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So how is the internet marketing going?
A question I am often asked and need to answer since friends and family realise that I have (on and off) been on this internet marketing trail of joy, despair and frustration all rolled into one since 2002.
Today I feel more positive than I did yesterday. You see as a one man band, you are vulnerable. If you are employed and your site goes down, you phone Pat or Pete from techysupport and they send you some hieroglyphics, or the more approachable will summarily tip you from your comfy chair then type very fast. Result. One way or t’other the problem is fixed and meanwhile you can go and have a coffee or wave an important document at someone.
A glitch like the one I had yesterday, where my hosting reseller had forgotton to pay his bill, and you can lose three, four, five hours offering prayers of wisdom to technical support teams. These keepers of the keys to knowledge are working in a large organisation. So they’re drinking coffee and waving important documents and so on. They don’t really care about your dreams of the large black car pissing the neighbours off. Anyhow internet marketing then.
The latest story goes like this. Video blogs or Vlogs are the next big thing. Or the big thing that’s happening now more like. Release 20 of your “how tos” and on the internet and Google will realise that you have something to say and put you in the vaunted top ten of gurus on your key phrase like “how to deal with technical support teams who drink coffee and can’t be arsed dealing with customers.” That’s it in a nutshell really. A quick browse from this link will give you more details about how all this hangs together. But there it is.
How does this fit with my background? Basically I am a PR man so I approach things from angles. Lots of them. But I hold my hands up and accept that things have changed. I also adapt my teaching to ensure my students are fitted out with these techniques.
Yeah but I can hear you say. Does it work? Yes it works. But releasing any old garbage with the right keywords but looks like it was produced in your coffee break won’t. Ask yourself, what would YOU like to see and a) do it yourself b) do it properly. PR is about reputation. Do you want to lose that on half hearted rants using your dad’s old camcorder?
Part two: The equipment needed for Vlogging. Here’s an example of what you can do with around $1000 or £1000 or 1000E worth of kit.
It’s Unofficial! A New Supergroup is Born
“I’m like the one up there representing the Bonham family. that’s kind of how I should look at it,” Jason Bonham told Spinner backstage at L.A.’s Wiltern, where he would later honor his iconic father, John Bonham, as part of Guitar Center’s Drum-Off last weekend. The event is a competition for aspiring stickmen and showcases some of the world’s greatest drummers, including Tommy Lee, Tool’s Danny Carey and Billy Cobham, among others.
There’s no question, Led Zeppelin is part of his family and legacy, an inheritance he proved worthy of when he so successfully filled in for his father at the band’s O2 reunion show in December of 2007. But he says, breaking the hearts of millions of fans, that part of his life is indeed over. “As far as the big question, the big one, I think that one’s come and gone now. But it was a lot of fun while it lasted,” he says, echoing Jimmy Page’s sentiments in recent interviews that the Zep reunion is not going to happen.
And like his bandmates that night, Bonham is moving on to new music. “I just literally went into the studio last week for two days with one person I’d done an album with before, very quickly, and then the other was a friend of my father’s I got to meet later on, Joe Bonamassa and Glenn Hughes, and we’re working on a new project with a working title of Black Country,” Bonham says. “We just went in with [producer] Kevin Shirley and played riffs and just jammed for two days. And that’s really exciting.”
Bonham says the new group, which takes its name from the industrial area in England that he and Hughes — best known for his work with both Deep Purple and Black Sabbath) come from — is in fact a band. “We’re actually recording an album, literally in that process of jamming it out and editing and putting together and going, ‘Yeah, that’s really cool,’” he says. ” Joe just wanted to play guitar so with Glenn on bass and vocals, it’s a power trio.”(Photo by Robert M. Knight)
Why X Factor vs RAM is important
Not Joe McElderry apparently
Let’s get the musical issue out of the way first off because this is clouding the real business involved here. For what it’s worth, I am delighted Rage Against the Machine got to the Christmas No.1 because no one individual, whether answering to the name of Rupert or Simon, should control our tastes and opinions.
Incidentally, I wonder if there will be an X Factor version with a radio edit. Lyrically, “by jove I am not going to buy your tat,thanks all the same” doesn’t sound quite as powerful as “fuck you, we won’t buy what you sell us.”
So what, in a business was actually achieved here? And what lessons can be learned for small businesses?
1) Social media is a viable method of marketing if a strong social message is conveyed skilfully. Regardless of whether Cowell has a financial interest in the Sony artists, RAM the real issue is that social media beat massive TV, radio and press exposure into second place. Incredible!
2) Small businesses, and artists in particular, should be encouraged to use social media as a method of persuasion. This is nothing new. As I pointed out in an earlier post about Glenn Hughes, Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead have all had some success creating desire through skilful use of social media.
Phil Jones whom I recommend you follow in Twitter is Sales and Marketing Director for Brother. At a recent M Power conference run by Profile Communications, he gave some examples of small businesses who were actually selling direct from Twitter. NicolaTheFiat, a trader in hand made shirts, was one. Phil himself was another. Oh and while you are at it, why not clue me in too.
Cadburys Wispa was launched as a result of a social media campaign by “fans” of Wispa. Cadburys didn’t dance at the school disco. They simply provided the keys to the hall.
Relevance is the key word here. Imagine that you enter a room full of people at an office party and shout “anyone need a web designer?” Security! People tweet according to how relevance you are to them. Facebook is used by most as a showcase for what important people we we are. Yet if you can harness why people want to know you online and then build on that, you have relationship marketing to its nth degree.
So before wasting energy barking at Simon Cowell’s frequent red herrings, stop and think about the issue you could promote. Remember, this is about selling the sizzle not the steak. What I bought was a download of a song I have heard a thousand times before. What I cherished was the right to challenge the dictatorship of a multi millionaire together with the message RAM eloquently conveyed.
So in 2010 what buzz can you create?
Businessmen don’t drink my wine (anymore)
At the height of commercial success, Glenn Hughes at the record breaking California Jam in in 1974. But how do you follow that?
My good friend Glenn Hughes (left) has now written THE rock n’ roll story which is being sold initially as a Deluxe edition for £550 (approx $800). Sounds expensive but then again, there is sound commercial justfication for the price.
It’s certainly going to make a good read. Linda Blair, Richard Burton, John Wayne, David Bowie, Keith Moon are all featured in a roller coaster of story which nearly led to the near death of the former Deep Purple star who, by his own admission, spent a million on drugs and survived.
I guess as one of his “people” I am biased and bound to PR it all, but today I am going to talk about the context in which artists operate.
In days gone by, the music press either gave you the thumbs up or down. Either way, you went out and bought the record anyway. Then along came the tape decks and we began to tape our friends’ albums. T’internet led to downloads and Napster’s famous battle with Metallica. That seemed like the end for file sharing. But sites like UTorrent, Bear Share and The Pirate Bay persist.
It is becoming increasingly the case that bands are accepting the dodgy download scenario (even if their record companies don’t). The radio show I co present with Kev Mc gives us evidence of bands saying “I don’t give a **** who downloads our songs as long as you do the courtesy of coming to see us.” Chris Robertson of Black Stone Cherry was one such respondent.
But, aside from live shows, which you can’t download, artist of all genres are now using social media as a way of rewarding their fanbase for loyalty. Think Tesco Clubcard simply gets you back in the shop after having given you some sort of special “club” discount. The principle is similar.
Enter the sexy package. In Glenn’s case it is hand bound in the style of the white satin suit he wore for the record breaking California Jam in 1974.
The classic example in the industry was Nine Inch Nails who used below the line tactics – toilet cubicles included – to attract hits to the website. There you were invited to download the new album for free. £$1.6 m resulted from the follow up deluxe package.
It’s nothing new. New web marketers like the late Corey Rudl were advocating the “back end marketing” method since the late 90′s. And the back end has its roots way before then. Offering tan guard for nu buck boots at the till is the most common example. With advent of Twitter, the back end deal can be secured almost at will once a trust has been established between artist and fan.
And why not?
It’s a classic case of supply and demand. Presumably we’ve all been aware that when we used to spend money on a gig, an LP, a CD a T shirt some of it would go in the artist’s pocket. The problem was of course that the shiny shod money man was taking most of it.
“Businessmen they drink my wine” (All Along the Watchtower, Dylan) “By the way which one is Pink?” (Have a Cigar, Pink Floyd) sum up most succinctly the strained business relationships between artist and contract. The fallouts between Prince and Sony are well documented.
All that’s happening now is that artists are wresting back the business elements of their art so as to regain control. Sometimes they do it themselves and other times they work with the publishers, promoters and also the more enlightened record companies to ensure the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Team work is vital.
The press are just as important as they have always been. Quality journalism is complementary to what can be achieved through social media.
Either way, we as consumers just have a choice to make. There’s no right or wrong decision. It’s just that the money has shifted. So hats off to Glenn and yes I am recommending the book as testament to a talented one who survived where others perished. Yes I think I can justify PR ing the £550. No doubt about that!
Bank Charges : Top 5 PR Tips for the Banks
Stop preaching lads and listen to us
In the light of BBC Question Time tonight where the panel was unanimously against the idea of banks charging what they liked and when they liked, I’d like to offer the British Banking Association 5 Tips for increasing public confidence through good PR practice:-
1) Employ or at least promise the development of a fairer system for charging which does not penalise customers for human error. And to acknowledge long standing trustworthy customer relationships when times get hard ( a courtesy not extended to many of us).
2) Publicly announce that banks will work with customer focus groups and take on board their concerns, publishing resulting reports once completed.
3) To temper the “school teacher” approach adopted by CE, Angela Knight and suggest that a media training refresher course would be appropriate
4) Lose the city image adopted by member banks. It’s not impressive and merely enhances the gap in reality between those who grasp and those who don’t have. Free corporate balloons doesn’t mean effective community relations.
5) Simply be aware that they are losing the PR debate and be less stoic in their defence of the indefensible. This constant insistence on “sweeter than thou” knowledge of the economy is outmoded. The customer bailed out Northern Rock and HBOS, not the other way round.
I know I am living in cloud cuckoo land here and it’s a bit like trying to offer PR advice to the Royal Family. Look, I am not “anti bank.” I am impressed with the way that Natwest are developing their corporate identity and this has transcended to the branches with generally courteous staff just like in those ads.
But this still clouds the real issue that if you slip up, you will be punished. £38 for a rejection of a direct debit which was an admininstrative error and a resulting £28 for the charge on top by this same bank was my “free banking” bill this month. If I charged the BBA for this free advice, they’d be horrified and would swear blind they didn’t ask for this consultancy fee. Neither did I, my banking friends. Neither did I. Enjoy your free tips.
Bank Charges 2: The Reckoning
Positive positive positive today. Ok so I got a bit hot under the collar about the banks (see article below) Today then is a new day. Jedward have been fired but still making headlines. David Cameron looks like woodentop. Groundhog Day?
So, in the words of Fred the Weatherman “what have we got today?” Well the spin is that the green shoots of recovery have just been stomped on by a fat man with shiny shoes. Doh! It’s dem pesky banks again.
That Angela Knight really got my goat with that PR bilge about us naughty people not managing our accounts properly. Sorry British Bankers’ Association. You didn’t manage our economy properly and there’s plenty of your primary stakeholders out there who would agree with me. OK yah? You don’t get the final word on this even if the judges reckon it’s game over.
Oh ok I will continue with my rant. 6.59% was the cheapest rate I could get on a mortgage. On 120k that’s £950 a month in new money. There’s people out there with negative equity. Enter the willing punter (me) and any number of keen sellers (you?) and that rate separating us and we have that rather boring 0-0 draw. Hey we don’t even get to argue about the price of the dodgy curtains any more.
You see, to continue the analogy, banks are those fair weather supporters who are quite happy to stay aloof from their major stakeholders when going is heavy. When United are winning, it’s they who crowd us out of the 20/20 club and flash the cash. A bit like that scene in Batman with Jack Nicholson as The Joker where he distributes the dirty dollars to the good people of Gotham…before gassing them.
And I thought I was going to be a cheerful PR man today flower arranging the news so that it looked all rosy. Sorry but there are some good vibes on the way. I teach PR which these days means social media and I am running my own case study which might need your help. You see I want to be rich beyond my wildest dreams. Banks don’t come into it. Social media does.
More later. A little bird tells me that links are the way forward. So I will link Hokey Cokey style to you all and back again. Ohhhhh do the hokey cokey oooohhhh do the hokey cokeyyyyyy …told you I would end on a postive note. Praise Angela the all seeing eye.
Bank Charges! Wasn’t this the most predictable news ever?
Today I baulked at the decision by the Supreme Court effectively for banks to be allowed to charge for “unforeseen” overdrafts. What made it worse was the patronising words from Angela Knight from the British Bankers’ Association telling us all how to run our accounts more effectively. I won’t mince my words. It made me puke and I will tell you why:-
When I was divorced and made redundant in 2003, I needed all the help I could get. I did apply for an overdraft and went through all the right channels. So one day mugshot here was travelling across Wales to pick up a friend from a ferry terminal. I got to a garage (as you do) and they refused my HSBC Switch Card. Luckily I had cash.
Shorley shome mishtake I naturally assumed. Yes the mistake was on my part, dear reader. I had exceeded my agreed overdraft by a few quid. I had miscalculated. Human error. What did HSBC do? They sent me to Pakistani call centres to argue my case. I spent a whole Saturday in tears of frustration making around 15 phone calls that day trying to explain to people who couldn’t speak English that I had since repaid the few quid owed and arguing a case for the resumption of services.
My overdraft and loan combined amounted to just less than £2500. Everyone else, including my mortgage lender, Nationwide Building Society had stayed patient with me. Eventually due to income arising from self employment, I managed to climb out of that financial bog. It’s a case of keeping your head above it and try to stay smiling for your kids’ sake. These people who run banks are not interested in you, they’re interested in what they can make from you.
HSBC got their Rottweilers, DG Solicitors on to it and recovered the money with a County Court Judgement. Should I be publicising my CCJ? Oh yes a big hearty yes. Because thankfully social media now gives us the voice to do so. I am not ashamed to expose this organisation for what they are. I am sure other people have similar experiences. If so, as the consumer guru Martn Lewis of www.moneysavingexpert.com, has said, write to your MP’s and give the banks another kicking for breaching the trust in those that keep their fat spotty behinds on those big leather chairs.
I don’t want to play victim. I wouldn’t give HSBC the satisfaction. I had been with HSBC for 20 odd years. I can even remember my first Midland bank cheque book as a student. Before that I used to go with my dad to Hamilton Square branch in Birkenhead every Saturday morning. I wouldn’t pass water over the same building now. He’d be horrified at their dishonourable behaviour had he still been alive today.
Only two weeks before the shit hit the fan, these highwaymen had me in there trying to transfer my mortgage over to them. I kid you not!
I haven’t got current money riding on this. Nope. I kind of knew in my heart of hearts they would pull this off. I didn’t even bother to lodge a reclaim of bank charges. I wasn’t going to have these greedy halfwits at HSBC turn me down once again. Yet it’s us account holder who have bailed out the banks during one of the worst recessions in modern history. And now once again they have cajoled the judges with the thick wedges they have smacked down on the oak desks of their slimy slick suited lawyers.
If you see this article and want to lift it for your own website then please feel free. All I ask is that you provide a link back. These people need to know how we, their primary stakeholders, actually feel today.
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