I believe the Cluetrain Manifesto concept of marketing as a conversation is among the biggest and best ideas of current times. In an era when customer relationships are relegated to automated hosted software and customer support is shipped to remote locations where untrained personnel read to you from user manuals, the concept of ongoing and egalitarian dialog between companies and their networks is essential and the social media are a phenomenon that will, over time, transform and improve free enterprise.
I have tried four times in recent months to persuade companies to contract me as a consulting blog evangelist. A blogging tools company turned me down because they thought the task should be done by a staff member, so they relegated it to the CEO who posts about once monthly; a VC firm who wants to be known in the social media market considered having their own blog to complicated and time-consuming; a social media start-up decided they were more comfortable with the costs of having an intern be their blogging evangelist and most recently a Global 2000 corporation backed out after I explained they would be obliged to post even adverse customer comments if they were going to use comments.
I think my idea is good and I have confidence in my talents as both a writer and a veteran marketing consultant. If you have an interest or know someone who has an interest, I would jump at the chance to help a company to get closer and be better understood by its customers, prospects, partners and even employees.
Please email me to discuss.
Hi Shel,
Cool to see that someone is passionate enough about blogging that they want to do it as a job! As a recruiter and a blogger I thought I might offer my opinion on why you may not have been taken up on your offer yet and some recommendations.
In my conversations with recruiters, media, and anyone else who will listen to me talk about blogging, I stress one thing: blogging is not a strategy. Blogging is a communication vehicle. It can be part of an over-arching strategy around evangelism or building community but it is not the strategy in and of itself; it's a tactic. So rather than focusing on blogging as the main element of the role you are looking for, perhaps you could focus on the strateegy that blogging supports. It might be that the focus on blogging is, frankly, too tactical and you should emphasize the strategy it supports and promote yourself as a "Community Development Consultant". It's important to think about how you are branding yourself.
Also, it reminds me how little most companies understand about blogging. If you are hired as a community development consultant, you can get in there and help them understand it. But the chances of them hiring you into a role based mostly on a phenomenon that they have either not yet embraced, are afraid of or just don't get at all are slim.
Just two cents from someone who works in both the blogging and recruiting space. Now feel free to send me your resume and I can get it to our community development teams here!
Heather Hamilton | Senior Marketing Recruiter
Microsoft Corporation | 425.706.2312
heathham@microsoft.com | http://weblogs.asp.net/heatherleigh
Posted by: Heather | Sep 29, 2004 at 11:42 AM
Shel, I am still open to your ideas. I have added you to our forums which intregrate into our blogs. Want to openly discuss this there?
Kevin Tunis
CEO
Knowledge Mgmt. Solutions, Inc.
kevin@knowledgemgmtsolutions.com
http://kevin.tunis.name
Posted by: Kevin Tunis | Sep 29, 2004 at 12:32 PM