Ian M Rountree

Copywriter, Project Manager, Digital Marketing

Content Strategy

Creating content for a website isn't enough - making your ongoing content development work requires strategy. From editorial calendars to information architecture, strategic content creation increases the power of websites.

Service vs Customer Service

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I’ve had a day to think about it, as have some others, and I’m unsure what to think of Seth’s new toy.

I left Squidoo after it was apparently penalised by Google – I can do all of the same things it can do through WordPress anyway, with enough pages and plugins. But Squidoo provided an interesting and, at the time, recognizable platform to get my stuff “out there” – now I’ve got had whyreadthemanual.com, which I’m considering shutting shut down in part because I haven’t got the time I used to to play about with it, and in part because Envato (the jolly green Australian giant) started up workawesome.com, which is essentially what I wanted to do, but with backing. Envato communities and netizens number just shy of half a million; I have eight subscribers and no time to write.

However! When I first read the post about Brands In Public, I thought it was a good idea. When people want answers about something, they go to destination sites, like CNet for technology reviews, or Consumer Reports. Kind of a good idea, right? Well, I muse have missed the part about charging extraneous fees for companies in the interest of doing PR. I know sites need funding to remain online, but this service is leechlike. Just like Squidoo, any company tht wishes to could do all of this stuff already if they have a PR department who are at all good with the net and/or social media.

Which means instead of acting to create positive, validating change in how companies operate, Godin’s new peoject appears to provide a bandaid solution? Why bother? It doesn’t help that Godin’s other projects are getting flack from Google to begin with; the negative netstorm this has just caused will likely do more to hurt him and the work he does in the future.

Convergance and Blogs

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The first three blog posts I read this morning are all about problems with scaling public image. Is there a trend I’m missing, somewhere? Ok, example:

Chris Brogan, Chewbacca of Marketing – “How Frameworks Improve Your Business Thinking”

Mitch Joel, Han Solo of Marketing – “The Irresponsible Marketer”

Seth Godin, perhaps Yoda? – “Launching Brands in Public”

Now granted, Seth’s post is about a new service, but it raises a valid point about controlling versus organizing public opinion. Mitch, as always, has some good insight into the shift between old-format and new-format, which ties fairly well to Seth’s idea about aggregating information and providing it to people who are actively looking for it. And then, of course, is Brogan, naturally providing a layman’s perspective on business.

So what’s my point?

If you want to learn about business, read a business blog. If you want to learn about better business, find a number of different voices and read all of them, at once, daily. It’s like a focus group, only it’s free, and you’re not paying top dollar for recognized experts.

It’s even better when you can pull convergance out of the air like this. I know Chris and Mitch have some ties – but their sites and their clients are their own; and I’m fairly sure Seth doesn’t interact with them often enough for there to be real association. But sometimes, they all build on each other’s work. Can you spot the co-operative point? I’ll check in after the break to see if you’ve done your homework.

The Difference Between Pre-sale support and Post-sale support

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So you’ve done some research. You’re looking for something specific, and you head to whichever shop you’ve chosen to consult someone who theoretically knows what they’re doing. You hit the store, talk to your salesperson… And get met with scorn, denial of much of your research and a pitch for a product you don’t want. How much does that suck, right?

Here’s a better one. You bought something a while ago, and need a hand doing something new with it. Maybe it’s what this thing is for, maybe it’s not. Either way, you head back to your shop and talk to your people… And guess what? It’s not their job, they say, to help with this. The thing you bought has a support line, and those people know what they’re doing, so go home and call them, will you?

Sheesh.

I’m sure you share my frustration with this. It’s a perspective problem. Very often, people over-research purchases, or are unwilling to believe that staff are doing anything more than selling something. I know I’d rather buy something than have it sold to me.

Even worse, once the sale is made, lots of salespeople feel like they’ve made their dime from you and just don’t want to spare any more time or effort, unless you’re buying more. This has to stop, it’s the most horrible thing you can do, and it’s killing retail for everyone.

Lots of staffers everywhere feel like it’s not their job to help people, to listen to them or to help people when it’s in their power.

Well guess what. It IS your job. It is in your best interest to provide support beyond just sales. Stop being idiots about this.

We're Not Those Guys!

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I came across an interesting thing today in my ambling over the internet. It’s a service called Plurk, and it claims to be the unTwitter.

Now, most of you probably know what Twitter is. Lots of you likely have Twitter accounts. I do, you can feel free to follow it, it’s @WhyRTM – simple, right? I love Twitter. But I don’t love Plurk, and I didn’t even sign up.

If you visit Plurk’s front page, the first thing you see is the bold question; “Tired of your existing social networks?”

Am I the only one this irks?

This tells me that the basis of all of Plurk’s identity is saying “But We’re Not Them” which is so faulty it hurts. Microsoft did the same thing with its rebranding of the Live Search engine, turning it into Bing. What does bing stand for? “But It’s Not Google” – and whether Microsoft intended this or not, this is the story that got out, and it’s what people will believe. Even now, with tales rolling in of Bing’s searches coming up massively pro-MS and anti-Apple, it’s easier to believe that this was intentional.

Best Buy has been running “We’re Not On Commission” ads for years now, and the effect is the same. It tells people not that your staff are better, that your prices are lower, that your store is more fun to shop at – it says nothing except “Oh, we’re not in that crowd” which is no incentive at all.

How does this not make sense? Failing to develop your own identity and leeching the popularity of others by sharking the people annoyed with them is diminishing. This means, as a business or as a person, you’re not making the most of your You-ness, you’re bashing the competition (unprofessional) at the same time as you’re telling people that you’re exactly what they are – but you’re not them.

Who cares if Plurk is better? Hundreds of thousands of people post hundreds of millions of tweets daily, and if I’m networking, I’m going to Twitter, because that’s where the people are.

Who cares if Bing is awesome? It’s not Google, according to my social awareness, which tells me that it’s exactly what google is, but with a different banner at the top.

Say it with me, now, it’s the motto of the day: I Want To Be Different, Just Like Evrbody Else.