19: Shameless self-promotion

Paul and David take time out to talk about their own multitude of activities and give their listeners a view of their own emerging media empires. Both of them write, podcast and webcast for various TechTarget properties (where Paul was the founding EIC). Paul writes a weekly blog for Ziff-Davis on innovation that despite being sponsored by IBM is independent. David is the EIC for a new site called DigitalLanding.com that sells home broadband services, as well as writing for eWeek’s channel demographic, Computerworld, various CMP properties, and the New York Times.

Paul does a lot of custom social media consulting work, while David consults on product marketing and reviews strategy. Paul’s efforts right now are focussed on his new book, called “The New Influencers” which has gotten reviewed in the WSJ earlier this month. David’s doesn’t have a book in him right at the moment, but does offer some commentary about the self-publishing industry and talks up the local St. Louis Publishers Association support group.

Both do a fair amount of public speaking, with Paul doing a keynote at the RightNow Technologies user conference next month. David has spoken at various conferences as well, and both will be participating at the December New Communications Forum in the Boston area.

Download and listen to the podcast now (16:10)

14: Do CMP layoffs presage IT print media’s demise?

This week, Paul and David reflect on upheaval at CMP, which laid off 20% of its workforce last week and shuttered some print publications. Paul Believes this is the beginning of the end of print publishing in the IT media market and notes that the economics of online publishing in that area are now weighted toward using freelance and blogger contributors instead of full-time staff.

David notes that technology companies are becoming more aggressive about launching their own online and even print publications, and that some of the senior editors who have lost their jobs in IT media will be moving over to work for vendors. Paul and David agree that these custom publishing operations are legitimate targets for PR people to place their clients. Now that everyone can publish easily to the Web, the definition of a “media company” is becoming fuzzier.

In Cheers & Jeers, Paul praises Oovoo, a new videoconferencing service that sent customized video messages to journalists and bloggers as part of its launch campaign. But he directs a raspberry at Dell Computer, which sent a cease-and-desist notice to Consumerist.com, an action that ultimately backfired on Dell. But he commends Dell’s openness in blogging about the mistake and even linking to underground photos of unannounced Dell products. My, how times have changed!

Listen to the podcast here (right click to download): 15:05

5: Scoring with product reviews – with guest Keith Shaw

In show #5, we’re joined by Keith Shaw, product testing editor at Network World and author of the popular Cool Tools column. Keith and David have been in the product testing business a long time and they share some of the best and worst of dealing with the PR community in this endeavor. Join us to hear how a product can make Keith’s coveted Cool Tools list and also what are some of the most irritating things companies do in pursuit of a review. In Cheers and Jeers, Paul praises the new social media press release while David bemoans the aggravation of the never-ending cycle of returned phone calls.

Download the podcast here (20:12)

4: How to pitch a journalist

This week, Paul and David get back to basics and talk about effective pitching techniques. The bottom line is to know the reporter, but there are a lot of interesting tools on the Web that can help you focus your message. There is no excuse for cold calls anymore. They discuss several war stories of pitches that worked – and a few that didn’t.

In Cheers and Jeers, David tells of when you should stop e-mailing and just pick up the phone. Paul pays tribute to Renée Blodgett, a PR person who does it right.

Download the podcast here (13:09)