Posted by Michael Walsh (Check me out!) on January 5th, 2007
Tagged as: Uncategorized
So it’s 2007 and this copywriter’s back with an identity crisis.
The title of this blog is quite apt at the moment as I appear to be transforming into a strategist. Words are no longer the end of a means but a means to an end.
I see them as part of a bigger strategy now, combining the dynamism and appeal of past media with a strategic function within the new.
Let me clarify this thought. In a recent post, Shel describes the opening chapter of his new book under the premise “…that human nature stays the same even as technology makes worlds biggerâ€.
I guess that’s progress. When you’re on the receiving end, your core opinions remain the same, yet those in charge of producing content that arrives to your door/inbox whatever have an underlying responsibility to their clients/employers to adapt to the needs and expectations of new media.
Recently over on Eric Klintz’s Marketing Excellence blog, he fired a warning shot over his online competitors’ bows to see what would happen. Under the title of The Corporate Blogging War Has Officially Started, Eric said that this was “the first time that all three of us – Dell, IBM and HP – have engaged in a competitive dialogue through blogs. Corporate blogging is clearly taking on a new dimension in 07. Companies are watching what their competitors are doing and commenting on blogsâ€.
Personally – and I need no disclaimer here – I think Eric pulled a fast one. I think he had a jab at Dell as Dell’s blog is on a roll and Klintz wanted a piece of it. Robert Scoble-Wan Kenobi thinks Dell are corporate superstars at the moment and when you’re at the top, you’re easy to knock.
There is unsurprisingly very little “conversation†going on in any of the leading IT companies’ blogs. Apart from replies, constructive criticism and so on, the content is never “startlingâ€.
But just how on earth could this be otherwise?
Blogs by definition deliver fresh web content.
That’s why the search engines love them and why blog flames shine like a strip of burning magnesium. They’re hot! hot! hot!
What’s hot about a corporation going about its 9-5?
OK Dell had their fair share of heat over the battery disaster but short of that, there’s precious little worth fighting over, let alone full scale blogging warfare.
What they’re doing right, is adapting the conversation, identifying it with their chosen Blogmaster (Lionel rules!) and making it relevant and personal.
By its very nature a corporation talking to independent bloggers is going to be a little unnatural, but Dell’s careful use of their own blog as a way of drip-feeding the world with their thoughts, progress and, why not, apologies, is truly remarkable.
I have read many a PR company harp on about how corporate blogs should be free and independent but I think this is a major misjudgment on their part. A corporate blog needs to be a place where conversations relay the underlying values of the company at its heart. They need to be dependable, constant and coherent year in year out.
Blogging superstars, influencers and sneezers will always exist and it’s these guys and girls who shoulder the responsibility of continuing the debate, not the corporations.
Posted by Michael Walsh (Check me out!) on December 22nd, 2006
Tagged as: Me
You ever get the idea that time flies straight past you?
That more or less has been the outcome of these last few weeks. Christmas is right there and I almost didn’t see it coming.
Before I go any further, I’d like to publicly thank the tech guys at Dell. My Workstation was well and truly KO. No safe-mode Windows trickery or system restore could pull it out of its frozen-screen hole.
After poking around for a few days, desperately trying to back up what I could (everything as it turns out), I made the call.
Actuall I made three. Each one took me to the next stagewith a level of professionalism and calmness that really struck me. Not because it was Dell, because it was so beyond what I’m used to from anyone it really stuck out.
So what do you think my opinion of Dell the company, it products and support services is after that? Hats off to them I say.
Right, with that off my chest it’s all-systems-go for some first hand SEO stuff this Christmas. First off TheAcerGuy is getting its own site. As much from the need for more space than a blog as to expeiment some SEO theories.
Then, my client’s own site. I had to force SEO on her as she knows someone high up in Google who assured her that the only way to stay at the top was to pay, heavily.
Sorry but that really irked me. I understand the need for Google to support its profitable business model but did they really have to go so far as to just plain lie??
So the challenge is on. First to prove to myself that it isn’t true (I already know that), and secondly to prove to my “boss” that her leg had been pulled so hard it should have hurt.
The other thing I have to do is set up an outline for an important corporate blog. It’s happening at last. First things forst, Wordpress or Moveable Type?
Posted by Michael Walsh (Check me out!) on December 18th, 2006
Tagged as: Search Engine Marketing
Well the idea was to keep things moving, develop content progressively over time and add my own observations on the SEO world.
But as we all know the best-laid plans of mice and men…
I’m writing on my trusty Acer notebook. NOT on my Dell workstation. Why? Because Windows automatically installed an update that causes the PC to freeze after about 5 minutes. I have been patiently securing all my data and carrying out an obscene number of diagnostic tests since Thursday.
Am I the only person in the world able to jam a dual processor workstation with everyday work applications?
The worst thing is that system restore doesn’t work as the PC freezes up while uninstalling the first of six upgrades…
The joy of letdowns.
On a lighter note, I was watching a video by Leslie Rhode from Optilink who mentioned SEM for the first time. Once the definition had been given (Search Engine Marketing), I then hopped over to Wikipedia for an explanation.
I had never given much thought to PPC advertising but it seems to me that a healthy combination of the two could work wonders. Sure enough, that seems to be what the world’s top SEO experts also recommend.
I can see the short-term advantages of PPC advertising when trying to sell an offer (i.e. Buy before) but if there’s just brand awareness going on, I think the equation would shift away from PPC. I mean what sort of return do you get from it (in terms of brand name bulding) and how can that be measured?
Still, SEM a fascinating addition to this SEO journey.
Posted by Michael Walsh (Check me out!) on December 11th, 2006
Tagged as: Uncategorized
What a week-end.
It’s all coming together now. Keyword density, proximity and prominence, Wordtracker, SEO Elite, rotating banners, merchant accounts… this stuff’s a nightmare!
But the book’s just too exciting to put down.
The thing about SEO is that it’s the most complex thing I’ve ever come across, spanning everything from graphics to site structure.
And like everything I’ve done before, SEO has its own, specific set of instruments.
Right now I’m sifting through the myriad of programs available online to add what I hope are the right ones to my arsenal.
Next up is to draw an operational to-do list that works for each and every project I do from day 1.
Once I’ve done that, I might just be able to get started with those 10 projects that brought me here in the first place.
Here’s to late nights then…
Posted by Michael Walsh (Check me out!) on December 6th, 2006
Tagged as: Me
My absence from this blog is painfully embarassing.
My excuse is honourable though - I’m learning.
I’m learning everything about split testing, adsense, content, deep linking and I haven’t even got to html yet..
I’ve listened to Brad Fallon, Andy Jenkins, Nancy Andrews, Dave Taylor, Tim Carter and the late, great Ken Giddens and my brain is beginning to boil.
My (white) hat goes off to these guys. They’re all electrifyingly brilliant.
Posted by Michael Walsh (Check me out!) on November 24th, 2006
Tagged as: Me
Man time is really becoming the new gold.
It’s been a busy busy week but there is definitely light in this tunnel. I’m not sure whether it’s coming through cracks in the wall or there really is an end but it’s definitely light.
I have spent the best part of this week exploring Second Life, and have to admit I’m not sure I’m any wiser now than when I started.
It’s a magical place, filled with intelligent, polite avatars alongside some real fruitcakes.
I had a wonderful sandwich at my local “real” bar while my avatar gyrated on a dancefloor for $LIN2 every 15 minutes.
But that aside, I’m beginning to see the potential, and there’s certainly plenty of that. Like any unexplored world, the opportunities are limited only by our own imagination.
Yet in the world of corporate missions, Second Life really rocks the boat.
If only there were 48 hours in a day, then my own personal second life would stand a chance.
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