LB's Rambles

Service Counts

I've written before about the information age dangers of providing bad service. At the risk of boring you, however, let me back my opinions up with some new statistics, courtesy of eMarketer. They say that more than 70% of US Internet users use social media at least sometimes BEFORE making a purchase, to find out what kind of customer service a company provides. According to eMarketer, "More than nine out of 10 respondents agreed with the statement, 'I have chosen companies/brands based on my customer care experiences.'"

Bottom line to would-be marketers, once again: if you're relying on advertising and PR to build your brand, and you're ignoring your customer service, you are in for serious disappointment.

Twitter: Maybe It's Not Just Me

An interesting, and rather surprising, story today in the Online Media Daily tells me - as the headline has it - that "Twitter Hasn't Reached Mainstream."  The story cites some new statistics from Hitwise Intelligence that place Twitter #439 among all social networks and forums.

OK. Maybe I'm going to reveal my total un-coolness here. But that "mainstream" would include me, I fear.

I use Twitter, but I do so with the definite feeling that I don't quite, you know, get it. Now I don't use it (or want it) on my mobile phone, for example. I follow the service on my desktop where I do most of my work and on my laptop.

But I don't follow that many people and don't have that many following me. I have enough trouble keeping up with the few people that I do follow, some of whom appear to hit the send key on virtually any pretext. Sometimes the notes are interesting; too often, I fear, they're boring. Or drivel. The same may be said - absolutely and with an emphasis on the "drivel" - of my own tweets.

I suppose it's because I'm not using my mobile phone to track this stuff. I suppose that multi-platform and super-mobile ability is what sets Twitter apart. It's just that I can't see a whole lot of use for it, at least not for me personally.

But then, it took me a while to warm to Facebook. Maybe I'm not completely ineducable. Just too mainstream, for now at least, to give Twitter its due.

China Takes the Lead

How's your command of Mandarin Chinese?

You might want to polish it up, now that China has surpassed the U. S. as the country with the largest number of people on the Internet.

Granted, that's with a relatively small percentage of the population - 16 percent - online in China. But that number will only grow.

"The Loss of the Jane Vosper"

A small freighter sinks at sea, after a series of explosions. It sounds like sabotage - but how could it have happened? Apparently, it's a dangerous question; a detective investigating the sinking disappears. Enter Inspector French - the creation of Freeman Wills Crofts, one of the early Golden Age masters of the detective novel, and the star of "The Loss of the Jane Vosper," this week's novel reviewed on our Classic Mysteries podcast.

Crofts is not often remembered today, but he was the master of the intricate timetable mystery. If you have ever read one of those stories in which the crime could only have happened on a Tuesday, the one day in the week when the London train stopped at Little Croydon instead of Nether Hampstead, then you have read a story that is inspired in part by Crofts.

His stories are also very early police procedural novels, for Inspector French has the full resources of Scotland Yard behind him and knows how to use them.

"The Loss of the Jane Vosper" is a fine example of a master at work. Listen to the complete review - it's free, as always.

Jump On the Privacy Bandwagon

I've posted before about the attempts to force websites to get permission from site visitors before tracking and recording their actions, so that advertisers can target advertising that might or might not be of interest to them. I think the attempts are a bad idea, particularly the idea of legislating such requirements on a state-by-state basis.

George Simpson apparently agrees, and, on the Online Media Daily blog, he has a very funny post suggesting that we not stop with the Internet. If we're going to have these privacy concerns, let's add on other marketers. He has some modest proposals for form letters for use by magazines, mail-order catalogues, telemarketers, government agencies, etc. They're funny and, I think, quite to the point. Take a look.

A Reprieve for XP?

There may be some hope of prolonged life for Windows XP, despite what Microsoft has been saying. The Daily Dog quotes Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as saying Microsoft may reconsider its decision to stop selling XP at the end of June - though he insists that people really love Vista. Really. No, honestly. Truth. Meanwhile, keep those cards and letters coming...

Help a Reporter Out

The following is a note from Peter Shankman about a free resource that every PR person and journalist should know about.

Sharing with you today a great resource.  You'll want to tell the PR people, marketers, publicists, editors, and journalists you work with about it too, because it's all about them and their needs. 

If you're not already using www.helpareporter.com, check it out.  It's a service much like ProfNet, but free.  It used to be on Facebook, but grew too large for it.  Once you subscribe, you receive about three (sometimes two, no more than four, ever) emails a day with reporter, editor and freelance writer queries, written so you can quickly and easily scan the topics for relevance. 

If the topics do not apply to you or your clients, just hit delete. If they do, you may contact the reporter or editor directly, as instructed.

Note that Peter Shankman, the list facilitator, is very strict about helping out these reporters.  Respond only if your information (or your client's info) is relevant and on target.  If not, you'll get bumped off the list.  Quickly.  I've seen it happen. He's a big believer in good Karma, and he's also quite funny, and tends to also include a link to a fun site, or a funny story about his day in the emails. It's a nice refreshing change from the boring, non-funny emails we usually deal with.

Reporters can post queries at www.helpareporter.com/press, and sources can sign up at www.helpareporter.com - As I said, it's free. Peter asks that if you find it useful, then you make a donation to any animal rescue charity or animal hospital.

You can forward the queries to others who are a fit, but do not post any queries (or the editor/reporter contact info) on any blogs or public websites.  I received permission from Peter to send you this note, since this is a private group and I'm helping to spread the word to both subscribers and media to sign up.

www.helpareporter.com - The more people who use it, the better it becomes.

Social Media by the Numbers

I am always perplexed by the number of people who tell me they don't see the business value of social media. We're not talking about advertising here, but the simple ability to use a site like LinkedIn or Facebook to put a human face on business and to help spread the word about what we may have to offer.

Let me give you an example - my own, based on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn allows you to link to friends, colleages and acquaintances. Those people in turn, have friends. And those friends have friends of their own. That's as far as LinkedIn takes it.

On LinkedIn, I have 240 "direct" connections - i. e., they are first level friends.

Those 240 all have connections of their own. And their connections have friends. That's the third level out - at the "Your friend Sally knows my friend Pete" level. At that level, I currently have 2,964,400 connections. And the number jumps daily.

These are people LinkedIn considers to be in my "network." They are potential business partners, friends, and, yes, clients. They are accessible to me. When I ask a question, I get answers - and when I see questions from other connections, I try to answer them in turn.

Facebook works much the same way - I have friends, who have friends, who have more friends. The circles grow. And I submit that it is a serious mistake to ignore what appears to be a very potent - and free - form of outreach.

Remedial Education for the New York Times

The New York Times needs a little remedial help in understanding the relationship between public relations and journalism. At least, that's the impression I take away from its 7600-word article about sinister government efforts to influence news coverage about the war in Iraq. Why, would you believe it, the Times has discovered that the Pentagon actually seeks out favorable coverage from military analysts! Shocking!

Or maybe not. I've read a lot of hyperventilating stories about this in the past few days on both sides of the issue. I think the best response, from the PR side, comes in the Bulldog Reporter's Daily Dog from Ronn Torossian, the President and CEO of 5W Public Relations:

For me, it's a given that all organizations (including the U.S. military) attempt to "spin" what the public sees and educate and influence spokespeople who appear in the media. It's not deception any more than the political candidates who are trained to respond in a certain way, nonprofit organizations that routinely use one set of statistics instead of another or CEOs who are media trained on a daily basis by their PR firms.

Right. Read the whole thing. I'm afraid I have to agree with John Podhoretz writing for Commentary Magazine:

I think, based on many years of experience working at various newspapers, that there is an explanation for the extreme length — 7800 words — of the story and the fact that it manages to find nothing more than an effort by the Pentagon to get good coverage. The Times thought it was on to something very big, ended up with something very small, and then took what little they had and tried to make a silk purse from the sow’s ear that was reporter David Barstow’s investigation.

Public Relations is an exercise in presenting the best possible face to the world. Favoring those who help you is part of the game. If the New York Times weren't wearing its ideological blinders, they would acknowledge it.

"Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief"

He was a fictional rogue, a thief, a con man who could plan and execute a daring burglary while imprisoned, a Robin Hood-type, an adventurer, even occasionally a detective, and his popularity rivalled that of Sherlock Holmes himself. Arsene Lupin, the creation of French writer Maurice Leblanc, has remained in print in France for a century, and his popularity keeps him in print in the United States as well, fitting tribute to a man who believed, as he said, that "adventure is everywhere."

Leblanc's stories about Arsene Lupin, many of which have been gathered into a new anthology called "Arsene Lupin, Gentleman-Thief," are the subject of discussion on this week's "Classic Mysteries" podcast. Please follow the link to listen. As always, it's free. The Lupin stories are funny, witty, adventure-filled, heart-warming and quite thoroughly enjoyable.

Oh - and in one story Lupin did, in fact, meet Sherlock Holmes.

And stole his pocket watch...