles on the Web. The message has not changed, but the medium has changed. We need to continually find new vehicles to get the messages out."

Aren't the power of Web content and the new rules of marketing and PR something? Here's a guy who's a church leader without a church building, and through innovative use of a blog, a podcast and some video, he has become a leader in his field. He’s got a bestselling book and tens of thousands of devoted online followers.

Whether you’re religious or not (except for some weddings, I haven’t been to church since I was a kid), you've gotta be impressed with Batterson’s business savvy and with the way the new rules helped him reach his buyers.

Thank you Mark Batterson. You're obviously an inspiration to the members of your church. But you are also an insipiration to anybody who wants to stand out on the Web!

Special book offer - through June 8 only!

UPDATE 2: OFFER HAS CONCLUDED

Many thanks to everyone who participated in this offer. We shipped nearly 500 CDs. And the book rocketed up to number 66 on Amazon and was the top marketing and PR book!

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UPDATE 1: OFFER EXTENDED

As a result of this offer, my book hit number 66 overall on the Amazon bestseller list. It is the number one PR book and for a brief moment also the number one marketing book on Amazon. If you purchased a book, Thank you!

If you still need to buy your copy, you have until end of day Friday June 8 to qualify for this special offer. Thank you for your support.

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Purchase a copy of The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to use news releases, blogs, podcasts, viral marketing & online media to reach your buyers directly via Amazon today only, June 5, and I will send you a free audio seminar (worth $50).

Have you already purchased a copy of my new book from Amazon? If so, thank you! This offer applies to you too. If not, please purchase your copy today so you can participate in my special offer.

My book was officially released yesterday, June 4. And it is currently number one on Amazon for PR books and in the top 15 for all marketing and PR books. I want to get even higher in the rankings and today’s the day!

"Online News Releases to Reach Your Buyers Directly" is an audio seminar that provides everything you need to know about the new rules of PR. I will send you your own copy if you buy my book on Amazon today, June 5, only. (Or if you have purchased prior to today, June 5).

To take advantage of this offer, please follow these steps:

1. Order The New Rules of Marketing & PR through this link to Amazon.com today, June 5. (Or if you have ordered prior today, locate your confirmation email).

2. Get your order confirmation number from Amazon (it looks something like this: Order#: 103-4475537-4339817).

3. Send me an email to david (at) DavidMeermanScott (dot) com, including the confirmation number from Amazon and your postal mailing address to receive Online News Releases to Reach Your Buyers Directly on CD.

Easy!

Please tell your friends and colleagues.

And thank you for your support.

Special note to FeedBlitz subscribers: Sometimes my posts are delayed on FeedBlitz and other RSS delivery systems. If you didn’t get this message until June 6, the offer will apply to you as well, but for June 6 only. Thanks.