Bogged Blogs Bite Business

For techno-savvy business people blogs are the new e-mail newsletter.

Quick, easy to set up, quickly catalogued by search engines and the opportunity for instant feedback, blogs (short for web logs) are popularly being used by businesses to offer opinion, share information and host newsletter articles.

To see an example of a blog visit ours at http://www.bcm-online.blogspot.com/.

With the emergence of blogs comes aggregators that compile how popular someone’s blog or post is by the number of recommendations. Sites like Technocrati operate passively, based on the number of visits and the number of other people leaving comments and/or cross posting.

Others like Digg, Newsvine and del.icio.us require readers to hit the link to raise the profile of the story. Readers who go directly to sites like Digg can read the posts, rate whether they like it or not and make comments.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is, like all unmoderated, self-serve environments, the risk of abuse is great.

While it might be no surprised that political blogs like the American site Little Green Footballs might come under fire from political opponents, business web sites aren’t immune either.

Consider the poor owner of blog Cre8pc on Usability & Holistic SEO who had been ‘Dugg’.

“I had joined Digg last year, buying into the hype that this is something we must do in a Web 2.0 world. The belief is that the traffic that comes is great for your marketing efforts. I’ve already written about my dislike for Digg and how some Diggers gang up to get sites banned in industries they don’t like. I seem to be unable to unjoin it.

“In a Web 2.0 world, if you participate in it, there are new rules that can take some getting used to. One of them is watching something you write end up being twisted and manipulated into something you never intended or even dreamed of.

“Another way of looking at it is this. You take a walk through a park and quietly enjoy it and the experience. Perhaps you will recommend it to someone else. Or, you can visit the park and leave graffiti all over the benches, paths, and toss toilet paper into the tree branches.

“This is what people are doing nowadays. The Internet continues to reflect the physical world. No one is held accountable.”

Employing these tools are a great way to communicate your message to a worldwide audience but it comes with risks that many organisations will not have encountered before such as defamation, should someone take objection to a blog post or potentially if a commenter leaves an offensive comment.

Business Communications Management can help your organisation implement an effective communications management policy and as well as create a strategy that will enhance your reputation and encourage increased sales.

For March and April, we will develop an organisational media and communications policy FREE (valued at $660 incl GST) when you hire Business Communications Management to write your organisation's newsletter for 12 months.

How To Save A Life

The team at Business Communications Management believes it is important that businesses take a leadership role in supporting the community.

From a pure business point of view, a local sponsorship, an adopted charity or cause, can provide brand recognition, kudos and the potential for increased custom not to mention the goodwill and camaraderie it generates amongst your employees.

Even more importantly, this support makes your community a better place for everyone.

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) isn’t a new one. According to the Federal Government’s CSR page:

“Three essential components that combined, add up to socially responsible behaviour and performance. These are:

· Doing business responsibly;
· Taking a leadership position in community investment and social issues relevant to the business;
· Transparency and public reporting of the social, environmental and financial impacts and performance of the business.”

For Business Communications Management this means helping establish a new nationwide road safety initiative founded by long-time client and friend, Russell White, Australia’s foremost road safety expert.

The week starting April 23 is the first United Nations Global Road Safety Week.

In Australia we are proud to be foundation sponsors of Fatality Free Friday, an initiative with one simple message – drive to stay alive on the roads for one day, Friday April 27.

You can take part by visiting www.fatalityfreefriday.com, download and sign the pledge. Then persuade your friends, colleagues and co-workers to do the same and take the pledge.

With your help we can try to make April 27 one day where no one dies on our roads.

And The Nominees Are...

Business Communications Management is delighted to be a finalist in the 2007 Gold Coast Media Awards.

Nominated for the successful two-year ‘Sucked In’ Stormwater Safety Campaign developed for the Gold Coast City Council, the program centred on highlighting the dangers of storm water and flash flooding.

Combining psychology, multimedia and some lateral thinking, Sucked In was highly effective in raising the dangers but without the preachy, ‘thou-salt-nots’ that afflict the majority of safety campaigns.

For our Oscars moment we’d like to thank the following:
· The Gold Coast City Council for going for such as edgy campaign
· Beyond Edge for the outstanding production values
· And the ‘Director of Special Effects’ for providing rain, real rain, on cue for the film shoot

The awards are this Friday at the Sofitel Hotel, Broadbeach.

A Close Shave In Time

Remember when a single, disposable blade was the height of technological sophistication?

In 2007 it’s Gillette’s five blade ‘Fusion’.

So as a bit of fun we decided to raid the archives to come up with equivalent pinnacle of male grooming 60 years earlier - the classic 1948 Remington Electric Shaver.

Speaking of advertisements, the seriously cute Hyundai Santa Fe ad with the driving toddler has been pulled off air by the Australian standards council because of the aforementioned driving toddler.

As a number of commentators have already pointed out, the advertisement’s fantasy story, is obviously not a 'how-to' for mini motorheads and its banning is not only nonsensical but also runs the risk of advertisers and their agencies not pitching their best material in a case of PC gone feral.

While Business Communications Management regularly talks about appropriate risk management when planning a marketing program, there is such a thing as being so risk averse as to cater for the complete lowest common denominator.

A campaign concept that is edgy, or may attract negative comment for whatever reason, should have prepared a response well in advance – sometimes no response will be necessary at all and the general public will take up your cause – just so long as your message is framed for a reason and not simply for sensation.

Hw R U Commn8ng?

The art of effective communication is to ensure that your message is clearly understood. Simple enough, really.

By refusing to use jargon and saving technical terms for the right audience goes a long way to creating a common ground on which you can build a solid and long lasting relationship with your clients.

According to a colleague one way to damage a business relationship is to use ‘txt’-speak instead of plain English when appropriate.

He received a report entirely in ‘txt’ written by a junior staff member from a business he’d engaged.

When he complained to his counterpart, the reaction was that ‘txt’ is considered appropriate communication.

To prove his assertion our colleague drafted a detailed e-mail all in text back to the boss. Five hours later the response was a simple: “I see your point.”

‘Txting’ is a very useful form of shorthand, however if the same way that you wouldn’t send a letter filled with the traditional Pitmans, neither is SMS-speak a suitable way to send out a message to a wide audience.

While many students – even university graduates - struggle with the most basic of English grammar, a new generation of children are being taught SMSing is an ‘English language’.

Quote of the month

Chop your own wood, and it will warm you twice.
-- Henry Ford