The real crime at HP

As I logged into blogger tonight I realized it's been almost two weeks since I last posted. I knew I had neglected my blogging world for a while, but I didn't realize it had been two weeks! I wrote so many blog postings in my head that I guess I hadn't realized they didn't make it to the keyboard.

One of the issues I have followed closely recently is the discussion regarding the HP pretexting. While I understand the privacy issue here, I am disappointed at the whole process the HP management team is going through. After all, isn't the real issue for the shareholders of HP the leaks that were occurring? Isn't the real crime the violation of confidentiality agreements that are critical to running a business?

How could this situation be compared to Enron? The Enron executive purposely deceived their shareholders on the health of the business. The HP executive were protecting the shareholders from the leaks that could impact their efforts to turnaround the business.

As an HP shareholder I have enjoyed the upside generated by the efforts of this HP board and their management team. I feel it's a crime to create this level of turmoil at the company, and to these board members reputations, just as they are achieving success in making HP a great company again.

While companies have been cleaning up their act since the days of Enron and Worldcom, did we need something else to create drama? To generate news? I, for one, hope that they can get this issue behind them quickly and get back to work on the great work they have been doing to make HP a successful business once again.

Consumer Control of your Cell Phone Calls!

A friend of mine sent me a note warning of new rules that allow telemarketing firms to call your cell phone. I don't even like it when people I don't know call my cell phone, never mind some telemarketing person trying to sell me something. And worse yet, depending on your cellular plan - YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THE CALL!

Below is in the information on how to block those calls. I called and it only took a minute of time through an automated system. I received this email earlier in the week, so I am certain the 4 days have already passed. Take action now!

REMINDER 4 days from today, all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls.

.....YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this , call the following number from your cell phone :

888-382-1222

It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you are wanting to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

HELP OTHERS BY PASSING THIS ON TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS OR GO TO: www.donotcall.gov

As consumers we need to continue to exercise our rights on how, when and where we want to receive marketing messages. This technique would be the absolute worst way to reach me. If I received a telemarketing call on my cell phone I will commit to boycott the company that used these tactics and tell everyone I know to do the same!

CGM Authenticity & Abuse

Since my last posting on why people blog I have run across a number of conversations regarding who should blog, CGM abuse and related topics that concern me. Blogging is in jeopardy of losing it's authenticity. As blogging becomes more widely used for marketing purposes, there is a danger that it's real value of conversations will become polluted with dishonest marketing techniques.

This is outlined well in Pete Blackshaw's recent posting "Spam, Popups and CGM Abuse" and subsequent article in Ad Age. Here, Pete describes the dangers of marketing "jumping on the CGM bandwagon...needlessly alienate consumers. It's unfamiliar terrain and credibility is at stake if marketers and agencies jump into the space recklessly."

As a specific data point on this topic, I am much more likely to read the blog posting than the article due to the overwhelming jumping, annoying Internet ads that surround his words on the Ad Age website. Ironically, the combination of his blog posting and article illustrates the value of peer to peer communications vs. traditional marketing.

Subsequently I ran across a posting on Forrester's marketing blog titled
Ok so I'm a mercenary and a blog discussion on Unica's website "The Marketers Consortium" that posed the question "Should CMOs blog"?

I am bothered by all this discussion about who should blog, how often you should blog, how marketing should be advertising on blogs....should, should, should. What happened to the Naked Conversations? Why are we assigning all these rules to blogging.

There is no doubt that blogs and consumer generated media are a changing force in the world of marketing. But the true value of the blog is the unfiltered, honest feedback from customers, prospects, partners, consumers, or whoever matters to you. If all these rules are applied don't we jeopardize the true value of blogs?

As I collected my thoughts for this posting, I found a posting on Web 2.0 and crossing the chasm from Shel Israel. Shel is someone who has dedicated a great deal of time to the issue of blogging and in this post he states, "Blogging is not about a ratings war. It's about a tool that is important because it scales people's abilities to have conversations." To this most recent posting I say... "AMEN BROTHER!"

Why People Blog

I have been thinking a lot lately about the different motivations for blogging. Several articles and postings have brought this top of mind. What I have noticed is there are several different types of bloggers.

1. Bloggers for money. This is discussed in the current issue of Business 2.0 in the article "Blogging for Dollars". The article references sites like TechCrunch that bring in $60,000 per month in ad revenue! Now that's real money. What bothers me about this community is what's the difference between them and mainstream media? Both are building an audience for the benefit of profits. While the new media platform allows for two way conversations vs. the traditional one way editorial, blogging for money loses something for me. Once money is involved, it's a slippery slope from honest, unfiltered communication.

2. Blogging for page rank. This is where I place people like Robert Scoble . He hasn't sold out for advertising dollars yet, but he is extremely diligent about frequent postings and continues to grow his rankings. For me he posts too frequently and fills up my Google reader so I have to wade through the postings to find those that are most relevant. Recently he had a posting that seemed his popularity is both a blessing and a curse. Don't get me wrong, I think Robert is a great guy. When you meet him in person he is charming, engaging and "real". I just don't find his content as relevant to me and my interests.

3. Blogging to share your prospective on issues you are passionate about. This is the blogging community I value the most. It's people like Andy Lark, Pete Blackshaw, Max Kalehoff, Shel Israel that I enjoy reading frequently. They are relevant to me and discuss issues I'm interested in. For me, this is the real value of blogging. No commercial messages, no jumping internet ads, just thoughtful comments in a domain area they are experienced in.

4. Blogging to share with family & friends. This is the MySpace and Facebook crowd. A social platform for communicating with your friends, sharing pictures and posting notes that everyone can see. This is the world my 15 year old daughter lives in and where these is a tremendous amount of insight into consumers preferences and interests. It's a virtual world to communicate with your friends, find new friends and share personal interests.

For me, I live in the later two categories. I enjoy sharing my experiences for my friends and colleagues in a way that I hope to be relevant. Last week in the Wall Street Journal there was an article "No day at the beach" where they discussed bloggers so concerned with rankings that they can't even take a vacation. To that form of popularity I say "No Thank You!".

For big time bloggers that may run across this posting, you may think my segmentation is a "duh", but for many of my colleagues I'm on the leading edge of this new media. As I have had the opportunity to participate in the blogging community I have learned a lot about the value to me, to my business and to my clients. I enjoy sharing that experience with others. That's why I blog.