Riff On The Age Of Independent PR Blogging

Garth Beyer

I just caught Arik’s article on PR daily suggesting the age of independent PR blogging is over.

He suggested there’s too much noise.

I agree, there is, but the most wonderful attribute of the Internet is those who are the loudest do not rank the highest. It is those who provide the most valuable work who rank the highest. There’s a filtration system for independent PR bloggers. Especially PR bloggers.

If you think you’re part of the noise, you’re not creating enough value, you’re not connecting with humans, you’re not standing out. Like I wrote yesterday, it’s not the person who can juggle more balls or yell louder than the rest who gets the attention, it’s those who get in front, those who make themselves vulnerable and those who create the greatest value who get the attention.

It’s easy to say there is too much noise. It’s a whole lot harder to admit you’re part of it. Noise is what groups of mediocre people make. Noise is cared about only by those who are making it.

He suggested early bloggers have moved on.

They have, but we need to clarify, not just the why, but also the where. They haven’t moved on because independent PR blogging doesn’t pay off, they have moved on because it has. They aren’t off somewhere else trying to get the same results they hoped for from blogging, they’re out there reaping what they sowed in their blogs.

He suggested you beware the content machines

Independent travel bloggers, say, Mike Walsh with flight4sight aren’t afraid of sites like Pursuitist. Consumer centric growth blogger Steven P. Dennis isn’t afraid of content machines. Bernadette Jiwa isn’t afraid of sites like Copyblogger.

Just because there are wandering generalities, content machines, if you will, it does not mean you can’t become a meaningful specific. (HT Ziglar)

Courage is the key ingredient

Writing as an independent PR blogger, I’ve shared all the same concerns as Arik. I’ve feared I wouldn’t make it through the noise, I’ve questioned whether it would be worth it or not, I’ve worried what the point would be of investing so much time in a blog if I knew I would eventually leave it behind (I won’t), and I’ve felt beaten by the content machines out there.

Recall the filtration system I mentioned, all the filters are right there. I understand the fear, the apprehension and the concern. It takes a lot of courage to blog about technology when TechCrunch is out there. But it’s that specific courage that makes you and your blog valuable.

If you’re going to plant any seeds, be sure to see their growth all the way through.

Trends don’t end

Lastly, a note about trends in general. A trend isn’t over if people leave. A trend is only over if people leave for something else, something better. Arik notes Danny is leaving the trend of independent PR blogging for his family. It would be different if Danny was leaving the blogosphere to start a new PR trend.

Spending time with family doesn’t produce the same benefits as an independent PR blog. Trends end when people find an action they can take that has the same benefits as what they were doing PLUS some. Better stated, trends don’t end, they change.

 

Stay Positive & It’s The Independent PR Bloggers Who Change Them, The Content Machines Simply Follow Suit

I was privileged to exchange a couple of emails with Arik since posting this. It needs a returning note. There are dozens of benefits to establishing a group blog model, benefits an independent blog model doesn’t have. However, it works the other way around too. My final note is a reminder that you can have the best of both worlds. In the early ages of PR blogging, guest blogging gathered attention for multiple bloggers at once. Think of group blogs as guest blogging on steroids. Bloggers never stopped writing for themselves even though they wrote guest blog posts, why should you if you’re also part of a group blog model?

Thanks, Arik.

Where To Stand, Sit, Walk, Juggle…

Garth Beyer

In the front. Always.

Those who sit in the front of the classroom learn better.

Those who are in the front of the line get the best deals.

Those who perform in the front get noticed.

Not-so-coincidentally, the bold act of being in front, where everyone can see, where you can’t hide a thing, that’s what makes you stand out. It’s not that you’re the loudest or wildest dressed, it’s not that you can juggle 6 balls instead of 5, it’s that you’re in the front.

Very few ever go on a long observational journey looking for you or what you offer. Why bother when they know the best is always right in front of them? Call it lazy, convenient or call it a sifting mechanism. If they know you and 99 other people can hand-toss a delicious pizza, they’ll choose the one in front. Every time.

 
Stay Positive & Where Are You?

The Problem With Free

Garth Beyer

You can push out sweepstakes for winners to win free X for a year. You can put out samples after samples, which, by the way, customers never call them samples, they call them free X. You can also give away a free X with each purchase.

You may make friends, customers, clients, by giving X away for free, but the ones you make won’t come back when X is no longer free.

Instead of giving free X’s to strangers, give X along with Y and Z to those you know will be back and those who have come back for X before.

Treasure the friends (customers, clients) you have now and more trustworthy ones will come knocking. And by trustworthy, I also mean those who benefit you as well, those who show up to pay, to give in return to what you offer, not to take free handouts.

 

Stay Positive & Are You Marketing To The Right Friends?

Assorted Links

Garth Beyer

1. The infographics you need to (see)

2. The need for Bathtub Week (read)

3. With all the chat about celiacs disease, it’s worth dropping this here (read)

4. Wait no longer, underwear with cellphone pockets (read), a representation of my concern, it’s possible (read)

5. No reservations (read)

6. No you can’t tell if someone is lying by reading their facial expressions (read)

Grow Instead Of Standing On The Shoulders Of Giants

Garth Beyer

What makes you feel a sense of self? Rather, what makes you not question what makes you feel a sense of self? What is it you do that you never regret taking the time to do? What are you okay with failing at?

Is it okay with you to prioritize some other activity over what you’ve just responded with?

We have to take our joy, our pleasure, our passion seriously. We can’t let perfection stand in the way of creating our muse. We can’t let critics steer us on a different path with only their voice. Most importantly, we can’t let ourselves be sold short… by ourselves.

If you’re concerned about time, you’re wrong about what you’re passionate about. The theory of relativity isn’t just something Einstein scientifically proclaimed, it’s something he felt while he worked. Time is relative for everyone, but nearly non-existent when we’re doing what we love.

It needs noting time can become irrelevant when you do many different things, not just one.

The important actions to take are the ones we feel we should, not the ones we think we want. It’s rare, but now and then I feel I should pull out a canvas and my paints to create an ugly piece of art. I do, I lose track of time, and I know nothing will come from my painting endeavors, but in that moment I did what I felt I should do, not sit back in the recliner and play video games, what I think I wanted.

Are you okay with blowing off what you feel you should do? Does it not bug you when you do? Are you ignoring it how you feel when you do, using what you think you should do as an escape from the feeling of what you feel you should do?

So many are. We need to stop.

 

Stay Positive & Sure, Seek Giants Out, But First Become One

 

Where The Friendly People Are

Garth Beyer

I love the city, don’t get me wrong as you read. Downtown Madison, New York, Boston, Chicago, they are perfect. But I also love the country. Actually, some might not even consider it the country, it’s more the edges of town. That’s where I really love to be.

You don’t need to go too far from the heart of something to find people happy to see you venturing out on your own.

It’s the same story if you were on a motorcycle traveling from downtown Madison to the edges of it as it is if you were traveling from the safety of your current workspace to the just-a-bit-uncomfortable edges of it.

It’s ironic, really. We’re fed the idea we need to be in the heart of something to get the most out of it. Yet, no one waves to you as you pass by; no one pays you any attention; no one takes a moment to chat about your day or offer you something strictly out of selflessness and gratitude. It’s the people already at the edges that are there for you. The edges of your work, the edges of innovation, attitude, education.

They’re waiting for you.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Make Them Wait Any Longer (this is what happens)

But, Where Is The Difficult Part?

Garth Beyer

Godin speaks so much truth today.

I sat in Camp Randall stadium today to watch the University of Wisconsin’s 2014 commencement. John Huntsman, the deans, the chancellor and the student speakers talked about the Wisconsin experience, the trials all the graduates faced throughout their time at university. What each speaker spoke around was one important concept: reflection.

Graduates were told to reflect on their experiences and who helped them along the way; to reflect on the adversity and celebrations of the last four years. What they didn’t come right out asking the graduates to do was reflect on the difficult parts of their experience. Were there any?

If there weren’t. Was it that much of an experience? Was there that much value? Was the degree, the debt, the stress worth it?

This doesn’t go for just graduates, it goes for everyone in the workplace, everyone in the freelance realm, everyone everywhere.

You can make accomplishments in life, but where’s the value of them come from? Where is the difficult part?

If you haven’t found it, you have some searching and stretching to do.

 

Stay Positive & Congratulations To Those Who Made It Difficult On Themselves, They’re The Real Graduates