Getting Granular: The DigitalGrit Blog

WOMMA Issues Guidelines for Business Bloggers and the Marketers Who Contact Them

In the aftermath of the Edelman/Wal-Mart fiasco, WOMMA has been scrambling to save face (Edelman is on their board, after all) and issue a new code of ethics (Edelman was instrumental in penning the existing code). Edelman's membership is currently in review, and WOMMA has taken quick action to put a new code of ethics -- now referred to as a "tool" -- in place.

They've actually created two sets of guidelines: One for business bloggers (including agencies in the blogging space) and one marketers attempting to "leverage" blogs and contact bloggers.

Both are up on the WOMMA site. The first, the WOMMA Ethics Assessment Tool, consists of the Ethics 20 Questions is up as a "Discussion Draft for Public Comment." If you work in this space, read it and comment. It's a pretty reasonable ethics code, but there's always room for improvement.

The second set, The Ethical Blogger Contact Guidelines is also in discussion draft mode. This tool is a little fresher, and basically seeks protect bloggers from spam and block paid blogging without disclosure.

This document is a public draft of guidelines for marketers to follow when doing outreach within the blogosphere. It is neither a "how to blog" nor a "what to blog" document. Rather, its intent is to give clarity and guidance to marketers who are working and corresponding with bloggers, and to ensure that their efforts adhere to the standards set by the WOMMA Ethics Code.

These guidelines are designed to help marketers embrace specific practices that are deemed ethical within the blogosphere. Adopting them will empower marketers to quickly identify issues within existing communications and will help ensure that future efforts at communicating with bloggers are ethically sound.

It's a lot to take in, but definitely read and comment. If you're doing any work with blogs for your own business or for clients these rules WILL AFFECT YOU. Take the time to provide feedback.

We need some best practices established out here in blog land.

How Search Engines Blog: Ideas and Tips from Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN (Courtesy of John Battelle)

John Batelle recounts a panel at SES hosted by Danny Sullivan featuring Matt Cutts (Google), Jeremy Zawodny (Yahoo!), Niall Kennedy (MSN), and Gary Price (Ask). Since each of these guys actually blogs, Danny asked them to share their "unofficial" thoughts and views on the topic of blogging.

The whole post is work reading for a lot of reasons, but I found the section on Syndication particularly eye-opening.  Here's a nearly-complete reprint of Battelle's great post.

On keeping perspective:
Gary says he tries to walk the middle ground, blogging about MSN, Yahoo, and Google more than Ask—and the company encourages him to do so. All four say don’t let the PR department hinder them, though they sometimes give PR a heads-up. Also, though they write with independent voices, letting the company know a critical post is coming out will sometimes solicit more candid company updates. Gary says he tries to make Resource Shelf all things to all people—for the search companies, the SES crowd and library/reference professionals.

When company bloggers are the news:
Danny Sullivan asks if they avoid press coverage. Cutts says he just tries to be so monumentally boring and technical that the media won’t cover it, and says he’s been largely successful (though this editor disagrees that engagement quality is the cause). Zawodny says he keeps a news alert on his name, so he can sigh deeply every time a reporter attributes his comments in a Yahoo exposé. Kennedy says his blog has become one more end-point in a 72 million person company—helping people with specific needs connect with the company.

Are they PR guys?
Matt and Gary say no—Matt uses non-Google products (wordpress not blogger, etc) and Gary’s post up today is a positive piece on Google. While Matt says Zawodny is ballsy for listing out failures of Yahoo Finance, Jeremy follows up that indeed in some sense he is a PR guy. Once he let it slip that he hadn’t gone through media training, within a week that’s where he found himself.

“My exercise in figuring out where the line was repeatedly crossing it and then be told that I crossed it. Lawyers have come into my office three times.”— Zawodny.

Syndication
Price says weekly emails are still crucial to distributing blog content, aside from an RSS feed—which is rising but still not familiar to the larger audience. Zawodny likes to schedule postings – rattling-off a few and letting posts distribute automatically. Gary, self-described as not the biggest fan of RSS syndication, says Ask is now playing with displaying the last three updated posts from a related feed above the organic results. Zawodny says he likes the feature and has been using it.

Vlogs, Podcasts
“You can write for 45 min. and say what does and doesn’t work. Or you can talk for five minutes and if you’re lucky someone will transcribe it for you,” says Cutts on the advantage of video (in reference to his recent foray with vlogging). He says there have been 80,000 downloads of Cutts’ random SES video Matt did on a weekend while the wife was away, but he’ll primarily stick with his blog.

Gary says Jim Lazone and he are going to start a podcast. Perhaps one aimed at the SES crowd, and another at the K-12 crowd who need so much help in familiarizing wtih search.

How Search Engines Blog: Ideas and Tips from Google, Yahoo, Ask and MSN (Courtesy of John Battelle)

John Batelle recounts a panel at SES hosted by Danny Sullivan featuring Matt Cutts (Google), Jeremy Zawodny (Yahoo!), Niall Kennedy (MSN), and Gary Price (Ask). Since each of these guys actually blogs, Danny asked them to share their "unofficial" thoughts and views on the topic of blogging.

The whole post is work reading for a lot of reasons, but I found the section on Syndication particularly eye-opening.  Here's a nearly-complete reprint of Battelle's great post.

On keeping perspective:
Gary says he tries to walk the middle ground, blogging about MSN, Yahoo, and Google more than Ask—and the company encourages him to do so. All four say don’t let the PR department hinder them, though they sometimes give PR a heads-up. Also, though they write with independent voices, letting the company know a critical post is coming out will sometimes solicit more candid company updates. Gary says he tries to make Resource Shelf all things to all people—for the search companies, the SES crowd and library/reference professionals.

When company bloggers are the news:
Danny Sullivan asks if they avoid press coverage. Cutts says he just tries to be so monumentally boring and technical that the media won’t cover it, and says he’s been largely successful (though this editor disagrees that engagement quality is the cause). Zawodny says he keeps a news alert on his name, so he can sigh deeply every time a reporter attributes his comments in a Yahoo exposé. Kennedy says his blog has become one more end-point in a 72 million person company—helping people with specific needs connect with the company.

Are they PR guys?
Matt and Gary say no—Matt uses non-Google products (wordpress not blogger, etc) and Gary’s post up today is a positive piece on Google. While Matt says Zawodny is ballsy for listing out failures of Yahoo Finance, Jeremy follows up that indeed in some sense he is a PR guy. Once he let it slip that he hadn’t gone through media training, within a week that’s where he found himself.

“My exercise in figuring out where the line was repeatedly crossing it and then be told that I crossed it. Lawyers have come into my office three times.”— Zawodny.

Syndication
Price says weekly emails are still crucial to distributing blog content, aside from an RSS feed—which is rising but still not familiar to the larger audience. Zawodny likes to schedule postings – rattling-off a few and letting posts distribute automatically. Gary, self-described as not the biggest fan of RSS syndication, says Ask is now playing with displaying the last three updated posts from a related feed above the organic results. Zawodny says he likes the feature and has been using it.

Vlogs, Podcasts
“You can write for 45 min. and say what does and doesn’t work. Or you can talk for five minutes and if you’re lucky someone will transcribe it for you,” says Cutts on the advantage of video (in reference to his recent foray with vlogging). He says there have been 80,000 downloads of Cutts’ random SES video Matt did on a weekend while the wife was away, but he’ll primarily stick with his blog.

Gary says Jim Lazone and he are going to start a podcast. Perhaps one aimed at the SES crowd, and another at the K-12 crowd who need so much help in familiarizing wtih search.

MarketingSherpa Publishes Ice.com Blog Case Study

I've always thought that Ice.com's blogs were the blog marketing pioneers. While most of us were sitting in webinars, wracking our brains trying to figure out how to "monetize" blogs, Ice.com was out their doing it with Just Ask Leslie and Sparkle Like the Stars -- effectively affiliate blogs that were written and managed by their own marketing team.

The blogs are smart in that they include fun, useful content, they use keyword effectively (no stuffing) and they updated frequently. "Sparkle" is particularly fun in its use of photos of celebs dekced out in stunning Hollywod bling -- juxtaposed with photos of Ice.com's similar rocks.

MarketingSherpa reveals how successful the blogs have been in a comprehensive Case Study.  The results are pretty much what I was expecting: The blogs perform as well as a good affiliate -- but not as well as Search.

The article also includes some use-now tips on blog marketing -- including one or two I'll be talking to our Web Dev team about tomorrow.

Read the Case Study while it's free!! (presumably through 8/19/06)

(BTW, still feel really weird using the word "bling." Is it because I'm over 30, because I live in the 'burbs, or both?)

MarketingSherpa Publishes Ice.com Blog Case Study

I've always thought that Ice.com's blogs were the blog marketing pioneers. While most of us were sitting in webinars, wracking our brains trying to figure out how to "monetize" blogs, Ice.com was out their doing it with Just Ask Leslie and Sparkle Like the Stars -- effectively affiliate blogs that were written and managed by their own marketing team.

The blogs are smart in that they include fun, useful content, they use keyword effectively (no stuffing) and they updated frequently. "Sparkle" is particularly fun in its use of photos of celebs dekced out in stunning Hollywod bling -- juxtaposed with photos of Ice.com's similar rocks.

MarketingSherpa reveals how successful the blogs have been in a comprehensive Case Study.  The results are pretty much what I was expecting: The blogs perform as well as a good affiliate -- but not as well as Search.

The article also includes some use-now tips on blog marketing -- including one or two I'll be talking to our Web Dev team about tomorrow.

Read the Case Study while it's free!! (presumably through 8/19/06)

(BTW, still feel really weird using the word "bling." Is it because I'm over 30, because I live in the 'burbs, or both?)

Trackback Spam Update

Just a funny update: My comment a few weeks ago on TypePad trackback spam...is getting tons of trackback spam. It's the only post on this blog attracting it.

I'll disable trackbacks and comments on that one in a few days, but I think it'll be an interesting experiment -- and a good laugh -- to see how far it goes!

Trackback Spam Update

Just a funny update: My comment a few weeks ago on TypePad trackback spam...is getting tons of trackback spam. It's the only post on this blog attracting it.

I'll disable trackbacks and comments on that one in a few days, but I think it'll be an interesting experiment -- and a good laugh -- to see how far it goes!

Dutson - 1, Warren Kremer Paino - 0: Ad Agency "Yields Unconditional Surrender" to Maine Blogger

In an unexpected twist, Warren Kremer Paino Advertising has shut its doors as a result of its run-in with blogger Lance Dutson. (UPDATE: WKPA is still alive and kicking -- this was a misunderstanding based on the MediaPost article referenced below, which stated that WKPA had "folded." Thanks, Randy.)

According to a press release titled, "Blogger Case Yields Unconditional Surrender" released just hours ago:

...Warren Kremer Paino Advertising agency voluntarily dismissed its multi-million dollar federal lawsuit against Lance Dutson, a Media Bloggers Association member targeted for the content of his blog's reporting and commentary. Gregory W. Herbert, an attorney with the international law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, represented Dutson pro bono as lead counsel.

The decision to withdraw the lawsuit comes on the heels of a media campaign orchestrated by the Media Bloggers Association on behalf of MBA Member Lance Dutson. Hundreds of bloggers responded to the MBA's call to arms and were joined by media outlets around the world in highlighting the heavy-handed tactics of the state contractor.

MediaPost reported shortly after that WKPA had been "brought down," although the firm's site makes no such announcement. I can't help but wonder why this has happened. WKPA has a pretty extensive client list...did they all bail over Dutson's blog? (Note that we misintrepreted this statement. The agency is still in business.)

I've expounded upon this extensively elsewhere...but my thought is this: I'm not sure Dutson's claims had merit, necessarily. And while I'll defend to the death his right to post them, I believe WKPA extended every olive branch they could have. A lawsuit seemed their only option.

Hindsight being 20/20 as it is, they most certainly should have ignored Dutson from the get-go. I'm sure every agency under the sun has learned that lesson now.

This may be a victory for the bloggers, but at what cost?

Now agency bloggers like me are scared to death to defend ourselves against bloggers who speak (or blog) against us. Knowing that any action we take in our defense can echo 10,000-fold across the blogosphere, what recourse do we have? It's a conundrum for folks like me who both blog and work in the world of the suits.

WKPA has become the first fable of the blogosphere. Let it be a lesson for both sides.

Dutson - 1, Warren Kremer Paino - 0: Ad Agency "Yields Unconditional Surrender" to Maine Blogger

In an unexpected twist, Warren Kremer Paino Advertising has shut its doors as a result of its run-in with blogger Lance Dutson. (UPDATE: WKPA is still alive and kicking -- this was a misunderstanding based on the MediaPost article referenced below, which stated that WKPA had "folded." Thanks, Randy.)

According to a press release titled, "Blogger Case Yields Unconditional Surrender" released just hours ago:

...Warren Kremer Paino Advertising agency voluntarily dismissed its multi-million dollar federal lawsuit against Lance Dutson, a Media Bloggers Association member targeted for the content of his blog's reporting and commentary. Gregory W. Herbert, an attorney with the international law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, represented Dutson pro bono as lead counsel.

The decision to withdraw the lawsuit comes on the heels of a media campaign orchestrated by the Media Bloggers Association on behalf of MBA Member Lance Dutson. Hundreds of bloggers responded to the MBA's call to arms and were joined by media outlets around the world in highlighting the heavy-handed tactics of the state contractor.

MediaPost reported shortly after that WKPA had been "brought down," although the firm's site makes no such announcement. I can't help but wonder why this has happened. WKPA has a pretty extensive client list...did they all bail over Dutson's blog? (Note that we misintrepreted this statement. The agency is still in business.)

I've expounded upon this extensively elsewhere...but my thought is this: I'm not sure Dutson's claims had merit, necessarily. And while I'll defend to the death his right to post them, I believe WKPA extended every olive branch they could have. A lawsuit seemed their only option.

Hindsight being 20/20 as it is, they most certainly should have ignored Dutson from the get-go. I'm sure every agency under the sun has learned that lesson now.

This may be a victory for the bloggers, but at what cost?

Now agency bloggers like me are scared to death to defend ourselves against bloggers who speak (or blog) against us. Knowing that any action we take in our defense can echo 10,000-fold across the blogosphere, what recourse do we have? It's a conundrum for folks like me who both blog and work in the world of the suits.

WKPA has become the first fable of the blogosphere. Let it be a lesson for both sides.

Jeff Jarvis: Let's Make Blog Advertising Work -- for Bloggers and for Advertisers

In a column for AdWeek, Jeff Jarvis calls for a mutually beneficial advertising solution for bloggers and marketers. Citing the difficulties both parties face in terms of logistics and trust, Jarvis calls for the following measures:

First, of course, advertisers crave metrics. We need an open-source standard for measurement that tallies not just audience and views but other key values of citizens’ media. Technorati.com counts links to blogs as a measure of authority. We also can track which blogs start conversations. And advertisers can buy sites based not just on the audiences’ demographics but also on the authors’. (Want to launch a new teen idol? Buy ads on blogs by teens.) Ad agencies should be able to search site descriptions and verified traffic data to aggregate the perfect ad hoc groupings of blogs for their campaigns from among the 34 million sites out there.

Second, we need an open-source code for placing ads from any advertiser or network on any participating site. Blogging software should make it easy to include these ad calls, at a blogger’s option. Podcasts and videos, too, need a way to serve and track ads.

building trust

Third, we need systems of trust. At the lowest level, advertisers need assurance that a person, not a spamming robot, created each blog. At a higher level, blog networks, ad agencies or media companies will seek out high-quality blogs and vet them to create valued networks they can tailor and sell to marketers. Some direct-response advertisers may be fine with their ads appearing most anywhere, if they get the clicks. But brand advertisers must protect their reputations and will want someone to know and trust the authors.

Eventually, we also need an auction system to automate negotiation of rates. I’ve used systems where I set the rates and others where advertisers set prices, but I believe we need the means to negotiate from both sides to establish true market value. Even before that exists, though, if advertisers can manually find, measure and vet blogs and place ads on them, I am confident their dollars will flow to this new world.

So, in Jarvis's solution, we're looking at a world where bloggers can easily add code to their sites to serve up the types of ads their comfortable with advertising the goods and services their comfortable with.

Advertisers are looking at an opportunity to run their ads across a broad array of very targeted niche sites, free of splogs. For brand protection, they can hand-pick the blogs on which their ads will appear.

And both parties are looking at negotiable rates.

Sounds about right -- this is the kind of advertising model that might just work. Sort of a splog-free adSense on steroids.  But who could we trust to create such an environment? What brave soul would venture into the wild frontier of blogger-advertiser negotiations?

Jeff Jarvis, natch. Jarvis ends his article/post with this news:

Jarvis Coffin, president-CEO of BURST! Media, and I are beginning to organize a trade group for citizens’ media, which could begin to set measurement standards and perform research on the medium. An open-source ad call could be established by a meeting of interested parties. Agencies, media companies and analytics companies can then use these tools to find, vet and aggregate high-quality collections of citizens’ media. And some smart entrepreneur-or perhaps eBay-could run an auction marketplace. There’s a brand new medium out here owned by all our customers that’s just waiting for us to act.