Mike’s Points

If you read my blog at least periodically, you know I hardly do product or any type of review. But, I am definitely open to suggestions (as evidenced by this post).

A couple or so weeks ago, Gwen Peake of Ford Motor Co. contacted me and asked if I wanted to drive a Ford Flex to NYC. Ford would pay for gas there and to fly me back. I love to drive — but, I thought, “Why just me?”

So, my wife, Amy, and I have turned it into a mini-vacation for the family. I’ve been to NYC many times previously for business but not with the family. The memories and time together would far out-value any added expense we’d incur.

When Ford delivered the Flex Wednesday morning, we were a few hours away from setting off on the great American family road trip later that afternoon. We stayed with my aunt and uncle in New Cumberland, W. Va., Wednesday night (image at right) before arriving in NYC around 5 p.m. Thursday. We are staying a couple nights at the apartment of a close friend of a friend of Amy’s in the Times Square area.

Let me start by saying what we typically drive — so you have some idea of what I’m comparing the Flex to, and my family-focused perspective for this review. I drive a 2001 Honda Odyssey and Amy drives a 2007 Kia Sedona. Both were bought with safety as a priority (we have four kids), as well as price. I grew up in a (mostly) Ford family and the car I previously drove was a Ford Escort — which I had for 14 years. My very first car was a used Ford Tempo.

Fortunately, I can’t personally talk of the Flex’s safety features (no accidents!), but it is rated very highly when it comes to safety.

Good, the Not-So-Good & the Final Judgement

As I said above, we left home in the “sparkly black” (as Amy called it) Ford Flex Wednesday afternoon. Our trip took us from the flat lands of northern Ohio, into the rolling hills of southeast Ohio, through the winding and climbing mountains of the Alleghenies, into eastern Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey, before hitting New York City.

Other than icy roads, the drive to NYC pretty much ran the gamut of American road conditions and terrain.

After driving some 11+ hours, the Flex definitely is a more comfortable ride and is quieter than the minivans we drive. Even the kids said the Flex is very comfortable. (I will post videos of their take on the Flex in the next day or so to my YouTube account.)

The Flex has good acceleration/pick up for highway driving, and is easy to drive in-town — whether that’s a bedroom  community like Bedford Township, Mich., or a world-class city like The Big Apple. The brakes are not overly sensitive, so your passengers won’t get jerked around every time you slow down.

Many of the convenience features are excellent, including:

• giving you the average MPG (we had about 19.4 for the trip),
• how many miles you have until your gas tank hits empty,
• multiple ways to adjust the seat and pedals,
• a roomy first row, console/storage unit, that also offers first and second row passengers plug in and comfort options (see picture at right), etc.

While we couldn’t take advantage of all the Microsoft SYNC features, we did plug in Amy’s iPod and the family enjoyed listening to everyone’s music during the trip. (She previously added the kids’ playlists to her iPod, plus added some of my CDs.)

I was a bit disappointed in not being able to test out some of the other features of the Flex. It seems like we have a basic package. I had hoped to have a refrigerated, second-row console unit and/or its navigation unit, at least.

The only other area in which the Ford Flex disappointed me was the back storage (images at right). While the kids, and Amy and I had plenty of leg room and space - the Flex became crowded quickly when we packed our stuff in (even for a short trip like this). The back storage area quickly filled up with a small suitcase, a duffel bag and a stroller.

Our three oldest kids also brought along a backpack for any books, toys, etc. The backpacks had to go between the seats or in the leg room area. So, it was not easy getting in and out from the second and third row seats.

It seems like the Ford Flex would be ideal as a main family vehicle for a family with two children, when you could fold down the back row seats for the storage needed for a long trip. With three or more kids — like the Driehorst family with four — it doesn’t work as a trip/vacation vehicle.

For us, the Ford Flex would be a great secondary, in-town car.

So you know my $0.02 on the Ford Flex. If you have one or have driven one — what are YOUR thoughts?

-Mike

Maybe it’s because of my journalism roots, but I never did like rags. In my POV, rags are newspapers and magazines that run every news release you’d send them, mostly verbatim.

Yeah, sure they were easy “hits” and helped make me look good to clients (not that I needed help — hardee har-har ).

But, I figured they did not provide quality coverage, and their circulation numbers were not really “real” (though I did include them in client reports).

Solid media coverage comes from media outlets that take their journalism* responsibility seriously. They don’t publish everything you send — and you don’t send them everything you have.

A real PR pro has solid news judgment, knows his employer or clients’ objectives, knows or can find the appropriate media outlets needed to meet those objectives, and knows those media outlets.

That goes whether you’re talking traditional offline media, online media or social media.

So, I was thrilled to read about MomDot’s call for for mommy bloggers to get back to their roots for one week in August:

MomDot is challenging bloggers to participate for one week in August in a PR BLACKOUT challenge where you do not blog ANY giveaways, ANY reviews, and Zero press releases. In fact, we dont want you to talk to PR at ALL that whole week.  We want to see your blog naked, raw, and back to basics. Talk about your kids, your marriage, your college, your hopes, your dreams, your house and whatever you can come up with for one week.

I’ve been involved in numerous blogger outreach efforts, including some sampling outreach where I’ve sought permission to send products to and sought feedback from bloggers on those products. In any type of outreach a PR pro does — whether with traditional or social media — there has to be value for both parties.

The PR pro has to give content, access, information, etc., — something that the blogger finds of value for his or her readers. Yes, in sampling, the blogger receives a product that he/she likely won’t return, but that’s fine. That’s not payola and should not dramatically influence the objective, pure blog post PR pros and their clients or employer should seek.

I’ve never paid — NOR WILL I EVER PAY — a blogger to post about a client’s product. If you do, that’s fine. That’s an ad. That IS NOT PR.

I will never tell a blogger what to write — or that he/she should even write at all.

I will never get upset if a blogger expresses interest in and says he/she will write a post, but doesn’t. Most bloggers still have jobs, lives, family, etc. You’re a PR pro. Bloggers very likely are not professional bloggers.

Now, I also realize that power moms — including mom bloggers — are hot. I definitely don’t begrudge a blogger — whether the person’s a mom or not — to earn a living and get some type of compensation to post on his or her blog. If the blogger has the talent and following, great. Get benefit from it.

But as a word of caution, as Trisha at MomDot seemed to say in her post, don’t forget your roots and the qualities that made you so darn popular. There are plenty of commercialized old and new media entities.

So,to all of you sought-after bloggers — as well as traditional media — please don’t loose your purity.

-Mike

Image of Rosie the Riveter. Also see Google search.

*I realize that, with few exceptions, bloggers are not journalists, and I don’t view them that way. Still, they do “report,” and usually it’s their opinion. That’s fine. Blogs are still media.

I’m seriously thinking of doing a series of blog posts about “Media Relations Commandments.” (Or, maybe Public Relations Commandments for the majority who primarily think of trying to generate editorial-type exposure when they think PR. But, that’s another post.)

I — like a bunch of other PR bloggers — received a piss-poor pitch from a large PR agency. The image is the email header and pitch I received. Clearly, by sending yourself the email, you BCC’d the list. With so many tools available to at least personalize emails (I’ve used GroupMail in the past), that’s a entry level or small-time budget effort.

And, there’s no tie in the pitch that the topic has anything to do with what I blog or tweet about. That’s a lazy effort.

If you take 20 minutes to scan my blog, you’ll be able to tell that my blog is primarily opinion. My opinion. For the most part, posts are tips, ideas and links to other items of interest. I rarely do product reviews. And, it should be pretty clear that I do not use suggestions from companies, associations or any PR agency.

Sure, send them my way if you like — I likely won’t use it, but definitely will read it and consider it. IF you should pitch me, at least make the topic of interest to what I blog about.

So, if you are MR-impaired (that’s media relations impaired), let me offer a bit of advice in how to scope out your media outlet targets BEFORE you pitch them (which is another possible commandment):

First, unless you have a new client or a new employee, you should be regularly reading the print or social media appropriate for your clients, or viewing or listening to the broadcast media programs you wish to reach. If you’re reaching out to a new set of media, get subscriptions, visit their sites (for traditional media) and read their blogs.

In addition, you can gleam background information on the media and the right person to pitch by using a tool like Cision, or even LinkedIn. For a blog, read the blog. Even if it’s one that you don’t regularly monitor, spend 20-30 minutes reading posts, searching for terms pertinent to your pitch, try to find the blogger’s profile and see if he or she is blogging elsewhere.

By reading, researching and becoming familiar with your initial targets, only then can then determine if they are “quality” targets — that is, if you think they might be open to your story idea.

-Mike

UPDATE, March 7, 2008: The fine folks at CustomScoop’s Media Bullseye republished the below post. I updated the content to include two other services: CyberAlert’s BlogSquirrel and CustomScoop’s BuzzPerception.

See a need, fill a need: It’s a philosophy that is one of the primary themes of Robots (and what inspired Rodney).

You could also say it’s the driving force in a free market, and why many businesses are started.

While social media is still in its infancy — it’ll have a long life, so many years is still an “infancy” — many who’ve been involved have several years experience. Some of us, even have a couple!

However, while the social media populous has been and continues to grow, the tools available to public relations professionals have been lacking, compared to what we’re used to offline. Offline, there’s media tracking services like Luce (okay, BurrellsLuce) and Bacon’s (okay, Cision), as well as newer online and less costly services like Factiva (via the WSJ) and NewsLibrary.com. If you’re tasked with keeping track of clients’/your employer’s media coverage, it’s great knowing you have other professionals and reliable services to work with.

But, online? It was much more manual and, from my experience, included doubt because social media was so new, and there. seemed. to. be. so. many. blogs! Early search engines like GlobeofBlogs, Technorati, BlogPulse and Google Blog Search while free, were very manual and still left a bit of doubt.

However, 2007 saw and early 2008 has seen the birth of many new social media tools. Tools that actually have functionality and make our jobs easier. Still, there’s spam and junk blogs to filter out, but the functionality of these tools versus what’s mentioned above is like day and night.

Here’s a rundown of the tools I’m familiar with — please offer your comments and positive/negative feedback if you’ve tried them, or add your own cool tools. (When possible, I’ve included what I know about each of the services — but by no means are my comments below a thorough commentary of all tools noted. For your own use, please review/evaluate these services yourself.)

Comprehensive tools

Techrigy’s Social Media Manager: Covers blogs, as well as a discussion boards/forums, social bookmarking sites, Flickr, YouTube and other, Twitter, etc. Offers a lot of functionality and flexibility. Note: I had an extensive evaluation of SM2 last fall and into early 2008 before we committed to a contract with Techrigy. I’m very satisfied with SM2, and company has been extremely responsive to suggestions and on-going communication.

Radian6: Similar to Social Media Manager in its range of social media covered. It’s been in the news every so often with contracts with some notable agencies. Note: I had demo of Radian6 early this year, and liked what I saw. In many ways, Radian6 and Social Media Manager are comparable — though each have their “differentiators.” There were a few key differences as to why we chose SM2.

Visible Technologies’ TruCast: I’ve not had a demo of TruCast, but from its site and from some communication with a sales person, it seems to offer capabilities comparable to the above: a “comprehensive solution for social media analysis and participation. Our enterprise level solution enables clients to complete the conversation by allowing them to track, analyze, and participate in blogs, forums, social networks and online communities.”

Forums/Boards

As a smart man once twittered — “forum mining is a tough nut to crack; it’s the deep, unsexy social web stuff that’s oft influential AND overlooked…” — discussion forums and boards are more important than blogs in social media monitoring in many ways. You can obtain so much feedback and trend information on companies, issues and industries by monitoring and participating. And, unlike blogs, you have only a few places to look.

Awhile ago, I had a post about a number of vertical forums and boards. Now, without time-consuming, in-depth searching, you can use board-focused search engines to find, review and monitor them.

BoardReader: “BoardReader was developed to address the shortcomings of current search engine technology to accurately find and display information contained on the Web’s forums and message boards.” (Personal/Local note: It was developed by some U of Michigan people! Go Blue!)

Twing (courtesy of the aforementioned “smart man,” aka Mike Manuel): “Our intent is to enable you to quickly find highly relevant communities and discussions pertaining to your interests, as well as keep you informed on the latest trends influencing communities.”

Omgili: “Omgili is a specialized search engine that focuses on ‘many to many’ user generated content platforms, such as, Forums, Discussion groups, Mailing lists, answer boards and others.”

Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter what tools we use — clients/employer just want quality, cost-effective results. However, it sure is nice when the marketplace sees enough demand to develop tools to make our respective jobs easier and more effective.

See a need, fill a need.

– Mike

I don’t have a big problem with services like PayPerPost (mostly because it encourages its bloggers to disclose a PPP post). And, really, if a blogger does paid reviews, it’s part of living in a free market society. For the most part, blogging doesn’t pay (much), and if you can make a buck or three, I can understand the enticement.

But, it’s . . . just . . . not . . . right.

David Binkowski often enough writes about PayPerPost and his opinions are pretty clear.

Sara of Suburban Oblivion, while not giving her opinion, recently asked her readers about paid reviews. (She and others do product reviews, but I saw no indication if they’re paid or not.) It seemed that most of the commenters have no problem with paid reviews.

If you’re being paid to review and blog about a product, there always will be a veil of bias hanging over the post.

I don’t think I’m being utopian by stating that blog posts are viewed as being honest. Forthright. Upfront. 
Trusted. Blogs are a powerful online, word-of-mouth, connecting resource. And, being paid to give an opinion hints at being biased. Not entirely honest.

Like advertising, I suppose services like PPP have their place. But, they do not — they cannot — have the same value as an honest, transparent product review.

As a public relations/marketing communications professional, I will not ask a blogger for a published review. I figure that, if a person blogs, he or she is naturally opinionated and will (postiviely or negatively) blog about the product, if he or she wants to.

The only thing I will ask for is for feedback — privately. That is one of the greatest values: objective subjective feedback.

Granted, however, I do tend to expect, or hope bloggers to blog about the product (because, as I stated, they’re opinionated). So, while not asking for a post, I have stated that, if a blogger does, then we’d try to work out a system where any of his or her readers who order a product and reference the blog, receives a small discount.

One of the greatest assets of social media is in how it connects. But, because that connection is done behind computer screens and keyboards — where you can easily be anonymous — what you type is who you are. Your reputation, your credibility is on the line whenever you blog.

If you’re being paid to review a product, your greatest asset – your credibility – suffers. And, no amount of payment will rebuild what’s been lost.

– Mike