submit to reddit

wrongnumber.pngBy B.L. Ochman
UPDATE:: Ellis Booker informed me in email that the misquote is being corrected on the BtoB story. The link now leads to a correct quote.

UPDATE: Ellis Booker, Editor of Crain’s BtoB and BtoB’s Media Business emailed “If you feel strongly about this, I’d encourage you to write a Letter to the Editor (please, 75 words or thereabouts).” He also noted that the author is Paul Gillin, who has commented and apologized in the comments below that he misquoted me. Dear Ellis and Paul: What I want is an online correction.
I’ve got the misquoted in a stealth interview blues again. This time, I don’t even know who wrote the story because there’s no byline. I just know he/she got what I said entirely wrong.
I’ve been quoted entirely out of context in the B2B article about social media marketing campaign costs: “Don’t Worry About the Numbers”. There’s no context because there was no interview. None. Nada.
On the Internet, everything you say is forever. And I’ve written and said a lot about social media marketing. And some day, chances are, a lot of what I said, and what you say, will show up, out of context, when you least expect it. And chances are, you’ll never talk to the person who quotes you. That’s why I call it the stealth interview.
The incorrect quote: “BL Ochman of agency What’s Next Online, who has run several successful blog-based campaigns, estimates six-month costs of a formal campaign at about $50,000, which is a trivial investment compared to the cost of a single 30-second TV spot.”
What I actually said about the cost of a social media marketing campaign in a post on this blog in October 2007:

“The budget for an effective social media marketing campaign begins at $50K for a two to three-month period. I’m sure companies have spent less, and I know they’ve spent more.
I have created effective campaigns with as little as $50K, and even better ones with budgets of $500K for three months. :>) “

The part of the story I agree with: “There’s never a better time to try something new [like social media marketing] than when competitors are slinking back to their foxholes” [because of the economy.]
What can you do when you’re misquoted by an unknown writer? Not much, unless you have a blog where you can SEO your post and set the record straight. Sigh.
Follow me on Twitter