This is the Time to Demonstrate our Philanthropy

If I’m only going to post once this week, there’s no way I can’t write about the dreadfully fierce tsunami that mercilessly struck and ravaged southern Asia the day after Christmas. This was, after all, a disaster of epic proportions, the enormity of which is almost impossible to comprehend. We can only pray and hope for the tens of thousands of helpless, innocent men, women and children caught in the path of those waves of devastation. That is, we can only pray and hope and give them all that we can in humanitarian relief.

Yes, this is the time for the international community to cast aside our differences and join forces on behalf of those affected by Sunday’s catastrophe. This is the time to open our hearts and demonstrate our philanthropy.

In the industry in which I earn my livelihood, direct marketing, the fundraisers among us will surely be pulling out all the stops to help pay for the recovery efforts in the stricken countries. If at least a few urgent, telegram-like, emergency appeals for donations weren’t in the mail by this time next week, I’d be surprised.

Online, I’ve already received several strong, emotional pleas for help, one email from World Vision (asking for a gift of $50, which would “help provide food and Family Survival Kits containing clean water, blankets, and tarps to survivors of the tsunami”) and a couple others of the grassroots, viral variety, written by good people with great intentions.

And, of course, the blogosphere has also made the tsunami victims a priority. Many blogs I’ve visited this week contain something about this tragedy, a number of them redirecting potential donors, volunteers and concerned citizens of the world to The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami (or SEA-EAT), blog, a comprehensive, up-to-date source of news and information about this cataclysmic event.

So before we go to sleep tonight, let us all pray. Let us all hope. And let us all help. Because whatever we can do for the people of southern Asia, we need to do it now.

7. Blogs are Enjoyable. There are many sound business reasons to blog, but let’s not forget how much of a pleasure they are for both author and audience. Seriously, the fun factor should not be underestimated. Most blogs are quick and easy to absorb, and a refreshing change of pace from typical marketing riffs and age-old corporate-speak. Bloggers aren’t just writers, they’re also publishers, opinion-leaders, risk-takers and entrepreneurs. They’re people who are inclined to live by the mantra, carpe diem. They’re passionate about their craft and evangelical about their content. And in many cases, their readers are just as fanatical.

8. Blogs are Authoritative. We’re not talking about those cathartic, diary-like blogs kept by moody, meandering teenagers. We’re talking about the most sophisticated among the blogosphere, the ones owned and operated by today’s savviest business people. Written by the heaviest hitters in their fields, these blogs go a long way toward formalizing their authors’ knowledge, insight and overall sphere of influence. Ideally, your blog will provide readers with plenty of fresh, premium content they can’t find anywhere else. But you had better think twice before posting. If you haven’t done your homework, your readers won’t hesitate to call you out. On the other hand, if your commentaries are consistently on the mark, your blog may soon become a frequently visited destination and raise your industry profile to unprecedented, new heights.

9. Blogs are Valuable. A blog is tailor-made for storing and managing your intellectual capital. It’s a centralized repository for experience and expertise, an incredibly easy way to disseminate key, timely information to an audience of readers who are already interested in what you have to offer. The cost to set up and maintain a blog is practically nil. And the dividends – for those on either side of the equation – can be priceless. As Jeremy Wright, author of the business and technology blog, Ensight, says: “Anything which can get the right info to the right people at the right time, empower your company to become a thought leader and let you know what your customers and the industry are thinking about you in real time is something that has massive value.”

10. Blogs are Popular. As recently as five years ago, there really weren’t that many blogs in existence, but today the blogosphere is growing so rapidly that it’s only a matter of time before this revolutionary, new medium reaches the tipping point. If you use press releases, newsletters and bylined articles to promote your products and people, blogs are the next better thing – now. In 2004, the word, blog, topped Merriam-Webster’s list of the ten most looked-up words. And blogs received wide acclaim in The New York Times Magazine’s recent Year in Ideas issue. Blogs are here, there and everywhere to stay.

Note: Written by Yellowfin Direct Marketing’s Bob Cargill, this is part three of a three-part series on the many reasons why advertising, marketing and public relations professionals should blog. Parts one and two appeared on December 7, 2004, and December 14, 2004, respectively, in A Fine Kettle of Fish.

Why Advertising, Marketing and PR Pros Should Blog (Part Two)

4. Blogs are Immediate. A blog makes it possible for the everyday communications professional to distribute newsworthy, thematic content to a large, like-minded audience – without many, if any, layers of approval – almost instantaneously. If timeliness is a critical element of your publishing plan, it’s an irresistible platform. A blog allows you to draw out invaluable feedback, too, without having to lollygag through the traditional rites of business courtship. Comments from readers are akin to free market research. If your goal is to establish an open, online dialogue with prospects and influential people who might otherwise not give you the time of day, a blog just may be your entrée – it certainly is a unique ice-breaker.

5. Blogs are Infectious. Like any good viral marketing campaign, the content of the best blogs is passed from reader to reader, extending the author’s reach – and influence – exponentially. Bloggers are notorious for linking to other blogs that they recommend and respect. And other related sources of news, information and opinion – even offline, traditional publications – won’t hesitate to pick up an interesting post and republish it. So, in effect, a blog gives you the power of a syndicated columnist. What’s more, search engines such as Google are all over blogs, especially when they’re updated regularly. Blogging results in more top placements than you ever could have imagined for you and your organization.

6. Blogs are Empowering. Today’s consumers and business prospects are desensitized to the sales pitch. They’ve seen and heard it all. Such rampant skepticism reared its ugly head in a recent Gallup survey, which ranked people in advertising very low for their honesty and ethics. Ouch! At the very least, we may as well accept this much: we have lost more than a modicum of control. However, because a blog is such an open, grassroots medium, unadorned and unplugged, its trust factor is high from the get-go. The format alone is engaging and empowering. With RSS (Really Simple Syndication), the audience decides what they want and when they want it. They have the upper hand. And by giving recipients the authority to post their own comments, it’s easy for the public – and fellow bloggers – to hold advertising, marketing and PR pros accountable for their claims. Think quid pro quo.

Note: Written by Yellowfin Direct Marketing’s Bob Cargill, this is part two of a three-part series on the many reasons why advertising, marketing and public relations professionals should blog. Part one appeared on December 7, 2004, in A Fine Kettle of Fish, and part three will run here next week.

Why Advertising, Marketing and PR Pros Should Blog (Part One)

Most advertising, marketing and public relations professionals know a blog when they see one, but when it comes to actually using this relatively new, self-publishing platform, there are still many skeptics and naysayers among us. This time next year, however, those people will likely have come to their senses. In 2005, I dare say you would have to be either misinformed or just plain obstinate to not at least consider adding a blog to your business plan. Here are ten reasons why:

1. Blogs are Interactive. In many cases, marketing is a monologue, a well-choreographed sales pitch to an audience of passive prospects. But one of the key attributes of a blog is that it allows readers to provide honest, public feedback that is posted below the author’s spiel. It involves your audience. By granting the opportunity to respond almost instantly to any and all posts, a blogger is building a mutually-beneficial relationship with his or her constituency. As the level of confidence grows between a blog and its readers, so does the potential for lucrative, new business activity.

2. Blogs are Humanizing. A blog may be dependent on cold, Web-based technology for hosting and distribution, but its success depends on the ability of its author to come across as honest, credible and down-to-earth. There is no spinning of the truth in the blogosphere. The idea is to break through the corporate-speak and to put a fresh, trustworthy face on your organization. Like a good newspaper column or editorial, most blogs are written in one strong, opinionated voice and don’t shy away from controversy and difficult subjects. Some of the best business blogs in existence are some of the most candid.

3. Blogs are Inexpensive. In most cases, the only cost to the author of a blog is the value of the time and talent required to create and maintain it. Sure, some hosted services, like Typepad, charge a modest monthly fee. But there are plenty of free, ad-supported blogging services and tools available. My blog, A Fine Kettle of Fish (written under the aegis of Yellowfin Direct Marketing) uses perhaps the most popular one of them all, Blogger. It doesn’t matter which service and tools you use to publish yours, however – the financial barriers to entry are so few and far between, you almost can’t afford not to establish a presence in the blogosphere.

Note: Written by Yellowfin Direct Marketing’s Bob Cargill, this is part one of a three-part series on the many reasons why advertising, marketing and public relations professionals should blog. Parts two and three will be featured here in A Fine Kettle of Fish over the course of the next couple of weeks.

Good Juice, Good Guys, Good PR

Everybody knows the story of The Juice Guys, Tom Scott and Tom First, who started their company, Nantucket Nectars, by selling juice from a boat off the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts over ten years ago. They were one of the earliest to market in the new-born, new age beverage industry, and, ultimately, one of the most successful.

One chapter of their success story, however, that doesn’t get as much attention as their juice, is the one they began writing in 1998, when Tom and Tom (as they are affectionately known), created Juice Guys Care, the 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit division of their widely acclaimed company. Clearly, Nantucket Nectars believes that its high quality standards for its juice should be applied to all aspects of the company, including community involvement. Good for them. And good for many deserving nonprofit organizations and charity events with which the company associates itself, such as the Iron Teams Relay, the Ozone Surf Classic, Circus Flora, Adopt-A-Classroom, the Coast-to-Coast Community Challenge, America’s Second Harvest and the Stepping Stone Foundation.

Their most recent public, charitable “event,” however, was perhaps their most noticeable, at least here in my neck of the woods. The Juice Guys recently placed a 48-foot-long “thank you” card for the world champion Boston Red Sox on the grounds of the Hub’s historic Faneuil Hall, giving passers-by the chance to show their appreciation for the local heroes. For each signature on the card, up to 10,000, Nantucket Nectars promised to make a one dollar donation to the Jimmy Fund, the fundraising arm of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, one of the nation’s top cancer hospitals. Of course, this was a wonderfully magnanimous gesture. But all the publicity – for the Sox, for the Jimmy Fund and, last but not least, for The Juice Guys – didn’t hurt, either. Everybody felt good. Everybody looked good. Everybody won.