2 Percent Creativity - Marketing and Advertising Insights from a Connected Perspective

Who's Writing Your Blog - You or Your Ghost?

Several posts have been written lately about a disturbing trend in the blogoshere—Ghost writing. Many point out the obvious problem with this faulty idea. Blogs are journals, personal accounts or posts by an individual who represents either herself or their company. B.L. Ochman makes the point very well...

"The point of blogging is to chronicle the original thoughts, opinions and knowledge of the writer, and to have that writer engage in conversation with readers. There's no room in that equasion for a ghost writer.

A ghost writer, by definition, writes under someone else's name. That starts the blog on a dishonest premise."

Blogging qualifies as a 2% medium in that it is the rare bird who launches into such an unknown and personal territory. Within my sphere of influence, whether business or personal, I am not aware of another CEO, marketer or Ms. 'This is my Life', that maintains a blog. This has been the case for the past 18 months, despite my numerous attempts to educate and encourage a number of friends and business associates to blog. It is the typical first mover scenario and therefore qualifies as a classic 2% concept.

Now, the 98% are thinking we need to get a blog, but their creative talents are either non-existent or fall into the too-much-work-to-be-really-worth-it category, so they will do what they have always done in their marketing world, follow and copy. This will inevitably produce the usual discussions at future marketing meetings where you will hear two classic statements—yes boss, we have the blog and no sir, we do not know if it is really doing any good, BUT, it is a great blog.

Marketing is not getting tougher, in fact, mediums such as blogs are giving marketers the one thing they have dreamed about for decades, a way to test their ideas and to have direct contact with your customers. Be careful not to make the wrong move here. Leave your ghosts where they belong—in the closet and not on your blog.

Daimler Chrysler Launches Media Only Blog and Locks Out Bloggers

This move by Daimler Chrysler must rate as the strangest corporate blogging concept in a while. Check out the link below to B.L. Ochman's weblog for all the details. She attempted to register, but has found out that they are serious. Their blog is only available to "journalists who work for known and established media organizations". Clueless is all I have to say. Although B.L. correctly points out that nobody under 50 has a clue who that old guy Lee Iacocca is, I will say just two things about that. One, I'm 50 bang on and I think that number would be more like 40 and two, at least Lee would have known how to use blogs to support DM's marketing efforts better than today's suits ;-)

B.L. Ochman's weblog - Internet strategy, marketing, public relations, politics with news and commentary: Daimler Chrysler Launches Media Only Blog and Locks Out Bloggers.

Correction in iFulfill story

If you are someone who buys the notion that the blogging bubble must burst, examples like today's misquoting faux-paux by Stephen Baker, the resulting rant of injustice (justifiable I will add), by blogging evangelist B.L. Ochman and the surprise, surprise correction by Mr. Baker (way to go big guy), well, you just have to believe that there is something truly powerful going on here.

It's the conversation, the instant notification, the response mechanism, the correction, the feed and the speed. I would throw in the word democracy, but us Canadians don't feel comfortable talking politics with strangers ;-)

It is such a rare occasion when agents of change in our world are so visible and yet, the nay sayers, the pundits and the stinkin' thinkers (nod to Zig there) will always be with us. Forget them—embrace change.

The medium of the Internet revolutionized communication through email, as well as expression and business via the WWW. Blogging is the tool that is setting a million voices inside of all those connected people FREE. True journalists (the paid professionals) may snicker at many us for our use and abuse of the King's English, but we don't care. Some of us are and some of what we have to say, is being read. More importantly for many bloggers, we are just happy to have our say.

So there.

Glenn