August 2006

In his book The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell said that in order to become epidemic, an idea needed to be “sticky.” If it wasn’t in some way memorable or didn’t resonate with people, it wouldn’t take off. Creating a viral epidemic with a product at the center is the goal of many a major company, but what’s a company to do when the wrong thing takes off?

That’s what happened to Starbucks this week when Southeast Regional Coordinator Kimberly Beasley sent an e-mail to Starbucks employees in her area:

Hi Everyone,

Starting today until September 30th, please join us in “surprising and delighting ” our family and friends, while introducing you to our iced beverages. Attached is an invitation for a complimentary iced Grande beverage. Please forward this invitation to everyone in your email address book.

Soon, the offer was everywhere, in e-mails, on blogs, and even on a few Websites especially for deal hunters. It got so big that on Tuesday Starbucks voided the promotion, saying that it was “redistributed beyond the original intent and modified beyond Starbucks’ control.”

The question before the court now is, how could Starbucks not see this exploding all over the place? You don’t get much stickier or more contagious than offering something for nothing, especially when you do it on the Web. Did they think that it would stay a closely guarded secret when employees were encouraged to “forward this invitation to everyone in your email address book?” John Moore at Brand Autopsy, who helped shape Starbucks’ field marketing programs, certainly seems to agree with this.

If I were Starbucks, I wouldn’t cancel the deal right away. Instead, I would admit the mistake, announce a change in the end date of the promotion and then continue to give away the free coffees for another few days. That at least would give time for the news of the offer’s cancellation to make its way through the networks that originally started the epidemic. The end result of this would be that fewer people would end up disappointed.

These sorts of things happen even to the best companies, and it’s in these situations that having a company blog is most useful. In this instance Starbucks could have used their blog to disseminate information about the misstep a lot faster, and possibly save themselves a few thousand irritated customers. We’ll talk more about using company blogs as both a lightening rod and a communications tool when controversy strikes at the next Blog Business Summit conference this October.

I was very excited to read yesterday about Dave Winer’s new moblogging application that works on a number of smart phones. Being able to blog from my phone is incredibly helpful sometimes.

But I’ve recently come across a new, even cooler use for my phone. I can now pair my Samsung T509 with my Macintosh iBook G4 using the T509 as a modem. It took me a few hours to make the service work properly, since the rather uncreative tech support people at Samsung remain convinced that the T509 is completely incompatible with Macintosh computers.

Fortunately, I came across Tim Hatch’s site through Google. Tim is an über geek who wrote a script that not only allows the phone to work with the Macintosh, but creates a blazing fast connection that rivals the DSL I use at home.

The first time I actually got the service to connect, I felt a deep surge of glee. I’m free from paying for WiFi at airports and in coffee shops. I can access the Web from the park, from my car (while someone else is driving, of course), and anywhere else I get cell service.

What does this mean for you business bloggers? It suddenly opens up whole new blocks of time for you to blog. One of the main issues that many business people have with blogging is that it’s a non-trivial time commitment. But imagine how much more productive you could be if you could check the buzz and get a post up while riding the bus in the morning or when you’ve shown up early for an appointment.

David Cicconne is mightily irritated with Apple. Apparently he’s experienced a number of problems with his MacBook Pro and has dealt with some very rude service people in the process of solving them.

Obviously, Jeff’s experiences with Dell were much more harrowing. But eventually, his complaints about the product and the customer service eventually lead to Dell starting a blog.

Is it possible that Apple has reached a point where it too needs a blog in order to respond to very public customers’ issues with its products and services? As the company continues to grow, it will almost certainly reach a point where this is the case. Perhaps the time to preemptively launch a blog is now.

Yesterday’s announcement by Apple that Google C.E.O. Eric Schmidt will join its board means that half of Apple’s eight person board has ties to the search giant.

This means several things in the context of the Web, emerging technologies, and business. First and foremost, it means that Apple is looking to the Web as a platform for more applications. We can probably look for more Web-dependent products from Apple in the years to come. This is especially true if, as some analysts predict, Google is planning to take its omnipresent WiFi experiment in San Francisco to other cities in the coming years.

Apple’s latest computer products already offer blogging and podcasting capabilities straight out of the box, and with further strategic ties to Google, I can’t help but wonder whether Apple might decide to delve further into this space. Could the next few years bring an even more robust Apple blogging platform to the marketplace? Such an offering would likely entice many a prospective business blogger to become an Apple user purely for simplicity’s sake. It would be good for Apple and for the business blogosphere, which plays right in to Google’s waiting hands.

Only time will tell exactly how this relationship will play out, but the 30,000 foot view suggests that Apple’s future became a even more Web-based in the past 24 hours.

There are a lot of ways for businesses to dive into the social Web. If you’re interested in marketing to young people, you can delve into the social networky environs of Facebook or MySpace. If you’re more interested in communicating with a Web-savvy core constituency like shareholders or potential clients, then you’ll want to come to our upcoming conference and think about starting a blog.

But if you’re looking to reach out and establish your network and reputation as an individual professional on the Web, then you’ll want to consider LinkedIn as a first step into the social Web. I first became aware of this remarkable application of social networking through Todd Defren at PR Squared. Since LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to endorse somebody else, it allows you to demonstrate just how well-regarded you are by your peers. Defren sees this as a way to create a space on the Web to represent his professional reputation and allow it to evolve.

It also allows you to crawl out along your contacts’ networks to see who they know. Maybe a college classmate of yours now happens to be on good terms with the head honcho at Acme Widgets who you’ve been trying to get in touch with for months.

I’ve been told that the service works very well for some people, and not so well for others. But I’m willing to give it a shot and see where it leads. Still, I see it as a nice way to take a baby step into the social Web and see if it’s for you.

An article from Scotsman.com floated into my RSS reader yesterday. It basically lays out what we’ve talked about a ba-jillion times: companies need a blogging policy because employees talk about work on their blogs and they might make your business look bad.

But let’s stop harping on the negative. It’s not like all of your employees are just itching to badmouth your business the minute they get off work. Apart from maybe one or two disgruntled folks, the vast majority of your workforce probably has something constructive to say about your company.

You need a blogging policy. But not just because you’re worried that your employees will spill your trade secrets on the Web. You need one because you want your employees to talk about all the good stuff that’s going on at work in ways that you sanction and support. You want your employees to put out good word of mouth about your business even when they’re not working. You should start working on a company blogging policy soon so that everyone knows the ground rules and the consequences for violating them.

We’ll be talking about company blogging policies on the first day of our upcoming conference this October. Check out the sessions page for more information.

Had a conversation the other day with search, blog advertising, and Web 2.0 guru John Battelle about his upcoming session at the Blog Business Summit. We were working to find the intersection between what we’re both hearing from companies that want to tap into the new marketing model, and what his experience has been. John will be submitting his session details to me in a few days for posting, but I thought I’d share my thoughts of what we discussed.

Some of the key conclusions from the conversation were:

* We are transitioning from a CPM world to a conversational one. The shotgun approach to marketing is being replaced by a model more akin to a laser beam.

* Search has been a major catalyst for the changes we’re seeing in media. Many companies are creating blogs in order to improve their positions in search engine rankings. Podcasts and video creations are also discovered predominately via search.

* Guess what. You used to just sell widgets, you’re now a media company too. Companies not only now have the ability to propagate audio, video, and text worldwide — they also have the obligation to do so (if they want to stay competitive.)

* Corporations are finally embracing blogging. What we’ve been calling the “fear of blogging” is rapidly vanishing.

* If you are going to start blogging as a company, the first step is find the bloggers. Forget (for now) what software you’re going to use, or how you’ll host your blog(s). First you need to find passionate, talented people that want to post regularly.

I’ll have more information on each point as we get closer to the conference.

I’ve been working over the past few days to design a WordPress Theme based upon a really beautiful Movable Type template. But the transfer of the CSS and related information has been neither easy nor simple.

In Publish and Prosper Steve and Byron write about how you need to be very careful when selecting a platform, because moving information between platforms is a pain in the tuchus. This goes almost doubly for the transfer of a site’s look and feel.

We’ll be talking about selecting the right platform for your needs the first time at our upcoming Blog Business Summit conference.

Say what you want about Dell: their customer service is shoddy, they make batteries that explode, etc. But at least they have a blog where Dell owners can learn the latest about the recently announced recall of more than 4 million defective batteries.

Apple announced a similar recall today after some of its batteries overheated and caused burns and property damage.

Now, you all know I’m a huge fan of Apple. I find their computers and operating system superior to anything else out there. But this recall has me truly and deeply frustrated with my favorite computer company.

It took me nearly half an hour to find any official information on Apple’s website about the recall. I looked at the guidelines that Apple provided (see left) and found that my iBook G4 battery (model number A1061, serial number 6C541055S9YD) was affected by the recall. But when I typed the pertinent information into Apple’s exchange process form, I was told that my battery was not eligible for exchange.

I’ve checked the serial number of my battery a dozen times. I even had my fiancé check it just to make sure. It’s clearly the right model number, and unless I’m way worse at math than my high school grades led me to believe:

519 < 541 < 552 

So what’s the deal? Can Apple explain what’s going on post-haste, or do they need to hold a press conference? Is my laptop battery going to burn my beautiful thighs, which I hope to keep burn-free? Should I take the battery out or can I continue to roam with my laptop unplugged?

If Apple had a blog, like Dell, all of those questions might be answered. But as it is, I have to wait until 6 a.m. tomorrow to call tech support and wait on hold for a million years.

Update 8/25/06: I spent about 45 minutes this morning on hold with Apple (while filtering through my RSS reader, of course) before speaking with a live human being. It turns out that it will take 4-6 weeks for my shiny new battery to arrive and in the meantime, Apple recommends that I refrain from using my old, explosion-prone one. What a nightmare!

Conan O’Brien was on the Charlie Rose show tonight, and I felt some of the discussion correlated strongly to entrepreneurial blogging.

O’Brien commented on the success of programs like the daily show, and how late night hosts now have the luxury to be much more specialized in their approach and content.

Rose agreed and expanded by discussing how over the years he’d been skeptical when highly topical channels like the Food Network and Golf Network etc. emerged. Rose originally thought that niche networks couldn’t make it, but is now a believer. He commented that for all the networks he doubted “In every case, specialization has succeeded.”

I’m working on a panel to be held our next event right now, and am bringing in some niche bloggers to discuss how specialized sites can get and still make money.

Somehow a setting in the stylesheet was at 230 pixels instead of 23. Let this be a lesson to all of you, one missed keystroke can wreak a lot of havoc.

The problem is fixed now and the site should be rendering properly in all browsers. If you see a problem, please leave us a comment here and we’ll be sure to fix it.

Thanks for your patience!

If you’re a speaker sponsor, attendee or just a friend of business blogging, you can help us spread the word about the Blog Business Summit.

Click here to find a variety of badges, banners, skyscrapers and bugs that you can use on your site or in the sidebar of your blog. We’ll have more coming soon, so stay tuned.

The folks down at the Seattle Waterfront Marriott tell me that our blocks of rooms are ready to be purchased. If you want to do it on the Web, use the code BLOB LOA when reserving your room. If you’re doing it over the telephone, you can call (206) 443-5000. These room deals are going to go fast, so make sure to book your registration and room as soon as you can.

Our special pre-launch pricing (half off) will be available through September 6.

We’re aware that something has occurred that causes the BBS site to render strangely in Internet Explorer. We’re on it. Please bear with us.

Jared Watts seems like a pretty typical guy my age. He’s got his first job out of college working at a Cingular store. His dad–who is senior vice president and associate general counsel of Cingular’s parent company, AT&T–helped him get his foot in the door. He’s got a blog on LiveJournal and a profile on Facebook.

The problem is that Jared blogs pretty regularly about how much he hates his job, his customers, and his manager. The Washington Post recently did an article about how the online behavior of newsmakers’ offspring can embarrass their prominent parents. Jared’s father told the Post through a company spokesperson that, “I care very much for my son. And like many fathers and sons, we have differences of opinion on many subjects.”

Elana Centor at Funny Business thinks that Cingular could, if they chose to listen, learn a great deal about employee satisfaction from reading Watts’ blog. I agree that they could learn a great deal, but I think that Watts should still be reprimanded for his unprofessional behavior, no matter how powerful his father is.

This incident further illustrates the need for companies to have policies laying out what is appropriate and what is inappropriate when it comes to employees discussing work online in their free time. If such a policy were in place at Cingular, then this unfortunate and unprofessional incident might never have occurred.

One of Centor’s observations stuck me as incredibly prescient. She wrote, “Jared says what he wants to whomever he wants. His dad opts for the company spokesperson. Talk about a generation gap.” It’s absolutely true that there is a major generation gap when it comes to making personal information–be it images of ourselves kicking back with a drink or gripes about work–public. I posted recently about these issues with regard to social networking.

I maintain that it’s not necessarily bad that my generation likes to put ourselves out there on the Web. It’s a cultural difference that our parents’ generation needs to respect. We have the right to share our personal thoughts and pictures with the world if we want to. But in order to earn that respect, we must collectively grow some maturity and judgment about where we draw the line–especially when it comes to work. I rarely blog about my job on my personal blog, and when I do I usually talk genuinely about how much I love what I do. If I have issues with my job, I talk to my boss directly and professionally. That’s just common sense.

Jared Watts grew that common sense the hard way. It was only after having his complaints about work splashed all over the Post that he made his blog “friends only,” which means that only the people he knows and trusts through LiveJournal can read his blog.

UPDATE 11/1/06 11:03 a.m. Kevin O’Keefe of LexBlog has a great post about law students and MySpace.

I was excited to see The Bivings Report’s finding that half of the major public relations firms now have officially sanctioned blogs that they link to from their Websites. This is up from only 22% back in March. If anything is a measure of how far the blogosphere has penetrated into mainstream business culture, it’s the level to which communications professionals accept it as a major change in their industry.

That makes me think that our upcoming conference should be pretty popular among the PR folks. I’m looking forward to see if my theory bears out.

Stay tuned for more on this, all these metrics attempting to measure blog savvy have my brain spinning.

Being a social networking addict, I log into Facebook almost every day. I always want to see what my college friends–who scattered to the four winds when we graduated–are up to.

Today, I noticed a new feature called “notes,” which allows users to integrate an RSS feed into a Facebook profile, so that all their Facebook friends can read their bloggings without ever leaving the privacy of the walled garden.

Since I have more than one blog, I imported my Ziki feed which integrates all the blogging and Flickring I do into one central feed. This will allow my Facebook friends to always see where I’ve been posting and what I’m talking about.

I previously wrote that imeem had the best chance of becoming the major force in social networking because they integrated both blogging and instant messaging into the mix. With the introduction of this RSS feed importing, it looks as though Facebook may be catching up to them.

Another social networking site that is working with blogging–in reverse–is ConsuMating. Instead of integrating an existing RSS feed into a user’s profile, ConsuMating allows users to share their participation in the ConsuMating community (answers to questions, entries in photo contests, etc.) via their blogs.

What does all this mean for businesses? It’s simple. As blog, social networking and instant messaging draw ever closer to one another, people will be sharing information about your products and services in a variety of ways. Understanding how all of these services link to one another is key to a larger understanding of the way that word of mouth marketing can take flight on the Web.

Businesses and other organizations are certainly taking notice. Apple is making splendid use of Facebook by offering students weekly 25-song samplers for free from the iTunes store. Each sampler showcases up and coming stars in different genres of music. I’ve already discovered one excellent artist–the fabulous Mat Kearney (iTunes)–this way.

I also recently advised a friend of mine who is running for local office to use Facebook and MySpace to recruit campaign volunteers. But instead of sending out mass impersonal messages to everyone in the district, I warned her to stay small and tap into existing social nets, mining friends of her current volunteers whose political beliefs aligned with her own and then asking them to branch out to their friends along the network.

These kinds of strategies can work well for any organization with the right strategy. We’ll be talking more about social networking and its impact on businesses at the next Blog Business Summit.

CBS made Katie Couric the anchor of their evening news because they’ve been stuck in a dismal third place in the nightly news business and they know that she’ll create a buzz. But they also understand that the nightly news business as we know it is fading rapidly away.

That’s why I think it’s brilliant that they’ve decided to stream the evening news with Katie Couric live online. What’s even more brilliant is that each episode will be offered on demand after the fact, both as an entire episode and as individual segments on different topics.

This will allow bloggers to link in to a specific story the same way we currently link to a video on YouTube. It will bring the evening news into the 21st century in a way that NBC and ABC have yet to accomplish.

ABC was the first television network to stream ad-supported episodes of its television shows for free from their website. The problem with this initiative is that they didn’t provide for the kind of bandwidth that the site would require. I hope that CBS is better prepared for the kind of demand they’ll be experiencing once Ms. Couric takes to the Web on September 5.

We’ll be talking more about how businesses can provide content and products in formats that allow people to enjoy them how and when they want at our upcoming conference this October.

Due to a death in the family, I have fallen a bit behind in posting session and speaker specifics for the upcoming conference. Because of this, I don’t feel comfortable bumping up the pricing just yet. I am certain that some people wanted more detail before they committed to the event, so I want to provide more editorial information to prospective attendees before pressuring them to sign up. For that reason, I have decided to extend the “super early bird” pricing until Sept 6.

I will say that I have been very impressed with the interest and registrations that have come in, and we are running ahead of previous conferences in terms of sign ups. My impression is that business blogging may just be going “mainstream.” For those of you that have registered already, I want you to know that I greatly appreciate your vote of confidence in our event despite not having all details posted.