The Intersection of Online and Offline

I had the pleasure and honor today of participating in the latest in the weekly series of “Media Bullseye Radio Roundtable ” with Sarah Wurrey and Jennifer Zingsheim. It was a fun and lively conversation. We covered:

• Reputation Management for College Grads - is your online presence visible and important to employers?
• UK Social Networking Sites Boots the Over-36 Crowd - a ridiculous rule by a UK-based social networking site through which they deleted all users over 36 because they were more likely to be sexual predators; and
• Online Complaints Departments and Customer Service - do online complaint sites work for all organizations, or just those with open communications systems?

Podcast is here.

Thanks so much to Jennifer, Sarah and Chip Griffin for letting me have some fun today.

Mark

I can’t do it. I just can’t let this one go. After listening again to Media Bullseye’s Roundtable with Jason Falls, I am still a little perplexed — and steamed.

As a PR agency veteran of more than 11 years, I can’t help but wonder why bloggers feel so aggrieved that they are being pitched — incorrectly, I understand — by some people who are clearly inexperienced in doing so.

I am “old school,” so much that I have pitched more offline PR than online PR. You have to have your act together and do your homework no matter who you are pitching. Early on in my career, I got hung up on or blown off by numerous print reporters. And it was over.

My final word, as it often is, is that there are people who are much smarter than I am. And since this blog is about the intersection of online and offline, I have reached back to Esther Schindler’s “The Care and Feeding of the Press.” I first read this in Shel Holtz’s book, “Public Relations on the ‘Net.” It talks about offline pitching, but the basic tenants are still the same, including:

• Do you need to send this document?
• Making a press release worth our time!
• Let’s make this clear: unsolicited attachments merit the death penalty!

Please read Esther’s tips because I think they are funny, timely, worthy and truly represent the intersection of online and offline.

Mark

Today is a good day.

Got Part Deux published in Media Bullseye on my series about online reputation management. The cool part about having an interactive platform is that others can see and comment on it. More often than not, people make you smarter.

Kami Watson of Communications Overtones saw Part I of the series and noted that, when it comes to online reputation management, the best defense is a good offense, meaning that a strong Google page rank and presence will help provide a better base from which to communicate if and when the attacks come. Jason Falls also had some good thinking that I drew from for the article.

So thanks for your input, Kami. “Determining the Voices That Matter,” the article in today’s edition of Media Bullseye is Part II of my thinking on best practices for setting up an online reputation management program.

And since I don’t have my other blog any more, I HAVE to give a shout-out to Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox for pitching a no-hitter last night.

Mark

I was listening to a recent “For Immediate Release,” aka the “Hobson and Holtz” report, and listened with awe that frequent contributor Dan York pulled off a Craig’s List miracle.

For those of you who are regular listeners to FIR, you’ll know that Dan often reports from the “picturesque countryside of Vermont.” Well, Dan is relocating to Keene, NH, as he describes in his blog. Here’s where it gets interesting: Dan listed his house on Craig’s List at 8:30 am and had a signed offer by 4:30 pm - THAT DAY. As the cheesy commercials say, “your results may vary,” but this is an incredible testament to the power of Craig’s List, which has already punched a hole in traditional advertising and is now making its way into new venues.

First, congratulations, Dan.

Second, I had a similar experience a couple of years ago. I got a serious steal on a house in a very desirable neighborhood outside of Washington, DC — with a huge caveat that we settle and move in 13 days (this is not a typo). Two sleepless weeks later, my family and I moved and I was faced with selling my own house in a market that had just begun to slump.

I went with a real estate agent who had never heard of Craig’s List, but knowing that I was tied into a 90-day contract with him, I cross-posted the MLS listing on Craig’s List. What happened was that two I-can’t-sleep-at-night-because-I-am-carrying-two-mortgages months later, my old house sold. But what happened in the meantime was interesting.

When I posted my house, I was getting inquiries from interested parties who were going about the traditional route through their agents. Then after hearing all of the wonderful things that real estate agents say, the prospective buyers would email me questions. And I would answer. And they would email more. And I would answer. And I would subtly let them know that I was pleased at the attention that my listing got on Craig’s List (read: competition).

So what happened? My house sold the good, old-fashioned MLS way, but had that not worked out, I had two interested parties with whom I had already developed a good relationship waiting in the wings.

Had I had more time, I would have (like Dan did) listed my house exclusively on Craig’s List. With a six percent commission on a average house value of $500,000, I would say that a Craig’s List posting is definitely worth a $30,000 real estate commission fee.

Sorry, National Association of Realtors.

Mark

I cruised over the Kami Watson’s Communications Overtones and was immediately enthused while kicking myself for missing a PRSA “Reputation Management in a Google World” teleseminar. The good news, however, is that Kami has shared the PowerPoint slides from the presentation that she and Lee Odden of Top Rank marketing.

What I think is fascinating about this presentation is how, even without the accompanying dialogue, lays out some excellent fundamentals and new perspective on SEO. Again, I was not on the call, but quite often, as I posted earlier this week, business reputational issues usually manifest themselves first in the online environment. With Google winning the search engine war, determining what people are saying about you, how prominent the voices are and how they impact stakeholder perceptions of your brand are the building blocks of an online reputation management program.

I am working on the the second in a series of articles for Media Bullseye on my take on online reputation management; stay tuned.
Mark

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