Read This First: The Executive's Guide to New Media-from Blogs to Social Networks - Softcover

Ploof, Ron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1440166854 ISBN 13: 9781440166853

Verlag: iUniverse, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

What is your Company's Online Reputation? If you want proof that business communication has changed forever, just type your company's name into a search engine like Google or Yahoo and behold its online reputation. The results are frequently jarring because instead of finding brand messages carefully crafted by those on your payroll, most executives find a mishmash of content created by those who aren't--new influencers who are using New Media technologies to share their thoughts about your products and services. If you want to learn how to monitor and manage your online reputation, if you'd like to know how to properly influence these new influencers, if you'd like to hire employees who are well equipped to work in our new online world, you need to Read This First. You will learn: *Why you can no longer control your brand and why you shouldn't try. *Low cost, low risk, step-by-step methods to bring New Media into your organization. *How to use free, web-based tools to increase employee productivity while enhancing your company's online reputation. *How New Media is the most measurable medium in the history of corporate communications. *Case studies of real companies, big and small, using Social Media.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Ron Ploof is the founder of OC New Media, L.L.C., a consulting firm dedicated to helping businesses use New Media channels to better communicate with their customers. In October 2007, he launched his blog, RonAmok!: The Adventures of a New Media Evangelist where he focuses on the business uses of New Media.

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Read This First

The Executive's Guide to New Media- from Blogs to Social NetworksBy Ron Ploof

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2009 Ron Ploof
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4401-6685-3

Contents

Acknowledgments....................................................ixForeword...........................................................xiIntroduction.......................................................xiiiChapter I The Economics of Influence..........................1Chapter II Listening Is Free...................................12Chapter III Talking and Participating...........................23Chapter IV Bambi's Got an AK-47................................37Chapter V Trust and Faith.....................................55Chapter VI The Traditional's Handbook..........................67Chapter VII Business as a Publisher.............................79Chapter VIII New Media Means New Management......................93Chapter IX Calgon, Take Me Away!...............................107Chapter X Measure, Analyze, Rinse, Repeat.....................118Chapter XI Knit One, Purl Two..................................141Selected Bibliography..............................................155Index..............................................................157

Chapter One

The Economics of Influence

Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one. -A.J. Liebling (1904-1963)

I begin many of my speaking engagements by presenting the illustration in Figure 1-1 and asking if anyone recognizes it. Do you? More often than not, an American in the audience identifies it as "The Boston Massacre," correctly referring to an incident that occurred on March 5, 1770. But there is much more to the story than meets the eye.

The word "massacre" conjures images of defenseless citizens being cut down by ruthless aggressors and careful examination of the print reveals details consistent with that conclusion. Seven British soldiers are firing expertly leveled muskets toward a group of innocent colonists. Behind these soldiers stands their maniacal-looking commanding officer, sword raised as if giving them the order to fire. Faneuil Hall has been renamed "Butcher's Hall," and, to really pull at the heartstrings, a cute puppy looks on in disbelief.

The problem is that virtually none of it is true. A criminal trial of the soldiers determined that the incident was one of self-defense instead of a massacre.

Why would one of the most recognizable illustrations from the American War for Independence-one contained in the majority of American history books-be inaccurate? Why, 250 years later, would it still be recognized as a massacre instead of an act of self-defense? Simple. Because self-defense didn't serve the purposes of those, such as Samuel Adams, who sought independence from the Crown.

Adams understood that those who controlled the flow of information to the masses could exert influence over them. With access to the city's largest printing presses, he exploited this power to successfully stoke the fires of a revolution. He, and others sympathetic to the cause, commissioned Paul Revere to create a poster to commemorate the event. Entitled "The Bloody Massacre," the illustration met the cause's requirements-its content can be more accurately described as inflammatory propaganda than historical fact. However, its influence didn't stop with eighteenth-century Americans. Two-hundred-fifty years later, an argument can be made that this print is the most effective public relations campaign in American history. And it all happened because of the printing press. It all happened because of the Economics of Influence.

The Economics of Influence

When Johannes Gutenberg introduced the printing press to the West in the mid-1400s, he set into motion a means for future businesses to create and distribute ideas through the use of ink and paper. When Thomas Edison recorded sound onto a vinyl cylinder, he set into motion a means for businesses to create and distribute recorded sound. When Guglielmo Marconi transmitted his voice wirelessly through the use of electromagnetic waves, he set into motion a means for businesses to create and distribute radio and television signals.

These three innovations share a common feature: the costs associated with operation limit ownership to a handful of people with sufficient financial resources to do so. When it came to the creation and distribution of content, the world was separated into two publishing categories: the haves and the have-nots. This division transcended the monetary power of traditional socioeconomic classes-those with the capacity to create and distribute information also maintained a powerful influence over the hearts and minds of the vast majority that didn't. This power affected two groups, society and business, yet each reacted in opposite ways.

First, governments around the world were leery about the concentration of such influence into a minority of hands, and therefore passed laws restricting it. In Communist and dictatorial countries, governments often seized control of the media, using its influence to spoon-feed the populace with carefully crafted, state-sponsored messages. On the other hand, in countries supporting free speech, a more moderate approach prevailed as governments attempted to limit influence through licensing.

In the United States, Congress passed the Communications Act of 1934. The law has not only held up for seven decades-it's been updated numerous times, including 1996, 2005, and 2006. Rather than attempting to control the content, which would violate freedom-of-speech laws, the federal government licensed the electromagnetic spectrum, placing certain restrictions on media ownership. For example, by setting limits on the number of newspapers, radio stations, and television stations that any single publisher may own in any given market, the government could limit a publisher's influence within that given market.

Unlike the government, the business world didn't see this concentration of influence as a problem. Rather, businesses saw it as an opportunity to deliver their messages to large numbers of potential customers. Therefore, while governments sought to limit the influence of publishers, businesses sought to harness their influence.

By focusing on the markets that their messages could reach through the media, businesses created marketing, a corporate branch dedicated to delivering product and service messages to potential customers. Marketers approached publishers seeking to insert their messages into publications. Publishers countered the request with a proposition. If businesses were willing to pay for that access, publishers would be more than happy to sell column inches or broadcast minutes to do so. Subsequently, the advertising industry and Madison Avenue were born.

However, a critical element was missing from the relationship. Publishers needed more than advertisements to increase their audiences, which demanded compelling content and news. Simultaneously, businesses sought alternative ways to reduce the cost of delivering their messages. Publishing's need for content combined with business' need for cheaper access, culminated in the creation of another new profession called public relations. Businesses hired employees skilled in the art of influencing, and gave them the job of convincing publishers to talk about...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: iUniverse
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1440166854
• ISBN 13: 9781440166853
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 180
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland