ICYMI: My Content, Elsewhere

This blog is my home base, the hub of the social empire of made up of me, my Mickey Mouse pen holder and those of rare few of exceptional taste (i.e. you).

Truth be typed I spend much more of my time elsewhere on the Interwebs: on various social networks, on news and media sites, on your blogs. I watch, I read, I comment, I share.

Unless you’re stalking my every move – let me save you some time, don’t; I’m really boring – there’s no way to catch it all. In that spirit, every few weeks I’ll recap what I think readers may enjoy and what I consider worth a second look.

In Case You Missed It:

Suing customers for posting accurate, unfavorable reviews is a thing now as vendors and service providers are banning (negative) reviews in their contracts. Thoughts:

  • Some companies live or die by reviews, that’s business. Have a good product, offer good services and people will say so via likes, stars, comments, testimonials.
  • Businesses need to take ownership of their brand, manage their online reputation, respond to the bad and do what it takes to fix the problems (not just the reviews).
  • Manage expectations. It’s a ridiculous standard to expect a business to have nothing but glowing raves; ‘perfection’ at half price isn’t the only measure of a job well done. There are those times that.. the customer isn’t always right; they tend to misplace their blame and negate their own.

I understand a business’s need to protect itself. But if a provider isn’t willing to stand behind their service to the point they’ll sue me for posting an honest, negative review they won’t win my trust nor earn my business.

Comments Closed.

As I indicated on Google+, this WILL be blogged in detail here at some point. Many others were right on Copyblogger’s move to close comments, so for now let me direct you to their posts that, as fate would have it, have some pretty smart comments (and also, mine):

Gini Dietrich explains why she won’t close blog comments, and I was like yeah, ‘comments are work.’ Next I had to buy Mark Schaefer a Coke, as he was spot-on with the economics behind ending blog comments. Marcus Sheridan said Good for Copyblogger, their blog, their rules, their choice. To which I said sure – and by the same logic, so too everyone complaining about the move; their comments, their opinions, their choice.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YBtspm8j8M&feature=share&list=FLkLwI6bmpERU28LT4BpVi_A

Everyone is free to do what works best for them in this ever-changing social experiment. Some sites, comments don’t make sense. For my style of blogging, they do.

Generic Brand Video.

This collaboration is scary smart, as Dissolve took the pithy smarts of a McSweeney’s post and added it to their stock footage for something both hilarious and spot-on.

It’s a pretty sharp commentary on business communications, on PR – and a clever piece of marketing content for themselves.

Watching the news or TV golf, I promise you’ll never look at those ads – about absolutely nothing – the same way.

Many of us have content that’s elsewhere. What’s a better, easier way to curate that, to repurpose it into something new? Do share.

Want More? Keep Reading.

10 thoughts on “ICYMI: My Content, Elsewhere

  1. I agree with Gini Dietrich on why blog comments shouldn’t be closed. Blog comments opens interaction as well as it also attracts commenters and viewers which drives traffic to the blog.

    1. They do Bethany, I’ve always been a champion of a blog that brings together people to talk and discuss – and w/ each other as much as the blogger, that’s a true community. In terms of other ‘media’ like sites selling ads, I get that it’s too much work, that the $ ROI isn’t there. It’s just, IMHO, they’re no longer a ‘blog’ by my definition.. it’s a weekly column, where we are free to discuss elsewhere. which is what they want, that back link for SEO. FWIW.

  2. Well Davina, it’s been WAY too long since I got my butt over here to comment, so I appreciate the comment you made on my recent post, and the tweet…good reminders that those we connected with early in our online journey (you were one of the first I ‘met’ online) should not be forgotten. And although I hadn’t forgotten you, I was negligent in keeping in touch. I change that today. Cheers! Kaarina

    1. YW Kaarina and no worries. Even if commenting and socializing was like, a full time job, no way we’d ever stay in touch with all our connections. Saw your post, had a minute to comment and share.. happy to. Thanks.

  3. Get sued for an honest yet negative review? Oh please! I know there are some sites Davina that people can go and shoot off negative reviews anonymously and I think that’s just crappy of them. Stand up and be heard. If you’re not happy about something I would go to the company and if they can’t or refuse to resolve it then I might write one but not for the sake of being pissed off about something. I can see why some companies might feel the need to do that so it will stop all those losers.

    As far as what Copyblogger did. I agree with Marcus, their blog, their business. Is it right for them? They’re the ones that will soon find out. As each of us move forward we have to do what’s best for us. If that’s closing comments then once again, that’s our business. Personally, I could care less because I stopped commenting on their site a while back because they never replied. It was obvious that they didn’t care anything about my opinion so hope they continue to do well with the direction they’re going.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts about this and the heads up about the review. Still shaking my head over that one.

    ~Adrienne
    Adrienne recently posted..Why Blogging Relationships Always Win Over Traffic

    1. Everyone has their own way to do things Adrienne; I’m more like you in that, if you’re not gonna reply — to a comment or tweet or review — then you’re either just in love w/ the sound of your own typing and/or don’t care for my opinion one way or the other. If it works for you, great; just not my brand of social media vodka. 🙂

      Just today, there was an ad on the radio about online rep management.. mostly from a ‘sue someone’ standpoint. I do get it’s an issue, a real one – esp. from the anonymous trolls you mentioned. It’s also a matter of credibility; ex. the one-hit wonder (or pan) reviews TripAdvisor are almost always worthless while the ones under a handle, from people (like myself) who’ve been posting for years, those are worth reading.

      FWIW I’ve given a few negative reviews – when really and truly warranted. I’ve always maintained that it’s not the mistake, it’s what a business does to fix it. Biz A can lose my business forever, whilst Biz B can step up, respond to my issue or complaint, win my loyalty AND earn positive word of mouth. At the same time, like I wrote in the post, if you’re going to try to contractually block me from ever saying or sharing something negative (and provably accurate?!) .. that raises too many red flags to win my biz.

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