Archive for July, 2009
I Don’t Pitch Bloggers
With all the discussion on blogger’s relationships with brands, I wanted to talk about how I go about crafting relationships with bloggers. And, to start things out simply – I don’t pitch bloggers.
The reason is simple: why? I just don’t see the reason to ask someone to write about my product. To me, it seems somewhat counter-intuitive. Instead, I simply decided to do the first step that is always recommended in social media: I listened to find the people that were already talking about it.
Out there, I found our true believers – people who loved our products and were already acting on our behalf whether they knew it or not. We read their blog posts, saw their Flickr streams, and watched their videos as they extolled all the virtues that they found in the products we made. So instead of pitching bloggers – I simply just said “Hello” to our fans.
Not all brands can do that easily, obviously. Established brands have the luxury of being able to pluck from a large pool of their fans, who are constantly spreading their love of their products. But if you’re a company making revenue, you probably have fans out there. And when you do find your true fans – reward them. It’s an age-old marketing ploy – the fan club. Social media allows you to develop real relationships with your fans without spending that much effort or money. These free communication tools open up a world that allows any and all brands to empower their community to work for them.
So I don’t pitch bloggers – I empower fans.
The not-so-surprising thing is that your fans will start pitching people for you. They’ll tell their friend, who tells their friend, etc. etc. Social media is, after all, just word of mouth marketing. And it spreads easily – maybe you work with one of your hardcore fans to run a giveaway on their blog, and all of a sudden your inbox and DM’s are full of people who want to do something with their blogs. All of a sudden, you’ve turned the tables and your brand is getting pitched because you’re providing people with something they want. Now, your only task is that you have to manage your growing community. You have to work with the people that want you but also in ways that work on your terms. You’re creating true ambassadors of the brand while weeding out the people that are just there for a quick hit and run. Slowly, you’ll end up working with the bloggers that PR companies target to pitch – except you do it in an organic way. They’ll come to you to be a part of your community, which will only make it stronger because you’re not playing favorites or succumbing to any hierarchy. You’re merely empowering fans.
So, for everyone that is worried about pitching bloggers, my simple advice is: don’t. The best marketers will focus on their community, on their fans, and trust that the rest will fall in line. That’s what has worked for me, and it’s the best advice I can pass along.
The Real BlogHer
While my anecdote created a lot of press in the last 24 hours, I wanted to highlight what I thought was far more representative of the time I spent in Chicago. The real BlogHer is about a community of women who come together to learn from each other, support each other, and become friends regardless of the miles that may separate them. If you were at BlogHer – add your posts and photo albums in the comments section. This is what people should be writing about – not the .0000000001% of the population there.
Check out these posts:
Gwen Bell’s 10 Things that made her smile
Threatened at BlogHer
Someone tried to blackmail me at BlogHer. Seriously – I don’t even know how to summarize the story in complete detail as the past few days in Chicago have been quite the whirlwind. I understand that, as brands, we bring the “grabby” nature of swag bags out in people. I understand that people can feel cheated by paying for things and not receiving them. I get that – and while I don’t condone that behavior, I at least understand why it happens. What I don’t get is why someone would attempt to hold me hostage for a pair of shoes…
I’m sitting in the lobby of the Sheraton – where I spent much of my time. I was just hanging out, doing some work, and talking to the people who were coming up to me. Okay – I’ll be honest, I was talking to people and playing the “Tiles” game on Microsoft Surface because, (expletive deleted), that is possibly the most addicting game ever. Anyway, it was about mid-afternoon when someone came up to me. I’ll call her generic mommyblogger because I couldn’t pick her out of a lineup if I tried.
“Are you the Crocs guy?” she asks, timidly.
I look up and smile. After all, it’s nice to be recognize and it’s a sign that I’m doing my job right.
“Yes, I am.”
We continue with small talk. She says her name but, while I probably caught it at the time, it slipped out of my memory as the events of the next couple moments transpired. She asked how I was doing at BlogHer. If I was having fun. How it felt to be one of the only men there – all those typical questions that were being asked of me. Then her demeanor changed completely. She mentioned how she didn’t get any shoes at the SocialLuxe lounge. I apologized, saying that we provided what we could but it’s hard because we didn’t know everyone’s shoe size. She nodded but I could tell that wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. Then she says something that I couldn’t believe.
“Ya know, if you don’t give me shoes – I could totally write something bad about you on my blog.”
“Excuse me?” I asked – hoping she would laugh or give me some indication that she was just joking around. Nope…
“It’s just a pair of shoes. It’s a lot easier to give them to me than deal with the negative press I could make.”
After hearing that, I start to laugh. First of all, I don’t recognize this woman at all. When she mentioned who she was at the beginning of the conversation, it didn’t ring a bell and I do a fairly good job at making sure I pay attention to the “players” in the sphere. Beyond that, I connect with hundreds of bloggers of all sizes and I am very good at treating them with the respect that they deserve as writers, photographers, artists, and people. This person was a nobody. So, I reacted in the only way that I saw fit.
“I could pick up my phone here and get in contact with so many people and tell them what just happened that you would be afraid to go near your computer, let alone attempt to blog again.”
She looked shocked – like she really thought her sad attempt to blackmail me would work. In a second, she walked away and, before I could really gather myself, disappeared into a sea of bloggers. I never saw her again and, if it didn’t effect me so much, I would have doubted as to whether it happened or not. Sadly, it did. I really hope it was an isolated incident but it’s something to watch out for. Brands aren’t the only people that have to learn how to work in this sphere. Bloggers do too. I know the BlogHer community would police behavior like that – so I just wish I could have remembered her name or grabbed a business card….
My whole experience at BlogHer was a positive one. I feel like Crocs nailed it, I got to meet some of my favorite people in person, and connected with a whole group of people I never met before. This incident was small and isolated. It was someone I never saw before and never saw again – the personification of an anomaly. I debated on whether I should even bring it up but then I realized that, while I may know enough people that I probably could have lived up to my response to her – other brands may not. I guess this is just a public service announcement that there are people out there that would do this, so as a community, we all need to watch out for it…
(Editor’s Note: Never thought this would become this big of a thing (I blame @jowyang haha) but, I did want to reinforce that this is NOT in any way indicative of behavior that I commonly see from Bloggers. BlogHer reinforced the fact that the bloggers I work with every day are some of the most intelligent, professional, and caring people in the world. As a man in a conference of women, I felt included and I am proud to call many people my friend. This incident was something I wanted to share with the 10 people that read my blog and a few people in the twitterverse. 7/27/09 6:16pm MT ~GS)
(Editor’s Note 2: The “nobody” comment was meant to be that she was a nobody because she threatened me. Not because she has no audience. My favorite bloggers to work with are the amazing writers that haven’t had a chance to be read. Most of the people that commented below would back me up with that, but I did want to clear it up 7/27/09 8:11pm MT ~GS)
Spank Me, Nancy W. Kappes, Paralegal (or How I stopped caring and learned to love my blog again)
( I got to meet Jenny, The Bloggess. Not only that, I’m pretty sure she actually will remember my name – which is a complete rush to me because, I am totally in love with her. Not in a sexual way – although she’s a beautiful woman – but in a “OMG, she makes me pee my pants sort of way.” Which might be sexual in an R. Kelly sort of way…Anyway, this post is dedicated to her. )
Nancy W. Kappes told me that I have a nice ass. She then spent the next half hour grabbing it. I think at one point she dug her nails into it, which may or may not have been a turn on. She asked about the size of my genitalia and then started telling me stories that made me feel uncomfortable – which says a lot since I don’t normally get uncomfortable and actually like it when women grab my ass. It also has been a while since a woman actually even THOUGHT of my genitalia, let alone inferred positive comments about it. And, even if she was twice my age and possibly clinically insane, it made me feel loved. And during the bouts of uncomfortableness and feelings of love, I realized I missed my blog.
As I spent much of the past weekend working BlogHer as the representative of my brand, I had some great conversations with bloggers that I absolutely have been in love with forever. Bloggers that I would be reading regardless of whether I got paid to do it or not. People like The Bloggess, without whom I may have not been molested by the older, but far more frisky than 99% of the population, paralegal. One that might be quite insane. Seriously – Nancy W. Kappes is real. The kind of real that makes you think, “man, hanging out with her is crazy – I wish I could write about this in my blog.”
Which is why I realized I missed it. Why can’t I write about Nancy W. Kappes on my personal blog? Will a true story about a woman who may or may not have been abusing prescription medicine really bad for business? It’s not like I’m doing anything. It’s just Nancy – who said “fuck” more times than Samuel L. Jackson in his entire movie catalogue in about 25 minutes. Nancy who had like 25 pill cases in her purse that she claims were hair rollers but I couldn’t help but imagine the prescription drug cocktail that she made in order to induce such hectic behavior. Nancy, who made me realize how normal a life I live that, even if I commented or wrote about every inane detail – I would ultimately prove to be much saner and seemingly happier than the Nancy W. Kappes of the world.
So, my blog will be reborn with a bit more personal stories in it. After all, when I reminice over sharing the hilarious outtakes from my dating life, my work life, my home life, and everything in betweet – I realize that is why I loved being on the internet and being a part of a community – which is why I ended up getting paid to do this every day anyway. I’m bringing back the love – thanks to some ass smacks by Nancy W. Kappes, Paralegal…
Late Night Chats
There’s nothing better than late night Skype chats. Especially when the person you’re talking with decides that she should put on her Syracuse University Homecoming Queen crown.
New York, New York
I’ve been missing New York a lot lately – the City, not upstate. It’s the first time I’ve really had a strong desire to return to the City in a long time. I’ve always loved visiting, but this desire seems to be more of a permanent “move back” type feeling. Will I move? It’s doubtful – I am, for the most part, happy here with my life, my job, and the great friends that I have. My wanderlust, which I attribute this feeling to, is well-know, well-documented, and something that I have under control.
What do I miss about the City? I’m not sure – there’s a tangible energy that New York has. For some – it’s suffocating. For others – like myself – it’s intoxicating. I miss the culture and the diversity – especially out here in Colorado. I’m hoping my foray into Chicago will help quench some of these desires, but I doubt it will come close. It is the second city for a reason….
It was almost 7 years ago when I first settled in New York and my time there wasn’t long, but it altered me in so many ways. I’ve bounced around the idea of returning but never felt the timing was right. The timing is far from right now, but that desire has returned. I’ll have to follow these emotions for a bit to see how they manifest in other aspects of my life…
Ignite Boulder 5
Last Thursday was Ignite Boulder 5 – which was actually my fourth Ignite Boulder and, without a doubt, the best one that there was (with all apologies to Ignite Boulder 3). I don’t know if it was the venue – capacity mandated that we move to the larger Boulder Theater rather than the CU Campus – or if it was just lightning in a bottle – there wasn’t a single bad performance – but it was an amazing night filled with fun, laughs, and learning.
Photo via @AndrewHyde
Check out IgniteBoulder.com for updates – they will be posting links to the videos when they are available. It was a great night and I’m looking forward to the next one. I want to make it a Black Tie event if anyone is interested – Bring out everyone to look their sharpest and have a lot of fun. Would also be fun to take Pearl Street by storm dressed awesomely. Suit up!
