Overcast skies, but no rain yet as predicted.
The humidity is thick. It muffles sound and softens the light, like walking through cotton balls.
Creatures scatter in the bushes along our path.
A crow flits from treetop to treetop, wrestling for balance and drunkenly leading the way.
On the beach, the smooth bay surface blends into the gray horizon haze.
The outgoing tide brushes the sandbar. Glad I left my shoes at the stairs.
The water is cool, soothing the spots where no-see-ums are nipping my ankles.
The dog splashes in and out, searching for shells and birds. I could swear he’s grinning.
A boy and his mother walk by. He has an armload of baby clams to bring home.
I break the news that they’re too small to eat and broker a deal.
Toss the clams back and I’ll give you this sand dollar I just found.
The clams buy another day. The boy walks away a little richer.
The sun starts clearing a path through the clouds. It’s going to be a scorcher.
The dog has bored of chasing gulls and nuzzling dead skates and crabs.
I start thinking of the day’s work ahead. And air conditioning.
He’s already focused on a cookie and a nap.
Happy birthday, Turk.
August 11, 2009
May 22, 2009
Who better than you?
I’ve had an interesting convergence of conversations lately that have me thinking more about the power of do-it-yourself media. By that I don’t mean ranks from any Dick, Jane, or Sally and slapped up on a blog, but experienced, knowledgeable, accurate news and information gathered, analyzed, and distributed by trained professionals with a larger goal in mind.
Here’s a sampling of the conversations:
~ Anne, who’s just left a big online-media job with a regional news organization that ought to know better, talking about finding a new way to gather local news (and ads) on the Web and get it to people who really want it.
~ Rob, who runs a major performing-arts company, worrying about how his shows will be advertised to sell tickets and where enough people might read the reviews to sell more tickets.
~ Tom, a diehard new-media newsman, experimenting with distributing headlines and commentary via Facebook.
~ Kathy, my wife and publicist extraordinaire, looking at shrinking print and broadcast news holes and targeting new (albeit fragmented) venues to publicize theater events and promotional offers.
~ John, another smart newsie, running a news-aggregating service (“actually the machines do most of the work now,” he says) out of his house while trying to help traditional news orgs figure out the digital thing.
While it shouldn’t come as any surprise, given my work in custom publishing (where journalism meets marketing), what these and many similar conversations point to is the increasing opportunities for smart organizations of all sizes to tell their own stories. Whether they hire a company like mine to do it for them (pitch alert: because we have the people and expertise in place and the critical mass to offer good pricing) or they take advantage of the glut of first-rate writers, editors, and graphics people to build in-house media-marketing teams, companies of all kinds have a chance right now to leapfrog over the struggling mainstream media and talk directly to customers.
A big auto-supply company could provide useful information to car buffs, build a loyal community of DIY grease monkeys, and drive sales to new products. A supermarket chain could offer healthy-cooking ideas or budget-management tips, or open a forum for customers to share favorite recipes. A theater company could build a lively community of arts patrons who want to read and talk about plays and dance and more. A big office-supply company could carve out a niche among small-business owners by providing information and expert advice on the wide range of issues these entrepreneurs are hungry for. It doesn’t even have to be information about paper or inkjet cartridges… in fact, it shouldn’t be that limited. It should also be news on the latest tax loophole, or advice of benefits, how to write a business plan, or how another small biz found success using a product or service from your company. There’s an audience waiting out there for help, and your company can answer the call.
It’s all about building credibility, loyalty, repeat visits, and sales. It’s about carving out your own unique territory that builds and extends your brand. It’s about starting a conversation with your customers that keeps them coming back to you. Yes, there are marketing challenges of the chicken/egg variety (how do you tell your story to people who are not yet your customers), but SEO technologies continue to crack that nut, and there are still plenty of places and ways to ply traditional marketing tactics (despite the death knells in major markets, most daily newspaper are still operating fairly soundly and the mail does get through).
The era of the “corporate journalist” is upon us. Who better to tell your story than you?
Here’s a sampling of the conversations:
~ Anne, who’s just left a big online-media job with a regional news organization that ought to know better, talking about finding a new way to gather local news (and ads) on the Web and get it to people who really want it.
~ Rob, who runs a major performing-arts company, worrying about how his shows will be advertised to sell tickets and where enough people might read the reviews to sell more tickets.
~ Tom, a diehard new-media newsman, experimenting with distributing headlines and commentary via Facebook.
~ Kathy, my wife and publicist extraordinaire, looking at shrinking print and broadcast news holes and targeting new (albeit fragmented) venues to publicize theater events and promotional offers.
~ John, another smart newsie, running a news-aggregating service (“actually the machines do most of the work now,” he says) out of his house while trying to help traditional news orgs figure out the digital thing.
While it shouldn’t come as any surprise, given my work in custom publishing (where journalism meets marketing), what these and many similar conversations point to is the increasing opportunities for smart organizations of all sizes to tell their own stories. Whether they hire a company like mine to do it for them (pitch alert: because we have the people and expertise in place and the critical mass to offer good pricing) or they take advantage of the glut of first-rate writers, editors, and graphics people to build in-house media-marketing teams, companies of all kinds have a chance right now to leapfrog over the struggling mainstream media and talk directly to customers.
A big auto-supply company could provide useful information to car buffs, build a loyal community of DIY grease monkeys, and drive sales to new products. A supermarket chain could offer healthy-cooking ideas or budget-management tips, or open a forum for customers to share favorite recipes. A theater company could build a lively community of arts patrons who want to read and talk about plays and dance and more. A big office-supply company could carve out a niche among small-business owners by providing information and expert advice on the wide range of issues these entrepreneurs are hungry for. It doesn’t even have to be information about paper or inkjet cartridges… in fact, it shouldn’t be that limited. It should also be news on the latest tax loophole, or advice of benefits, how to write a business plan, or how another small biz found success using a product or service from your company. There’s an audience waiting out there for help, and your company can answer the call.
It’s all about building credibility, loyalty, repeat visits, and sales. It’s about carving out your own unique territory that builds and extends your brand. It’s about starting a conversation with your customers that keeps them coming back to you. Yes, there are marketing challenges of the chicken/egg variety (how do you tell your story to people who are not yet your customers), but SEO technologies continue to crack that nut, and there are still plenty of places and ways to ply traditional marketing tactics (despite the death knells in major markets, most daily newspaper are still operating fairly soundly and the mail does get through).
The era of the “corporate journalist” is upon us. Who better to tell your story than you?
March 14, 2009
Join the revolution
I just read Clay Shirky's essay on the current revolution in the newspaper industry. It really is a brilliant look at the changes happening right before our eyes.
While I still fall in the camp of "people will pay for well-done news" (though my grip on that idea is slipping), I have to admit that everything Shirky says about the broken model of ad-supported news organizations (all that infrastructure!) makes perfect sense. And while I am apprehensive about where it is all headed (like, who's going to pay the journalists? and who's going to watch our backs with big business and government... not to mention analyze tomorrow's Sox game?) I can't really argue with his premise that we are now in an era of great experimentation.
I knew this in some ways back 11 years ago when I switched from the print newsroom to the Web at the Herald. We certainly were creating a new model of news content and delivery--with different options, opportunities, and challenges--both for the newsroom and the bottom line. Since then, I've been watching the drama unfold (unravel?) from the sidelines of other work situations--though the changes in content delivery and accessibility matter every bit as much in custom publishing, and PR/marketing.
But back to Shirky... In the next several years, many things will be tried. Many will fail. Some will succeed in niche ways, and some will work in bigger ways. Something new will come along. Like it or not, change is underway. We might as well embrace that fact and look to the future.
While I still fall in the camp of "people will pay for well-done news" (though my grip on that idea is slipping), I have to admit that everything Shirky says about the broken model of ad-supported news organizations (all that infrastructure!) makes perfect sense. And while I am apprehensive about where it is all headed (like, who's going to pay the journalists? and who's going to watch our backs with big business and government... not to mention analyze tomorrow's Sox game?) I can't really argue with his premise that we are now in an era of great experimentation.
I knew this in some ways back 11 years ago when I switched from the print newsroom to the Web at the Herald. We certainly were creating a new model of news content and delivery--with different options, opportunities, and challenges--both for the newsroom and the bottom line. Since then, I've been watching the drama unfold (unravel?) from the sidelines of other work situations--though the changes in content delivery and accessibility matter every bit as much in custom publishing, and PR/marketing.
But back to Shirky... In the next several years, many things will be tried. Many will fail. Some will succeed in niche ways, and some will work in bigger ways. Something new will come along. Like it or not, change is underway. We might as well embrace that fact and look to the future.
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