Should You Ditch Your Blogging Schedule?
James at Men with Pens says that you should ditch your regular blogging schedule. Hmm…contrarian she may be…but does it make sense? Here’s an excerpt:
Here’s what the rules told us to do: Blog according to a schedule, and you’d be conveying that your blog was reliable, dependable and consistent… like a grocery store with set business hours you knew by heart. You could go in and get bananas because you knew the store would be open. And you knew when it would be closed, too. (Everyone needs sleep, after all.)
Warm fuzzies for everyone. Let’s give a round of applause, shall we? You’ve stuck to your schedule and your readers nod in approval. What a nice, reliable person you are.
But that’s where the benefits stop. In fact, if you stick to your consistent blogging schedule religiously, come hell or high water, you’ll soon fine the warm fuzzies fading away. You may even damage your readership relations, wreck your ability to collect comments, destroy your open rate on hot new posts and generally make your blog a boring mecca of take-it-for-granted production.
via–Why You Should Ditch Your Blogging Schedule | Men with Pens.
Even we, preachers from the Church of the Regular Blog Post have fallen off the wagon of late. Too much client work, a whole lot of life happening and perhaps even a little mental exhaustion has slowed us down. Perhaps the Men with Pens have a point. Or is it heresy?
We feel two or three posts a week for an established blog (our blog gets get about 34,000 hits a year–not immense, but not too shabby) is good. If you’re new to blogging you have to establish yourself, so of course you’ll want to do four or five posts a week. But when you hit that magic number–when you feel you have a set audience and that your blog is being “crawled” by the search engines–perhaps then you can throttle back. It’s worth considering.
What do you think? Leave a comment–or a link to your blog post about this subject.
Tweetin’ in ‘12
Okay, I promised before that I wouldn’t do one of those trite “end of the year” lists as a blog post, but I changed my mind when I was on Twitter yesterday. I was reminded that a lot of Twitter “newbs” come on line every day looking for good people to follow. So, in no particular order, these are some of my favorite Tweeters. Check ‘em out in 2012.
Note: This list is not comprehensive–I follow more than 3,800 tweeps–it’s just a sample of some of my favorites. They range from PR colleagues (and *clients) to writers to journalists to strategists to marketers to…well, people from all walks of life.
@kbmckinney Mom. Social Media Geek. Writer. Lawyer. And a Bunch of Other Stuff. (Kate posts consistently interesting tweets and info.)
@Brainzooming Tweets by Mike Brown featuring strategy, innovation, creativity, & social media ideas. (He’s also pretty funny.)*
@EdenBaylee Author of literary erotica and bestselling novel, FALL INTO WINTER. (Eden is a great example of a person who shares of herself and helps others in the social media space.)
@ShellyKramer Marketing/brand strategist, idea generator, digital content magician, scribbler, information junkie. Luv MilkDuds+Beer. Member of Oversharers Anonymous. (The “dean” of Twitter as far as I’m concerned–though Shelly is far more than a social media titan–check her out, you’ll see.)
@mmangen Bookworm | Horse Lover | Virtual Assistant | Single Mom | From the Land of Beer and Cheese now Living in the Sunshine State | Oldest of Seven | iTunes Addict (Michelle shares some fun stuff–with a wide variety of interests.)
@Dan_Coyle Nationally (now INTERnationally) Touring Singer Songwriter. Music Lover. Coffee Lover. Lover of Weird Things — If You’re Weird, I’ll Love You. (This guy is an excellent self-promoter who truly cares about his twitter friends and fans. He also has a quirky side and often posts links to some very interesting articles and sites.)*
@adamsconsulting Graduate of USC, Entrepreneur for over 10 yrs, Writer for BitRebels.com and InkRebels.com, Voice for the Homeless in Atlanta. I’m really into just being happy. (Diana always has something I can’t resist clicking!)
@OfRevolt I narrowly escaped the clutches of The Man to travel, write, and blog about the daily activities of being without a home. I sing, dance, and make merry! (My favorite travel blogger!)
@JohnFugelsang God got Vaclav Havel, the Devil got Kim-Jong II, and neither of them got near Christopher Hitchens. I’m an actor & comedian. Our album- http://bit.ly/un61bi (Smart, edgy comedian. Note he’s often political and Left-leaning. If you’re a Fox News fan, you probably won’t dig him.)
@Jdickerson Political correspondent Slate magazine/Political Director CBS News. (Informative, witty and incisive.)
@JeanGleason An HR Princess with attitude speaking the hard HR truths. I love to travel and the ocean! My family & friends are the most important things in my life. (Jean is a great person and a true resource for HR info.)
@JasonHarper Son of a librarian & English professor. Champion of writing, dialogue, knowledge & culture. Tweeting for @KCLibrary. (His bio says it all.)
@Harris_Barb PR chick by profession, humanitarian by passion. Writer of food blog http://ourfeedingfrenzy.com. @feedingfrnzy (Her food blog is a must-read. She needs to tweet more, though!)
@ginidietrich CEO of Arment Dietrich. Author of spinsucks.com. Vistage member. Author. Speaker. Communicator. Avid cyclist. A foodie. Loves shoes & wine. (Funny, informative and prolific, Gini has a great PR blog, too.)
@AlexisCeule Social Media Mamapreneur-Chief Engagement Officer: Making ur brand social via word o mouse! I love me some @Train and I’ll shoot u on MWII as KUfans2009. (Great fun and lots of cool info.)
@StephGreenKC Sprint B2B PR. Ask me abt M2M, connected car, smart grid, health/wellness, digital signs, security, mobility, IP. Love to chase my 3-year-old and travel! (Good telecom-related stuff and yes, she’s my wife so you’re damn right I list her here!)
I could go on…but time is running out on 2011 and I need to hop off the blog, Twitter and the internet in general to enjoy more time with my family. Remember–Twitter is a great way to connect with interesting people, but don’t let it hog all your time and prevent you from “connecting” with your loved ones and friends “in real life.”
Happy New Year.
The PR Top 20
Our colleague Kelly Davis pointed out a great post about public relations and client expectations on Ragan’s PR Daily by Elizabeth Friedland titled “20 Things PR Clients Should Know.”
It’s a little snarky, but comes from a good place and can help clients understand the most effective ways for us to succeed on their behalf. We encourage PR pros and clients alike to check it out.
We’ve excerpted a few of the twenty “things” that we found of particular import. We have said many similar things on this blog over the years, but this is such a succinct post that puts it all in one place we just had to share it. So, without further ado…our favorites from this educational post:
1. No, we don’t know every journalist everywhere across the universe—not that it matters. Even journalists whose weddings we were in will turn down our pitches occasionally.
2. A good publicist doesn’t have to be based in New York or Los Angeles to be effective. Ever heard of this crazy thing called email? (Note from AlexanderG PR: Have we mentioned we’re in Kansas City?)
[...]
5. Stop insisting we call the media. Most of them hate this and specifically request we contact them exclusively via email.
6. PR is not free advertising. PR is not free (or cheap), period.
7. Don’t ask us to pitch an idea and then not be available for an interview. If you want the press, we need you to be ready to talk to the media at a moment’s notice.
8. What matters most to you may be totally irrelevant to a journalist. Remember that it’s what they—not you—think is important that matters in the end.
[...]
10. Social media is more than Facebook and Twitter.
11. If you insist on running all tweets and posts past your legal department, don’t expect results from your social media strategy.
12. If a journalist says he or she is not interested in a story, that person means it. Reaching out again will further annoy the reporter and guarantee you’ll be ignored the next time.
13. Don’t measure your PR results in ad equivalency rates. Do you want to know you had $500,000 of ad equivalent value in negative press, or would you rather know 80 percent of the press you received was positive in tone and accurate in its messages?
14. No, we’re not writing any more “…pleased to announce…” ledes.
15. Ditto for “We’re so excited/thrilled/happy” CEO quotes. Pretend you’re explaining the story to a friend over drinks, and then give us that quote.
[...]
17. PR is a process. You know who hits it big overnight with a story on the “Today” show? Criminals, naughty celebrities, and shark-attack victims. Do you want to be one of them?
Good stuff Elizabeth! You can read the entire “20″ by clicking over here.
Kansas City: America’s Most Entrepreneurial City
Our recent posts about the Gigabit City ideation activities conducted in part by our client The Brainzooming Group (download the free report here) have us keeping an eye on Kansas City’s new economic thrust:
As entrepreneurs ourselves, this is a fantastic affirmation. You see, less than two years ago in the darkest depths of the Great Recession–equipped with little cash, a few connections and the tremendous knowledge and encouragement we received from graduating the Kauffman FastTrac GrowthVenture program–we started AlexanderG PR.
Since then our revenues have more than tripled and our client load (local, regional and national) is quickly approaching the point where a dedicated part-time staffer will need to be hired…not to mention the fact that our job satisfaction has never been better.
It’s great living in a city that respects and encourages entrepreneurs. Most of all, it’s exciting that with Google fiber technology, the rest of the world will know about it very soon. The possibilities are endless.
Ultra-High Speed Internet: Gimmick or Difference Maker?
Our friends at The Brainzooming Group helped shape an intriguing project featuring two graduate level marketing communications classes at the University of Kansas. Students in Max Utsler’s “Innovations in Marketing Communications” class and Barrett Sydnor’s “Integrated Marketing Communications and Sales Strategy” class are writing blog posts during the semester on topics related to the classes, including branding, marketing, media relations, social media, experience marketing, and innovation.
Today’s author is Patrick Kerr. Patrick is pursuing his Masters degree in Marketing Communications at KU.
Patrick offers some insights and opinions about the impact of the Google Ultra-High Speed Internet technology that has been “gifted” to Kansas City. Is it just a “marketing ploy” by Google or a genuine advantage for KC–or both?
Ever since Google announced it was planning to build an ultra high-speed broadband network in Kansas City on both sides of the river, I’ve wondered what the actual impact would be on the metro area. After all, Google made it clear that the plan would do very little in terms of jobs which disappointed city leaders and laid-off workers hoping for an immediate economic windfall. Who cares if you can download the latest Youtube video faster than usual? Is this really going to improve the quality of life in the metro area, or is this merely a marketing ploy by a company that is systematically taking over the technology world?
First, let’s take a look at what the new technology will actually do. The plan is to build a network that will deliver Internet speeds of up to 1 gigabit (or 1,000 megabits) per second using state-of-the-art-fiber technology. That’s approximately 20,000 times faster than dial-up and more than 100 times faster than a typical broadband connection. In the animal world, that would be like a cheetah racing a turtle in a dead-on sprint. In other words: scary fast.
According to Google, the plan will boost the area economy by allowing new innovations and cutting-edge technologies to develop in Kansas City. That’s all well and good and sounds convincing enough on paper, but how does that translate in reality? With the announcement of the Bistate Innovations Team, Kansas City leaders from both sides of the state line aren’t waiting around to find out. The team is made up of 12 key people appointed by both Kansas City mayors and will look at ways the area can take advantage of the project.
“From designers to small-business owners, health care to education, the arts to industry, these exceptional individuals will work together to explore every possibility our exciting partnership with Google may offer. I am confident this team will seize this transformational moment for both Kansas Cities,” said Kansas City, Mo. Mayor Sly James in a statement following the announcement.
So it is clear area leaders are taking a proactive approach to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That’s the first of many steps in the right direction. But how is this news being received at the national level? According to a recent Wall Street Journal roundup of industry hubs across country, the newspaper identified Kansas City as an emerging technology hotbed and even suggested the city’s new nickname should be “Silicon Prairie.” The article cited the growth of area tech giants Sprint and Cerner as reasons for the choice, but also credited Google’s ultra-high-speed internet plans for solidifying the selection. Now that’s the kind of traction that just might encourage businesses to relocate to or start up in Kansas City.
Now back to the question of how this new development will impact the daily lives of Kansas Citians. Just this past weekend, Google-owned YouTube announced it was planning to launch 100 new channels of professionally made video to the otherwise amateur content that currently dominates its website. The Wall Street Journal, British newswire Reuters and online magazine Slate are some of the many channels scheduled to debut on the new lineup. The move is seen as one more step in moving TV to the Internet. Once the city’s new high-speed Internet is in place, it will be at the forefront of this exciting new technology.
Of course, some analysts see the development as yet another way to increase viewership on the Internet – which is precisely where Google wants them. Perhaps Google’s plan to build the new high-speed connection for Kansas City is a marketing ploy after all.
-Patrick Kerr lives and works in the Kansas City area. His interests include good food, fishing and finding new hobbies to take his mind off the reeling Kansas City Chiefs and Royals.
Get Blasted
We do a somewhat irregularly-published e-newsletter (aka eblast)–but when we do it’s usually pretty cool. Info, tips and fun stuff galore.
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