eriksr on August 11th, 2008
Cory Doctorow, science-fiction auteur and chief Boing Boing blogger, has an interesting article up at The Guardian that starts with a note about a deal between the music industry and internet service providers, but goes on at length about the evolution of the struggle between copyright holders and the businesses — or people — who want their content.
It got me thinking back to many years ago, when I was a freelance journalist. I enjoyed the last, best days of a profession that had a great real of respect for copyright. This was back when writers were able to charge extra for their work appearing online, before everyone had a Web site. But then something happened — publishers became hungry for content. All that copy was going to attract eyeballs, and eyeballs meant advertising dollars. Publishers printed their writer’s work online with impunity, rarely bothering to ask for permission or even to notify the writers.
We’ve all forgotten what copyright was about
And then, as if my day couldn’t get any cheerier, I came across this post from copyright lawyer William Patry. Patry announced that he is ending his blog, partly because “The current state of copyright law is too depressing”. This quote in particular jumped out at me:
Much like the U.S. economy, things are getting worse, not better. Copyright law has abandoned its reason for being: to encourage learning and the creation of new works. Instead, its principal functions now are to preserve existing failed business models, to suppress new business models and technologies, and to obtain, if possible, enormous windfall profits from activity that not only causes no harm, but which is beneficial to copyright owners.”
Thanks, William, for summing this up so beautifully. When I first read up about copyright more than ten years ago, I remember learning that it one of the motivations for it was to help keep things fresh. Without copyright law the world would be flooded with derivative, unoriginal work (just like at all the Winnie the Pooh crap out there) is poison for businesses — people want the fresh and new.
This is an analogy for your life
Sorry state of affairs aside, Patry’s dirge is both a warning and a reminder: Don’t get bogged down trying to preserve something that is failing, don’t stop learning, and don’t be evil. Reminds me of Google, but its a good mantra to keep in mind in your daily life, be you marketer, public relations professional, or otherwise.
eriksr on July 9th, 2008
Contacts, good. Chatting with contacts, better. Turning contacts into leads, best of all.
And you can use LinkedIn to do it.
REACH OUT AND TOUCH . . .
Now, before we go any further, you should be aware that we are talking about a tightly targeted list. Not a massive sales list, but a short list of amazingly on-target leads.
Being this targeted means you are not sending out hundreds of emails. LinkedIn won’t let you. But being this targeted means that each and every person you are reaching out to is perfect, just perfect for you.
Which should give you an amazingly high response rate. Read the rest of this entry »
eriksr on September 4th, 2007
How many times have you had to stop and puzzle something out on your computer today? This week? How 
much billable time are you losing out on because you need to format something just right but can’t find the button to do so?
Since getting a Mac, I’ve had such a smooth computing experience I sometimes find myself at a loss for something to do. With my windows computers there was always something to fix, a program to update, virus scan to run, and so on. The experience has opened my eyes to two concepts: User interface and willingness to learn.
Read the rest of this entry »
eriksr on June 19th, 2007
Fourth week on a new job and, as usual, I’m learning new things all the time. The most recent lesson? The difference between a plain document and an attractive document is HUGE. Heap-big. Imagine presenting your client with a document that is little more than bolded headings and blogs of text, versus bold use of colors — dark blue background with white text, for example.
I’m not advocating going overboard here, nor am I saying that creating a nice looking report/document will win or keep you any business. What I am saying is that presenting your reader with something well organized will grease the skids and make life a bit more pleasant.
Read the rest of this entry »
eriksr on June 6th, 2007
File this one under personal productivity, folks. Do you have any idea how much slower
your computer is as a result of the anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, and anti-everything else software you have loaded? If you were to remove all that stuff right now, you would notice the difference — I guarantee it.
So it is with great pleasure that I announce I recently became an official Mac convert. No viruses, no spyware — nothing to worry about. I’m actually enjoying using a computer again. So what, pray tell, would happen if we put one in front of everyone at a PR firm? I think you would “move the needle” on productivity. Not just because of security, but because of how friendly and approachable the operating system is. It seems to encourage experimentation. Experimentation leads to experience and comfort, and when it comes to technology, this is something PR practitioners need desperately. Read the rest of this entry »
eriksr on May 4th, 2007
Day in, day out, you blog and blog and blog. And then, one day, you run out
of things to blog about. Or, you just hit an incredibly busy day; just plain old don’t feel like it; life gets in the way…
Certainly it is a good idea to have a few extra blog posts kicking around for these times, but it you don’t, here are a few ideas to help you create a fast and dirty blog post.
Round ‘em up
Find you revisit the same topic again and again? How about a round-up of all the product reviews you’ve posted, for example, or all the how-to posts? You probably shouldn’t do this too often, but once in a while it’s great to help remind your readers of all the wholesome goodness on your site; wholesome goodness they might have missed.
Link lively
Got a great list of resources? Provide a “Top Ten Tech Links” list, for example. What about a list of blogs of interest? How about “Five Great Blogs Everyone Should Bookmark.” Or what about tools, such as time trackers or mileage calculators that your reader’s could use? “Fourteen Handy Tools for PR Practitioners” would work nicely. Not only is this truly helpful for your visitor but, even better, linking out may, just may, encourage them to link right back to you.
What’s new, pussycat?
Certainly press releases are a great source of information. But don’t forget the news, too. Particularly if something you hear will have an impact on your industry. This is where your RSS reader is your friend. And this, too, is where you get to show your visitors that you are a valuable source of the newest information.
Gotta get a guest
Is there anything easier or better than a guest poster? Your reader gets another point of view, which is great for variety. And you get to take the day off. Which reminds me, if anyone would like to guest post, just let me know. I truly value your insight. And my bottle of suntan lotion is standing by.
Comment heaven
The focus on blogs is traditionally the person(s) running the blog, not the people who leave the comments. But, hey, why should commenter’s get off scott-free? Instead, encourage them to do the work by posing an interesting theory, perhaps, or a question or story or what-have-you and ask for their thoughts. Ask “How would you have handled this matter?,” for example, or “What alternative avenues would you explore?,” or “Why do you think this failed?” and watch the comments fly. Do note, however, that this only works if you have commenter’s. Doh!
Everything old is new again
Wrote about something some time ago and changed your opinion, for example, or suggested a site and a better one has come along? It’s not a bad idea to review old posts. If any of them now require additional comments, it should be fast and easy to simply create a new post with new comments and a link to the old post.
Laughter is the best medicine
When all else fails, you can’t go wrong with the occasional theme-related cartoons, images, videos, or even jokes. Assuming they are not offensive. And they are funny.
