Mama Bear and Cubs Greet Lake Tahoe Resident

Sent by a friend in Tahoe City, California:

Yesterday I went around the corner of the deck to see why the dog was barking to find a very big mama bear (400 lbs++) staring me in the face.

We both ran off in our respective directions, I grabbed my camera, she climbed 35' up a tree.

She finally came down but wouldn't leave when I discovered her three tiny (15 lbs??) cubs had climbed to the very top of the 65' tree.

They finally made their way down and wandered off to see what else they could scavenge down the way.

Still Got the Flu Bronchitis, No Blogging Today

It came on like a ton of bricks on Monday, between 8 and 9 p.m.

Tuesday: Being a stubborn sort, I worked until about 4 and then slept for 14 hours, with intermittent Twitter breaks to whine about how sick I am and get sympathy tweets.

Wednesday, a lost day spent watching videos. Which videos? Dunno. Grandma sore throat remedy of the day: cold washcloth, wrapped in saran wrap. wrap that in a wool scarf. change the washcloth when it gets hot.

Result: it feels nice to have my throat wrapped, but I still have a sore throat.

Thursday: Feel like I've been run hard and put away wet. Can't pick up my head.

Grandma sore throat remedy of the day: juice of a lemon, honey, cayenne pepper. My sister remembered it as "canine pepper." Result: still have a terrible sore throat, but it tasted nice.

Got a sore throat remedy for me to try?

Friday: turns out i have bronchitis. $7 a pill antibiotics yet to kick in. Cancelled everything for today and tomorrow too. Sigh.

Online Trend Demands: Say More With Less - Or Else

By B.L. Ochman
Information overload, data deluge, inbox overflow, the attention crash: call it what you like, we are all drowning in inputs. The answer? A rising tide says learn to say it in less words -- a lot less words -- or lose your place on stage.

Stowe Boyd wrote last week that from now on twitter is the sole medium for companies to pitch him and Drue Kataoka at ValleyZen discusses the merits of expressing ideas in 10 words or less.

Can it be done? You bet. Part of my fascination with Twitter, besides the sheer delight in hanging out with a few thousand of the smartest people in the world, is that complex ideas are expressed in 140 characters or less, or they're not published. Here are just a few examples:

@AdamBoettiger ARTICLE: "How to turn your iPod Touch into an iPhone and make voip calls from it"

@CathleenRitt Who wants to call my father to tell him I'm leaving my job because a. it no longer exists, b. to pursue entrepreneurial projects? Not me!

Jim Long @AnnBernard CEO of http://whygosolo.com/ gives us an important entrepreneurial gut-check this morning

@Pistachio social media is not just a layer between the company and the stakeholders, it is the business itself. and it is NOT new, it's just different

@gapingvoid Note to random PR folk: I'm busy. I don't care about you or your product. Your overt and uninspired solicitations are annoying.

@stoweboyd @steverubel It's the transition to a web of flow from a web of pages. The conversation moves to where the velocity is,away from async to sync

Ryan Karpeles. Twitter is like a giant petri dish of ideas. They develop, grow, mutate, etc. And we get to watch it all under our micro(blogging)scopes.

@karenswim only on twitter can techies, bloggers, marketers, writers, twenty somethings and work at home moms happily gather in one great conversation

@BarbaraKB Twitter is twitter: Simple. Discipline. Chatter. Information. Giggles. Relationships. Links. Opinions. People. Feed. Oy.

Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/whatsnext

Dear Bank of America: I Don't Want a Funny Bank

Bank of America has enlisted comedian Mo Rocca to host a series of videos about banking. Do you want a comedian involved with your money? I don't. I also don't want sexual innuendo in my bank's advertising. Or a lame pitch from their PR firm.

I want adults in suits to take my money seriously. They should be polite and friendly, but they sure don't need to be funny. I want my bank open late and on weekends, and I want free checking and quick access to my deposits. Dog biscuits for Benny Bix are a nice touch too, but skip the clowns and comedians.

In the rush to join social media marketing, Bank of America is far from the only company to miss the mark. The key is to think about what your customers want from you, and give it to them. You don't need a comedian to make your message entertaining or engaging. Dear Bank of America: While I'm a big proponent of using humor in marketing, there are situations where it's appropriate. Banking is one of them. Unless you're giving away money.

Your marketing needs a master plan on how to engage customers on a strategic level. Think about: What are they interested in? What needs do they have? What service can you perform for them? How can you build a relationship with them?

And skip the lame email pitch to bloggers:

Obama Should Have Ignored Mainstream Media and Gone Right to YouTube

By B.L. Ochman

Perhaps too little, too late, but Barak Obama has definitively and formally denounced and distanced himself from the explosive Rev. Wrong. But Obama blew it. He's been Swiftboated by both Rev. Wrong and mainstream media. And he should have fought back - weeks ago, actually - where he's strongest, on YouTube.

Instead of fueling the media feeding frenzy, Obama should have made his case on his site, uploaded the video to YouTube, and let MSM get the story from there.

Because in this election, that's where the story is - online, where young people are. Where the new influencers are.

Do I Have to Keep Doing This Forever?

I've been thinking a lot about what the next phase of my career will be, since I've been doing Internet marketing strategy for more than 10 years.

Lately, I feel like one of my very first clients who earnestly asked me "Now that this is successful, will I have to keep doing this forever?" God no! I told him. You need to move on to next year's ideas. And so do I. But it's not clear yet whether my next career will be evolutionary or revolutionary. Right now, I just know it will be soon.

I'm not sad about this. I'm actually elated, almost giddy. I know the right idea will come to me, at the right moment, and I find that thrilling. You might need to be an entrepreneur to understand that. :>)

Benny Doodling with Harry in Central Park

Here's but one of the many reasons I get up early to take Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle Puppy to Central Park. That's my boy with his Airdale buddy, Harry.

photo by Abe Sancher

Miho Kitajima’s Business Card is a Little Hairy

If you want people to hold on to your business card, it has to be memorable. And it should explain what you do in a clear and zippy way.

Hair extension artist Miho Kitajima's designed and sewed this Japanese silk kimono for her business card. The kimono is traditional in every way, except that its sleeves are made of Pro 10 Hair Extensions made with Ultima.

Kitajima and a friend created the kimono, and also added hair extensions to the model's hair, natch.

How memorable is your business card?

Disclosure: I created, and edit, the No Bad Hair Days Blog.

Yes, You Should Go to the Park Instead of Working Today :>)

This is the World's Worst PR Pitch

I'm going to take out the names, because, really, I don't want to hurt these people.

What I want is for PR people to - please, please - read this and laugh, and then never send out a pitch that remotely resembles this.

I received this one twice. I responded the first time by saying that advertising on What's Next Blog is handled by Blogads.com. And then, a few days later, this horse's ass sent the same email to me again. Its ridiculousness speaks for itself.

Hey there, [as in, I can't be bothered with your name]

I came across your website the other day and would like to talk to you about a grass roots campaign I’m working on right now for [name removed] TV, the home of the [major sports league involving pucks.] The bottom line is we’re trying to find companies to advertise on [blank] during the [major sport] playoffs, so what we are trying to do is find blogs, groups, forums, or other media websites to write an article or place a banner that links back to [blank] ad sales page on their website. We’re trying to advertise that companies should advertise on [blank], basically, so you can see where-in lies the challenge.

Do you think you could help us by doing a small write or host a banner? If you can post something online we have some great gifts from [blank] Sports for our partners. [aha, a bribe.]

Continue reading...

Categories: B.L. Ochman, PR Cluelessness, Press Release From Hell, Worst Practices

Tags: world's worst PR pitch press releases from hell and how to fix them BL Ochman PR cluelessness

BL Ochman | Apr 24 08 3:29 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

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