Talking to some of the PR bods at SNW Europe was enlightening and especially the fact their customers find it incredibly hard to know how to deal with the independent bloggers. In fact, some of them actually seem to be scared of us and would probably rather that we went away. So as one of these scary, random and opinionated independent bloggers; I thought I’d reflect on how I think you should interact with us or at least with me.
Now, I have no pretensions to being a journalist, a hack or any other kind of professional writer; I do this for pure fun and my own interest, a gentleman amateur may be? So for example, take SNW this week; although SNW picked up the bill for the hotel, flights and much of my sustenance; I was not paid and indeed I took leave from my day job to attend. Chris Evans who was also attending with me is self-employed and the days he spent at SNW were days when he wasn’t earning fees.
So first thing; you are interacting with ‘Martin Glassborow, blogger’ not with ‘Martin Glassborow, an employee of a large media company’; this is not your chance to try and sell to me in this role. Now obviously my day job does give you some context as to what I do and what my experience is but if you want to try to sell to me as a corporate employee, you would be better trying to book a meeting with me when I am on the clock. You can try to frame your product in a term of reference that you might think is relevant to me but to be honest, you’ll probably get it wrong.
Funnily enough, if you are trying to use my status as a blogger to try to influence my employer’s buying decisions; you are very misguided. I have little influence on those decisions but I do have influence on what my readers look at and consider. Admittedly my influence is probably quite low but I do have a fairly wide readership and for some strange reason, people seem to listen.
And may be that’s because I don’t just write about this stuff, I use this stuff; I think this is the core difference between the bloggers and most journalists. We have the scars from actually using products and these scars aren’t from paper-cuts. We can be a lot more critical and confrontational if you pitch something which is plainly stupid, wrong or just won’t work in our opinion. We are the poor suckers who might end having to make it work; we don’t simply move onto the next story. It’s not personal but we deal in reality, not press releases.
Yet even that statement is not really true, if you want to find out what the latest speeds, feeds and features of the latest products, I don’t really do that. My blog is my soap-box, it is full of opinion, conjecture and speculation; I write about my reality, not the alternative reality which is vendor wonderland. But my reality is certainly not everyone else’s.
When pitching to me as a blogger, remember that this is going to be a conversation and I will be expressing opinions; if you get this interaction right, you might well learn as much from me as I do from you. Certainly defend your position but don’t get defensive! By the way, most of the storage bloggers tend to be pretty smart guys and if they don’t get your product; you are probably pitching it wrong or you’ve just had an ‘ugly baby moment’!
I will often bring up rival offerings from your competitors; I’d prefer it if you didn’t look blank, didn’t just simply dismiss it as inferior or generally try to position your product as somehow unique. There are very few unique ideas about and many of those products which are in some way ‘unique’, there may well be a reason why this is the case.
As a blogger, I like to put things in context and not just as a product; for me, often the why is more important than the how. I want to know the question for which you believe your product is the answer. If I can’t see the question, I’m probably not going to blog on your product.
Anyway, just some thoughts which will probably develop on how to deal with this tribe of irritants which will hopefully grow; the independent blogger…or as EMC like to call them, Chad’s Reserves!
Yes, many vendor individuals are currently wary as they have not thought about this new type of pundit. But some vendors have embraced the bloggers by putting on special events and flying them across the world to blogger meetings.
In the old days it was simpler: customer, vendor, press or analyst. Take a pick.
You articulate the distinction well with your own roles. But it is also complicated by the vendor bloggers. Some have their vendor colours nailed firmly to their blogger mast. Hence the predictable debates in bloggosphere.
In my case I blog, but am also an industry analyst. The analyst segment is well established and vendors know what to expect. But here the customers are often wary, not appreciating why they should give them their time.
So, in your situation maybe open with stating: ‘I am here as … You should speak to me because …’ But I suspect it will get better over time.
Martin you bring up some great points and perspectives.
However, if bloggers (who ever they happen to be) do not want to be treated as media/reporters/journalist then they should not be acting or portraying themselves (intentionally or accidentally) in such a manner.
Likewise, if bloggers do not want to be called analysts, or vars or vendors or consultants, then they should be practicing/blogging in such a manner so as to be seen that way.
Unfortunately some people have been conditioned or taught that if you are not the vendor, if you have a means of communicating either via a blog, video, column, article or whatever the means/medium, than you must be a reporter/media. This has led to confusion (and opportunity for some) for example around traditional press/media/journalist and legacy analyst/researchers/consultants granted somewhere multiple hats and some are even bloggers.
Is a media/reporter/journalist that has a blog a blogger?
Is an independent analyst/consultant/advisor or contractor who has a blog a blogger?
Is a var or service provider who has a blog a blogger?
Is a manufacturer or ISV or other form of a vendor a blogger?
I suspect that depending on whom you talk to and ask the above you will get differing views or opinions as definitions as well as perceptions vary.
This may in fact result in some of the confusion and perception where some vendors and their PR representative think or see any and all bloggers (except perhaps those who work for a specific vendor) as another form of media/reporting as that is what they know.
What I mean by this is that if a vendor public relations person (either on staff or via an agency) only knows of and how to work with reporters/editors/journalist/freelance writers, guess what, they will and do all to often equate all bloggers as bloggers and bloggers as media as that is what they know.
I routinely see and encounter this with the daily slew of PR announcements, pitches for briefings and requests for coverage not to mention proposals for stories to be written and submitted to my site among many others, some of which never make it out of the spam box.
My thoughts, questions and points are thus:
a) If you have a blog are you a blogger?
b) What determines if or who is an independent blogger?
c) Does how you use a blog determine who or what you are and thus how you should be classified? In other words, is the blog the medium similar to a pen and paper or typewriter where those tools are used in a manner to achieve your job/hobby interests or function?
d) If you use your blog in a manner that resembles being a reporter/journalist/media/editor should you then be perceived by some as being a reporter/media? The same would apply to those who use their blogs to function as a consultant or vendor or analyst or researcher or whatever.
e) If you do not want to be seen as a reporter/media, or as a consultant/advisor/analyst, or as a vendor/var/service provider, or as a customer, than distancing yourself, or at least being clear as to what you are or are not.
IMHO your blog specifically Martin is the farthest that I have seen as being anything near a media/reporting/journalist site, however, knowing and working with vendors/vars and their PR groups, I can also see where they routinely confuse blogs that get attention such as yours as a media site.
Cheers gs
Thanks for the comments guys; actually the post was a result of conversations with the tech PR community at SNW. The ones that I have some kind of regular interaction with are pretty good and realise that there is a difference in what I do and what some of the journalists/analysts do but there is an onus on me and them to start to define how the interactions should work, so that we all derive some kind of value. It’s still early days but I think we’ll get there.