ONLINE INFLUENCEwhat blogs mean to your business

Susannah GardnerNov. 15, 2005

…I called West Elm and spoke with a really nice sales person who without truly admitting it, implied that mine wasn't the first call she'd gotten RE: the bed. She offered to send me a new middle piece and assured me if it didn't work, West Elm would take the bed back and issue a full refund. I agreed and thought, "okay, well that was simple enough. I'll get the new piece and all will be fine again." …After that, I came to the sad realization that even a new piece would most probably not fix the problem This bed was just not made properly…

Submitted by a reader of ApartmentTherapy

I can't believe I am reading all of this. I just went to the curb.com site because someone from their company is speaking at a conference I am attending, and I see this West Elm bed problem on the front page of the site, and I am thinking – I just stupidly bought this bed last week. As someone else suggested - you get what you pay for.

Posted by sherry at 10/27/04 8:53 PM

POSTED 10.27.04

117 comments through 08.05.05

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/main/archives/001316.html

05.04.05

I work at West Elm Chelsea and have never heard of any problems with the bed frame as of recently, and I even own this frame without problems for quite some time. All of the employees are West Elm are extremely concerned about the company's image and really love the products, and speaking for myself and the many others I work with, we really strive hard for customer satisfaction; if you are not satisfied with a piece of furniture and you don't have a receipt you can still bring it back for a replacement without hassle…

Posted by notsaying at 05/04/05 4:20 AM

THE FACT IS

CONSUMERS DON’T TRUST TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING METHODS

jadedDUBIOUS

cynical

DISBELIEVING

how many of these words apply to the customers you know?

MISTRUSTFUL

BORED

suspicious

doubtful

CONSUMERS DON’T BELIEVE ALL BUSINESSES ARE RUN BY LIARS

but they don’t NOT believe it, either

FOR TODAY’S CONSUMER, THE IDEA THAT THEY CAN TALK TO REAL PEOPLE WITHIN A BUSINESS IS REFRESHING, NOVEL – EVEN EXCITING

bring on the BLOGS

more than 100 million blogs in the world

from 23,000 to 80,000 new blogs a day

30-40 millions blogs in the U.S.

most businesses use blogs to

• interact conversationally with customers

• provide information, demonstrate expertise, generate interest

• get feedback, including criticism

• change public opinion

• create buzz

some businesses also

• drive sales or action

• develop products and services

• handle crises and negative publicity

• extend their corporate culture to those who work with the company

• search engine marketing• direct communication• brand building• competitive differentiation • relational marketing• exploit the niches• media & public relations• reputation management• position expert status

10 STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF BLOGGING

HOW BLOGS WORK

• Comments

• Trackbacks

• Blog posts

• Blogroll

• Permalink

• Blog post titles

• Relevant content

REAL-WORLD EXAMPLES

http://protectionblog.com/

http://blog.qumana.com/

Building Buzz with Bloggers: Examining Marqui’s PayBloggers Program.

character blogs

TRACKING THE BLOGOSPHERE

http://www.technorati.com

oopsMazda M3 blog

"If you fudge or lie on a blog, you are biting the karmic weenie," says Steve Hayden, vice chairman of advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather, which creates blogs for clients. "The negative reaction will be so great that, whatever your intention was, it will be overwhelmed and crushed like a bug. You're fighting with very powerful forces because it's real people's opinions."

understanding the blog mentality

TRUTH telling

honesty

TRANSPARENCY

human connection

defusing the bomb• acknowledging mistakes

• apologizing

• removing the corporate mask

ready to start blogging?• Understand why you would want to use a blog• Consider its core message• Determine who is going to write it• Determine if you have in-house talent• Determine whether you are prepared to

engage the conversation without controlling the communication

• Determine company blogging policy and establish posting guidelines

• Monitor what is being said about your company and your industry

• Decide on a blog platform• Determine ways to market your blog• Develop a plan to track statistics

required reading

• Want Truth in Advertising? Try a BlogFortune Magazine http://www.fortune.com/fortune/fastforward/0,15704,1017715,00.html

• Why There's No Escaping the BlogFortune Magazinehttp://www.fortune.com/fortune/print/0,15935,1011763,00.html

• Blogs Will Change Your BusinessBusiness Weekhttp://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_18/b3931001_mz001.htm

blogs you need to know

• Gizmodo: http://www.gizmodo.com

• Engadget: http://www.engadget.com

• Official Google Blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

• BoingBoing: http://www.boingboing.net/

legal issues? maybe not.

"With a company like Google that's growing this fast, the verbal history can't be passed along fast enough," says Marissa Mayer, who oversees the search site and all of Google's consumer web products. "Our legal department loves the blogs, because it basically is a written-down, backed-up, permanent time-stamped version of the scientist's notebook. When you want to file a patent, you can now show in blogs where this idea happened."