Over three quarters of reporters get story ideas from blogs

Here's yet another reason to get into the corporate blogging game in 2008...

According to a survey by communications firm Brodeur (announced at the CES in Las Vegas last month), journalists are heavy users of the blogosphere for research and quick reporting. [Download PDF of the survey.]

" ...New media (social media and blogs) is having an impact on many different aspects of reporting, particularly the speed and availability of news," according to the Brodeur press release.

Journalists are using blogs to get tone, nuance and story angles. No, they don't believe everything they read in blogs but social media is a great source of additional information when a reporter is on deadline.

So get yourself into the blogosphere if you're not there yet. And be sure to put your company or contact phone number in a visible spot on your blog. Reporters on deadline tend to pick up the phone and call, rather than email. And if your company blog is revealing and useful, you may find yourself quoted in the Wall Street Journal.

Big Blogs Meet Big Media: Wall Street Journal quotes Google corporate blog

The WSJ quoted Google's corporate blog in a story earlier this week (sorry, can't find the article) about Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Yahoo. The Google blog entry was written by David Drummond, a Google senior VP and Chief Legal Officer, and - of course - put the Google spin on the story: the acquisition could stifle competition and innovation.

This is exactly what I talk about in The Corporate Blogging Book (I even used Google as an example): why put out a press release when you can say something more directly (and often, more credibly) in your company blog?

A Meatball Sundae with Seth Godin, Dan Pink, Rich Sloan and Debbie Weil - Feb. 13, 2008 teleconference

I'm tickled to be part of a teleconference with Seth Godin to discuss his new book, Meatball Sundae, and what it says about the "new marketing." In a word, don't pile the newest kind of whipped cream (blogs, podcasts, video) onto your current marketing strategy... just because it sounds easy or cool.

The results can be, er, unsatisfactory and make a gooey mess. Jackie Huba demonstrates. Of course, there's more to the book than that. This one is a great read.

Tune in FREE Feb. 13, 2008 at 2 PM Eastern to hear an hour of kibbitzing between Seth and authors Dan Pink, Rich Sloan and myself.

Click here to register and get the dial-in info.

Useful Reading

Read Hugh Macleod's interview with Seth about Meatball Sundae (Part One and Part Two).

A Whole New Mind by Dan Pink

Meatball Sundae by Seth Godin

Startup Nation by Rich Sloan

The Corporate Blogging Book by Debbie Weil

Got a Six-Word Motto for the U.S.?

The authors of Freakonomics announced a Six-Word Motto Contest for the U.S. on their New York Times blog yesterday. As of this writing, they've gotten 607 comments with suggestions.

Here's mine:

"Where Anything Is Possible... Go Giants!"

What's yours? Click here.

Another free download from MarketingSherpa: Dirty Dozen Email Newsletter Mistakes

MarketingSherpa is offering a free download, Dirty Dozen: Email Newsletter Mistakes Nearly Everyone Makes. Find it under Email Marketing Resources on this page, along with other free downloads.

My favorite mistakes (which I see all the time): Lame 'Welcome' Messages [see my ClickZ article from October 2001: Leveraging Your Confirmation Emails] and Ignoring Your Blackberry and Mobile Readers.

The free guide is but a small taste of what they offer in their annual door-stopper (328 pages): MarketingSherpa Email Marketing 2008 Benchmark Guide. I've reviewed these annual mega guides in the past (see 2006 review). They're chock full of charts and stats and really helpful if you're looking for metrics to gauge the success of your email programs.

P.S. Full disclosure

Yes, I'm a MarketingSherpa affiliate and receive a small commission if you order through my link above.

Free download: MarketingSherpa's 2008 Wisdom Report

One of my favorite free downloads is available now from MarketingSherpa. It's an annual report the MarketingSherpa editors put together by polling readers on their top challenges as marketers. I contributed a tidbit that appears as item #27 in the Web 2.0 section. Other topics include email, search marketing, advertising, metrics, business-to-business and -- a new one I haven't seen before -- office politics!

Here's part of what I wrote:

"I can tell you from experience that creating a corporate blog for a Fortune 500 company is one part big idea and nine parts down in the trenches parsing each word for tone, content, nuance, legal ramifications, etc."

-- by Debbie Weil for MarketingSherpa's 2008 Wisdom Report

Download a copy of this 42-page free report here. (They will also mail you a hard copy.)